UMASS

Gary Forbes: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:56:51 -0700

Gary Forbes

College: Massachusetts

Class: Senior

Position: SG/SF

Height: 6’7”

Weight: 220lbs

Accolades: High-Major Player of the Year – CHN (08), First Team High-Major All-American – CHN (08), A-10 Player of the Year (08), First Team A-10 (08), NIT All-Tournament Team (08), Panama National Team (07).

Scouting Report: A strong, versatile guard/forward.

Strengths: Big-time scorer – eighteen 20-plus point games his senior year. Versatile – played both guard spots and small forward in college. Can break his man off the dribble and get to the hoop. Can absorb contact and still finish the play. Three-point range on his jumper. Great wing span for his size – nearly 7’. Great rebounder for his position. Was very consistent offensively this season – scored in double-figures in all but one game. Physically strong.

Weaknesses: Age – is 23-years-old already. Didn’t play in one of the power conferences so he didn’t go up against the nation’s top talent every game. Needs to work on his defense. What position will he play in the NBA? Measured in at less than 6’5” at the pre-draft camp. Needs to cut down on the turnovers – had more turnovers than assists this year. Shoots the three for a poor percentage – less than 30% this year.

Projected 2008 Draft Range: Early to late second round pick.

Consensus: Forbes’ outstanding play in the NBA pre-draft camp has his stock on the rise. He’ll have to work on his D and improve his outside shot to stick around the League for awhile.

Stats: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=15152

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= Superstar/All-NBA Potential

= Potential NBA All-Star

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0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues

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Lots of changes at Marist...and some other Northeast news

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:41:33 -0700

Well, today marks the beginning of the Spring Signing Period, and many fans are awaiting the decision of guard Tyreke Evans. The explosive prerimeter player is said to be leaning in the direction of Memphis, and that's who I'd expect him to sign with due to the departure of Derrick Rose. But the school with the most going on in recent days has to be Marist, who will any day be gaining a head coach, but they've already lost two players. - Memphis assistant Jose "Chucky" Martin to be named Marist head coach. Many services have reported that the official announcement is coming any day now. Martin, a native of New York City, has many ties to the area due to both his playing at St. Raymond's in the Bronx and assistant stints at Manhattan and St. John's. That's the good news for fans of the Red Foxes, who head into this critical portion of the offseason with a head coach in place. As for the bad... - Guard Jay Gavin is transferring to VCU. According to Phil Strum of the Poughkeepsie Journal, star freshman guard Jay Gavin will be leaving Marist at the end of the semester to attend Virginia Commonwealth. He'll have to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules, but with the coaching change the people most instrumental in getting him to Marist are now gone (the entire coaching staff went with Matt Brady to James Madison). And speaking of James Madison, former Marist verbal commitment Andrey Semenov will follow Brady and his staff to JMU. Coach Martin will have a lot of work to do in regards to filling out his roster for the upcoming season. - G Doug Wiggins has asked to be released from his scholarship in order to transfer. A couple of weeks ago head coach Jim Calhoun talked about some imminent changes that would be coming this offseason for his program. One domino has fallen apparently, that being East Hartford native Doug Wiggins. Some moves were expected in regards to playing time/off-court issues, and Wiggins certainly had to deal with the latter during his two years in Storrs. But the main thing for Wiggins is to find a place in which he'll see a lot of playing time over his final two seasons. - "Christmas in April" for Rutgers? Maybe. Reported on Monday by Stacey Davis of NYCHoops.net, there is the possibility of St. Benedict's Prep forward and Rutgers commit Greg Echinique accelerating his coursework in order to graduate in time to join the Scarlet Knights this fall. A member of the Class of 2009, sources have told Davis that Echinique has entered an accelerated program with hopes of getting this done. If it can happen, look out for RU next season. - Sources say that Travis Ford could be the new head coach at Oklahoma State any day now. According to ESPN.com, UMass head coach Travis Ford is expected to take the same position at Oklahoma State any day now, just about a week after turning down Providence and agreeing to a new deal to stay at UMass. He replaces Sean Sutton, who was let go after two seasons in Stillwater.

