2016-2017 Season

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Not sure we can say that Washington and Scott are an upgrade over Ellis and Thomas. I hope they are, but I just have to see it first. Thomas was a starter, while Scott had to redshirt bc he wouldn't have seen the floor. Ellis may have been disappointing based on his 1st team AAC Preseason expectation, but he'll be greatly missed. Washington transferred bc he lost his starting job on a bubble team that we beat the crap out of...obviously it helps that he's had a year in the program, but again, I'm going to have to see it to believe it.

Cumberland might be an upgrade over Cobb in the long run, but Cobb was a double digit scoring, 40% 3 pt shooter. His knock was his defense, but I know people have expressed similar concerns with Cumberland next year.

Do I believe we would've won against St. Joe's with Clark at 100%? Probably. But even that would've only put us in the round of 32 vs the 1 seed. Far from major March success.

The reason I asked these questions is to point out how far we still have to go. Even if the new guys produce exactly what the guys they are replacing did, that still doesn't elevate us to any new heights. So it's going to have to come from the guys we've already seen. I'm hopeful they improve, but skeptical at the same time. It's easy to think of the Evans of the St. Joe's game and roll with the idea that we will being seeing that player night in, night out. But I don't think we can completely overlook the fact that he was a 37% shooter overall. On paper Kevin Johnson will be a tough senior who does all the little things we need. But we can't simply overloik the fact that his career PER is about as low as any Bearcat to ever get so much regular playing time. It's easy to bump up Caupain's shooting % on paper to what we want it to be, but we can't overlook the idea that it's low bc he takes shots that the numbers show don't lead to efficiency.

The 3/4 court shot against UConn sucks, but we can't overlook that we completely refused 3 opportunities in the game to go for a 2 for 1 at the end of the half/OT. And that's not even mentioning the fact that winning that game would've only been 1/3 of what's necessary to win the Conference Tournament. There are little things that go into "making your own luck" and in some situations we refuse to help ourselves. Things won't magically start bouncing our way. We need to be in the position to make these kind of things happen for us. Yes, the shot itself was unlucky for us. But at the end of the day, every loser has a story.

Jake at the end of the day I like our roster on this years team better then last. As you say results are what counts. I'm still holding out hope that team will add another piece to add some depth. But it still is not a pipe dream.. This team has some talent.

 

[justinhub2003]

Cumberland might be an upgrade over Cobb in the long run, but Cobb was a double digit scoring, 40% 3 pt shooter. His knock was his defense, but I know people have expressed similar concerns with Cumberland next year.

In the games that I've watched Cumberland, both live and on youtube, he actually defends well. He moves his feet really well to keep up with faster guards and he rebounds well as well. I think what will be make or break from Cumberland is his defense motor. Does he defend like he is capable of every single possession? or does he takes breaks on that end?

What excites me about cumberland is how often he draws fouls. If comes in against a smaller guard who is young as well, and he drives on them, he will get fouled 7 out of 10 times. He just powers his way in and draws contact.

Also Cumberland has attitude. When he dunks on you, He gives you a Justin Jackson like stare down and I have been begging for that lately. Ellis played like that in his junior year and then he seemed to mature so much in his senior year that he kinda became too much of a nice guy on the court when we needed a guy to be mean.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

In the games that I've watched Cumberland, both live and on youtube, he actually defends well. He moves his feet really well to keep up with faster guards and he rebounds well as well. I think what will be make or break from Cumberland is his defense motor. Does he defend like he is capable of every single possession? or does he takes breaks on that end?

What excites me about cumberland is how often he draws fouls. If comes in against a smaller guard who is young as well, and he drives on them, he will get fouled 7 out of 10 times. He just powers his way in and draws contact.

Also Cumberland has attitude. When he dunks on you, He gives you a Justin Jackson like stare down and I have been begging for that lately. Ellis played like that in his junior year and then he seemed to mature so much in his senior year that he kinda became too much of a nice guy on the court when we needed a guy to be mean.

Great to hear about Cumberland...I've never been able to see him play. I love hearing about competitiveness. That alone tells me he won't be a liability defensively. He might have lapses here and there, but sounds like he just flat out won't tolerate being shown up.

 

[Bearcat513]

I think this will be Mick's most offensively talented team he's ever had. Depth will be a concern closer to March. Rehfeldt will have his work cut out for him this year with Clark, Washington, Evans and Caupain playing some serious minutes. I can't wait to see what Troy does this year. I expect him to attack, hit a higher % of his shots and come up big in those close games. We're set at the 2 with KJ and Cumberland. Rotate those guys based off offensive and defensive need. I hope KJ can be what JaQuon Parker was for us. I doubt he can rebound like Parker, but doing the little things, hitting open 3s and playing D on the other team's best guard. Evans is going to get his and I love what he brings. He's already better offensively than Shaq ever was. The question is can he play D, and still have fresh legs to get those mid range jumpers off that he's so good at. Cumberland could always play the 2 and the 3 if needed. The guy is built like a college player already. Clark might be our best player. I'm hoping he continues to work hard and improve. Washington is going to be a beast for 2 years. I cannot wait to see this guy in action with Clark in the post!

