Revenge

We all know what happened on Saturday – now it’s time to play spoiler.

This weekend, the Minutemen will face UNH and have the chance to put a serious damper on the Wildcats’ playoff hopes. UNH is coming off a loss to Villanova, and need one more win to reach the eight victories needed to qualify for the FCS playoffs.

These will be desperate Minutemen. Their playoff hopes are fading and their only chance to revive them will be a win over UNH.

UMass has losses to Texas Tech, James Madison and Richmond to go with the loss to Maine and will try to get back into the playoff discussion against the Wildcats.

The Minutemen defense had improved in recent weeks, but Maine rolled up 296 yards rushing on them, For its part, the Maine defense held Massachusetts to 311 yards of total offense. Not only that, but the Black Bears intercepted four Liam Coen passes in the game.

If nothing else, I hope UMass plays for pride this weekend and takes down their CAA rivals. The loss to Maine stings a little, but a win over UNH always takes the bite out of a tough loss.

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Hidden somewhere between the pages of UMass athletics – the men’s soccer team won the A-10 regular season title.

Granted, this is a far-off cry from last year’s Final Four run, but it’s still very impressive for the boys to win the conference after a slow start to the season.

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The UMass women’s basketball team pounded Bishop’s University in its exhibition game.

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A little late on this: Gary Forbes was drafted No. 4 overall by the Sioux City Skyforce of the NBA’s Development League.

This is the second time in two years we’ve had a played in the D-League – Stephane Lasme played there last year.

Shhh…

All is quiet on the UMass front.

The RSS feed is empty, the word “UMass” is being scoffed at by the search engines, and all I have to show for it is the fact that Gary Forbes is playing summer ball for the Washington Wizards.

To quote Office Space:  “Sounds like somebody’s got the case of the Mondays.”

Anyway, here is the official Summer League schedule.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

One-way ticket

Last night I sat in the bar where I watched the entire NIT Tournament and again rooted for Gary Forbes.

I had just ordered a pitcher, and my favorite bartender – Mike – set me up with two frosty glasses. I paid, and he gave me a questioning look as I stared at the scrolling names on the bottom of the screen to see if Gary had been picked while I was outside with some friends.

No one gave him a chance.

I figured I would be more upset about it, but I knew going into the Draft that Forbes wasn’t a top-tier NBA prospect. He is a one-dimensional player, and the NBA needs small forwards that can do a little bit of everything. Even his one dimension – scoring – wasn’t worth a second round pick.

For the past three years UMass fans saw how streaky Gary can be, and you have to think that highly paid NBA scouts saw the same thing. Sure, he did well in Portsmouth, but even then the write ups were using words like “selfish” to describe his game.

In the NBA, if you can’t play defense and you can’t score with consistency – you end up in Europe.

And that’s where I think he’s heading.

Sure, he may get invited to play some summer ball and may ink a free agent contract, but Gary Forbes is not a long-term NBA player. I said that a few days ago, I thought it a few months ago, and I don’t foresee my oft-errant premonitions going haywire … this time.

I obviously wish Gary the best of luck in the future, but I think he will go the way of Rashaun Freeman – who, for the life of me, I can’t find any updates on, although I know he’s playing overseas. Both players could score and were above average in an average conference. However, above average doesn’t equate to playing in the top basketball league in the world.

Above average gets you some coverage, not much fanfare and a one-way ticket to Kazakhstan.

… or wherever Gary laces them up next.

Eye on Forbes

The Boston Globe had an article on Gary Forbes and his mission to become an NBA draft pick.

The article speaks of his travels, teams touting his offense and frowning on his defensive capabilities – two things all UMass fans did during his three-year tenure in the Pioneer Valley. Julian Bendow does an excellent job capturing the grind that is the pre-NBA Draft.

From the article:

Ever since he hoisted the University of Massachusetts on his back in the National Invitation Tournament, helping the Minutemen upset last year’s NCAA champion, Florida, on the way to the final, Forbes has been connecting the dots from city to city – 11 altogether – boosting his stock at each checkpoint and trying to sell NBA teams on his ability to score and his potential for playing four positions.

My personal opinion is that Forbes is going to go the way of Lasme. He will drop to the second round, make a team for awhile, then spend some time working on his game in the NBDL. Perhaps he will score a brief contract, but I’m really not sure if his defense is ready for the professional level.

Perhaps he’ll prove me wrong, but I think he has the ability to make much more money overseas when it’s all said and done. It would be fantastic to see Forbes in a NBA uniform – especially since that would mean three UMass alumni in the League.

Tomorrow is another big day for UMass basketball. Seems like we’ve had a lot of those recently.

Cinderalla Forbes

The value of Forbes

Fran Frachilla, a basketball writer with ESPN, has Gary Forbes listed as a “value player” in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Via the free Insider Blog at ESPN:

At 6-7, Forbes played small forward at UMass in a very up-tempo system where he was a relentless slasher to the basket all season long. However, in order to make the transition to an NBA shooting guard, he will have to continue to improve a somewhat inconsistent jump shot and be able to defend the position. There’s no doubt he will work on those aspects of his game as he is an intelligent guy and has a great motor.

Check out who’s listed below Forbes – Mr. George Hill from IUPUI. Hill absolutely destroyed the Minutemen this year and is considered one of the best small-school players – if not THE best – in the country.

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Speaking of Draft preparations, Stehpane Lasme was mentioned in a Sun Sentinel article about the Heat:

The Heat ended last season with three 2007-08 D-League players on its roster, with forward Stephane Lasme still with the team.