NIT Finals Prediction: UMASS vs Ohio State

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:31:03 -0700

UMASS (25-10) vs Ohio State (24-13)

7:00 PM ESPN

On the most part, this year's NIT has been relatively bland with home teams and favorites winning most of the games. UMASS is somewhat of a surprise since they did have to win a road team to get to the semifinals (Syracuse) and then knocked off a BCS favorite at MSG (Florida). While the Minutemen have had a nice run.. Ohio State is my choice to win the title. The Buckeyes were CHN's favorite to win the tourney to begin with, so I'm sticking with them. One simple reason is that though UMASS beat Syracuse & Florida to get here, OSU had no problems with those teams earlier in the year, beating Florida by 13 and Syracuse by 14. Ohio State is a better team now as they've found a condensed rotation (ie, not as much Diebler Terwilliger) and more consistent play from their leaders. Kosta Koufous is shooting an impressive 69% over the last 5 games. For UMASS, they haven't been winning with the ease of OSU, but the emergence of Dante Milligan (in the final weeks of his career no less) has helped overcome some offensive struggles by leader Gary Forbes. Ohio State is 3.5 point favorites, and I like them straight up and against the line.

Prediction: Ohio State

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 110-66)

April 1st - UMASS vs Florida (2-0)

March 24th - Dayton at Illinois State (3-0)

March 23rd - Davidson vs Georgetown (2-1)

March 21st - Davidson vs Gonzaga (0-3)

March 19th - New Mexico at California (1-2)

March 18th - Mt St Mary's vs Coppin State (2-1)

March 14th - Kansas vs Texas (2-1)

March 14th - St. Joseph's vs Temple (1-2)

March 13th - Ohio State vs Michigan State (2-1)

March 12th - Arizona State at USC (2-1)

March 12th - Syracuse vs Villanova (2-1)

March 11th - IUPUI at Oral Roberts (3-0)

March 10th - Gonzaga at San Diego (1-2)

March 9th - Florida at Kentucky (1-2)

March 8th - UNC at Duke (2-1)

March 5th - Tennessee at Florida (2-1)

March 4th - UNLV at New Mexico (3-0)

March 3rd - Texas Tech at Kansas (3-0)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

Game Predictions: NIT Semifinals

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:10:24 -0700

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

UMASS (24-10) vs Florida (24-11)

7:00 PM ESPN2

You have to respect these teams for making to the Garden by actually winning road games. The win at Syracuse wasn't shocking for UMASS as they already beat the Orange at the Carrier Dome and generally had a better season. Florida's win was a bit more surprising considering the final 70-57 margin wasn't even close, it was across multiple time zones, and ASU had been very successful at home. UMASS will need a big effort from CHN Fourth Team All-American Gary Forbes, who has struggled during the NIT run. He's just 6-24 over his last two games, which won't cut it against a Billy Donovan team. The Gators are favored by 4 but I like the Minutemen.

Prediction: UMASS

Ole Miss (24-10) at Ohio State (23-13)

9:00 PM ESPN2

Ole Miss hasn't been very good away from home this season, but they did have to beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to get here. I don't put much stock into that win because I have little respect for the Hokies talent. Tonight should be a big challenge for the Rebels against an OSU team that returns to the Garden after playing here in the Preseason NIT. Unlike VT, Ohio State has similar strengths (PG & C) as Ole Miss. The individual Chris Warren vs Jamar Butler and Dwayne Curtis vs Kosta Koufous matchups should be worth watching.

Prediction: Ohio State

There's a CBI finals game tomorrow night, but really, does anyone care?

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 108-66)

March 24th - Dayton at Illinois State (3-0)

March 23rd - Davidson vs Georgetown (2-1)

March 21st - Davidson vs Gonzaga (0-3)

March 19th - New Mexico at California (1-2)

March 18th - Mt St Mary's vs Coppin State (2-1)

March 14th - Kansas vs Texas (2-1)

March 14th - St. Joseph's vs Temple (1-2)

March 13th - Ohio State vs Michigan State (2-1)

March 12th - Arizona State at USC (2-1)

March 12th - Syracuse vs Villanova (2-1)

March 11th - IUPUI at Oral Roberts (3-0)

March 10th - Gonzaga at San Diego (1-2)

March 9th - Florida at Kentucky (1-2)

March 8th - UNC at Duke (2-1)

March 5th - Tennessee at Florida (2-1)

March 4th - UNLV at New Mexico (3-0)

March 3rd - Texas Tech at Kansas (3-0)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

Today's Game Predictions: NIT & CBI

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:26:02 -0700

UMASS (23-10) at Syracuse (21-13)

7:00 PM ESPN

This is a rematch of an early-season game in which UMASS beat Syracuse by 7 at the Carrier Dome. Despite that result, Syracuse is somehow favored by 7 points this time around. Why? The Orange are the same mediocre team they were then, they still make the same poor decisions down the stretch, and Donte Greene still loves to miss three-pointers. Was it the 6 point win over Robert Morris that wows the bettors.. or is it the fact Maryland actually led 54-53 with 12 minutes to go last time out. It might be too much to ask UMASS to win on the road here, but I like the road dog against the spread.

