Game 28: Temple 2/20 2:00 ESPN2

[Rufus]

All I will say is I am sick and tired of JD shooting up rocks with so much time on the clock remaining. And its not so much as the time clock as it is that too too often hes the only one touching the ball when it crosses mid court and he shoots from ten foot beyond the arc. Four came tonight. He comes in the second half after going 0fer in the first half and makes 3 or 4 threes and everyone heaps kudos on him but says nothing about the 6 air balls and clanks that he threw up taking them out of any rhythm what so ever. Some one said he does other things to help them team but I'm sorry I dont see it. He's the most selfish player I've ever seen in a bearcat uniform. Hes a likable kid but since the tournament (s) are not in our future and JD isn't going anywhere soon I think it would best to give game experience to Lahkin (till he fouls out) Hensley and OO. Lets see them play for more than 5 minute spurts.

[leo from jersey]

We used to say takes 20 to make 10 and scores 20 gives up 30 or something like that. It has been decades

[Corporateballa]

I’ll tell you one thing, this ain’t on coach Miller. I’ve seen them practice. It’s really intense, lots of profanity, very physical. These guys just aren’t any good. Mid-major talent. They only practice 1 hr 45 mins. Not enough time to do individual drills, team offense and team defense. I used to get frustrated at Jeremiah’s shot selection but he’s our best hope. Who else is gonna shoot it? Patience weed hopper. It’s gonna take some time.

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

We're criticizing Davenport when he was 8 out of 14 from the field and MAW was 2 for 15? Yes, he takes some bad shots, but he and DDJ are our entire offense. Why is Ado still in the lineup when he is a total offensive liability?

[BorisTheCat]

I too will stick up for JD.. his 38% 3PT shooting is by FAR the best on the team. Over the last five games MAW on the other hand is shooting less than 20% on 3's.
I echo Corporate in saying this roster just does not have much talent on it.... there was only so much CWM could do in that short amount of time he had to build a roster.
So.. for the rest of this year... I'm not sure what is left to determine. I wish I could sense that players were playing to be on next year's roster but... Come on end of season.

[Fox19bearcatbounce]

Imagine the percentage if he took good shots, maw is a liability anymore on offense and his double clutching layups are miserable to watch. Ado is hard to watch on offense I agree and his rebounding is almost no existent, I know for a fact if they worked the ball around and attacked to pass they would be much better for it. The thing with jd is that he can make shots but the ones he chooses to take and at the most inopportune times makes him look worse than he is. If jd just let the shots come to him vs forcing he would be lethal from 3. No one ever has said that miller didnt get the leftovers, no one said these guys are the best ever but there has not been adjustments nor positive anything u could point out about players getting better, **** if they would box out it would be a giant giant positive gain. I have seen them get actually worse on defense and unless on fire bad on offense. Is it not ok to expect progress even when losing. All I see are guys hoisting up I'll advised shots all game and then playing actual defense after they have dug themselves into a whole. We understand they dont have the best individual players, but when you dont have a team first mentality on offense then it blows their bad offense up way worst. I want to see boxing out and good shots, why is that to much to ask and why do we keep saying our players are so terrible when in any other year they are scoring enough to win if the defense was as good as advertised.

[Fox19bearcatbounce]

One more thing I keep hearing is it's not on miller, why not? It's not on him to get guys in that listen? Were losing regardless, what does it matter if they pull a guy for not boxing out or taking multiple bad shots that are absolutely garbage and u could get them with 5 seconds left on shotclock? Why isnt any blame on miller since he is allowing guys to play? That baffles me, if they are not listening then do not play them, something is off.

[longtimefan]

I’ll tell you one thing, this ain’t on coach Miller. I’ve seen them practice. It’s really intense, lots of profanity, very physical. These guys just aren’t any good. Mid-major talent. They only practice 1 hr 45 mins. Not enough time to do individual drills, team offense and team defense. I used to get frustrated at Jeremiah’s shot selection but he’s our best hope. Who else is gonna shoot it? Patience weed hopper. It’s gonna take some time.

After JD air balled a 30 footer with time left in the clock I was glad coach pulled him. I was upset when he put JD back in 2 minutes later, what kind of lesson is that? But then what else is CWM supposed to do when he only has two reliable scorers? In the old days around here a guy would do something selfish or stupid, and immediately look toward the bench to see who was replacing him. We just don’t have the roster to do that right now.

[Rufus]

Because of JD's "bad shot selection" he put them in a 14 point hole in the first half. Neither he nor DDJ. could hit anything. And I will agree whole heartedly on MAW' s shooting %. It is atrocious. Hes another one who has regressed instead of progressing but on the plus side he doesn't sling shots up as soon as he crosses mid court. He just cant make shots period. He used to be steady with the ball but with self ball he fell in love with the double clutch. So why ride out the year status quo? Why not ride some others to develope other options?

[BorisTheCat]

Rufus.. thats just not accurate about JD in the first half.... Look at the first half shooting stats... it wasnt JD taking and missing the bad shots.
He was actually 3 of 5 in the first half

[Fox19bearcatbounce]

Rufus.. thats just not accurate about JD in the first half.... Look at the first half shooting stats... it wasnt JD taking and missing the bad shots.
He was actually 3 of 5 in the first half

I think what rufus is trying to say is jd takes a ton of I'll advised selfish shots, we all know this. When he takes good shots he is a sniper the ones he misses are usually ones that anyone can get at any time. Also his lack of athleticism shines through on defense all though I for once seen someone block out tonight and it was jd. We can always point to guys when shots are falling but what else do they do. Case in point newman gives us 10 one game and 0 next couple games but u can always rely on him to hustle and do little things. With jd that's not necessarily the case, he takes shots but isnt able to make up for the crappy ones because he is a bad defender. Regardless if anyone thinks they have progressed since the first 5 games , your not watching Cincinnati. While jd has had good shooting games, he has always had bad defensive games and his shot selection does not make up for his weakness on other sides of ball most times. I have also watched plenty of games where jd shot selection has bitten us by 10 or 15 points. Yes he can make them but he has no problem with going 0 for 5 either, basically it's his shot selection and shot timing.

[BorisTheCat]

Rufus specifically claimed that "Because of JD's "bad shot selection" he put them in a 14 point hole in the first half" which is absolutely not true.
I attempted to make no statement beyond pointing out that inaccuracy of that statement when looking at todays game.

I mean... for the game:

JD 8 of 14

DDJ: 6 of 16
MAW: 2 of 15
JN3: 3 of 9
MS: 0 of 4

But sure.. JD was the problem today.

[Fox19bearcatbounce]

Meant no disrespect, I do agree he shot ball pretty good in first half. My comments are what else does he do besides shoot? However not counting the first half tonight I could definitely see where he is coming from. with jd the problem is shot selection with maw its double clutching and just not able to make shots. We all know newman shouldn't be shooting 3 pt shots unless wide open and with mikey's speed he should be setting up guys for shots and other than maybe one or 2 shots he needs to be the facilitator.

[BorisTheCat]

Unfortunately, you can ask the same question about everyone on this roster... AT LEAST he is a fairly consistent scorer. I think all of us fans are just mentally fatigued from having to watch a level of play unworthy of the Bearcat tradition.

[BorisTheCat]

Would also like to point out... that this year: JD leads the team in 3pt % and rebounding... is second in scoring and FT %.
Don't know that his defense is that much worse than the rest of the roster. Again... Not sure how I became the "JD Defender" today but... When we are trying to assess the situation, ya gotta be sure to make sure your data is good.