2015-2016 Season

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LaxCat31 said:
They added a 5* recruit in Swannigan, which is huge in the eyes of pollsters who don't really look into each team. So if they take a glance and see Purdue added a big recruit, they will automatically put them ahead of us. It's stupid, but just how the system works.
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Wow I completely forgot about him. Your 100% right about the pollsters, it is stupid a, but it does happen. I am going to be pretty pissed if the ap gives us no love too. No doubt to me we will be top 10-15 all season
 
BearcatSpaniard513 said:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

We bring back nearly the entire team that advanced in the tournament, our head coach is back, we added 3 talented freshman and still do not crack the top 25 of the coaches poll? What a joke.
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If anyone sat down to listen to the reasoning why we might "break out" this year they might change their minds...although for many of them it should be their jobs.

Head coach missed most of last season and our other coaches gained valuable experience in his absence.

65% of our minutes went to players who were either in their first year or first year starting.

There is often a big jump in performance in year 2 after spending a year learning the system and getting acquainted with speed of the game etc.

We only lost one player (who was average) who provided significant minutes but we gained 3 talented players as frosh.

We seemed to figure out the right lineup to start the games toward the end of last year when I think we played some of our best ball.

We finished on what most would consider a high note or at least a confidence booster beating Purdue and playing well against one of the best NCAA BB teams in history.

By all accounts we have CRUSHED the weight room in the off season which means the players are stoked about the season and dedicated...they have "bought in"!

We seem to have good quality depth and I think we will have better leadership this year.
 
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LaxCat31 said:
They added a 5* recruit in Swannigan, which is huge in the eyes of pollsters who don't really look into each team. So if they take a glance and see Purdue added a big recruit, they will automatically put them ahead of us. It's stupid, but just how the system works.
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Exactly. Lazy analysis.
 
waterhead said:
If anyone sat down to listen to the reasoning why we might "break out" this year they might change their minds...although for many of them it should be their jobs.

Head coach missed most of last season and our other coaches gained valuable experience in his absence.

65% of our minutes went to players who were either in their first year or first year starting.

There is often a big jump in performance in year 2 after spending a year learning the system and getting acquainted with speed of the game etc.

We only lost one player (who was average) who provided significant minutes but we gained 3 talented players as frosh.

We seemed to figure out the right lineup to start the games toward the end of last year when I think we played some of our best ball.

We finished on what most would consider a high note or at least a confidence booster beating Purdue and playing well against one of the best NCAA BB teams in history.

By all accounts we have CRUSHED the weight room in the off season which means the players are stoked about the season and dedicated...they have "bought in"!

We seem to have good quality depth and I think we will have better leadership this year.
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Yep. Definitely agree. These guys got a taste of March, and they're chomping at the bit to get back out there.
 
If we don't turn the ball over, we'll be in good shape. Last year we shot a high percentage but gave the ball away too often. With how good we are at offensive rebounding, not getting a shot up is a killer. If we can average 72 points a game (including the cupcakes), I like our chances at 26 or more regular season wins.
 
Hate it all you want but UC has to earn it. Yea Mick was out last season and they would have been better with him, but the offense has always struggled under him and there is no reason, yet, to assume it will be better. Pollsters know this and know they struggle to score. They won't get much love until they can prove they can score and it's not like last season was a great year. It was OK.
 
Mcginnjw said:
I am ready for basketball season now that Tubbs has thrown in towel on the football season.
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Totally embarrassing for him do that. Whoever the team leader's are need go to AD and get him fired. I'll never play for a quitter
 
TheLongHaul said:
Hate it all you want but UC has to earn it. Yea Mick was out last season and they would have been better with him, but the offense has always struggled under him and there is no reason, yet, to assume it will be better. Pollsters know this and know they struggle to score. They won't get much love until they can prove they can score and it's not like last season was a great year. It was OK.
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Agree 100%.
 
TheLongHaul said:
Hate it all you want but UC has to earn it. Yea Mick was out last season and they would have been better with him, but the offense has always struggled under him and there is no reason, yet, to assume it will be better. Pollsters know this and know they struggle to score. They won't get much love until they can prove they can score and it's not like last season was a great year. It was OK.
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Although I would like to see a more up tempo style as a fan it is not necessary to win games. We just have to be efficient with our possessions and play great D. Without changing tempo I still believe we can score more points for several reasons. Yes...we have to see it actually happen of course.

