Have we turned the corner?

[bearcatrunner]

I’ve been a big Wes fan as a person who recruits well, seems like a good quality guy and makes sure the players are also students. Besides James I’ve not heard of many issues with this team and I’m still not sure what happened there. I’ve seen him come down the tunnel before and after games and signing stuff for kids. He is a super nice and quality guy. Even after tough losses.

The biggest issue he has had IMO is that he is like most parents and wanted to be the kids friend instead of their coach. His benching of Abaev shows me that maybe he is turning the page. This team is much different in the last 6 games than it was before. It looks like Bearcat basketball with the hard play. I so badly want this to continue so Wes will stay our coach and we can have success. I’m so tired of the coaching carousel. He is also starting to switch the defenses up which keeps us from being so predictable. Maybe for once we are going to get better at the end or the season! Great job cats.

[KevMan1976]

I really hope so. Full disclosure, I cancelled my live TV subscription a few weeks back because I didn’t want to be tempted to watch the games.

But I think you’re right: this team seems very different from what we saw earlier in the season.

Yesterday I just had this…feeling. I decided to subscribe to Peacock and watch the game. Man oh man, am I glad I did! That was a lot of fun.

Who knows. Maybe if they win a couple more I will subscribe to live TV again. Lol.

Either way, I’m going to savor this one a bit longer.

Go Bearcats!

[London 'Cat]

I’m certainly excited for the win. And I won’t take anything away from the players and coaches - they were prepared and executed well. But, how meaningful was this win? Iowa St was ranked #2 but it lost to Kansas earlier this week. Was ISU overrated? With a lot of basketball left to play I am reserving judgement until UC can consistently perform against BigXII teams. I feel like we will all be dumping on the team if it loses to AZ later this week, even though road wins in the BigXII are very hard to achieve.

[Rufus]

I have never been down on the team for losing games every one who competes will lose at one time or another and sometimes in bunches. It's always been how these games became losses. For me and a lot of the forum members on here it has always been with the effort, or lack thereof, that led to these losses. I can accept losses if the players are trying their best. But when the losses pile up because of the same old mistakes being made, lack of alertness, energy, or of players just giving up before games ended and in what we have come to term hero ball, all things that can be corrected by the coaching staff, well that's a different animal. It at times seemed as though the coaching staff were merely phoning it in or the players were just not listening. I have seen a different attitude in these last two games. Looking at things from a cautiously optimistic pov, if they can continue with this same tenacity a good season can still be had, but history suggests that that will not happen. If it does, and I hope it does, all the merrier, but I'm not quite ready to pencil them into the big dance just yet. I'm hoping that with the excitement shown yesterday by the student body yesterday storming the court that these players catch some of that exuberance and bball becomes fun again for them. Go 'cats

[bearcatbret]

One or two wins does not make a season nor does it mean that they have turned the corner. However, it appears that they are playing as a team for the bulk of those games. They still have a tendency to revert to bad habits. Let's wait to see which team shows up against AZ.

[bearcated]

The question for some time has not been whether or not they had the talent to win. They've had sufficient talent to compete. The question now is can they sustain this level of effort.

To me the level of success is making the NCAA. They have dug themselves a huge hole. But, they do have all Quad 1 and 2 games from here one out. So they can salvage the season. But they have to win games, and a bunch of them. One big win won't get it done.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

The question for some time has not been whether or not they had the talent to win. They've had sufficient talent to compete. The question now is can they sustain this level of effort.

To me the level of success is making the NCAA. They have dug themselves a huge hole. But, they do have all Quad 1 and 2 games from here one out. So they can salvage the season. But they have to win games, and a bunch of them. One big win won't get it done.

I agree with you. One big win won't get UC into the NCAAs. However, UC has at least 14 more BIG XII games left to prove themselves worthy. The last two wins were Q1 and Q2 wins, respectively. Maybe this UC team has finally figured out the code of winning. Hopefully it has.

I am thinking that at least a 9-9 record is needed at a minimum to get UC on the bubble. The 0-4 record against Power Conference teams in the nonconference will hurt UC's chances. Also, the very bad Q4 loss to EMU will really hurt. Nevertheless, UC still has a chance. It has to continue to play well enough to win.

For now, UC is still in it.

[BearKatz]

Looks like the Cats will make a liar outta me, I didn't expect to win 1-2 more games this season. So they've won back to back games, including the #2 Team in the Nation. Prior to the two game win streak, this team was 8-8 or .500 for the season. I'm not going to start drinking the Kool-Aid yet, over two wins. Iv'e personally been buying in the last 4yrs and where has it gotten me/us? Every year we're right back at square one!

In some ways, this could prolong the inevitable in firing Wes. Let's say we ALL buy in, including the University and we get the same result again next season. I'm skeptical Wes can turn this program around after what Iv'e watched the last 4 plus years.

[bearcatrunner]

Yeah but I’ll go back to when B12 basketball started for them. They have played different despite those 3 initial losses. Up until that point I was discouraged by the teams play. In the last five games I’ve seen Bearcats basketball. Hard nose play, players who are not producing no matter who they are sitting on the bench and some sort of game plan. Even making more free throws and in the last couple of games hitting critical shots. If this play continues the sky is the limit for this team. I love this brand of basketball.

[KevMan1976]

Yeah but I’ll go back to when B12 basketball started for them. They have played different despite those 3 initial losses. Up until that point I was discouraged by the teams play. In the last five games I’ve seen Bearcats basketball. Hard nose play, players who are not producing no matter who they are sitting on the bench and some sort of game plan. Even making more free throws and in the last couple of games hitting critical shots. If this play continues the sky is the limit for this team. I love this brand of basketball.

Agreed. If nothing else, this team has become fun to watch for the first time in a while, and that is certainly refreshing.

Here’s hoping they can keep up the intensity and build some momentum.

[swilsonsp4]

I agree with you. One big win won't get UC into the NCAAs. However, UC has at least 14 more BIG XII games left to prove themselves worthy. The last two wins were Q1 and Q2 wins, respectively. Maybe this UC team has finally figured out the code of winning. Hopefully it has.

I am thinking that at least a 9-9 record is needed at a minimum to get UC on the bubble. The 0-4 record against Power Conference teams in the nonconference will hurt UC's chances. Also, the very bad Q4 loss to EMU will really hurt. Nevertheless, UC still has a chance. It has to continue to play well enough to win.

For now, UC is still in it.

I really hope the Cats can sustain their recent level of play. I really don't want to have this program start over again with a new staff. That said, I don't think that 9-9 will get UC any significant conversation by the selection committee; bare minimum 10-8, and that must include road wins to finish up 8-5 down the stretch. There are six home and seven road games left in the regular season. Holding serve at home is a necessity, barring three road wins. That means knocking off BYU on Senior Day.

Here are the remaining road games: AZ, AZ State, Houston, KS State, KS, TX Tech, TCU.