Way Too Early '24-25

[Lobot]

Goodman at 16. Can't find the link though.

[leo from jersey]

If the Tim Buckley hire is finalized, Wes has had an impressive offseason. Buckley is a very good coach, and has made his mark improving shooters which is a big plus. Keeping the nucleus together, and the adds along with Buckley was a lot of pipe laid in two months.

shot selection as a norm would be a heck of an upgrade. Moving without the ball and awareness from the passer to hit in stride are coachable things. Coach what put the fire in CWM?

[Lobot]

Andy Katz at 23 in his power rankings

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...try-withdrawal

[red_n_black_attack]

I love the early season love from the major prognosticators, and believe UC will end the season somewhere in the mid-teens with a 5 or 6 seed (totally depending on how many Big 12 teams get in and the rule to avoid confence matchups early).

[Lobot]

Updated matrix from field of 68.

https://fieldof68.beehiiv.com/p/way-...alipari-portal

[GoBearcats31]

#22
https://247sports.com/longformarticl...44070/#2426400

Projected starting lineup:

• G Jizzle James
• Wing Dan Skillings
• Wing Simas Lukosius
• F Dillon Mitchell
• C Aziz Bandaogo

Top bench options: G Day Day Thomas, G Connor Hickman, Wing Tyler Betsey, G CJ Frederick, F/C Arrinten Page

The scoop: It's time for Cincinnati to get back to the NCAA Tournament, and this roster has what it takes to do just that. Wes Miller kept the poachers away from most of his top dawgs, and he went into the transfer portal and addressed some of the biggest needs.

Cincinnati needed more shooting and another creator. Bradley transfer Connor Hickman can do that. Cincinnati lost one of its best offensive rebounders (Viktor Lakhin who transferred to Clemson), but Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell should solve that problem. Arrinten Page from USC fills the frontcourt depth void that Cincinnati lost with Jamille Reynolds bouncing for South Florida and Ody Oguama graduating.

As a result, Cincinnati has a little bit of everything.

It has two point guards in Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James (a big breakout candidate). It has multiple big-wing, bucket-getters in Simas Lukosius and Dan Skillings. It has high-level athleticism and loads of roster flexibility. Playing two non-shooters like Aziz Bandaogo and Mitchell together could be a bit clunky, but the athletic pop, rebounding and rim protection is very real. Miller could effortlessly slide Lukosius down to the 4 and insert Hickman to map the floor a bit better.

This is a NCAA Tournament team, but Miller has hopes for something so much more.

[bearcatbret]

7 teams in the top 25 as re-posted by Heartland Sports:
Look: CBS Sports Has Seven Big 12 Hoops Teams in Top 25 for 2024 (heartlandcollegesports.com)

[zykarious]

Chad on his podcast talked about his first day attending basketball Summer workouts (they are open to the media now). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv4uE2pd9UI

Most interesting part, at the end of practice they did a 3 point shooting drill where each guy takes a total of 50 shots from 5 different spots (10 from each spot). Who won? Tyler Betsey went twice, made 42/50 once and 38/50 the other time, beating out Simas who made 37/50 and Hickman who made 35 or 36.

Said Betsey's release is slow and obviously he has some other things to work on to get playing time and has to prove he can make shots when guys are guarding him. But if he's among the best 3-point shooters on team as a 4, he's probably stealing minutes from somebody.

[Barklee]

Chad on his podcast talked about his first day attending basketball Summer workouts (they are open to the media now). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv4uE2pd9UI

Most interesting part, at the end of practice they did a 3 point shooting drill where each guy takes a total of 50 shots from 5 different spots (10 from each spot). Who won? Tyler Betsey went twice, made 42/50 once and 38/50 the other time, beating out Simas who made 37/50 and Hickman who made 35 or 36.

Said Betsey's release is slow and obviously he has some other things to work on to get playing time and has to prove he can make shots when guys are guarding him. But if he's among the best 3-point shooters on team as a 4, he's probably stealing minutes from somebody.

Just to temper expectations, UC had a guy named Quadri Moore that was deadly from 3 in practice, but poor in games. I'm praying Tyler Betsy isn't another Quadri Moore.

[longtimefan]

Just to temper expectations, UC had a guy named Quadri Moore that was deadly from 3 in practice, but poor in games. I'm praying Tyler Betsy isn't another Quadri Moore.

He’s not. This guy is elite, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up starting.

[Carthage World]

Chad on his podcast talked about his first day attending basketball Summer workouts (they are open to the media now). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv4uE2pd9UI

Most interesting part, at the end of practice they did a 3 point shooting drill where each guy takes a total of 50 shots from 5 different spots (10 from each spot). Who won? Tyler Betsey went twice, made 42/50 once and 38/50 the other time, beating out Simas who made 37/50 and Hickman who made 35 or 36.

Said Betsey's release is slow and obviously he has some other things to work on to get playing time and has to prove he can make shots when guys are guarding him. But if he's among the best 3-point shooters on team as a 4, he's probably stealing minutes from somebody.

Another interesting tidbit from Chad's report was that Josh Reed won the team's 1-on-1 drill for the day - meaning he had the highest combination of defensive stops + offensive scores out of all participants.

[zykarious]

Another interesting tidbit from Chad's report was that Josh Reed won the team's 1-on-1 drill for the day - meaning he had the highest combination of defensive stops + offensive scores out of all participants.

Chad has pretty consistently said that Reed looks a lot better on offense in practice than in games. In part perhaps because his role was primarily on the defensive end in games.

To get in games next year though, he needs to improve significantly on offense. We'll see if he can. Even if he does the logjam is such that it may still be tough to get too many minutes.

[zykarious]

Chad has pretty consistently said that Reed looks a lot better on offense in practice than in games. In part perhaps because his role was primarily on the defensive end in games.

To get in games next year though, he needs to improve significantly on offense. We'll see if he can. Even if he does the logjam is such that it may still be tough to get too many minutes.

A couple more tidbits from Chad in the latest podcast: Arrinten Page is really impressing a lot of people, he can move extremely well for his size and can shoot it pretty well. Also noted that Aziz may get another year of eligibility, there are talks that the NCAA will grant everyone who missed time due to waiver issues last year an extra year of eligibility.

[red_n_black_attack]

Another interesting tidbit from Chad's report was that Josh Reed won the team's 1-on-1 drill for the day - meaning he had the highest combination of defensive stops + offensive scores out of all participants.

I believe Reed is going to make huge strides in both offense and defense. Josh was one of our better defenders last year and has put in extra work on defense since coming in as a highly touted 4-star recruit. Reed may very well be a starter due to his defense, but his improved offense will see him get more minutes.

As to possibility of Aziz getting an extra year; my hope is he makes himself a clear NBA draft pick this season and doesn't need the extra year.

[zykarious]

I believe Reed is going to make huge strides in both offense and defense. Josh was one of our better defenders last year and has put in extra work on defense since coming in as a highly touted 4-star recruit. Reed may very well be a starter due to his defense, but his improved offense will see him get more minutes.

As to possibility of Aziz getting an extra year; my hope is he makes himself a clear NBA draft pick this season and doesn't need the extra year.

I wouldn't mind keeping Aziz an extra year, I like him but I think he needs to make massive strides in offensive ability to make the NBA. Almost no offensive ability and doesn't defend well on the perimeter isn't going to be very attractive to NBA teams.

Reed has a logjam of veteran players in front of him. I'd love to see him earn more minutes, but he's going to have to beat out Simas and/or Mitchell to start.