After those 6 key contributors, who is going to step up? What will Jenifer, Quadri, Scott and Brooks do for us? If Justin Jenifer can play with Caupain and Evans like he did early in the year last season I would feel so much better about this team. The other side is when Washington and Clark get in foul trouble. Who is going to step up and not cost us the game. Quadri has the experience and needs to learn how to play D. We've heard Tre Scott is a phenomenal passer. Flash him to the free throw line and feed guys off screens to the basket.

Coach Parker should bust out some of that old film and sit KJ down and learn him a thing or two. I would love that.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

In the games that I've watched Cumberland, both live and on youtube, he actually defends well. He moves his feet really well to keep up with faster guards and he rebounds well as well. I think what will be make or break from Cumberland is his defense motor. Does he defend like he is capable of every single possession? or does he takes breaks on that end?

What excites me about cumberland is how often he draws fouls. If comes in against a smaller guard who is young as well, and he drives on them, he will get fouled 7 out of 10 times. He just powers his way in and draws contact.

Also Cumberland has attitude. When he dunks on you, He gives you a Justin Jackson like stare down and I have been begging for that lately. Ellis played like that in his junior year and then he seemed to mature so much in his senior year that he kinda became too much of a nice guy on the court when we needed a guy to be mean.

I also remember that Broome draws a lot of fouls, good to have guys that will drive to the bucket.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I also remember that Broome draws a lot of fouls, good to have guys that will drive to the bucket.

Hopefully Trevor Moore is thinking about all the spot up 3s he could hit playing with these guys.

 

[ZCat]

The only legitimate "excuse" to fall out of the Top 25 this year would be an injury to Troy, Gary or Evans. You only need a rotation of 7 or 8 players to win a lot of games. This team has that. You need a good PG, wing scorer, and inside presence to win. This team has that. In my opinion, only injuries could derail that. A lot of that is luck. I would like to be deeper this year but that isn't a reason for this team to not consistently be in the Top 25 and earn a top 6 seed in the NCAA Tourney.

Guys, bulldog is right. We need a rim protector. I also have concerns about on the ball defense, closing out on 3's. Unfortunately I am not convinced we could stay in top 25 all year. We have the Offensive firepower to win games we couldn't in past, but also have the D to lose games we never did before. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[BearcatSpaniard513]

Guys, bulldog is right. We need a rim protector. I also have concerns about on the ball defense, closing out on 3's. Unfortunately I am not convinced we could stay in top 25 all year. We have the Offensive firepower to win games we couldn't in past, but also have the D to lose games we never did before. I hope I'm wrong.

We have the AAC defensive player of the year returning I never worry about defense, just offense. Mick will coach defense no matter who is on the roster

 

[waterhead]

Not sure we can say that Washington and Scott are an upgrade over Ellis and Thomas. I hope they are, but I just have to see it first. Thomas was a starter, while Scott had to redshirt bc he wouldn't have seen the floor. Ellis may have been disappointing based on his 1st team AAC Preseason expectation, but he'll be greatly missed. Washington transferred bc he lost his starting job on a bubble team that we beat the crap out of...obviously it helps that he's had a year in the program, but again, I'm going to have to see it to believe it.

Cumberland might be an upgrade over Cobb in the long run, but Cobb was a double digit scoring, 40% 3 pt shooter. His knock was his defense, but I know people have expressed similar concerns with Cumberland next year.

Do I believe we would've won against St. Joe's with Clark at 100%? Probably. But even that would've only put us in the round of 32 vs the 1 seed. Far from major March success.

The reason I asked these questions is to point out how far we still have to go. Even if the new guys produce exactly what the guys they are replacing did, that still doesn't elevate us to any new heights. So it's going to have to come from the guys we've already seen. I'm hopeful they improve, but skeptical at the same time. It's easy to think of the Evans of the St. Joe's game and roll with the idea that we will being seeing that player night in, night out. But I don't think we can completely overlook the fact that he was a 37% shooter overall. On paper Kevin Johnson will be a tough senior who does all the little things we need. But we can't simply overloik the fact that his career PER is about as low as any Bearcat to ever get so much regular playing time. It's easy to bump up Caupain's shooting % on paper to what we want it to be, but we can't overlook the idea that it's low bc he takes shots that the numbers show don't lead to efficiency.