Prediction: Syracuse

Florida (23-11) at Arizona State (21-12)

9:00 PM ESPN

For some reason, the line here is closer than the above game with ASU only favored by 3.5 points. Yet Florida is a very poor road team (their best win was against Georgia), while ASU is tough to beat at home (only one Non-Top 25 home loss to Cal). I'm not a big Sun Devils fan by any means, but I don't think the Gators have much of a shot.

Prediction: Arizona State

Tulsa (22-13) at Bradley (19-15)

9:00 PM ESPN

Tulsa is probably the hottest team left in the CBI, but they haven't won a true road game since facing East Carolina back on February 13th. Bradley overcame a 13 point half-time deficit to beat Ohio in the quarterfinals.. but you have to question a team that can get in such a hole against such a mediocre team. Still, I'll go with the home team solely due to the home-court advantage as Tulsa only has 3 true road wins all season.

Prediction: Bradley

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 108-66)

March 24th - Dayton at Illinois State (3-0)

March 23rd - Davidson vs Georgetown (2-1)

March 21st - Davidson vs Gonzaga (0-3)

March 19th - New Mexico at California (1-2)

March 18th - Mt St Mary's vs Coppin State (2-1)

March 14th - Kansas vs Texas (2-1)

March 14th - St. Joseph's vs Temple (1-2)

March 13th - Ohio State vs Michigan State (2-1)

March 12th - Arizona State at USC (2-1)

March 12th - Syracuse vs Villanova (2-1)

March 11th - IUPUI at Oral Roberts (3-0)

March 10th - Gonzaga at San Diego (1-2)

March 9th - Florida at Kentucky (1-2)

March 8th - UNC at Duke (2-1)

March 5th - Tennessee at Florida (2-1)

March 4th - UNLV at New Mexico (3-0)

March 3rd - Texas Tech at Kansas (3-0)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

2008 CollegeHoops.net High-Major All-Americans

CHN — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:24:19 -0700

CollegeHoops.net High Major Player of the Year: Gary Forbes (UMASS)

CollegeHoops.net High-Major All-American
G: Drew Lavender (Xavier)
G: Robert Vaden (UAB)
F: Gary Forbes (UMass)
F: Reggie Larry (Boise State)
F: Trent Plaisted (BYU)

CollegeHoops.net Second Team High-Major All-American
G: Eric Maynor (VCU)
G: Adam Emmenecker (Drake)
G: Jaycee Carroll (Utah State)
F: Will Thomas (George Mason )
F: Will Daniels (Rhode Island)

CollegeHoops.net Third Team High-Major All-American
G: Jeremy Pargo (Gonzaga)
G: Rob McKiver (Houston)
G: Dionte Christmas (Temple)
F: J.R. Giddens (New Mexico)
F: Pat Calathes (St. Joseph's)

CollegeHoops.net Fourth Team High-Major All-American
G: Brian Robers (Dayton)
G: Josh Young (Drake)
G: Stefon Jackson (UTEP)
G: Lee Cummard (BYU)
F: Josh Duncan (Xavier)

CollegeHoops.net High-Major Honorable Mention:
Wink Adams (UNLV), Antoine Agudio (Hofstra), Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga), Bryant Dunston (Fordham), Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State), Randal Falker (Southern Illinois), Leemire Goldwire (Charlotte), Justin Hawkins (New Mexico State), Marcelus Kemp (Nevada) Jermaine Taylor (Central Florida), Jeremy Wise (Southern Miss)

The CollegeHoops.net All-American teams are voted on by staff writers. Up tomorrow are the Mid-Major All-American teams.

CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more!

