20-21 thread

[skyblade]

Our schedule was released last week for those that may have missed it.

https://gobearcats.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

25 games
20 AAC games (home and away w/ other 10 teams)
5 OOC games (3 home, 2 away)

The Enquirer offered a nice breakdown of the OOC schedule if you can get access to the article

We're looking at:

Lipscomb (home - 12/2)
Xavier (home - 12/6)
Furman (home - 12/9)
Tennessee (away - 12/12)
Georgia (away - 12/19)

If we're able to play all 5 games then I'd say:

5-0 = remarkable; on pace to win AAC
4-1 = very good; should compete to win AAC
3-2 = not bad; especially if the losses are competitive
2-3 = a little troublesome; still time to turn things around
1-4 = looking at a rebuilding year
0-5 = only see this happening if we have to play significantly short-handed

My initial guess will be 3-2 with losses @Tenn and X/Furman.

What do others think?

I'm expecting 3-2 or 2-3, I'd be more surprised by 4-1 than by 1-4. Don't expect 0-5 or 5-0.

With lots of new faces and freshmen, I think it's going to take a bit for us to really build into a solid team. But this year we don't have a lot of time to work out kinks, it's almost straight into the fire.

 

[waterhead]

I pretty much agree with waterhead, my big question with the freshmen is how much will they play? Everything Brannen says indicates that he wants to go 10 deep and run at every opportunity.

But the combination of Rap/Vogt is pretty ill suited for running. If they are playing together often are we actually going to be a team that pounds it inside? We have a lot of experience with Cronin promising to run and then never following through, is Brannen going to be the same? His resume indicates he wants to run, but if he starts Rap/Vogt together, it makes it hard to believe.

As with waterhead my biggest concern with Diarra is if he has picked up the 4. He was much better at the 5 last year, but if he only plays the 5 there will only be so many minutes to go around with Vogt/Diarra.

Unlike many it seems I am am also quite concerned about Rap. Not much I have seen convinced me he can play defense at the 4 at this level, especially if he has Vogt - a poor help defender - at the 5. Rap got beat quite a bit off the drive at Colgate when he played the 4 and the AAC is going to have better players. Offensively Rap isn't exactly a sure thing either, his numbers 2 years ago were impressive, but last year the numbers he put up weren't even good at the Colgate level. With tougher defenders, he may struggle on offense at times as well.

I imagine that DeJulius and Keith will average 30+ minutes, limiting minutes for their backups. The big spot where minutes are going to be available is at SG (and possibly the 4 depending on how things play out with Rap/Diarra). I actually think Mason may surprise with the number of minutes he gets. Gabe is known for being a worse defender/rebounder than Mason and if we want a 3-and-D guy Mason may get in over Gabe. Gabe has more potential, but if it takes a while for him to get good at defense, Mason may get more minutes this season.

I wonder a little bit about Rap and his defense or lack of. it won't cut it at this level and I don't think Brannen is just going to roll over. I think Rap has bigger dreams and CJB will help him get there and playing D is going to be high on that list. As well, Rap won't have to be the focal point on offense allowing him to pick better spots and be more efficient. He is going to have to do both of these things to improve his pro stock. He didn't come here for the hell of it.

Along the same lines I don't know about the Gabe and Mason thing. Again, CJB will let them know what each player has to do to get in the game. Gabe will adjust his intensity on D if he wants to play. I could see a scenario where he puts them in the game for heat checks and see who's knocking down 3's.

He has the bench this year to use if players are taking plays off.

 

[skyblade]

I wonder a little bit about Rap and his defense or lack of. it won't cut it at this level and I don't think Brannen is just going to roll over. I think Rap has bigger dreams and CJB will help him get there and playing D is going to be high on that list. As well, Rap won't have to be the focal point on offense allowing him to pick better spots and be more efficient. He is going to have to do both of these things to improve his pro stock. He didn't come here for the hell of it.

