Dayton 11/11 7:00 ESPN+

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Although UC has looked good and bad this year, it has held teams to .349 shooting over three games. UC has also held teams to .23 shooting from the three-point line. UC is shooting .469 and .33 from three. UC is outrebounding teams by just 4.5 / game. UC is making 20 free throws / game. Its opponents make about 14.6 free throws / game.

If someone were to look at those numbers, they would think all is well in basketball land. "Not so fast my friend" as Lee Corso would say. Dayton got off 17 more shots than UC last night. Imagine what the outcome would have been had Dayton hit some of those shots. Also, after last night's game, UC has now turned the ball over 18.3 times a game. Damn! I have been watching UC basketball for over 20 years and have never seen a UC team turn the ball over that much; ever.

I have seen Louisville multiple times. I have seen Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, and Oklahoma State (by the way, Oklahoma State is a completely different team this year. They destroyed Texas AM by over 20 points last weekend. Do not expect OSU to be the doormats of the league this year). As it now stands, if UC had to play any of those teams, UC would probably lose to all of them.

UC has one more tune-up game to work the kinks out. I am not sure if playing fast is what is needed for UC right now because it has a hard time controlling the ball. Think about this; UC has turned the ball over 14 or more times in all of its games, even the preseason games (I am not sure about the U of M game because the stats are not complete). Also, what happens to the offense when teams stop UC from running up and down the floor. Playing fast is not a real game plan. It is just a way of playing. Where will the offensive strategy come from when more defensive minded teams lock UC down? What will UC do in the half court (where most basketball is played)?

No need to panic after just 3 games. The game against Louisville will really tell us what UC has this year. However, UC must first get through Mount St. Mary's. Let's not overlook them.

[leo from jersey]

24 turnovers, woof. That's four times the number of offensive rebounds we pulled down! Good thing we were hitting from three and Dayton couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Day Day was player of the game with 7.2 net points. He was great on both sides of the ball. Thiam was second best, posting a game high 9.5 DBPM thanks to 4 blocks.

Baba Miller had the worst statistical impact despite 8 points and 10 boards. He turned it over 4 times and went 0-4 at the line with 4 fouls. Everyone else was close to neutral. Tillery, Rodriguez, and Dzellat struggled in limited minutes.

Your stats said thiam was second best due to 4 blocks. I saw more than 4 times were he was beat on the inside for layups and dunks. I appreciate you doing this, but once again stats don't capture so many things.

[GoBearcats31]

UC is currently shooting 64.5% from the stripe.

The best percentage in the Wes Miller era was 69.7% in year 1.

The last time they were 70% or better was 70.4% in 2018-19.

ESPN.com's stats go back to 2002-03 and by far the best year was 2005-06 (75.6%).

[SKell82155]

Free throw shooting is just using good form, repetition, and practice....lots of it.

I think I remember that UC doesn’t practice free
throws ? Miller believes it doesn’t help ?

[sedz]

24 turnovers, woof. That's four times the number of offensive rebounds we pulled down! Good thing we were hitting from three and Dayton couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Day Day was player of the game with 7.2 net points. He was great on both sides of the ball. Thiam was second best, posting a game high 9.5 DBPM thanks to 4 blocks.

Baba Miller had the worst statistical impact despite 8 points and 10 boards. He turned it over 4 times and went 0-4 at the line with 4 fouls. Everyone else was close to neutral. Tillery, Rodriguez, and Dzellat struggled in limited minutes.

[D.A.H.]

Needs work on free throws, TO and deffence will improve. Definatly a better team than last year.

they CAN be a better team - the jury's still out, if they'll put the work and effort in to be better. so far, not real impressed.

[fmirzamd]

Needs work on free throws, TO and deffence will improve. Definatly a better team than last year.

[bearcatrunner]

I have to agree about the basketball IQ of these recent teams — they just don’t take care of the ball. They commit unnecessary fouls with only a couple seconds left on the clock or turn it over when we’re up by 15. Too often they rush down the court and take a contested three or, conversely, pass up open looks with plenty of time remaining.

The frustrating part is that this team has all the pieces to be really good. I love hearing that Abev stayed after the game to work on free throws. Day Day had 4 assists and 3 turnovers, while Kriisa had 8 assists but also 5 turnovers. As a team, we finished with 16 assists and 24 turnovers — that just can’t happen.

I also worry about how much Miller can actually teach this team. It’s always man-to-man defense — can he not teach anything else? Huggs used to mix it up constantly, and that change of pace often led to easy buckets on the other end. Sure, we’ve done a good job of keeping scores low early on, but the truth is the other teams have been making even dumber mistakes than we have. Once we get into Big 12 play, those teams can score — and they play smart basketball.