2008 NIT Capsule: UMASS

Joel Welser — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 07:09:29 -0700

Massachusetts Minutemen

Atlantic 10 (21-10, 10-6)

Seed: #2

RPI: 42

Big Wins: 11/28 at Syracuse (107-100), 1/16 at Dayton (82-71), 2/21 at Rhode Island (98-91)

Bad Losses: 11/11 at Northern Iowa (68-75), 2/2 at Saint Louis (59-71), 2/14 Fordham (72-76)

Coach: Travis Ford

Probable Starters:

Chris Lowe, Junior, Guard, 12.1 ppg, 6.1 apg, 3.3 rpg

Ricky Harris, Sophomore, Guard, 17.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg

Gary Forbes, Senior, Forward, 20.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.1 apg

Etienne Brower, Senior, Forward, 12.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Dante Milligan, Senior, Forward, 8.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.7 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Gary Correia, Freshman, Guard, 1.4 ppg, 1.3 apg

Tony Gaffney, Junior, Forward, 3.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg

Luke Bonner, Junior, Center, 3.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

Few teams can run and keep up with Massachusetts. Coach Travis Ford’s squad averages 82 points per game and four players average double digits in the scoring column. Gary Forbes and his 20.1 points per game leads the way. Forbes, a 6-7 wing, is not the best outside shooter on the team, although he can hit a three-pointer or two during a game, but he does almost all of his damage using his size and speed to finish around the basket. Not only does Forbes score, but he also averages 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals per contest.

Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe add more scoring prowess to the backcourt. Harris spends a lot of time behind the arc, maybe too much time, but he can get to the basket effectively when he wants to do so. Lowe, the point guard, averages 6.1 assists per game and has done a better job this year of keeping the turnovers in check, but he has the ability to put up some big points. Forward Etienne Brower is not an interior scorer and is actually the most efficient three-point shooter on the team, knocking down over 44 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

Why They Can Disappoint:

It is understandable that Umass gives up a lot of points, but there are some major problems in the rebounding and free-throw categories. The Minutemen consistently get outrebounded by their opponents thanks to a perimeter orientated squad. There are few big men who could even keep up with their teammates. The issue that could more easily be fixed is at the charity stripe. Fortunately for Umass, Forbes and Harris take the most trips to the line. Those two both shoot over 70 percent from the free-throw line, but the rest of the team lags behind quite a bit.

Who To Watch:

The rebounding concerns, and most of the free-throw problems for that matter, can be addressed by big men Dante Milligan, Luke Bonner and Tony Gaffney. Milligan does a decent job on the glass considering he does not see many minutes, but there is always room to improve. Milligan is also the only threat to score in the paint. Bonner and Gaffney are pretty much in the game to play some solid defense and grab rebounds. If the big men can score, it will create much more space for the talented perimeter group. At the least, it would be helpful if the frontcourt can at least neutralize the rebounding advantage the Minutemen’s opponents usually enjoy.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 82.0 (9^th in nation, 2^nd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 76.3 (307, 14)

Field-Goal Percentage: 44.5 (145, 8)

Field-Goal Defense: 42.4 (109, 5)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.3 (11, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.5 (109, 7)

Free-Throw Percentage: 66.7 (248, 13)

Rebound Margin: -1.6 (236, 11)

Assists Per Game: 15.7 (39, 3)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.7 (123, 7)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Elite Eight loss to Syracuse

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Today's Poll: Which Mid-Major Has the Best Shot of Making the Dance?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:35:23 -0700

Three Stars of the Day: Mayo, Brown, Lowe

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:19:15 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

OJ Mayo - USC

Scored 32, two off his career-high, and hit 5 threes in a win over Oregon

Etienne Brower - UMASS

The senior continued his solid play with a career-best 26 points in a huge win over A10 rival Rhode Island

Chris Lowe - UMASS

With 10 assists (and 21 points), Lowe hit the double-digit dime mark for the third game in a row

Other Top Performers

Grayson Flittner - Gardner-Webb - The guard blew threw his previous best wit 34 points in an easy blowout win

Luke Harangody - Notre Dame - Another solid 23 point, 12 rebound effort for conference POY contender

Darnell Harris - La Salle - Besides setting a season-high by scoring 26, also hit big threes in an OT win over Dayton

