Buffalo @ Halifax 02.07.10

[romes]

Here's a game preview with Buffalo GM, Roosevelt Bouie:

The 6-2 Halifax Rainmen face off against the 2-5 Buffalo Stampede this Sunday at the Halifax Metro Centre (Game time 2pm AST, watch it live here on Haligonia.ca!) Buffalo is fresh off of a 114-111 win over the Manchester Millrats while the Rainmen are also off of a close victory, a three-point win against the defending champs, Rochester Razorsharks. Buffalo made their debut in the PBL last season and finishing with a 1-19 record. This year, they look to make an improvement from last season but have a tough February schedule ahead of them with four of their five games on the road.


Roosevelt Bouie who is originally from New York, is the GM of the Buffalo Stampede and was also a star centre for Syracuse from 1976 to 1980. He had an outstanding career at Syracuse before continuing his professional basketball career overseas in Italy. I had the chance to ask Roosevelt a few questions about the Stampede's matchup with the Rainmen, his thoughts on Cameron Stanley and his thoughts on a famous Canadian basketball family.
_________

Romy (Haligonia.ca): For those who don't much about Buffalo, who are some of the standouts on this team?

Roosevelt Bouie: Some of our standout players this year have been: Derick Payne who is no longer with us, Andy Robinson, Markus Price, Kevin Ross and Greg Gamble have all done a great job growing into a team that has confidence when they take the court.

Romy (Haligonia.ca): What does Buffalo have to do to prepare for their matchup against the Rainmen?

Roosevelt Bouie: That is a good try for a sneak preview, our roster is constantly changing in an attempt to field a confident team. The Rainmen are a very good team and we will have our hands full.

Romy (Haligonia.ca): You have back to back games in Canada, first Saturday in Quebec and then in Halifax on Sunday, what does the travel schedule look like for the team?

Roosevelt Bouie: There is always someone who gets a tough shake every now and then, it happened to me in every league and country. We try to worry about things we can control and travel schedule isn't one of them.

Romy (Haligonia.ca): Former member of the Buffalo Stampede, Cameron Stanely, recently signed with Halifax. What's your take on Stanley's game?

Roosevelt Bouie: I am extremely focused on our team. At this present time he is on the opposing team. I do not wish to sound rude, this is developmental league basketball. There will be numerous players pass through the doors. As a player, I want them to do well.

Full Q&A here

Also check out the video with Heckler's Row from the Halifax home games:

http://live.haligonia.ca/halifax-ns/sportsblogs/173-sports-video/9227-video-the-guys-from-qhecklers-rowq-at-the-rainmen-games.html

[tbayz1]

Very tough game this afternoon, especially playing last night in Quebec, tough early travel, and only 8 guys (Mark Price was turned away at the border, and he got into Quebec a month ago to play, the other Damone Brown could not make the trip either)

I think its going to be an ugly one for Buffalo. We got a win last night, so at least we'll get one win this weekend, and Halifax is playing their best basketball after a win against Rochester, but this one isn't going to be pretty.

[LandoG]

I don't know...I hope that HFX isn't complacent. Buffalo are getting better with each game. I bet the score is within 10 either way.

attendance prediction...3,700. What???, no Buffathal?

[romes]

[quote=""LandoG""]

attendance prediction...3,700. [/quote]

I say low 3000's with it being Superbowl Sunday and all.

[JBrainmen]

53-48 for the Rainmen at the half.
Rainmen should be up by at least 15, but are playing pretty sloppy. Terrible from beyond the arc.
Cameron Stanley is looking pretty impressive in limited minutes.
Crowd is kinda sparse.

[CHris902]

Halifax win 111-90.

Ugly game throughout, Halifax played terrible until halfway through the third when they blew it open. The slow starts and refusal to drive inside instead of settling for jump shots is going to come back to haunt Halifax unless they fix it.

Thomas looked good in limited minutes which was a nice surprise. I am still not sure if I prefer him over Alleyne, though.

[tbayz1]

111-90 final, Halifax wins.

Not a bad game, close throughout the whole first half, then fatigue and lack of depth caught up to Buffalo mid-third quarter. Considering Buffalo's missing 2 starters and a coach and the crazy travel with the game last night, they played pretty good. Halifax went on some big runs that put us away.

Next week Vermont at Buffalo should be a competative game, both teams having been playing better and Vermont's coming off a big win against Rochester.

Good game Rainmen! You guys got some talent on that team. Good luck the rest of the year, that game against Puerto Rico in a few weeks should be a good one!

[misenern]

That was an awful game. The Rainmen played awful, but Buffalo was just not deep enough without Damone Brown. Some thoughts:

-Crookshank played pretty awful except for his rebounding.
-Buffalo probably could have made it a 10 point game if they had their best players, but they still aren't close to the level of the top four teams.
-Halifax was lazy, but Buffalo completely burnt out in the second half.
-Buffalo's big men kept taking jumpshots in the second half. Those were some ugly strokes.
-Thomas is never going to be any good for Halifax.
-Stanley looked okay, but I would rather a true power forward behind Crookshank. Stanley is a true small forward. We need size because Crook is small enough as it is.
-Rainmen coasted to the win and I understand it's hard to get up for the weaker teams especially after the last four games.

[LandoG]

[quote=""misenern""]That was an awful game. The Rainmen played awful, but Buffalo was just not deep enough without Damone Brown. Some thoughts:

-Crookshank played pretty awful except for his rebounding.
-Buffalo probably could have made it a 10 point game if they had their best players, but they still aren't close to the level of the top four teams.
-Halifax was lazy, but Buffalo completely burnt out in the second half.
-Buffalo's big men kept taking jumpshots in the second half. Those were some ugly strokes.
-Thomas is never going to be any good for Halifax.
-Stanley looked okay, but I would rather a true power forward behind Crookshank. Stanley is a true small forward. We need size because Crook is small enough as it is.
-Rainmen coasted to the win and I understand it's hard to get up for the weaker teams especially after the last four games.[/quote]

...my friend, I sure hope that you're knocking on a door sized piece of wood.

[misenern]

I should say weaker teams in the standings.

It really doesn't matter who they play. If they don't stay focused it's easy to lose any game. With a 20 game season there is not a lot of room for error.