2025-26 Roster

[bearcatbret]

Before anyone posts the Jizzle James to the NBA draft IG post, It's fake.

He would have missed the filing deadline anyway. I am just concerned that it is a signal for more me-ball. https://fanrecap.com/bearcats-star-p...1e8eeC_XQzMHWg

[Lobot]

Before anyone posts the Jizzle James to the NBA draft IG post, It's fake.

[zykarious]

Looking at next year's roster is making me wonder who on the team can drive the ball to the rim and finish. Thomas can get the ball to the rim consistently. He does not always finish because of his size. James can drive the ball somewhat, but he would rather pull up and take the mid-range jumper. Who else can get the ball to the rim? I have not seen enough of Abaev and I have never seen Tillery. What about Kriisa?

If UC does not have anyone that can get the ball to the rim consistently next season, it may be somewhat easy to play defense against them. If the guards and the wings are primarily jump shooters that pass the ball inside to the big men, all an opposing team has to do is play good tough pressure defense on the ball to take away the entry pass (like Villanova did last year). Teams could also put bigger wings on Thomas, James, Tillery, maybe Kriisa (if he is playing the point) to take away their vision to make entry passes. Teams could also double team UC's smaller guards, like Houston does.

I do not know how much NIL money is still left in the kitty, but UC needs to go out and get a slasher type of wing if it can for next season.

I think the hope is that Jizzle and Day Day are more capable of driving and finishing than it seems. Teams could pack the paint against us last year because Aziz and Mitchell couldn't shoot.

Thiam and Baba should force teams to stretch the floor and that in theory will open lanes. Plus we should have better passing and faster ball movement that prevent the defense from getting set.

Harris, Baba and Haynes all may be capable of taking the ball to the rim as well. Kriisa and Celestine are pure 3-point shooters.

[red_n_black_attack]

Chad said on last night's Bearcat Bounce Podcast that he is hearing from some sources that we are completely done adding impact players and he is also hearing from other sources that we are still open to adding another impact player.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?gid=0#gid=0

There aren't too many players left that we have been rumored or looosely associated with. Kam Woods would be a nice addition, but I'd guess the more recent additions to the tracker are more likely since the earlier additions are still unsigned.

[leeraymond]

6' Keyshuan Tillery - freshman
6'1 Day Day Thomas
6'3 Jizzle James
6'3 Kerr Kriisa (Kentucky)
6'7 Jalen Celestine (Baylor)
6'7 Shon Abaev - freshman
6'8 Jalen Haynes (George mason)
6'9 Tyler McKinley
6'10 Halvine Dzellat
7' Baba Miller
7'2 Moustapha Thiam (UCF)

Looking at next year's roster is making me wonder who on the team can drive the ball to the rim and finish. Thomas can get the ball to the rim consistently. He does not always finish because of his size. James can drive the ball somewhat, but he would rather pull up and take the mid-range jumper. Who else can get the ball to the rim? From the footage that I have seen, Abaev and Kriisa are primarily three-point scorers with good range. Abaev can get the ball into the paint, but he would rather pull up and take the three.

In addition to Thomas, Tillery appears is the only other guy on the team that is able to get the ball in the paint whenever he wants. His offensive highlight footage is very impressive. Given that he stays healthy, Tillery should be able to play significant minutes as a backup. Depending on his defense, his offense may be good enough to get some minutes on the floor with the starting five. I like Tillery. It appears that he can shoot the three or take his man off the dribble.

If UC does not have anyone that can get the ball to the rim consistently next season, it may be somewhat easy to play defense against them. If the guards and the wings are primarily jump shooters that pass the ball inside to the big men, all an opposing team has to do is play good tough pressure defense on the ball to take away the entry pass. Teams could also put bigger wings on Thomas, James, Tillery, and maybe Kriisa (if he is playing the point) to take away their vision to make entry passes. Teams could also double team UC's smaller guards, like Houston does and similar to what Villanova did last season.

I do not know how much NIL money is still left in the kitty. However, if it can, UC needs to go out and get a slasher type of big wing for next season.

[Carthage World]

Chad said on last night's Bearcat Bounce Podcast that he is hearing from some sources that we are completely done adding impact players and he is also hearing from other sources that we are still open to adding another impact player.

[sedz]

Does the model specifically account for coaching? Not to nit pick, but maybe it would be more accurate to infer that any negative adjustment may be related to the observed discrepancy between predicted finish and actual finish last year.

Yes, that's what is happening. "Coaching adjustment" is my own choice of words.

