Life on the Road

Quick update…. The Bulls are now 4-3 after losing a nail-baiter to St. Bonaventure. They hit a jump shot with about six seconds left in the game, causing us to race down the court and take a heavily contested jumper that didn’t fall. That now brings our road record to 2-3.

           

If you have been following us this entire season, you can see that we have obviously had some struggles on the road. Don’t worry though, you know Coach Witherspoon and the coaching staff are fixing that and now paying more attention to the little things than ever before.  However, life on the road is like no other. If you haven’t done the math yet, our last four games have been away making 5 out of our 7 games so far this season on the road (including Canisius). So you ask, what’s the big difference, it’s still basketball, it’s still the same size court, and a ten foot high rim, contrarily those who have played high level sports can testify, it’s a whole different story.

First of all, travelling to wherever the game is; just travelling takes a toll on the body and hydration is a must. Long bus rides have caused us to sometimes arrive to our destination at irregular times and maybe knocking us off our normal sleeping patterns. Next preparation for the game is key, as far as scouting reports and knowing the other team’s personnel. These sessions can make or break a team’s chances of winning. Than finally, the game, where we are in a gym with thousands of fans rooting against us. With thousands of fans and students chanting against you could startle you, and on the other hand energize the home team more than you know. So, with all that, our task at hand is a little tougher. Now, by any means, don’t think I’m looking for excuses or want you to feel sorry for us and if we want to be a great team, we have to get our road-game-mindset situated. This is what we signed up for!

But what I am saying is that, we have our own set of home games coming up, starting with Niagara University Wednesday night. And we are doing our best to learn from our past games and come out heads up and focused on doing the little things excellent. Also, I’m asking every UB fan to come out and support us and put the same if not more pressure on the opposing team as the other schools have done to us. Until next time, that’s Wats’ Up!

Time to Commit

 Commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the "right stuff" to turn our dreams into reality. 

James Womack

First of all, on behalf of the whole Men’s Basketball Family, we would like to say thank you for all the support we receive last Saturday during our home opener. Everybody from the floor seats, to the last row in Alumni Arena, to all the fans, friends, and family members who watched the game online, we truly appreciate the support. You honestly don’t understand how much of an impact you all have on the game when we can look into the stands and see, hear, and feel every single one of you all cheering us on. From the bottom of our hearts, Thanks!

Ok, now Wats’ Up? As you all probably already know, after our season home opener win against Navy, we took a trip to Youngstown State University and it didn’t quite go as plan. We just couldn’t find a way to pull it together in the most critical parts of the game. So what Coach Witherspoon and Coach Kwitchoff stressed after the game was our commitment to each other. Now, you question what does that mean? They want us to throw ourselves into the team and buy into everything their saying and COMMIT to the teams’ style and philosophies. For example, COMMIT to playing Buffalo defense, COMMIT to passing to the open men, COMMIT to setting good screens, and COMMIT to being a better teammate to one another. The coaches can testify that this year’s Men’s Buffalo team has the best or one of the best team chemistries and unity they have seen in all their years of coaching; plus the talent to compete with any team. 


So all we need now is to get that “commitment [that will] unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the "right stuff" to turn our dreams into reality,” which is to get a MAC Championship and advance into the big tourney. Expect to see a different mindset that you all saw against YSU in our upcoming game against Towson this Saturday night. This is the time to jump of the UB Men’s Basketball Team Fan Wagon! 


Until next time, that’s Wats’ Up!

Tough Love

Does tough love pay off? This year, the cliché of the UB Men’s Basketball Team is that “we are young.” Everyone knows that we have five freshmen this year, making us one of the youngest, if not the youngest, team in the MAC. With that being said, the entire coaching staff has made it their goal to not only prepare us for the season, but also make us men. With this being my second year and comparing last year to this year, I can honestly say practices have been extremely rough, and very fast-paced. We have all been put in difficult situations throughout practice, making us both mentally and physically tougher as well as overall better individuals; making us a better team.

“This isn’t high school anymore, boys.” This has been Coach Witherspoon’s most repeated quote this season so far. In other words, we have to grow and man up to the challenges set before us this year. This is sort of déjà vu, because I can remember when I was in high school and was a wide-eye freshman with long hair. I had no clue what I was in for starting as a varsity point guard. My coach, who was also my dad, had similar quotes. His were, “You ain’t in middle school anymore,” or “This isn’t JV, guys,” and he said these whenever we had immature moments or were not playing to our full potential.

So the question still stands, does tough love pay off? Since practice has started, we as a team have taken long strides. Day by day you can see how we are improving in different aspects of our games. Our first test came Saturday, when we had our first scrimmage against Carleton University, a university from Canada. With Byron Mulkey and Mitchell Watt out due to injuries (short-term injuries, don’t stress people), we were a little short-handed but ready. We looked strong in moments and were able to pull out a three-point victory in the end. We could see where we needed work and where we need to improve. On the other hand, we got the win and we can see tough love really does pay off. 

Until next time, that’s Wats’ Up!

The Excitement is Brewing

Saturday night was the first Bulls Madness event since 2005 and it was long overdue. The event featured a 3-point Contest, Hot Shot Competition, Knockout, Dunking Contest, and an unexpected performance. 

The 3-point contest was won by me [Tony Watson II], where I was able to squeak by the crowd’s favorites Nicki Hopkins and Zach Filzen. The Hot Shot Competition was won by Brit Hedderson, Dave Barnett and a UB student. Dave Barnett hit a near half court shot giving his team the sure win. 

Knockout came down to Amy Gardener and one of UB’s own students, in which Amy was able to pull out the victory. 

The heavily anticipated Dunk Contest featured six UB Bulls from the men’s basketball team. Mitchell Watt was able to get a perfect score from the fans with his kick alley one-handed 180 Dunk. Alumni Arena went into a frenzy when Mitch’s jam went through the rim. 

Without a doubt the surprise of the night came from our very own Coach MacDonald, head coach of the women’s basketball team. Coach Mac and her Bulls all took the court; the players supplied the beat and Coach Mac supplied the rhymes. She “spit” a verse about the upcoming season that not only had both teams on their feet but also the fans throughout the arena. 

Bull’s Madness was a great event to jump start the upcoming basketball season. Both teams are heavily excited about the season and are expecting big things. Until next time, that’s Wats’ Up!     

Welcome

Through out the 2010-11 season men's basketball sophomore Tony Watson will be blogging.