Previous Stars of the Day

February 19th - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

February 18th - John Bryant, Santa Clara

February 17th - Johnson/Teague, Wake Forest

February 15th - Tyrese Rice, Boston College

February 12th - J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State

February 10th - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

February 9th - Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN

February 7th - Ronald Ramon, Pittsburgh

February 6th - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

February 4th - Todd Golden, Saint Mary's

February 3rd - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

January 30th - Chase Budinger, Arizona

January 29th - Beasley/Walker, Kansas State

January 28th - Chris Godzinski, Wofford

January 27th - DeMarcus Nelson, Duke

January 26th - Hackett/Lewis/Mayo, USC

January 24th - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

January 22nd - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

January 21st - DJ Augustin, Texas

January 20th - Dezmon Harris, Weber State

January 19th - James Gist, Maryland

January 18th - Abbott/Harden, Arizona State

January 17th - Dionte Christmas, Temple

January 14th - Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

January 11th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 9th - DJ White, Indiana

January 8th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 7th - Wayne Ellington, UNC

January 6th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

January 5th - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

January 3rd - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

November/December Star of the Day Archive

Daily Dribble: Friday Report Card

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:29:53 -0800

The Report Card

A - Oral Roberts

The Golden Eagles have been the best team in the Summit for a few years now, coming off back-to-back seasons in which they won 20 games and made the NCAA Tournament. But many assumed this good run had more to do with Caleb Green and Ken Tutt as opposed to a consistent base of great talent. But this year's team is showing that there was more to their success than those guys. Seniors like Shawn King, Adam Liberty, and Moses Ehambe, who were contributors last year are playing better than ever.. and have mixed well with newcomers Robert Jarvis and Marcus Lewis. At 13-0 in Summit league play and with a surprisingly good RPI of 46, it makes our 3rd place projection to start the season a bit suspect.

B - Pac-10

Even before the season, the Pac-10 was getting respect as one of the country's best (if not the best) leagues. So the fact that so many teams are getting NCAA Tournament kudos is no big surprise. The league can be looking at 7 bids considering that 7 of the 10 teams have an RPI of 60 or better. This is an amazing number considering that in 2006, the league had only 3 teams better than 57th in RPI, and only 4 teams in the top 85. With the exception of Oregon State, who simply provides two free W's to the rest of the league, every team is moving in a positive direction.

C - Wake Forest

Nice job by Coach Gaudio and the staff getting Wake to .500 in ACC play. With games against Duke, UNC, and Maryland coming up, their 5-5 record might become a distant memory. For today though, this is a nice accomplishment for a team that was considered to be just biding time until next year's monster recruiting class comes to town. Next year's starting lineup of lets say Smith, Teague, Aminu, Johnson and one of Woods/Walker at the five looks pretty solid.

D - UMASS

Huge loss by the Minutemen to Fordham last night. Coming in, they were in almost everyone's projected field of 65 despite a sub .500 A10 record. Sure, they were 4-5 in league play but 3 of the losses were on the road and the other two were home defeats to tournament teams Xavier and Saint Joseph's. The point being they had no bad losses. But a home loss to Fordham (158th in the RPI) could be a big blow to their tournament chances. No doubt they will fall out of most brackets when the analysts rework the field.. but all hope shouldn't be loss. They have a favorable schedule the rest of the way with games against most of the A10's lower tier teams.

F - Picking Big Ten Games

Just about every night for the Games of the Night series, I pick the results of three big games. For whatever reason, my picks have been a bit off this year compared to previous seasons.. and a big reason why is the Big Ten. When the Big Ten's big four get together (Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue & Wisconsin), I've been wrong just about every time. Indiana at Wisconsin.. wrong. Michigan State at Purdue.. wrong. The list could go on and on. One day I'll figure it out.

The Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

Previous Best / Worst

February 13th - Mike Green / Ed Donato

February 11th - Charron Fisher / Tim Morris

February 8th - Big West / Virginia

February 6th - Chris Lofton / Dick Vitale

February 5th - Bob Knight / Josh Heytvelt

February 4th - New York Giants / Washington State

February 1st - Nevada / Penn

January 31st - Kansas State / St. John's

January 29th - Winthrop / Dyson & Wiggins

January 28th - Rutgers / Doris Burke

January 25th - Ron Hunter / Princeton Offense

January 23rd - Kentucky / Archbishop Burke

January 22nd - DJ Augustin / Scott Sutton

January 21st - New York Giants / Marquette

January 20th - Maryland / ESPN.com editors

January 18th - Cleveland State / Marquette

January 17th - Drake / HP Laptops

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky