Baylor 1/13 8:00 ESPN

[Gmann]

I'd like to believe that CWM is getting the guys to play tough 'Bearcat' defense. If they do that consistently and with the talent they have they will begin to win some of these games and in this league you just need to win some not all of them. The good thing is that if they ever get to the tournament they will be battle tested and hopefully not wilt from the spotlight.

Also as much as I dislike the portal it does appear to have redistributed talent around the country so that we are seeing "March Madness" type competition in January all across NCAAM basketball. It should be hard for just a few top teams to dominate going forward.

[Lobot]

Box Score :

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401603412

19% on 3PT all from Skillings. You have to get more points out of Simas or Newman if they're going to eat that many minutes. Vik was in foul trouble all night but you've got to get more than one rebound out of him.

[bg703]

The defense was good enough to win. Baylor is 4th in the country in offensive efficiency (1.21 ppp) and UC held them to under a point per possession (0.98). The bigs were essentially a non-factor offensively after Baylor went to the zone. Clearly, the offense needed to be a little better. Simas is shooting 37% from 3 but went 0 for 7 last night. Vik had some unwise fouls that limited his availability.The team looks fine through 3 games, but the last 2 games magnify just how fine the margins are between winning and losing in league play.

[leo from jersey]

Box Score :

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401603412

19% on 3PT all from Skillings. You have to get more points out of Simas or Newman if they're going to eat that many minutes. Vik was in foul trouble all night but you've got to get more than one rebound out of him.

Vik doesn't box out--- He watches the shooter instead of anticipating where the ball will come and positioning himself for it. He should be able to outmuscle guys if all else fails. he refused to put a body on others often due to his being out of position. -- As Barkley said - any knucklehead can score, but it takes a basketball player to rebound. Who else was CWM expecting to score? Josh Reed? Tolentino? JJ on the bench? BTW Terry and Dan didn't ask CWM about JJ. CJ was expected to score, but his injury history has shown that he can't be relied on. That is no insult to CJ, but the truth. Can Anthony give anything? Newman was valuable for his defense and Simas gave leadership although no points or any defense. There needs to be a proven guard (good luck) perhaps through the portal. On days where your shots are not falling, you still can box out, run the floor and play defense. CWM must develop that. Overall, I loved the Cats being in the game, but I hate to lose.

[Joco45215]

[QUOTE=GoBearcats31;n410037]ESPN Play-by-Play: Chuckie Kempf / Analyst: Chris Spatola[/QUOTE]

This dude can kick rocks.....absolute jack wagon.....he basically had a baylor jersey on

[Joco45215]

Neither of those two boxed out or ran the floor defensively.

Those two are horrible defensively. VIK needs to lovk himself in footwork camp on defense....the guy puts himself in bad positions.....his 5th foul had he not jumped he wouldnt had fouled out....they need some old school black top toughness.....

id say run Day day and JJ in the back court most of the game

[leo from jersey]

Those two are horrible defensively. VIK needs to lovk himself in footwork camp on defense....the guy puts himself in bad positions.....his 5th foul had he not jumped he wouldnt had fouled out....they need some old school black top toughness.....

id say run Day day and JJ in the back court most of the game

I saw Vik trying to screen. He was a foot away and the opposite side to where the ball handler was. Needless to be said, the guy wasn't able to shoot. Curtis Bostic and Eric Hicks film need to be watched.

[leeraymond]

as I answered earlier CWM said the play was for Skillings. Obviously Baylor figured it out, covered him and Simas was open. Agree with your comments about learning how not to lose.

I understand. That makes sense.

[longtimefan]

Per Ken Pom through last night's games, UC is #63 in adjusted offense, and #18 in adjusted defense.