The 3/4 court shot against UConn sucks, but we can't overlook that we completely refused 3 opportunities in the game to go for a 2 for 1 at the end of the half/OT. And that's not even mentioning the fact that winning that game would've only been 1/3 of what's necessary to win the Conference Tournament. There are little things that go into "making your own luck" and in some situations we refuse to help ourselves. Things won't magically start bouncing our way. We need to be in the position to make these kind of things happen for us. Yes, the shot itself was unlucky for us. But at the end of the day, every loser has a story.

Safe to say Washington and Cumberland are the biggest factors in our success this year (outside of potential depth issues). Cumberland has to be as ready as a guy like SK or Evans in his first year. That's a tall order but he seems like that type of recruit so I am optimistic. He can give us depth along with Evans and KJ at the wing spots. From what I have heard (and what little I've seen from video) I think Washington should be a good exchange (and maybe an upgrade) for Ellis.

I am interested in the chemistry and mental approach we have. I think we are picking up a positive vocal leader in Washington. Ellis complained a lot...that's not the type of mentality you want to have in the locker room. Cumberland seems like a gamer. I like these additions in terms of team attitude and mental toughness.

Hopefully we get some solid minutes from the other guys who will be playing roles or giving breathers. If we can avoid injury...we should be fine...but that's a big if.

 

[BearcatSpaniard513]

Who are you most excited to see play this season?

I want to see Tre Scott play because I feel like he is the biggest unknown to me other than Brooks. Originally I think he was more of a 3/4. He's going to be listed as a PF, but he'll be a different player than what Clark brings. I remember he was underrated because he came out of a tiny school in Georgia. Hoping he's one of Mick Cronin's gems. Great mobility and vision for his size from what I remember watching and reading. He has a reach of 8'6" and played wide receiver in high school.

"A lot of folks up there are probably going to say, 'Who?' " Young said. "He's from a tiny little coastal town of 700 people. He's one of the most consistent guys I've seen down here over the last couple of years in his class. He seems to always find a way. If he's not scoring, he's blocking shots or making great passes. I could see where he fits (UC coach Mick) Cronin's style. He has a non-stop motor and he's really versatile. He may not have a lot of sexiness nationally, but he'll help them in a lot of different ways."

- Justin Young of HoopSeen.com

 

[L-T]

Last year at this time, there was a ton of optimism about what looked like a very deep and talented roster. We all know how last season played out. Here we are back with what appears as another pretty talented squad and expectations are high again, and we're even ranked in the preseason. The problem is, there is one key returning piece to this puzzle....the little guy pacing the sidelines, demanding that his point guards look over at him for one of his high school play calls, and sending us into our patented weave to begin every offensive sequence. I expect nothing to change. That is the pessimist in me.

The optimist in me says that we now have an experienced 4-yr. senior point guard, who after 3 years should be an extension of the head coach and should never have to cast his eyes over to the sidelines again to hear what play he has to run. Just be a leader and perform with confidence. Clark should be nearing stud status. Evans, if he has had a good off-season, well, the sky is the limit. Washington will bring energy intelligence, leadership, and a positive vibe that may have a huge positive impact on team chemistry. And, he might be one hell of a player as well. Between Johnson and Cumberland, we need one of those guys, or a combination of both, to provide a solid answer at the two-guard position. And then we need my man JJ to put aside his loss of confidence from how he was handled last year, and emerge as a very solid backup at the PG position and allow us to change things up from time to time by moving Troy off the ball, but more importantly, to become that spark off the bench that changes the tempo and gets the fans excited.

Early in the season, I'll look to see if our senior PG is walking the ball up the court and looking over at the coach for a play call. That will tell me where this season is headed. Right now, I'm optimistic, but last year showed me how foolish it is to get excited with this coach running the show. We will see.

 

[Bearcat513]

Who are you most excited to see play this season?

I want to see Tre Scott play because I feel like he is the biggest unknown to me other than Brooks. Originally I think he was more of a 3/4. He's going to be listed as a PF, but he'll be a different player than what Clark brings. I remember he was underrated because he came out of a tiny school in Georgia. Hoping he's one of Mick Cronin's gems. Great mobility and vision for his size from what I remember watching and reading. He has a reach of 8'6" and played wide receiver in high school.

"A lot of folks up there are probably going to say, 'Who?' " Young said. "He's from a tiny little coastal town of 700 people. He's one of the most consistent guys I've seen down here over the last couple of years in his class. He seems to always find a way. If he's not scoring, he's blocking shots or making great passes. I could see where he fits (UC coach Mick) Cronin's style. He has a non-stop motor and he's really versatile. He may not have a lot of sexiness nationally, but he'll help them in a lot of different ways."

- Justin Young of HoopSeen.com

I agree. I think Scott can provide some solid minutes off of the bench this season. Looking forward to see how he does.