This group is still new to each other, so there’s time to improve. I just haven’t seen much development from Miller’s teams in the past. He’s a great recruiter, but I’m starting to question how strong he is as a coach. I really hope he proves me wrong, because I like his demeanor and the fact that he seems to push his players to be true student-athletes — which means a lot to me as a grad.

[leo from jersey]

What Millers teams lack most these past few versions is a complete lack of situational awareness / bball IQ. I'll admit that I am no expert but I have played enough to know that when your team has the ball all eyes are supposed to be on the ball ( one who is handling it ) to look for the pass. Kriisa had at least three to's last night that would have been beautiful pases but the receiver was not watching or anticipating it. Millers teams just are not smart bball players. They may be able to put the ball in the basket when no one is defending them. But there no game within the game to box out, get open, move without the ball, posting up, or following up on shots. Miller ball is not bearcat ball.

You wrote " They may be able to put the ball in the basket when no one is defending them" That is the best analysis I have read on Miller's teams. What are they doing out there besides standing around and watching the opponents blow by them on defense yet brag" I got 4 blocks", but gave up 34 to a bad shooting team that only scored due to easy access to the basket for a bunny. The passing was atrocious with players having to reach for the pass thus destroying their rhythm to catch and shoot. There was no boxing out as they just tried to reach over Dayton thinking their height will do it and not skill. Yes even though this was only the third game, but what was that on the court. It was a win we could joke about after all the errors, but there are going to be some well coached teams coming up. I saw that with Arkansas and how they destroyed the Cats. What does this say about Dayton?

[Rufus]

What Millers teams lack most these past few versions is a complete lack of situational awareness / bball IQ. I'll admit that I am no expert but I have played enough to know that when your team has the ball all eyes are supposed to be on the ball ( one who is handling it ) to look for the pass. Kriisa had at least three to's last night that would have been beautiful pases but the receiver was not watching or anticipating it. Millers teams just are not smart bball players. They may be able to put the ball in the basket when no one is defending them. But there no game within the game to box out, get open, move without the ball, posting up, or following up on shots. Miller ball is not bearcat ball.

[GoBearcats31]

Morning Ken Pom #s

UC 114th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency
UC 2nd in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency

(When UC was a 2 seed under Mick they finished 2nd in defensive rating but 49th on offense)

UC is 39th overall (they finished 39th two seasons ago)

[bearcatjd]

Way too many turnovers, poor ft shooting & long droughts without scoring. But a win is a win is a win. We better not play like this against UofL.

[leo from jersey]

I fear for the interior defense. Sure you had a few blocks but look at how often they were beaten to the basket. Dayton shot miserably yet outscored the Cats 34-24 underneath. I didn't see a whole lot of changed shots too. With the size of this year's team one expects more. Of course the ball really wasn't going in that much with the 3s and turnovers, but the Bigs until halfway through the second half were just standing around on offense. This can't be tolerated. The #1 priority is to instill confidence in Tillery. He is the PG future and the Cats can't lose him. CWM must develop him and hopefully before the middle of conference games. DayDay came through on the FT line, but good conference defenders won't be sending him there as much. My favorite play was when they got it to Tyler inside and he had the BB IQ to flip it out when the defenders collapsed hitting a guy for a wide open 3 (his defender tripled on Tyler). I have not seen that unselfish style , besides panic much the last few years. I thought he was in at the end due to his ability to hit fts better even though he was 0-0 while the other 2 bigs who were 1-8.

[Gmann]

Happy to get the win! Pre-Miller I would have been very encouraged in this situation with the talent on the team and some of the positives I saw. Just correct the excessive turnovers and improve the FT shooting and we really have something. Unfortunately with Miller if it's not that it will be something else that sinks them in big games. With Huggins and even Cronin, I thought they could take the lesser talented team and beat the opponent with effort and strategy. I feel just the opposite with Miller. I love the talent but somehow he always gets outcoached or his teams regress. I hope I'm wrong this year.

[bba_1979]

Listened to postgame on the radio. Once they were done (Dan got the Struggle for the Steak point) I switched over to the UD broadcast. Coach Grant took some time to come out so they were just talking. The UD announcer said that since the end of the game Shon Abaev had been at the free throw line at both ends of the court shooting FTs. Good on him. Recognized a need and was working to correct it. Need Baba and Mustapha to do the same.

Also, coach Grant complimented UC. Said UD's shooting woes were attributable to the Bearcats size, length, and physicality.

Let's hope the TOs can be rectified quickly.