The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

& MB is spot on about the "fans" once again.

we are not very good like any other cusa team and we dont have any bench
sydney with 4 fall kill us

(02-03-2019 08:34 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  & MB is spot on about the "fans" once again.

No, he's not. He couldn't be any more wrong. BTW, I give him crap but Memphis is a good fan like all the regulars on here. I wish he could get off the "UAB fans suck" theme but everybody is entitled to their opinion. We can disagree and not act like Twitter nuts.

This isn't high school or D2. Major college athletics is a business. It is up to the business to attract and retain customers. We've let our customer base erode due to an inferior product. It's going to take more than exceeding minimal expectations to turn that around. Losing at home to a 6-16 team is certainly not exceeding expectations, in any season or conference.

Are the approximately 20,000+ people that attend our football games but not our basketball games bad UAB fans? Do they all dislike basketball? I seriously doubt it. We just haven't given them enough reason to show up at Bartow.

There was the same "show up and support the team" stuff written back in the Callaway days. The reality is people didn't start showing up and supporting the football team until we had Coach Clark.

The basketball program is in a bad spot because of our conference. It’s hard to recruit, it’s hard to schedule, and that leads to it’s hard to get butts in the seats. If we had Cincinnati, Memphis, Wichita State coming to Bartow, we would for damn sure have better support.

Our team was thin already, and is now decimated by injuries. We can’t have five guys play 40 minutes. I actually like what Ehsan has been able to do this year, and I feel like we are headed in the right direction for the first time under his watch. This was a transition year whether anybody wants to accept it or not. We are doing better than most expected us to be at this point. It was a bad week.

^^^
Can’t say I disagree

(02-03-2019 12:38 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 12:32 AM)FNblazer Wrote:  The weakness isn’t necessarily Rob but his bench. Keep Rob Williams for Cheesecake Factory purposes and replace other assistants. Hell, put Murry on the bench as your elder statesman.

Ehsan was the strong assistant for Haase. Ehsan doesn't seem to have that strong assistant.

That has been my gripe about Ehsan as well. Our depth is poor as well. I get the injuries but way too much dead weight on this teams bench.

When you guys find a crystal ball that will predict a recruits future, we can rule the modern world.

Much of the time, a recruit ends up being perceived as a step slow or gets out played in practice. If they've made it this far, put them on the floor and let them take their lumps. Maybe you can find a gem in the rough when the game lights are on.

(02-03-2019 12:10 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  When you guys find a crystal ball that will predict a recruits future, we can rule the modern world.

Much of the time, a recruit ends up being perceived as a step slow or gets out played in practice. If they've made it this far, put them on the floor and let them take their lumps. Maybe you can find a gem in the rough when the game lights are on.

I agree

(02-03-2019 12:10 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  When you guys find a crystal ball that will predict a recruits future, we can rule the modern world.

Much of the time, a recruit ends up being perceived as a step slow or gets out played in practice. If they've made it this far, put them on the floor and let them take their lumps. Maybe you can find a gem in the rough when the game lights are on.

Which is why I was glad that Bathurst got some time in the game.

Provided some valuable minutes while he was in.

And even though he missed his 2 FT's the form shooting it was there compared to our hesitating guard.

The red-shirting we've either done intentionally or been forced to do is not the norm in college basketball these days. When you only have 13 scholarship players and have at least one red-shirting, an injury or two will have you scrimmaging walk ons versus your starting five in practice. Injuries are a pretty frequent part of the game. Having multiple un-playable scholarship guys on the bench is a roster management/player evaluation failure. A few misses could be better absorbed in the old days but now it's a depth killer.

Losing what we lost and only bringing in one ready-to-play inside player set us up for the situation we are in now. For next year, we have Gueye, an injured Butler, and two very raw young players. We have nobody signed in the front court yet in the '19 class.

(02-03-2019 01:19 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  The red-shirting we've either done intentionally or been forced to do is not the norm in college basketball these days. When you only have 13 scholarship players and have at least one red-shirting, an injury or two will have you scrimmaging walk ons versus your starting five in practice. Injuries are a pretty frequent part of the game. Having multiple un-playable scholarship guys on the bench is a roster management/player evaluation failure. A few misses could be better absorbed in the old days but now it's a depth killer.

Losing what we lost and only bringing in one ready-to-play inside player set us up for the situation we are in now. For next year, we have Gueye, an injured Butler, and two very raw young players. We have nobody signed in the front court yet in the '19 class.

Yep Ehsan needs to evaluate talent better

(02-03-2019 01:24 PM)Blazer88 Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 01:19 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  The red-shirting we've either done intentionally or been forced to do is not the norm in college basketball these days. When you only have 13 scholarship players and have at least one red-shirting, an injury or two will have you scrimmaging walk ons versus your starting five in practice. Injuries are a pretty frequent part of the game. Having multiple un-playable scholarship guys on the bench is a roster management/player evaluation failure. A few misses could be better absorbed in the old days but now it's a depth killer.

