Clemson 12/21 3:00 ESPN

[bearcatlifer]

Agree with above. You can see it in his body language.Abaev thinks he is too cool for school Either that or he is incapable of moving quickly with purpose Sit his butt down and send the message that his type of attitude is unacceptable.As for Krissa...he's just an erratic wildman.Should get limited PT. Sort of like a goon in hockey. Keep up the positive vibes.Either we improve and actually win a few or the season is a total loss and CWM is gone. Its good either way!

[leo from jersey]

by benching Shon not only did the offense improve, but the defense and team toughness increased dramatically. I am all for bringing him along a little slower, but I think he was promised pt for signing. I would hope that CWM will scheme for Shon's strengths as jacking up 3s is not his forte. My fear he is portal bound. With JJ, there were several really bad decisions with his passing and then reactions. While he is just coming back, this is his third year. I hope though he still keeps passing with some solid coaching and not go back to his old habits. I can live with the mistakes against Alabama State but yesterday was a big time game. What else do the Cats have though. Tillery is not ready, and Kerr isn't any real help now. The Cats are going to see some big, quick and smart guards in Houston. It is time to step up. The question is what took CWM so long in benching the two. Did Roy Williams offer suggestions?

PS with the two on the bench instead of jacking up clunkers, it gave Day Day the opportunity to shoot. He came out of his slump against Alabama state and was up to the task. he just couldn't shoot that much when others were.

[leo from jersey]

Nope. Many factors- Clemson has 2nd half issues
with big leads apparently, Day Day and Thiam hit some
shots which helps the defense, and there were some
adjustments made (as delineated by SEDZ) which fostered
the come back, imo.

what caused the transition defense playing quite well -- it wasn't part of the offensive scheme. Perhaps the hustle caused some of Clemson's 2nd half issues -- like no easy shots and their offense's tempo out of whack. Why do you suppose they ran hard in the second half? Well all but one ---- Did Buck Harris running set the tempo for the team? Many complained his lack of stats, but stats only tell the obvious and often just what the eye can see --- A team just doesn't turn it on without someone setting the pace. What caused him to hustle is what I am wondering. Did he see a couple who generally play his position get benched?

[SKell82155]

Do u believe it was just mental?

Nope. Many factors- Clemson has 2nd half issues
with big leads apparently, Day Day and Thiam hit some
shots which helps the defense, and there were some
adjustments made (as delineated by SEDZ) which fostered
the come back, imo.

[bearcatjd]

CWM finally made 2 good decisions. He sat Shaun& Kerr. Horrible first half coaching. This has to end. 18 points in the first half 🤪

[Rufus]

You could expect some hero ball in the second half as those five haven't worked that much together but still managed to pull within three. The question that needs to asked is why in the world does Miller continue to play the two who in the first place refuse to play as a team or the other one who is a turnover just waiting to occur. We are getting ready to enter conference play and Miller is just now figuring this out? I'm not buying it. But I bet FanDuel hopes we do.

[leo from jersey]

quote "Yeah, I am with you on that one. What took Miller so long to put Kriisa and Abaev on the bench and try something else? There is a silver lining here (sort of). It appears that UC has found a competitive starting five." unquote.

Right! Until the next game. The monies of Cincy reigns will force Miller to start the same five that started this game. The NIL money ain't going to sit the bench very long.

So the scheme that worked might have been getting rid of the hero ballers and then have the team be a team and run the offense.Still we had some hero ball players and while they did better than the 2 benched, their me first costed some points both on offense and transition defense.

[Rufus]

I don't think I'm wrong on this and I hope I am, because if I 'm wrong then Miller is a very very stupid bball coach. But I think Miller is being told who to play, or more likely who gets the most minutes. We can only guess as to who or they are. It was blatantly obvious as to who were the five most productive players in the second half. With the climate of legalized betting and the NIL money being spent on these highly ranked recruits in College sports is this scenario that too far fetched? There's something rotten in Denmark and the uppity ups don't seem to care!

[Rufus]

quote "Yeah, I am with you on that one. What took Miller so long to put Kriisa and Abaev on the bench and try something else? There is a silver lining here (sort of). It appears that UC has found a competitive starting five." unquote.

Right! Until the next game. The monies of Cincy reigns will force Miller to start the same five that started this game. The NIL money ain't going to sit the bench very long.

[sedz]

65 points in 67 possessions, less than a point per possession yet again. We put up just 18 in the first half but 47 in the second half. The defense was marginally better in the second, conceding 30 against 38 in the first. Better late effort accounts for some of that, but to me, the strategy choices me made were the principal driver behind nearly tripling our offensive output. First, we rejected screens and moved actions to the wings. That created space for driving lanes in the middle of the floor. Day Day used several off ball screens for catch and shoot threes. These are staples of modern basketball that almost every good offense uses. Will Wes recognize that and change our philosophy, or will we revert to iso ball with high ball screens, like we saw in the first half and the stretch with Abaev on the floor in the second?

