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

(02-01-2024 09:12 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 08:12 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote:  Unpopular opinion: yall were bashing AK not but a week or 2 ago and I’d argue this has been one of his better if not best coaching jobs. We were 4-5 at one point and are now 14-7 with a roster that’s got 9 new players on it. He turned this season around and while we may not be looking at a tournament bid, next year is looking very good if we hang on to our guys.

AK made decisions that cost us games. We’ve played two good games. We’ve played two good games in a row before and still lost by 20ish points twice this season. I now want to see 3,4,5,6 good games in a row. And to be clear, we can play a good game and still lose. This is a good basketball conference, and there are no nights off. If this team continues to grow and develop, I’ll be thrilled. I’m stopping short of calling this AK’s best coaching job until we see the finished product though.

Excellent post.

Looking at the box score, we didn't shoot any free throws in the first half. I wonder if that was a first this season. UAB goes to the line a lot.

we were 21-24 in the second half and 2-2 in OT though. ?

(02-01-2024 09:18 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  This team will be a TOUGH out in the conference tournament.

Maybe. This team could get beat out on day one as well. I still need to see more sustained growth before I get too excited. The last two games have shown the potential but it's only a start.

(02-01-2024 10:04 AM)randy22263 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 09:18 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  This team will be a TOUGH out in the conference tournament.

Maybe. This team could get beat out on day one as well. I still need to see more sustained growth before I get too excited. The last two games have shown the potential but it's only a start.

That's likely also true for about half of the league. It seems like we are on the right track to be playing our best basketball when the time comes.

(02-01-2024 10:12 AM)uabblazer2012 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 10:04 AM)randy22263 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 09:18 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  This team will be a TOUGH out in the conference tournament.

Maybe. This team could get beat out on day one as well. I still need to see more sustained growth before I get too excited. The last two games have shown the potential but it's only a start.

That's likely also true for about half of the league. It seems like we are on the right track to be playing our best basketball when the time comes.

Yep. We could lose to rice our first game, or we could make a run and win it. I wouldn’t be shocked by either with how things are trending right now, especially if a little luck plays out on our side with matchups and seeding.

As I said earlier, AK always has his team “turn the proverbial corner” around mid to late season. I think the next step in his coaching trajectory is to have a team ready to go day one. Every team turnover every year now. It’s part of the reality of college sports. But not every team looks like a sh!t show for the first quarter to third of the season. Teams progress as the year goes on, but it’d be nice to see our team ready to compete day one, instead of constantly digging ourselves out of a hole, and waiting for mid year to “turn the corner.”

I’m still at the point where Charlotte hasn’t given me a reason to respect them. So, losing to them alone and then the way we did wasn’t reasonably acceptable.

I’ll give the blazers credit for the last two games. Both I knew were going to be tough. They won.

The fact that we were a q3 loss for UNT, should open some eyes about how much of a hole we are still climbing out of after losing to what now appear to be cupcakes in noncon and one 19-2 team that last years team would’ve beat by 20.

This ain’t some rebuilding year. AK recruits to reload. Stop expecting me to adjust my expectations. That’s damn near why we have none, if we are complaining why nobody shows up to our games besides the Bartow
classic.

SMU is 13-7, 4-3 in the conference. They don’t really have any good wins. They have names on their schedule, but most of those names are having bad to average years.

The STRONG correlation continues. UAB is still undefeated 21 Games into the season when Gaines takes 10 or less shots.

Will AK continue to “empower” Gaines like he did against Charlotte, or will he help to keep him reined in, like he has been the last two games?

I think the difference is obvious.

(02-01-2024 10:48 AM)UABFAN23 Wrote:  I’m still at the point where Charlotte hasn’t given me a reason to respect them. So, losing to them alone and then the way we did wasn’t reasonably acceptable.

I’ll give the blazers credit for the last two games. Both I knew were going to be tough. They won.

The fact that we were a q3 loss for UNT, should open some eyes about how much of a hole we are still climbing out of after losing to what now appear to be cupcakes in noncon and one 19-2 team that last years team would’ve beat by 20.