Along the same lines I don't know about the Gabe and Mason thing. Again, CJB will let them know what each player has to do to get in the game. Gabe will adjust his intensity on D if he wants to play. I could see a scenario where he puts them in the game for heat checks and see who's knocking down 3's.

He has the bench this year to use if players are taking plays off.

It's not as easy as just telling a player it's not going to cut it though. We've seen plenty of cases with both Brannen and Cronin where despite the coaches best efforts, the guy never really got it together on defense.

The question I have is what position does Rap play, here and in the pro's? It's hard to see him as a 4 at any pro level and Brannen has talked about Rap playing Vogt tough in practices. Rap definitely has some effort/intensity issues on defense, but mobility and size wise he seems well suited to playing center. It's hard to see him as a PF at a higher level.

I'm excited to see the answer when we actually play a game. I could see the minutes breakdown being something like Vogt 20-25 (at center), Rap 20-25 (15-20 center, 5-10 at PF) and Diarra 25-30 at PF (depending on development of Eason/Davenport).

Essentially Rap/Vogt would share duties at center, but play together with Rap at PF for 5-10 minutes each game to give a change of pace. Diarra would start at PF with Vogt and play some sort of hybrid with Rap (where either play could be at center/PF at any given time of defense depending on the situation).

Of course that depends on Diarra playing the 4, something he struggled with last year. But it seems like the most sensible rotation based on the players we have.

 

[justinhub2003]

I have zero expectations for this season.

So I’m 100% less focused on wins & losses and more focused on growth.

I wanna see better defense, a flowing offense and growth from our young guys.


I do think playing Rap and Vogt at the same time is going to be asking for problems defensively. Just need to score more than the other team when those guys are out there. I think rebounding will also be a sore spot for those two guys.


By mid season I’d like to see rap paired with Dou and Vogt paired with Tari. I think it will makes us more balanced.

Guard wise, Zach Harvey is the guy I’m expecting big growth from. I want to see him shake those freshman jitters and just play.

I don’t have huge expectations from the freshman. We need them to help but we don’t need them to be great. With DD, KW, MAW, & ZH, that should be enough to hold down a long of minutes.

 

[justinhub2003]

But I am also excited to see Keith Williams get the keys to the car.

I went back and watched the @USF game and he was brilliant in that comeback. When he believes in himself, he can be unstoppable with his athleticism.

 

[waterhead]

It's not as easy as just telling a player it's not going to cut it though. We've seen plenty of cases with both Brannen and Cronin where despite the coaches best efforts, the guy never really got it together on defense.

The question I have is what position does Rap play, here and in the pro's? It's hard to see him as a 4 at any pro level and Brannen has talked about Rap playing Vogt tough in practices. Rap definitely has some effort/intensity issues on defense, but mobility and size wise he seems well suited to playing center. It's hard to see him as a PF at a higher level.

I'm excited to see the answer when we actually play a game. I could see the minutes breakdown being something like Vogt 20-25 (at center), Rap 20-25 (15-20 center, 5-10 at PF) and Diarra 25-30 at PF (depending on development of Eason/Davenport).

Essentially Rap/Vogt would share duties at center, but play together with Rap at PF for 5-10 minutes each game to give a change of pace. Diarra would start at PF with Vogt and play some sort of hybrid with Rap (where either play could be at center/PF at any given time of defense depending on the situation).

Of course that depends on Diarra playing the 4, something he struggled with last year. But it seems like the most sensible rotation based on the players we have.

I would not argue it would be nice if Dou could play the 4. but I haven't heard much to suggest that will be his main position. Dou can't really put the ball on the ground and is not a great passer. If he and Vogt are in that leaves 3 guys running the motion. Rap will be a 4th player who can run the motion and Eason would probably be a 5th.

I would agree that Vogt and Eason or Rap and Dou give us the best motion offense while giving us some perimeter defensive options at the same time. Rap and Dou would be something Brannen could really run everything with. Vogt limits our options but sometimes we will need that inside presence.

 

[waterhead]

But I am also excited to see Keith Williams get the keys to the car.

