Colorado 1/15 9:00 ESPN+

[London 'Cat]

CU was missing two starters, I believe. UC did not shoot very well but neither did CU. I am happy UC won but this game but UC did not do anything to ease my overall worries. Lots of work to do.

[leo from jersey]

just watched this morning. Somebody had to win. Glad it was the Cats. On the plus side -- The Cats made some FTs and SL had some nice shots. On the minus CU too easy getting down the lane. Luckily they couldn't make most of their easy shots. CJ is playing better especially on defense. CWM need not get puffed up after the win. Consider the competition.

[GoBearcats31]

UC stayed at 41 in the NET (but picked up a Q2 road win)

[Rufus]

JJ still in a funk, Aziz contributed nothing whatsoever offensively or defensively, Mitchell raised his free throw pct but otherwise was held to single digit in offense. They got the monkey off their back but I saw nothing in the way of correcting the myriad of issues that they have. But a win is a win and a road win. However it was good to CJ out for significant minutes and even scoring. Hopefully he can get his bball balance established and be a major contributor this season. As it looks were gonna need all the shooters we can get our hands on. One more thing who on here thinks we would be better off with Page starting / and or getting Aziz' minutes?

[leo from jersey]

JJ still in a funk, Aziz contributed nothing whatsoever offensively or defensively, Mitchell raised his free throw pct but otherwise was held to single digit in offense. They got the monkey off their back but I saw nothing in the way of correcting the myriad of issues that they have. But a win is a win and a road win. However it was good to CJ out for significant minutes and even scoring. Hopefully he can get his bball balance established and be a major contributor this season. As it looks were gonna need all the shooters we can get our hands on. One more thing who on here thinks we would be better off with Page starting / and or getting Aziz' minutes?

Page is worth a try. I agree a Slopy win but a win. It was fortunate the Cats caught them down two starters. Right now, regardless of a win, the Cats are not good.

[GoBearcats31]

JJ still in a funk, Aziz contributed nothing whatsoever offensively or defensively, Mitchell raised his free throw pct but otherwise was held to single digit in offense. They got the monkey off their back but I saw nothing in the way of correcting the myriad of issues that they have. But a win is a win and a road win. However it was good to CJ out for significant minutes and even scoring. Hopefully he can get his bball balance established and be a major contributor this season. As it looks were gonna need all the shooters we can get our hands on. One more thing who on here thinks we would be better off with Page starting / and or getting Aziz' minutes?

Bandaogo is still the superior option defensively to Page. I was not keyed into him last night when watching, but just from the box score the 5 defensive rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals (and surely a bunch of altered shots) seems like nothing to scoff at.

Page is intriguing but seems like anytime he gets the ball on offense he just shoots or goes up with it -- not to say that is wrong given the broken offense right now, but...

[leeraymond]

The Colorado game was one of those games where UC did not shoot the ball well but still took the win. UC had four players that scored in double figures (Simas, Mitchell, Skillings, and Thomas). Thomas should get more shots. He really is one of the keys. Simas hit a couple of really big threes down the stretch. Aziz pulled down 10 rebounds although Dak torched him for 19 points.

Forget about the stats and all of that stuff. UC won because of its new uniforms. UC has not lost a game yet in those new uniforms. Hey, do not even bother to wash them. Keep on wearing them. Back to Fifth Third and Arizona State. Wear new uniforms.

[leo from jersey]

The Colorado game was one of those games where UC did not shoot the ball well but still took the win. UC had four players that scored in double figures (Simas, Mitchell, Skillings, and Thomas). Thomas should get more shots. He really is one of the keys. Simas hit a couple of really big threes down the stretch. Aziz pulled down 10 rebounds although Dak torched him for 19 points.

Forget about the stats and all of that stuff. UC won because of its new uniforms. UC has not lost a game yet in those new uniforms. Hey, do not even bother to wash them. Keep on wearing them. Back to Fifth Third and Arizona State. Wear new uniforms.

Day Day got a bulk of his points from his drives. Has to be clear-outs, but he did drive into some traffic successfully.