Losing what we lost and only bringing in one ready-to-play inside player set us up for the situation we are in now. For next year, we have Gueye, an injured Butler, and two very raw young players. We have nobody signed in the front court yet in the '19 class.

Yep Ehsan needs to evaluate talent better

LOL.

So you guys please humor me some more. Tell me who, so far, shouldn't have been recruited ?

(02-03-2019 01:41 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 01:24 PM)Blazer88 Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 01:19 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  The red-shirting we've either done intentionally or been forced to do is not the norm in college basketball these days. When you only have 13 scholarship players and have at least one red-shirting, an injury or two will have you scrimmaging walk ons versus your starting five in practice. Injuries are a pretty frequent part of the game. Having multiple un-playable scholarship guys on the bench is a roster management/player evaluation failure. A few misses could be better absorbed in the old days but now it's a depth killer.

Losing what we lost and only bringing in one ready-to-play inside player set us up for the situation we are in now. For next year, we have Gueye, an injured Butler, and two very raw young players. We have nobody signed in the front court yet in the '19 class.

Yep Ehsan needs to evaluate talent better

LOL.

So you guys please humor me some more. Tell me who, so far, shouldn't have been recruited ?

Don’t we have a guy that redshirted last year that still can’t produce quality minutes?

(02-03-2019 01:41 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 01:24 PM)Blazer88 Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 01:19 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  The red-shirting we've either done intentionally or been forced to do is not the norm in college basketball these days. When you only have 13 scholarship players and have at least one red-shirting, an injury or two will have you scrimmaging walk ons versus your starting five in practice. Injuries are a pretty frequent part of the game. Having multiple un-playable scholarship guys on the bench is a roster management/player evaluation failure. A few misses could be better absorbed in the old days but now it's a depth killer.

Losing what we lost and only bringing in one ready-to-play inside player set us up for the situation we are in now. For next year, we have Gueye, an injured Butler, and two very raw young players. We have nobody signed in the front court yet in the '19 class.

Yep Ehsan needs to evaluate talent better

LOL.

So you guys please humor me some more. Tell me who, so far, shouldn't have been recruited ?

I believe Hurtado, Bertain, and McCoy are on scholarship. I don't think they'll ever be contributors here. Three out of thirteen scholarships is a lot to spend on practice players. Akabueze might end up playing but our track record for red-shirted freshman isn't good lately (Smallwood, Hurtado). We're red-shirting players when we have immediate roster needs.

If he missed on some recruits you have to give Ehsan credit for Bryant. Possible the best all around player at UAB the last 15-20 years. Perhaps we should all wait until the season ends to evaluate whether this team over or underachieved. Half of the fans on here want to blame Eshan for everything and the other half dont want to blame him for anything. Truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
I admit i cant stand the constant excuses. We are too young, or tired, or injured, or whatever helps the narrative. As mush as i feel this coaching staff will never lead us to where we need to be, i also recognize this is Ehsan's first year with "his" players and that he is going to get 5 years unless something happens off the court. I want him to prove me wrong. I will be the first on here to say i was wrong. I like the guy.
The thing that really makes me want to hit something is when one group on here starts claiming that another group are not real UAB fans. We are ALL UAB fans. OK!
We can have different opinions. Only real UAB fans would come on this stupid freakin site anyway. If we had real lives we would be doing something more constructive.
Now STFU and go Blazers!

So we had an older more experienced team the past two years, who had previous success, and the excuse was Ehaan wasnt playing with his players (even though he has been on the staff since those guys started at UAB). This year he has his players and the excuse is we are too young and inexperienced. Got it.

Glad you got it.

(02-03-2019 12:34 AM)FNblazer Wrote:  The Sullivan tech was a tough one. I don’t blame him (he justifiably went nuts on the refs in the previous game too). That was a 6 point swing that occurred in a matter of seconds.

Yep!

(02-03-2019 12:38 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  

(02-03-2019 12:32 AM)FNblazer Wrote:  The weakness isn’t necessarily Rob but his bench. Keep Rob Williams for Cheesecake Factory purposes and replace other assistants. Hell, put Murry on the bench as your elder statesman.

Ehsan was the strong assistant for Haase. Ehsan doesn't seem to have that strong assistant.

Talk to any former player and none would suggest that Ehsan was a “strong assistant.” He was the good cop, to Haase’s bad cop. He was everybody’s buddy and was not respected. And he still isn’t.

You are correct that he needs a strong, very tough assistant, but I not sure that is enough to turn the corner with this team. I like Rob, and was happy when he got the job, but I think he is in over his head.