I went back and watched the @USF game and he was brilliant in that comeback. When he believes in himself, he can be unstoppable with his athleticism.

If Keith goes all out this year he will be first team with an outside shot to get CPOY. He will likely make some bonehead plays by trying to do too much at times but he's good enough to make big plays for us. The key will be his willingness to assist his teammates and not have a one track mind. Cumberland was always a willing passer. Keith will need to do that as well. He should get 3-4 assists per game.

 

[waterhead]

I would not argue it would be nice if Dou could play the 4. but I haven't heard much to suggest that will be his main position. Dou can't really put the ball on the ground and is not a great passer. If he and Vogt are in that leaves 3 guys running the motion. Rap will be a 4th player who can run the motion and Eason would probably be a 5th.

I would agree that Vogt and Eason or Rap and Dou give us the best motion offense while giving us some perimeter defensive options at the same time. Rap and Dou would be something Brannen could really run everything with. Vogt limits our options but sometimes we will need that inside presence.

When I say running that motion I mean guys who can shoot, dribble or pass without thinking too much. Dou can knock an open 3. Rap and Eason give you more options.

 

[sedziobs]

Rick Barnes and multiple other "personnel" for Tennessee tested positive today. That could potentially include players. Two of their games this week have been cancelled. We'll have to see if our matchup with them is affected, which is nearly 3 weeks from now.

 

[skyblade]

Brannen, DeJulius and Rap had a press conference recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQoXkxVOnQ4.

Not much new there, Brannen talked about the struggle of not playing another team. He says that the rotation isn't really set and he needs to see how guy perform against competition. Sounds like we will go pretty deep in our first few games just to try to figure out what works.

DeJulius and Rap had a lot of praise for a lot of guys. It seemed like Saunder's - extremely fast - and Eason - extremely athletic, good defender, can handle like a guard and shoot the three - got the most praise among freshmen. Rap talked about personally needing to improve at defense, said it was never a point of emphasis at Colgate. Said - as a number of us have already speculated - that there will big a lot of options among bigs, with Rap/Vogt being the big/tough offensive guys and Eason/Diarra being excellent athletic defenders. He also said Eason and Diarra are very physical as well, said Diarra might be the most physical guy on the team.

DeJulius said that we've been mainly working on defense. Said Brannen trusts that they can play offense and doesn't need to teach it, so the focus is heavily on defense.

According to Brannen we are a young team with a lot of new faces. Said he needs to see us play against real competition before he knows how good we are.

 

[skyblade]

When I say running that motion I mean guys who can shoot, dribble or pass without thinking too much. Dou can knock an open 3. Rap and Eason give you more options.

I agree, but options only matter so much. Being really good at one thing can help a lot as well. Vogt is considered our best offensive big and he don't give many options - he's just really, really good at the one option he does give.

Hopefully Diarra and Vogt have worked on and improve at passing this off-season. If Diarra can continue to shoot very well from 3, improve at passing and finishing around the rim, that's quite a few options in addition to excellent defense. If Diarra is out best 3 point shooting big it will be quite valuable, especially if it's by a significant margin. Vogt's biggest areas to improve are defense and passing.

I guess it comes down to how good each guy is at different skills and how much Brannen values defense and rebounding versus valuing offense. I imagine our best defender/rebounder will be 1. Diarra, 2. Eason, 3. Rap 4. Vogt. But our best offensive big man will probably be Vogt by a significant margin, probably followed by Rap, Diarra than Eason (at least early in he year) - though those three could all be close.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Through the first week/weekend of college basketball, here's a look at how our upcoming opponents have fared so far:

Lipscomb (12/2)
Lamar (N) 76-73 Win
Tulane (A) 66-68 Loss

Xavier (12/6)
Oakland (H) 101-49 Win
Bradley (H) 51-50 Win
Toledo (H) 76-73 Win

Furman (12/9)
Tusculum (H) 95-62 Win
USC Upstate (H) 91-63 Win

Tennessee (12/12)
*On COVID pause. We are scheduled to be their first game.