The other change we made was to play our best players. Our five highest BPM guys are Baba, Day Day, James, Thiam, and Harris. That's the group that got the most minutes over the final 20. Abaev and Kriisa barely saw the floor in the second, and Tillery didn't play at all. I think Abaev can be a great player, but he has to learn how to play in a system first. He can't be taking contested fadeaway threes early in the shot clock. He was calling for ball screens in the few minutes he had in the second half. I think Wes specifically decided to abandon those at halftime, and if Abaev can't execute the plan, he's gotta sit.

Day Day was by far the best player on the court with 8.3 net points. He flourished getting open off the ball in the second half and hit 5 of 9 threes to go with 3 steals. Thiam was second best with 3.9 net points. Freed from ball screen duty, he made himself available for weak side dump offs and wing post ups. He scored 11 from the field on just 8 shots and went 4 for 4 from the line. Those were the only players with positive OBPM, but Baba had positive net points thanks to his defense, leading the team in blocks and defensive boards.

Celestine had the worst game with negative 4.8 net points. 3 points on 6 shots, no assists, 2 turnovers, and a team worst DBPM. Kriisa was next worst, held scoreless with no assists and a turnover in 9 minutes. James (3 for 9 from the field, 3 turnovers) and Abaev (1 for 5, no assists, 2 turnovers)also had poor games. Harris and Dzellat were close to neutral.

[leo from jersey]

Do u believe it was just mental?

Yes - you could see the body language difference between the halves. Even the announcers spoke about it as the difference. As I keep on saying you could have the greatest schemers making out the plans, but if the guys are not into running it, you have nothing. First you need a team ready to do everything to win and then a leader who gives them what they need to win. First motivation and then the planning.

Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.": – Kevin Durant.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan.

"Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory." Bill Russell

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They just didn't try the first half. The scheme would not have work even if Coach K, Dean Smith and John Wooden schemed it.

I agree with the second greatest bb player :"“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” – Larry Bird

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Someone on this blog mentioned Jerrod Calhoun, basketball coach for Utah State, as the next coach for UC. I happened to see Utah State play Colorado State yesterday. I was surprised at the level of defense that they play. Full court-trapping and double-teams are routine for them. Also, these guys can score as well. USU scores about 85 points a game and gives up about 66 points a game. Not bad.

After watching the USU game, I looked up Jerrod Calhoun. First of all, he is a UC grad. He has been an assistant coach under Bob Huggins at Walsh, UC, and West Virginia. He has been at Utah State for 2 years. His first year (last year), Utah State went 26-8 and made the NCAAs. Utah State is currently 10-1. Calhoun has won 80% of his games since he has been at Utah State.

I like this guy. To be honest with you all fellas, I do not think Coach Miller is going to be around after this season. UC should now begin to examine Calhoun at Utah State. Also, Shaheen Holloway, from Seton Hall, is a good young coach. It is clear that some changes with the basketball program must be made. I would be the most surprised person on earth if UC brought Miller back for another year. It appears to be the case that Miller is not an effective high-major NCAA basketball coach. His skill level is probably better suited for the mid-major level.

Today's loss really stings. UC, and Miller, are 0-4 against the high-major teams on this year's schedule. It makes the program look very weak going into BIG XII play.

[BearKatz]

maybe it was just a mental adjustment that the team needed.

Do u believe it was just mental?

[leo from jersey]

Helluva of 2nd half comeback that fell short!

Cliftonite said it best, it's ALWAYS one half or the other.

As Sedz suggested, Wes made the necessary adjustments to get us back in the game.

Here's my issue with this game and ALL the other Wes Miller losses over the last 5yrs. A GOOD Coach would have never let this team get down 33 -7! A good coach would have made the necessary adjustments in the first 10mins of the game.

maybe it was just a mental adjustment that the team needed.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Been obvious for a while that they belong on the bench. If Wes hadn't waited until we were down 20+ to finally do it, we might have won this game.

At least the second half lineup gave some hope that maybe we'll at least be competitive in the big 12. NCAA tournament seems just about impossible at this point though.

Yeah, I am with you on that one. What took Miller so long to put Kriisa and Abaev on the bench and try something else? There is a silver lining here (sort of). It appears that UC has found a competitive starting five.

Having a team mentally ready to play is the job of the coach. As big of a game as this was for UC, why didn't Miller have the team ready to play at the beginning of the game? Bad starts are characteristics of Miller's UC teams.