 

[GarradJ21]

Might not be worth noting since it was a scrimmage, but I remember thinking he looked decent in the red vs. black scrimmage. I was disappointed we didn't see him this year but I know it was for the best. I have high hopes for him. Talking about Scott.

Brooks is my concern after hearing everyone saying how much time he will need in order to get better. We shall see.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I'm easily most excited about Cumberland out of all the newcomers. The other FR seem like nice little bench pieces at best, but Cumberland could potentially elevate the entire team if he's ready to help out on a Caupain, Clark, Evans level.

 

[UCBearcats]

Last year at this time, there was a ton of optimism about what looked like a very deep and talented roster. We all know how last season played out. Here we are back with what appears as another pretty talented squad and expectations are high again, and we're even ranked in the preseason. The problem is, there is one key returning piece to this puzzle....the little guy pacing the sidelines, demanding that his point guards look over at him for one of his high school play calls, and sending us into our patented weave to begin every offensive sequence. I expect nothing to change. That is the pessimist in me.

The optimist in me says that we now have an experienced 4-yr. senior point guard, who after 3 years should be an extension of the head coach and should never have to cast his eyes over to the sidelines again to hear what play he has to run. Just be a leader and perform with confidence. Clark should be nearing stud status. Evans, if he has had a good off-season, well, the sky is the limit. Washington will bring energy intelligence, leadership, and a positive vibe that may have a huge positive impact on team chemistry. And, he might be one hell of a player as well. Between Johnson and Cumberland, we need one of those guys, or a combination of both, to provide a solid answer at the two-guard position. And then we need my man JJ to put aside his loss of confidence from how he was handled last year, and emerge as a very solid backup at the PG position and allow us to change things up from time to time by moving Troy off the ball, but more importantly, to become that spark off the bench that changes the tempo and gets the fans excited.

Early in the season, I'll look to see if our senior PG is walking the ball up the court and looking over at the coach for a play call. That will tell me where this season is headed. Right now, I'm optimistic, but last year showed me how foolish it is to get excited with this coach running the show. We will see.

I expected our team to be worse last season than they were the season before, and they didn't disappoint.

I expect them to be worse this season than they were last season. We've lost a decent amount of contribution from last year's roster and we're replacing it with complete unknowns.

Even though the bar is set pretty low I don't expect that we'll do better than last year.

You may call it pessimism, I call it reality.

 

[Madman81]

all we lost from 14/15 to 15/16 was jermaine sanders, who was terrible. why would you expect a team losing just that and bringing in even a halfway decent recruiting class while getting another year of development from everyone else to be worse?

 

[L-T]

all we lost from 14/15 to 15/16 was jermaine sanders, who was terrible. why would you expect a team losing just that and bringing in even a halfway decent recruiting class while getting another year of development from everyone else to be worse?

Maybe losing Larry Davis as head coach? Just guessing.

 

[UCBearcats]

all we lost from 14/15 to 15/16 was jermaine sanders, who was terrible. why would you expect a team losing just that and bringing in even a halfway decent recruiting class while getting another year of development from everyone else to be worse?

I guess I shouldn't really say I expected them to be worse, I just didn't expect them to be better. I thought we over achieved at the end of 14/15 with Davis at the helm and we had a tougher OOC last season and better competition within our conference.

Many were predicting big years from the Freshman and some even predicted a Final 4, I didn't see that happening.

 

[waterhead]

Last season was my personal turning point for the coach. He is going to have to raise the bar to another level for my full support/optimism. Of course I will support the players and program all the way and I have optimism because of some of the players we have right now.

I am disappointed we are currently very thin with talent and depth. We should have landed 1 or 2 more recruits. I am optimistic we can be a very good team if we stay healthy but we don't have enough quality depth to compete for very long if someone gets hurt for a while (knock on wood). That is a major mistake IMO if we go into the season this thin.

 

[L-T]

Last season was my personal turning point for the coach. He is going to have to raise the bar to another level for my full support/optimism. Of course I will support the players and program all the way and I have optimism because of some of the players we have right now.

I am disappointed we are currently very thin with talent and depth. We should have landed 1 or 2 more recruits. I am optimistic we can be a very good team if we stay healthy but we don't have enough quality depth to compete for very long if someone gets hurt for a while (knock on wood). That is a major mistake IMO if we go into the season this thin.

I agree WH. I like our starting 5 much better than last years, but I like our bench and depth less. Although, the further we went into last season, the thinner our bench got. Guys he showed confidence in early were relegated to has-been status later on. I thought Deberry's playing time would increase substantially as a senior, but it didn't. Our bench and depth appeared to be an early season strength and became a liability as the season went on. Some of our starters looked strong on paper before the season, and disappointed in the end. When both the starters and bench ended up disappointing, you have the so-so season that we had. I still think that team was much more talented than it performed.