South Florida (12/16)
Florida College (H) 94-84 Win
Rhode Island (N) 68-84 Loss
Virginia Tech (N) 58-76 Loss

Georgia 12/19
Florida A&M (H) 85-75 Win

 

[waterhead]

So far very little info is out there on what's going on in practice. I was under the impression that an injury had set back Harvey a little bit. But it sounds like he is back in action and possibly even performing better than MAW (speculative not enough info). I think in the end it will be better for MAW to come off the bench as opposed to Harvey. MAW can essentially back up 3 positions (if need be). He can back up both wing positions and the PG if Saunders isn't fully ready.

I think MAW is a little more predictable (but solid) and Harvey will provide more dynamics to the offense. He also adds some height. I don't think it's optimal going 6'0" PG and 6'3" wing. Obviously I want both MAW and Harvey to do well but I would prefer Harvey win the SG position. Harvey was doing pretty well on D toward end of year. If he can rebound a little better it would help.

 

[waterhead]

After listening to some pressers from CJB it seems as if (right now) if he had to get the ball to someone to score coming down the stretch it would be Williams and Vogt. That leads me to believe Vogt is clearly in the starter role over Dou at the 5 (not a big surprise). Williams is locked in at 3. I believe Dejulius is locked in at PG.

So the other position outside of SG to iron out would be the 4. I would imagine Rap is the clear leader with Eason looking decent so far (from player comments). it will be interesting to see how many minutes Eason can carve out as a frosh and if Dou will wander over to the 4 very much. Eason obviously has a lot of potential if he can pick up the system quick and minimize the frosh mistakes. Obviously a lineup of Vogt and Rap will have some defensive limits. We also need to figure out how we can rebound the ball best.

We have some pretty interesting rotations to consider at the 4 and 5. We can go perimeter D heavy with Dou and maybe Eason. We can go full offense 5 man motion with Rap and Eason (even Dou). We can go traditional with Vogt and whoever. I could see a lot of subbing here based on game situations. If we are getting abused in any aspect of the game we should have a decent answer for it.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Happy "Opening Day"!

Hard to imagine that exactly one year ago we were already 6-2.

We were coming off a 82-73 win home win over what we thought was going to be a very good Vermont team (they finished Ken Pom #76).

Prior to that we had played 3 consecutive overtime games (loss to BG, followed by wins against Valpo and UNLV).

Chris McNeal was still our starting PG and we were still in the early stages of figuring out Jarron's relationship with Brannen - which at that moment looked very iffy.

---------------------------------

Moving forward, we are currently 13-point favorites for today's 5:00 pm season opener against Lipscomb.

Through 2 games, they've played an 8-man rotation which has featured 7 returnees from last season's team that finished 16-16 and #247 in Ken Pom. Their leading scorer has been 6-5 wing Romeao Ferguson who is a grad transfer from D2 Belmont Abbey.

Their best overall player is 6-8 center Ahsan Asadullah, who made 1st team A-Sun last season. He led Lipscomb in points, FG%, rebounds, assists, blocks, turnovers, and fouls.

In their opener against Lamar they shot well from deep (10-21 3FG) but abysmal from the foul line (6-17) in a 3-point win. The next day against Tulane, they were cooler from deep (6-20) but made their free throws (16-19) in a 2-point loss.

Hopefully Vogt can win the 1-on-1 match-up against their only legitimate big, and we overwhelm them with our skill and athleticism at both ends of the court with Keith getting his share of easy buckets at the rim.

 

[skyblade]

I'm excited to see how this team does. Specific areas/players of interest are virtually all of them, seeing as we have so many new faces.

Vogt - How will he do against Lipscomb's center. Historically speaking Vogt struggles with guys who can match his physicality, will this remain the case and if so, will Diarra or Rap sub in at center. How much (if any) did he improve his defense, rebounding and passing during the off-season. Needs to be better than an elite scorer at the rim who is below average everywhere else on the court.