#1...I think we will see Caupain and Cobb on the floor together more. Cobb is a decent shooter but is better than KJ at creating his own shot which also means he is better at breaking down the D than is KJ. KJ was not much more than a set shooter last year so we were missing the penetration aspect when he was in.

#2...We had a lot of new guys learning the system last year. Some of them were not as comfortable looking to score and being aggressive with their touches because they were timid. Another year and more confidence will change some of that.

#3...We worked our butts off in the off season in the weight room. We should see better finishing in the paint not to mention rebounding should improve a little and give us a few more second looks.

#4...shot clock reduction is going to make it more important to get the ball up the floor quicker. It should force a slightly higher tempo. I think we have enough depth at positions to not get tired out.

#5...I think our confidence and desire is very high right now. The players think they can do some damage this year. Confidence cannot be overrated.

#6...I think our coach probably learned a lot by watching his team play games while not being on the bench. Hopefully a different perspective will give him some new ideas.
 
Mick has been very consistent every time I've heard him talk for 10 or so months now about looking to get more offense. I know it is kind of a running joke that every offseason we see the same articles about a higher scoring approach. But I do believe the time away has helped Mick see things a little differently. The uptempo style isn't the answer all the time. Realistically, you can't just run teams out of the gym every game. But in our conference, there are quite a few opportunities to score in the 80s. And we shouldn't shy away from that. The UCF game is a good example. The game at Temple the year before too. Those games definitely can't happen all the time, but I think they help build confidence and help reinforce good habits. It helps the guys be more aggressive and loose. Instead of getting a rebound and covering up and waiting for things to clear out, we turn and look for the guard and have the confidence to throw the outlet pass. And that even goes for DeBerry. I just feel like doing little things to speed up the process and be more efficient with every move we make with the ball helps take away tightness and tentative play that we saw a lot last year. I heard an interesting stat today on Jalen and Jacoby Western Confetence NBA Preview podcast. They said Golden State players averaged to have the ball for 2.39 seconds per touch last year. They just always look at what the next move is...with dribble drive, shoot, or pass. Obviously they are professionals and NBA Champs, but no reason the same type of thought process can't be translated into what we've got going here. We're recruiting the players to do it.

Become more efficient in practice and in cupcake games, and I think those offensive habits can translate into the couple more buckets we're looking for in big games. Plus, instead of 57-49 type games in the non-con, we might be able to put on a better show for the fans as well!
 
The new shot clock is not going to help our half court offense, although it should force us to push the ball more often. The shot clock helps us overall because our defense is so good and we are deep enough to be able to run all game. I think the shot clock will hurt teams that only play 7-8 players simply because you have to move the ball up the court faster and that will take a lot of energy out of the guards in particular, which we seem to be pretty deep at.
 
Cronin did a great interview earlier this year with Doc.....the things he said during that interview make me hopeful that we'll see a different strategy from Mick this year. I know that every year we hear things out of the Mick camp about changes and every year we see the same frustrating offense on the court but I'm holding out hope we might just see some real changes this season.

Here's some excerpts from that interview that give me reason to hope.

"Better players make you a better coach. You can't save the world by playing hard. The best teams play hard, too,'' Cronin said.

"When you're in it, you think about adjustments (and believe) you could win every game. When you're out of it, and you're the GM, you realize that's not realistic. Everybody will tell you how impressed they were with how we played Kentucky'' in the Madness Round of 32. "We did everything strategically. But you've gotta get baskets."
 
justinhub2003 said:
Yea. Seems everyone is pretty positive about UC this.

Im expecting a much improved offense. I mean, this team shoots a better percentage than the senior SK team. If they cut down on the turnovers then they add 5-10ppg to there total.
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Certainly if we are not going to adjust our tempo a great deal. The type of game we play with limited possessions...we cannot afford to be a high turnover team.

Last year we were 300th out of 350 or so teams in TO's per possession (around 21% of our possessions). If we are going to be an elite team as a low scoring (limited possessions type game) team...we should be on the complete opposite side of that spectrum. In the top 50 or so. Last year Wisconsin was around 12% TOPP. We cannot afford to squander limited opportunities.

That may sound like a lot but it's really only a difference of about 2-3 TO's per game on average (I think). So from 13 or so average down to 10-11.
 

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