[leeraymond]

Adding Baba Miller to the roster is a major plus. Both Miller and Thiam are very similar players. Here are stat lines per game for both from last year:

Miller: 11.3 pts., 7 reb, 48.6% (overall), 57.9% (from 2), 34% (from 3), 64% (FT),1.7 blocks, 1.9 TOs, and 2.4 fouls. Miller takes 2.88 foul shots a game, 21% of his rebounds are offensive, and 39% of his shots are 3s.

Thiam: 10.4 pts., 6.4 reb, 49.8% (overall), 57.9% (from 2), 29.1% (from 3), 66.7% (FT), 2.58 blocks, 1.3 TOs, and 2.76 fouls. Thiam takes 2.2 foul shots a game, 41.3% of his rebounds are offensive, and 28% of his shots are 3s.

Both of these guys are productive big men. Both guys can stretch the floor. Thiam is probably more of an inside player with his blocks and offensive rebounding. Both players are poor free throw shooters. Both players also shoot a high percentage from inside the arc. UC should be one of most inside dominate teams in college basketball next season. This should be the best UC front line since Clark and Washington.

There is no need to design only ally-oop shots with these guys. Miller needs to make these two guys a major part of the offense. James and Thomas have got to realize now that there is no need to try to win the game by themselves. They truly have some inside help on this team now.

Coach Miller cannot be afraid to bench James or Thomas for reckless, bone-headed, and selfish play. James and Thomas must keep the big men involved. Miller must play the other guards if Thomas and James want to hog the offense. I cannot think of many reasons why UC should not win next season, except for Coach Miller himself.

[DesertFog]

On Torvik we finished #44 overall, offense #89, defense #19.
We began last year #27 overall, offense #38, defense #27.
Going into next year #29 overall, offense #47, defense #17.

I think the model is giving us a negative coaching adjustment on offense based on how we performed last year.

Does the model specifically account for coaching? Not to nit pick, but maybe it would be more accurate to infer that any negative adjustment may be related to the observed discrepancy between predicted finish and actual finish last year.

[sedz]

And what did they finish last year?

On Torvik we finished #44 overall, offense #89, defense #19.
We began last year #27 overall, offense #38, defense #27.
Going into next year #29 overall, offense #47, defense #17.

I think the model is giving us a negative coaching adjustment on offense based on how we performed last year.

[GoBearcats31]

#29 overall. Offense #47, defense #17.

And what did they finish last year?

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

#29 overall. Offense #47, defense #17.

I'm really thinking that we will need Abaev's offense.

[bearcatbret]

Call me crazy but if the team does not pass better, dribble less and quit me-balling, it does not matter.

[sedz]

I think the rotation will be closer to 8 than 10 in conference. Barring injury, Tillery will have to beat out Kriisa or choose between playing 5 or fewer minutes per game and red-shirting.

My belief is that fans generally overestimate the impact freshmen and transfers will have and underestimate returning players.

Assuming everyone stays healthy, the rotation in conference is probably along the lines of.

Kriisa, Day Day and Jizzle get virtually all of the guard minutes. Kriisa may be the weakest link because he's not a good defender. I'd argue Day Day is the best positioned for minutes as he is the best defender of the 3 and is a very good 3-point shooter.

Harris/Abaev share minutes at the 3, with the split slightly in Harris's favor (25/15) unless Abaev excels.

MIller/Thiam take the majority of the minutes at the 4/5, with Celestine/McKinley/Haynes/Dzellat fighting for the scraps. The backup for each game may be situational or one guy may stand out from the pack, take the majority of the backup minutes and keep the other 3 on the bench. It sounds like McKinley is the most well rounded, but he also hasn't done anything at the college level yet. Celestine/Haynes seem more like a situational rotation pair.

Right, I think 10 is the maximum rotation. 8 is probably ideal.

I don't know if it matters what position we assign to Harris. He should be on the other team's best guard when he's on the floor, whether that's the PG, SG, or SF. I think he could play alongside Abaev at times. They're both wings, which spot becomes irrelevant. Same with Celestine. He played mostly the 3 spot before Ojianwuna got hurt, and mostly the 4 afterward. His production was roughly the same, so he's capable of playing both positions. But just like with Kriisa and Tillery, I think best case is Abaev and McKinley are both good enough that Celestine can't earn minutes.

[sedz]

So what are the statistical models predicting for the upcoming season now that Baba Miller has been added to the fold?

#29 overall. Offense #47, defense #17.