Rap - How well will he defend and rebound? Especially at the 4, will he even play the 4? Is he going to be willing to go inside and post up on the interior when being guarded by a smaller man? Lipscomb will be a good test, Rap will probably be being guarded by Parker Hazen - who is listed as 6'7" and 201 lb.

Harvey - I believe about a month ago Brannen said Harvey had been struggling with injuries and not practicing fully. Now it seems like Harvey is ready to go. How ready will Harvey be? Can he win the starting SG spot. Do we need him to? MAW is a better shooter, Harvey is a better creator, but with DeJulius and Williams, how many play-makers do we need?

How much will we run? From Cronin every year, to Brannen last year, we have heard off-season promises of a fast-paced up-tempo team. Will this year be the year it happens? If so, then how do the plodding giants of Vogt and Rap (okay Rap is not that plodding, but still relatively slow) fit into a up-tempo team.

How deep are we really? Plenty of people are excited about this teams depth, but I see a team where the first guard and second big off the bench will be a Freshman or Sophomore, plus we will have a Sophomore starting. Are we going to be a good team with good depth? Or a deep but bad team? Will Brannen even go that deep? Plodding Giants + bad depth could easily lead to another year of relatively slow pace and Brannen giving excuses as to why running just wouldn't work this year.

DeJulius - Seems to have the skills. But he is taking a big step, transferring from role player at SG last year to starting PG this year. If he can't handle the role, who can?

Keith - I'm mostly just excited to see play. He has the skills to take over a game. Needs to improve a little bit in all areas of his game over last year, but definitely has all the ability. Also needs to avoid the foul trouble that has gotten him benched frequently in the past.

Diarra - Can he shoot the three without hesitation and still maintain a high percentage? Has his passing improved? He is by far our best defensive big, so if he can be passable on offense he's going to be getting a lot of time. What position will he play? Has he figured out how to play the 4?

That's not even going into all the freshmen who may or may not be making major contributions. Only time will tell the answers to my questions and the time is almost now.

 

[Jon Rycek]

I'm excited to see how this team does. Specific areas/players of interest are virtually all of them, seeing as we have so many new faces.

Vogt - How will he do against Lipscomb's center. Historically speaking Vogt struggles with guys who can match his physicality, will this remain the case and if so, will Diarra or Rap sub in at center. How much (if any) did he improve his defense, rebounding and passing during the off-season. Needs to be better than an elite scorer at the rim who is below average everywhere else on the court.

Rap - How well will he defend and rebound? Especially at the 4, will he even play the 4? Is he going to be willing to go inside and post up on the interior when being guarded by a smaller man? Lipscomb will be a good test, Rap will probably be being guarded by Parker Hazen - who is listed as 6'7" and 201 lb.

Harvey - I believe about a month ago Brannen said Harvey had been struggling with injuries and not practicing fully. Now it seems like Harvey is ready to go. How ready will Harvey be? Can he win the starting SG spot. Do we need him to? MAW is a better shooter, Harvey is a better creator, but with DeJulius and Williams, how many play-makers do we need?

How much will we run? From Cronin every year, to Brannen last year, we have heard off-season promises of a fast-paced up-tempo team. Will this year be the year it happens? If so, then how do the plodding giants of Vogt and Rap (okay Rap is not that plodding, but still relatively slow) fit into a up-tempo team.

How deep are we really? Plenty of people are excited about this teams depth, but I see a team where the first guard and second big off the bench will be a Freshman or Sophomore, plus we will have a Sophomore starting. Are we going to be a good team with good depth? Or a deep but bad team? Will Brannen even go that deep? Plodding Giants + bad depth could easily lead to another year of relatively slow pace and Brannen giving excuses as to why running just wouldn't work this year.

DeJulius - Seems to have the skills. But he is taking a big step, transferring from role player at SG last year to starting PG this year. If he can't handle the role, who can?