[leeraymond]

UC shot the ball 61 times against Baylor. The big men had only 11 shots out of the 61. That is only 18% of the overall shots. Against Baylor the guards shot 36% as a group and the big men shot 54.5% as a group. On the season, the big men are shooting 53% as a group and the guards are shooting 42% as a group. Here is the funny part, on the season, the big men only get 27.8% of the overall shots. Here is my question, why NOT get the big men more involved in the offense? That might help to solve some of the scoring problems at the end of close games. Remember Art Long and Dan Fortson? Those guys were a force down low. How about Gary Clark and Kyle Washington? Those guys won a lot of games together. I think UC may have something in Lakhin and Reynolds down low. These guys may be the closest thing that UC may have to some GO-TO GUYS. However, the guards DO NOT GO TO THEM ENOUGH. Remember, the big men took ONLY 11 SHOTS against Baylor. It may be hard to win without the bigs being FULLY involved with the offense.

Also, one more crazy thought. What do you think the current UC team could do if they were STILL in the American instead of in the BIG 12? Just a thought.

[Rufus]

This team hasn't got anyone on it that can get the ball down low especially when opponents go to a zone.

And no one knows how to set picks on this team, everyone bails out before contact is made. So shooters like Simas, Skillings, and CJ can't shake defenders long enough to get clean shots.

And I also agree that this team needs to watch mucho video of Eric Hicks getting into position to rebound.

[bearcatbret]

If UC were still in the American, we probably would not have the players that we do.

[leo from jersey]

UC shot the ball 61 times against Baylor. The big men had only 11 shots out of the 61. That is only 18% of the overall shots. Against Baylor the guards shot 36% as a group and the big men shot 54.5% as a group. On the season, the big men are shooting 53% as a group and the guards are shooting 42% as a group. Here is the funny part, on the season, the big men only get 27.8% of the overall shots. Here is my question, why NOT get the big men more involved in the offense? That might help to solve some of the scoring problems at the end of close games. Remember Art Long and Dan Fortson? Those guys were a force down low. How about Gary Clark and Kyle Washington? Those guys won a lot of games together. I think UC may have something in Lakhin and Reynolds down low. These guys may be the closest thing that UC may have to some GO-TO GUYS. However, the guards DO NOT GO TO THEM ENOUGH. Remember, the big men took ONLY 11 SHOTS against Baylor. It may be hard to win without the bigs being FULLY involved with the offense.

Also, one more crazy thought. What do you think the current UC team could do if they were STILL in the American instead of in the BIG 12? Just a thought.

the guards are off guards and good ones. My major complaint - No floor leader whether it be a PG or a PF. In past posts I said it will be interesting to see if the guards can get it into the bigs once we faced good defenses. Your stats proved that they are not yet able. I would like to hear CWM comment on why JJ sat most of the game. Hoping the transfer portal as a playmaking floor leader in the coming off season. NIL money would be well used. We have big wings coming, but you still need someone to take charge of the offense and not just drive. That can be planned for, but good passing and directing is hard to stop.

[leo from jersey]

This team hasn't got anyone on it that can get the ball down low especially when opponents go to a zone.

And no one knows how to set picks on this team, everyone bails out before contact is made. So shooters like Simas, Skillings, and CJ can't shake defenders long enough to get clean shots.

And I also agree that this team needs to watch mucho video of Eric Hicks getting into position to rebound.

The first thing my sons tutors from Seton Hall taught them. How to rebound by thinking and then muscle. Stop - take a mental picture and then fight for position. The right positioning gets the rebounds most of the time.

[Rufus]

Leo, I'm a skeptic when it comes to our history of obtaining productive players thru the portal. Our record is not very good. Corporateballa made a very astute comment about the bball IQ of a certain player. I think that could apply to many of these players or the lack of full effort and not following through on certain plays is a result of allowing the players to create their own style. Simas and CJ both are shooters that need plays set up for them to obtain clean looks unless they get the ball out alone with no defender. So to bail out before contact is made to free up Simas or CJ is #1 acceptable, #2 lack of full effort, #3 looking forward to getting the ball back in his own hand ( the pickee ) or # 4 does not fully understand the purpose of picking shooters free to shoot. As most of these guys has been in bball for many years these things are basic bball know how.