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QUICK BASEBALL UPDATE:

Matt Torra, who is pitching today, is having an excellent season of AA ball for the Mobile BayBears.

Check out his stats from this season thus far.

 

Forbes impresses

Gary Forbes is doing his best to let NBA scouts know that he’s ready for the show.

In his second game at Predraft Camp, Forbes dropped 30 points. He had 17 points in the first game – the highest total on the team.

From CSTV:

If there was to be a player of the day award, then without a doubt it would have to be given to Gary Forbes (30pts, 15-16ft, 2stl). Even though his team lost, it was no fault of Forbes, who almost singlehandedly brought his team back from a large deficit. In the early going Forbes looked to set his teammates up, yet when he realized they weren’t capitalizing, he took it upon himself to put points on the board.

If Forbes keeps this up, he may very well be the second UMass player to be taken in the NBA draft in as many years.

You’ve got to love good basketball news at the end of May.

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Brian Baudinet and Adam Tempesta, two UMass baseball players, were named to the All-New England second team and are invited to play in the NEIBA New England College All-Star Game to be played at Fenway Park on June 14.

From CSTV (again):

Twenty-seven players from 12 teams were named to the 2008 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association’s All-New England Division 1 first and seconds teams. Dartmouth’s Bob Whalen was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to the #1 ranking in NEIBA poll. The University of Connecticut led all teams will four players on the All-New England first and second teams. Dartmouth, Northeastern and Vermont had three each.

The Minutemen, the 2008 Beanpot champions, will be honored at Fenway Park on Wednesday, June 11, when they will be guests of the Red Sox and throw out the first pitch before the defending World Series champs take on the Baltimore Orioles.

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Phil Ford, from Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High, wants to walk on to the UMass baseball team next year.

From the Cape Cod Times:

Ford wants to be a walk-on baseball player at UMass-Amherst.

… and then:

Ford didn’t play football until his senior year, starting out in soccer his first two years at D-Y before taking a break from sports during the fall of his junior year. A star in basketball and baseball, Ford only discovered how much he enjoyed football last fall. He scored three touchdowns and also excelled as a kicker and on defense.

Forbes shines in Portsmouth

Gary Forbes made the All-Tournament team at the Portsmouth Invitational.

Via the Atlantic 10:

Seniors Pat Calathes of Saint Joseph’s, Xavier’s Josh Duncan and Gary Forbes of Massachusetts were recently named to the 12-player All-Tournament Team at The Portsmouth Invitational.

Forbes led the field of 64 players in both assists (8.67 apg.) and minutes (34.0 mpg.) while averaging 15.7 points. Calathes averaged 15 points on 18-of-32 shooting and 8.3 rebounds, while Duncan averaged 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Forbes: A-10 POY

Gary Forbes is the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.

UMass has now held the honor in back-to-back years, with Stephane Lasme bringing home the award last year.

Here’s the official release from the Atlantic 10:

Massachusetts senior swingman Gary Forbes, who enters this week’s Championship tied for the Atlantic 10 lead in scoring, has been tabbed the 2007-08 men’s basketball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the Conference’s 14 head coaches.

Another award of note:

Ricky Harris won the Chris Daniels Award recipient as the league’s most improved player.

Ricky Harris garnered the Atlantic 10’s Chris Daniels Award, presented to the Conference’s most improved player. A year ago, the sophomore guard averaged 4.5 points while averaging just 10.8 minutes of action. This season, the Baltimore, Md., native ranks sixth in the league in both scoring (18.1 ppg.) and three-pointers made (82). The lone sophomore to be twice named A-10 Player of the Week this season, Harris scored 20 or more points in eight of the third-seeded Minutemen’s 16 Conference tilts.

While these two awards are excellent honors for UMass and the players, I was a bit disappointed that no Minuteman (besides Forbes) made any of the three all-conference teams. Harris should have gotten a nod, and Chris Lowe getting left off is an absolute travesty. Etienne Brower was on the fence in my mind.

Also, here is the official bracket. The Minutemen are going to have to deal with either Charlotte or URI for a third time. I’m secretly (well not really a secret anymore) rooting for Charlotte. UMass is going to be hard-pressed to beat Baron’s boys a third time this year.

We’re so close, I can almost taste it.

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UPDATE: The folks at MVN are running a slight variation of my UMass Dance Card post on its Basketball University Page. Check it out.

Tiki torch

Tiki Mayben is still making headlines in New York, but this time it’s a little less negative.

12 Action News, based in Johnson City, N.Y., had a report and interview with Mayben, who was given a (third) chance at college basketball at Binghamton. Sounds like ‘ol unibrow might be growing up a bit:

“It’s the best thing in the world for me to be a father right now because I ain’t have that. So basically it ain’t like I had somebody to look up to and say this is what I need to do. I looked at it from the situation of this is what I didn’t have so this is what my son is going to have.”

Good stuff Tiki … hopefully he can turn everything around in his second college basketball showing in Upstate New York.

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The Republican had an article on Gary Forbes and his leadership, NBA stock and the daunting reality of graduation.

Interesting quotes from Coach Ford:

“(After a game), the scouts ask me, will he bring it every night? Can he defend better than he just did? But the physical talent is there.”

Then…

“There is no bigger fan of Gary than I am,” Ford said. “But he’s got to be pushed. He still takes plays off here and there, at both ends of the floor”

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Apparently UMass was playing a particular defense against Toledo in order to shut down junior guard Tyrone Kent:

Now teams are designing defenses specifically for him, such as at UMass when he was often double-teamed. The Minutemen had a defense called “Special” they used on him.