Keith - I'm mostly just excited to see play. He has the skills to take over a game. Needs to improve a little bit in all areas of his game over last year, but definitely has all the ability. Also needs to avoid the foul trouble that has gotten him benched frequently in the past.

Diarra - Can he shoot the three without hesitation and still maintain a high percentage? Has his passing improved? He is by far our best defensive big, so if he can be passable on offense he's going to be getting a lot of time. What position will he play? Has he figured out how to play the 4?

That's not even going into all the freshmen who may or may not be making major contributions. Only time will tell the answers to my questions and the time is almost now.

How do you start off ripping Vogt in literally every post lmao. Like I don’t even have to read it anymore.

 

[kskenyon4]

Lipscomb took Tulane to the wire, losing by 2 after missing a 3 and put back at the end of the game.

Excited to see how the new pieces look. At this point, I just want the game to happen, a win, and no one testing positive afterwards.

 

[waterhead]

I'm excited to see how this team does. Specific areas/players of interest are virtually all of them, seeing as we have so many new faces.

Vogt - How will he do against Lipscomb's center. Historically speaking Vogt struggles with guys who can match his physicality, will this remain the case and if so, will Diarra or Rap sub in at center. How much (if any) did he improve his defense, rebounding and passing during the off-season. Needs to be better than an elite scorer at the rim who is below average everywhere else on the court.

Rap - How well will he defend and rebound? Especially at the 4, will he even play the 4? Is he going to be willing to go inside and post up on the interior when being guarded by a smaller man? Lipscomb will be a good test, Rap will probably be being guarded by Parker Hazen - who is listed as 6'7" and 201 lb.

Harvey - I believe about a month ago Brannen said Harvey had been struggling with injuries and not practicing fully. Now it seems like Harvey is ready to go. How ready will Harvey be? Can he win the starting SG spot. Do we need him to? MAW is a better shooter, Harvey is a better creator, but with DeJulius and Williams, how many play-makers do we need?

How much will we run? From Cronin every year, to Brannen last year, we have heard off-season promises of a fast-paced up-tempo team. Will this year be the year it happens? If so, then how do the plodding giants of Vogt and Rap (okay Rap is not that plodding, but still relatively slow) fit into a up-tempo team.

How deep are we really? Plenty of people are excited about this teams depth, but I see a team where the first guard and second big off the bench will be a Freshman or Sophomore, plus we will have a Sophomore starting. Are we going to be a good team with good depth? Or a deep but bad team? Will Brannen even go that deep? Plodding Giants + bad depth could easily lead to another year of relatively slow pace and Brannen giving excuses as to why running just wouldn't work this year.

DeJulius - Seems to have the skills. But he is taking a big step, transferring from role player at SG last year to starting PG this year. If he can't handle the role, who can?

Keith - I'm mostly just excited to see play. He has the skills to take over a game. Needs to improve a little bit in all areas of his game over last year, but definitely has all the ability. Also needs to avoid the foul trouble that has gotten him benched frequently in the past.

Diarra - Can he shoot the three without hesitation and still maintain a high percentage? Has his passing improved? He is by far our best defensive big, so if he can be passable on offense he's going to be getting a lot of time. What position will he play? Has he figured out how to play the 4?

That's not even going into all the freshmen who may or may not be making major contributions. Only time will tell the answers to my questions and the time is almost now.

I share some of the concerns you have but this seems awfully pessimistic overall rather than looking at more of the positive potential. I guess everyone has their own way of looking at things but I like the middle of the road to positive perspective as a fan. I am not a pie in the sky guy...but definitely not a Debbie Downer either. Cheer up my friend and try to look on the bright side. It may not turn out that way...but there is no harm in it

 

[skyblade]

How do you start off ripping Vogt in literally every post lmao. Like I don’t even have to read it anymore.

I was replying to the post just above mine that points out their best player is their center and hoping Vogt can win the matchup. Not like he's the only player I mentioned in the post either.

But if you can't take bad things being said about Vogt you can always mute me.