I agree on KJ. If he cuts down on his turnovers and hits a few more shots I am fine with him. He isn't a super star but he doesn't have to be on this team to contribute. I also share your view of Cumberland. He is going to have to defend D-1 players at the 2 and 3 position. Something he never has had to do in High School. I think he will grow into that but expecting it his first year is not something I expect.I've said many times that I expect very little out of Cumberland this year. I've seen many great Bearcats have horrendous freshman years and nothing about Cumberland tells me he'll be different. KJ has frustrated me a lot in his three years and I want Cumberland to out perform him badly and be in the lineup, but my years watching college basketball have taught me that it probably won't happen. I'm looking for KJ to actually be better than we all think and to finish his career on a somewhat high note and Cumberland will struggle to adapt and play less minutes than most of you think. I would be delighted if I am wrong, but you're all hoping that Cumberland is something special and I just don't see it happening next season.
L-T, my whole thing is that Cumberland doesn't have to be special at all to give us more than Kevin Johnson. As others have said, I think it's in our best interest to have Cumberland as ready as possible to help us at a reaaonably high level by season's end.
As for someone who was saying that Cumberland would be the only scorer in the second unit...I don't think we have the depth to be mass subbing like that. And the fact that Cumberland can score and play 2 positions is also relevant. We have a short bench and a pretty established core. Our subbing pattern will likely be 1 in 1 out most of the time.
well I don't know minutes wise, I just meant depth chart wise. Cumberland is your only backup at the 3. My point was more Cumberland role on this team this year is not to compete for the starting shooting guards minutes, it's to fill in at shooting guard and small forward. I agree Evans should be playing 30-35 minutes in any significant game. But if Cumberland is capable enough then he can sub more and keep Evans fresh and rested for the end of games. Then you can offense/defense sub KJ and Cumberland if need be at the 2. We saw last year where Caupain was gassed at times because he was on the floor to many minutes. We play hard on defense and that takes its toll. Having a capable sub in Cumberland can keep Evans better rested. Hopefully JJ can spell Caupain more to keep him fresh, too. As much as Mick said he should've gotten JJ in the game more, he didnt. I think he said that as an excuse to shut people up. He's smart enough to know you shouldn't play your pg 37-38 minutes and you can't forget every game.
1. I don't share your opinion of KJ's contributions. Being our best on the ball defender is not a small contribution.
2. Cumberland can still be ready for seasons end. Work hard in practice and take advantage of your opportunities when they happen.
Waite, I don't know how much you watch outside of UC, but Kevin Johnson isn't a particularly good player compared to the starting guards for teams in the Top 25 (that's as generous as I can be). That's the truth. We can hope for improvement, but nothing I've seen suggests he's capable of holding up his end for 25 minutes every night on a conference champion team.
Caupain and Evans are very different. Not only do they play different positions, but they have different body types. Evans can play 35+ min any big game without a problem. I see him as 30-35 in other games.
That team across town started a senior defensive minded player and it worked out pretty damn good for them
The point I'm masking is he has shown be much more then Cumberland to this pointWaite, I don't know how much you watch outside of UC, but Kevin Johnson isn't a particularly good player compared to the starting guards for teams in the Top 25 (that's as generous as I can be). That's the truth. We can hope for improvement, but nothing I've seen suggests he's capable of holding up his end for 25 minutes every night on a conference champion team.
Well if we start playing the way Xavier does, I won't complain.
I think our personnel this year makes us a bit more diverse offensively. While Troy has been a very good player, His manning the PG role has restricted what we have been able to do offensively in my opinion. A weakness for this team the last few years has been their lack of athletism in the front court. Shaq was our best athlete but he was a train wreck in some aspects of his game. Ball handling, passing and rebounding. Now playing in a much more up tempo game may have helped increase his effectiveness but it really didn't play well with our other components. I think getting Broome, who will replace TC and adding another athletic wing to go along side Evans, who I think if healthy will show much greater explosiveness will add another dimension to our team. We won't be a all out run up and down the floor but we will be much better suited to push the pace. Couple that with Washington and a ever improving Clark and I think we can put up some more points and cause some problems for opponents trying to guard us.Not saying we will but I will say that our personnel is starting to match a more offensive style of basketball.
We're no longer anchored with two bigs in the paint. Everyone on the floor can hit a jump shot.
We have the personnel to also play a Villanova style lineup with tc, Cumberland, kj, Evans at the 4 and Clark at the 5. ... you could sub out kj with jj if you wanted to as well.
Clark nor hicks played on Cumberland aau level.It was in our best interest to develop a second point guard last year and you saw how that worked out with Jenifer. Gary Clark and Eric Hicks scored at epic levels in high school. They came in here and struggled mightily. Hicks especially. I think he averaged 1 or 2 points his freshman year. I'm not getting my hopes up with Cumberland. My hopes went into the stratosphere with Jenifer last year and that was a disaster.
Clark nor hicks played on Cumberland aau level.
Clark nor hicks played on Cumberland aau level.
How many years?Gary played on a CP3 team that was in the Peach Jam finals. There isn't a higher level than that, chief..
Hicks was the North Carolina player of the year and I think Clark was runner-up.
How many years?
Seen him 2x. Honestly reminds me of a poor mans oj mayo. Has sneaky athleticism and outstanding ball handling skills. He's not a pg but his ball skills would be best on team after Jenifer.You know there is a lot of discussion about Cumberland's game. Anyone that has seen him play please describe what you think are his strengths and how he fits into the offense. I've heard he is big and strong. He can go to the rim in high school but does he have the handles to do it in D-1? Can he stay with D-1 2 guards and is he big and athletic enough to play the 3? Many have said he can knock it down from the perimeter. Does he see the whole floor? With TC and him in the backcourt can he take some of the ball handling duties off TC?
1 year in the EYBL. Same as Cumberland...
1 year in the EYBL. Same as Cumberland...