[Gmann]

JJ still in a funk, Aziz contributed nothing whatsoever offensively or defensively, Mitchell raised his free throw pct but otherwise was held to single digit in offense. They got the monkey off their back but I saw nothing in the way of correcting the myriad of issues that they have. But a win is a win and a road win. However it was good to CJ out for significant minutes and even scoring. Hopefully he can get his bball balance established and be a major contributor this season. As it looks were gonna need all the shooters we can get our hands on. One more thing who on here thinks we would be better off with Page starting / and or getting Aziz' minutes?

I'd like to see Page get more minutes over Aziz. At least they need to guard Page unlike Aziz. I see Aziz' value on the boards and defense but he is a major liability on offense. They need someone who is a threat to score at the basket in order to open up shots from the perimeter. These guys need to finish with strength and through contact. There is too much fading away and flipping it up aimlessly.

[GoBearcats31]

After going 16/21 from the FT line last night, UC has vaulted ... up to 341 out of 355 DI teams in free throw percentage.

UC (63.87%) is one spot behind #340 Utah (63.98% but on 109 more attempts by Utah) - UC faces Utah twice in the next four weeks. TCU is even worse at 62.81%.

Colorado is one of the better FT shooting teams in the country (and trailing only UCF and Texas Tech ever so slightly among tops in the conference) despite a very Bearcat-like 13/21 last night.

[sedz]

We scored under a point per possession yet again, but it was good enough for a win. Simas was our best player with 4.2 net points, finally connecting on a few triples. Reed came in second with 3.8 net points in only 13 minutes. He posted a whopping 16.4 defensive BPM, even besting Colorado's Dak and his 8 blocks. 3 steals, 3 defensive boards, 2 assists, and zero turnovers is a solid line for only a third of the game. Day Day and Jizzle had the worst games - we only got 2 assists from the PG spot.

[leeraymond]

Day Day got a bulk of his points from his drives. Has to be clear-outs, but he did drive into some traffic successfully.

Yeah Leo, I checked that out too. To me, Thomas needs to shoot the ball from the three-point line a little more. Thomas is shooting 39.5% overall on the season from three. In conference play he is shooting just 30.8%. However, James compared to Thomas, is shooting a dismal 7.7% (1-13) in conference play. In fact, James went into the CU game 0-12 (.000) from three. He hit the first one last night. On the season overall, James is shooting 28.6% from three. It seems to me, from the lead guard spot, Thomas gives UC its best chance to get long range scoring. However, it appears that right now, Thomas is focused on getting the ball into the paint. You would think that Thomas would get to the free throw line a little more.

A side note: Thomas also got his shot blocked a few times last night trying to drive on the 6'11" big. Thomas surprised me when he just laid the ball up on the break-away instead of trying to jam it. Maybe he is learning how to win. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[sedz]

I'm happy that we changed things up on offense a bit. We ran a lot of inverted sets in the second half. Check out these two plays: https://x.com/bendog28/status/1879744104437051558

Simas sets up on the block and Aziz stays at the top of the key throughout both plays. Jizzle gives up the ball and then just goes and stands in the corner. Simas can then come off of down screens or handoffs and the interior is left wide open for the wings (in this case Mitchell) to cut into. The offense flows much better when Jizzle doesn't have the ball in his hands at the top. This is the same concept as the point forward I've been wanting to try. Everything is focused on Simas in the middle of the floor here. More of that please.

[leo from jersey]

I'm happy that we changed things up on offense a bit. We ran a lot of inverted sets in the second half. Check out these two plays: https://x.com/bendog28/status/1879744104437051558

Simas sets up on the block and Aziz stays at the top of the key throughout both plays. Jizzle gives up the ball and then just goes and stands in the corner. Simas can then come off of down screens or handoffs and the interior is left wide open for the wings (in this case Mitchell) to cut into. The offense flows much better when Jizzle doesn't have the ball in his hands at the top. This is the same concept as the point forward I've been wanting to try. Everything is focused on Simas in the middle of the floor here. More of that please.

when there was effort to get SL open, he came through mostly. Much better than the last few games. I expect more, but its a start.

[longtimefan]

A road win in the Big 12 is huge against anybody. Interestingly, if both teams shot their normal FT percentage, UC would have lost.