AMHERST — Matt McCall probably hasn’t had much sleep since Saturday’s 75-51 loss to George Washington.
The third-year UMass coach was notorious last year for spending long hours in his office after tough losses even as the season was disintegrating around him. The difference this season is that the coach isn’t criticizing his players as much, but pointing the focus squarely on himself for the Minutemen’s troubles.
There are no rants about his team not buying into the name on the front of the jersey, or complaints about players not wanting to play for each other. At every turn, he continues to compliment his players for their work ethic and eagerness to learn, which is all he said he could ask of them.
“We’ve got to get back to work, starting with me,” McCall said after Saturday’s loss. “I don’t blame our kids, we’ve got phenomenal guys that are high character that need to be coached and mentored and taught. You don’t play like we’re capable of playing and then go out there and perform like that. To me, that’s coaching and I need to do a hell of a lot better job.”
Wednesday provides a unique opportunity for the Minutemen (7-11, 1-4 Atlantic 10) with a trip to struggling George Mason (12-6, 1-4). UMass has been notably horrendous in true road games under McCall, especially in conference games. It has lost 19 straight regular-season A10 games outside Amherst while just five of McCall’s 31 wins as UMass coach have come away from the Mullins Center.
WALKER FINDS STRIDE — Dibaji Walker has not begun to scratch the surface of his potential with the Minutemen, creating concern about when the sophomore’s talent will show on the court.
Entering Saturday’s game, Walker was shooting just 5 of 22 from the field with 18 of those shots being 3-point attempts. On Friday, McCall hinted at trying to find new ways to spark Walker’s offense to help the Minutemen.
“We’ve got to get Dibaji going,” McCall said last week. “We’ve got to look at what we’re doing to try to be able to do that and take advantage of his talent, maybe even try to move him around some.”
Walker played mostly power forward against the Colonials and had his best game with UMass thus far. He scored 10 points and shot 40 percent from the floor, notably attacking the rim more with his athleticism. He also grabbed five rebounds, one more than he had in his first five games combined with the Minutemen.
Yet in that same interview last week, McCall started to place blame on he and his staff for Walker not being an instant impact player for UMass.
“We’ve got to continue to work with him, we need to do a better job as a staff helping him,” McCall said. “He’ll get there, he’s too good of a player, he’s too much of a talent not to get there.”
MORE SANTOS — Another note McCall pointed out Friday before the loss to George Washington was finding more minutes for Preston Santos.
The opportunity arose for the freshman guard with Keon Clergeot getting into foul trouble and never finding a rhythm. Although Santos did not score against the Colonials, his energy and defensive effort resulted in three rebounds and three blocks to earn the admiration again from his coach.
“Preston was giving us terrific effort,” McCall said Saturday. “Preston was making some terrific plays.”