This ain’t some rebuilding year. AK recruits to reload. Stop expecting me to adjust my expectations. That’s damn near why we have none, if we are complaining why nobody shows up to our games besides the Bartow
classic.

SMU is 13-7, 4-3 in the conference. They don’t really have any good wins. They have names on their schedule, but most of those names are having bad to average years.

I'm glad we only play Charlotte once in the regular season. I pray we play them again the conference tourney.

(02-01-2024 12:01 PM)Frank Grimes Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 10:48 AM)UABFAN23 Wrote:  I’m still at the point where Charlotte hasn’t given me a reason to respect them. So, losing to them alone and then the way we did wasn’t reasonably acceptable.

I’ll give the blazers credit for the last two games. Both I knew were going to be tough. They won.

The fact that we were a q3 loss for UNT, should open some eyes about how much of a hole we are still climbing out of after losing to what now appear to be cupcakes in noncon and one 19-2 team that last years team would’ve beat by 20.

This ain’t some rebuilding year. AK recruits to reload. Stop expecting me to adjust my expectations. That’s damn near why we have none, if we are complaining why nobody shows up to our games besides the Bartow
classic.

SMU is 13-7, 4-3 in the conference. They don’t really have any good wins. They have names on their schedule, but most of those names are having bad to average years.

I'm glad we only play Charlotte once in the regular season. I pray we play them again the conference tourney.

Because the AAC did us a favor to give us q1 and q2 opportunities with our H&Hs, you have to win the one-offs. I’m not mad at the league, where we stand is self-inflicted. So, I don’t need to hear any boo-hoos from our fans about the stretch we are on until 2/18. That’s the challenge good programs should want.

Charlotte’s H&Hs are with Rice, ECU, UTSA, Tulsa, South Florida. So, their remaining schedule is charmin soft. Toughest games being @Memphis, and their H&H with USF.

They got FAU, UNT, UAB all at home. All 3 embarrassingly didn’t take them serious.

We as a program need to take every game seriously and that starts with the head coach, because now if we and UNCC win out. There’s not a way for us to get tiebreakers back in the one-offs.

At least Charlotte and USF have two games against each other, giving us opportunities to gain the 1 game back.

I think Charlotte is for real. Their three best players are as good a trio as any in the conference. Patterson is a difficult matchup and they can go to him to back down the defense almost any time they need a good look at the bucket. Milicic is a difficult matchup who can stretch the defense. Jackson is a credible rim protector and scoring option at the basket. Graves is a decent PG. They have beaten FAU, UAB, North Texas and Tulane. I don't see any reason to think they will suddenly sink out of the upper half of the league.

(02-01-2024 10:04 AM)randy22263 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 09:18 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  This team will be a TOUGH out in the conference tournament.

Maybe. This team could get beat out on day one as well. I still need to see more sustained growth before I get too excited. The last two games have shown the potential but it's only a start.

Sure, but would you rather be UAB trending or Memphis trending?

Most impressive win of the season and a really gutsy comeback. This team is trending in the right direction and you can tell they're becoming a more cohesive unit. We still have a ways to go to reach our ceiling so hopefully we'll get there at the right time for the AAC tournament. Finishing top 4 would be huge to get a double bye. Finishing 2nd or 3rd would be even better to avoid FAU until the championship assuming they finish 1st.

UAB had likely the most difficult conference schedule (considering current standings) among the top half of the league. Charlotte probably had the weakest along with USF.

Charlotte:

@SMU
FAU
UNT
UAB
@USF
@Memphis
USF

UAB:

USF
@FAU
@Charlotte
Memphis
@UNT
@SMU
FAU
UNT
@Memphis
SMU

Yeah, Charlotte still has to go to South Florida and Memphis but they very well could be favorites in all their other remaining games.

(02-02-2024 04:33 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  Yeah, Charlotte still has to go to South Florida and Memphis but they very well could be favorites in all their other remaining games.

KenPom agrees with you. Charlotte is now favored in all remaining games but those two.

They are 2-point dogs at USF, and 7-point dogs at Memphis.