While Iām still waiting for that season wrap-up on the Niners in the Big O, hereās more on UMassā¦
[b]The season of 'What ifs?'[/b]
Matt Vautour
Daily Hampshire Gazette
March 17, 2007
AMHERST - Over the next few months and when people look back at the 2006-07 University of Massachusetts menās basketball season, the āwhat ifs?ā will be hard to ignore.
What if the Minutemen hadnāt gotten the flu at the worst possible time?
What if UMass had made a free throw or two late and beaten Miami Jan. 2?
What if the Minutemen had scheduled two more RPI-friendly games instead of Savannah State and St. Francis?
The second half of all of those questions and probably a few others is āWould UMass have made the NCAA Tournament?ā
People will wonder for a long time, but will never really know.
The end of the season means the end of the collegiate careers of Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme, two players itās hard to picture the program without. Both men, will be remembered warmly for their work ethic and the way they represented UMass during both difficult times and this yearās success.
Judged on its own, the 2006-07 season was a very good season. The 24 wins and an Atlantic 10 regular-season title were steps in a positive direction. But where will it fit in the long term?
Will it be remembered like 2000 - a peak in a collection of down years - or a jumping-off point for future successes? Is it the year that started hoop momentum again in Amherst? It could be. There was fan buzz around the program that had been lacking in recent years.
But the departure of Freeman and Lasme means uncertainty about the future. They were both first-team all-conference players, the teamās leading scorers and rebounders, and Lasme was one of the nationās best defenders.
Theyād be hard to replace anywhere and while there is some promise in the big men UMass has coming in and those returning, nobody on next yearās roster is going to step in and do what either of those guys did.
Next year will likely be an interesting reflection on Travis Fordās coaching skills. During his first two years in Amherst he put aside his running, pressing, perimeter style of offense that heād employed before so he could take advantage of the skills of his big men.
Next year we see the real Ford, playing his way, with guys he recruited.
Will Gary Forbes and Chris Lowe thrive as they become central figures? Will Ricky Harris emerge as a reliable scorer? Can Luke Bonner, Dante Milligan and Etienne Brower be effective?
All this assumes that Ford still will be coach at UMass next year. Fordās name has been rumored for a handful of head-coaching vacancies, a list that could get longer as the dominoes fall. Few people expect Ford to stay in Amherst forever, but if he leaves this soon, UMass will be set back a few years as it deals with transition again.
More than likely, though, heāll be back, spending his offseason obsessively planning for next year.
Until then, there will be plenty of time to wonder.
Link: DailyHampshireGazette.com
