2017-2018 Season

[justinhub2003]

Also of NOTE:


we are a big team. we have 2 small point guards, Then everyone else from there is 6'5 or taller. ITs like SMU but with a True PG

 

[rogerOH]

I have watched all three recruits play between 5-10 games apiece. Nsoseme is very athletic but in all his games I might have seen 1 short range jump shot and 0 post moves. Moore has a nice stroke but never drives just hangs out at the perimeter, he possibly could contribute. K. Williams(the MVP of one of the best leagues in the country) is the real deal and will play a lot, he has everything and plays bigger than 6'5. All this is just my take on them.

 

[cincyguy13]

I have watched all three recruits play between 5-10 games apiece. Nsoseme is very athletic but in all his games I might have seen 1 short range jump shot and 0 post moves. Moore has a nice stroke but never drives just hangs out at the perimeter, he possibly could contribute. K. Williams(the MVP of one of the best leagues in the country) is the real deal and will play a lot, he has everything and plays bigger than 6'5. All this is just my take on them.

At first I didn't like the moore signing. But after looking at him, if he can just shoot lights out and play solid defense, I love the signing. He has good size and shooters can make a big difference. Look at Alford from ucla. That's all he does

As for the big guy (can't spell his name), he looks like a raw project. I would like a more solid guy but I get what they are doing. Big guys are hard to find and any high rated one isn't going to come here and sit for a year. Hopefully this guy will be ready in 2 years and won't be one of those projects that never can development.

Williams looks like a solid guard. i think he will have a solid freshman year and hopefully have a good enough career Where we are wondering if he will leave early. If he is at the Jacob Evans level, we are in good shape

Still would like to have that Collins guard if he's still available

 

[Bearcatboy]

What games do we know in the Ooc next year for sure?

 

[justinhub2003]

What games do we know in the Ooc next year for sure?

I can't think of many.
@Xavier
The cayman island tournament (Iowa, UAB & Wyoming)

 

[cincyguy13]

What games do we know in the Ooc next year for sure?

I don't think there are any. Curious what kind of schedule we can put together over the summer

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I'd like to play Marshall and Rhode Island again if we can.

 

[HExus]

Been looking forward to next year before the cats were bumped

I've been saying next year should be Mick's best squad. This years probably was all around, but next years should raise the bar again.

They could have beaten UCLA. I'm disappointed obviously.... It is what it is. They got put in a situation where they had to go all the way to the west coast and play a series of teams that I think were underseeded.

The UCLA game was a "neutral" site. Kind of like the URI game was a "neutral" site at the start of the year.

Oh well. Its over. Honestly lets be real. Even if they had beaten UCLA, could they have beaten Kentucky, UNC, and then 2 more top ranked teams?

It wasn't in the cards this year, but they are getting close. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the D for most of the game. The D is legit. We know this.

The depth and experience will be key next year to putting them over the top I think. I think it will be the edge that gets them over teams like Kentucky that rely on 5 star 1 and done freshman every year.

We have some guys that can flat out play. Not quite good enough to go 1 or 2 and done, but good enough to be as good by a Senior year I think.

I wouldn't worry so much about the schedule if we just take care of business.

There is no reason why we shouldn't be able to win almost every game next year. We lost 6 this year. I think 2 or 3 losses next year if a fair expectation.

Gonzaga's SOS was only a few higher than ours. But guess what? They only lost 1 game.

You have to take care of business. You can't loss games and cry about the outcome. No matter the seed at the end I think the cats will have a team that is ready to compete next year.

 

[HExus]

Yep

Think it's fair to say we'll be preseason ranked next year. I've been telling people #18 this morning. Seem reasonable? Will be interesting to see how much pollsters value Tory/Kevin.

This wouldn't surprise me at all. UC never gets national respect anymore.

This team SHOULD be top 10 going into preseason assuming everyone returns that should and stays healthy.

The great thing is the people that aren't paying attention can hold our junk when we show up to play.

This team will still play a top 10 D next year, and they will be better in just about every way possible. There is no way we shouldn't be on the national radar in a serious way.

But who cares what those people think.

 

[HExus]

yes

I expect a very solid starting 5 with tons of offensive potential.

Washington
Clark
Evans
Cumberland
Broome

I hope we can get one solid backup big and wing. I hope Brooks works real hard in the off season on some moves and can pick up about 15 minutes per game next year ala DeBerry. His D should be solid. We could also go guard heavy with 1 big at times. I hope Williams is ready for about 15 minutes as well. He is a pretty good athlete so he should be able to play some D as well as put a few points on the board.

We could really run like hell if we put in Jenifer and Broome with Evans and Cumberland on the floor.

I'm excited. Hopefully we can manage to play another season without significant injury. It should be a great year. Just in time for a new arena and hopefully capitalize on some decent recruits as we move into our new home.

Yeah I really like Brooks. hes raw, but he would have lead the team in blocks by a land slide if he got the min the others did. He is going to be a force as he matures on the Defensive end. I don't know about his offensive capabilities, but we don't need him to carry the team in that way, just make good choices.

I loved seeing him in the paint against UCLA with his arms up and in the passing lanes. He seems like a difference maker in disrupting ball movement. Nice to have a true C to clog the lane.

I can 100% see them having multiple looks like you said. 3 or 4 guards, or a more traditional GGFFC lineup with brooks. Like you said, if he can up his production even marginally and help take foul pressure off Clark and Washington that will be huge.

Next years team will be heavy on versatility thats for sure.

 

[HExus]

Disagree

Hard to expect better than 16-2. But if that's what it takes, we need to find a way.

I think your being overly pessimistic here.

Could they lose 2 yes. But they could just as easily lose 0. The team will be better. The only question will be if the AAC gets better as a whole. I don't see it being that much different. Swap SMU with UCON. I don't think UCON recovers enough to pass the cats but I expect them to close the gap and play like the "UCON" we all know.

I doubt they will go from mediocre to passing a 30-6 team that looks to be better.

 

[HExus]

On what we lose

I agree with the people saying that we shouldn't overlook what we lose in Troy and KJ.

I get that there will probably be a bit of a D slip here. But they were top 5. Its not going to kill them to slip a bit. I fully expect them to stay 15-10 which is fine.

We might lose some leadership, but we have guys that can fill that role easy. Cats won't lack experience in the lineup next year.

Troy took care of the ball. We know this. But like someone else said, he played conservative too. They were one of the best and not turning it over last year. That could slip.

But other than a marginal D dip, and turning the ball over a bit more (Thats worse case. I could see both of those being non factors) what else can you say we lost?

The O will be better. I don't think you could make a convincing case of that being false. You have guys that are looking to get more min like Cumberland who can score. Will likely get better, and you return 4 of your top 5 scorers. Your going to score points. You have more depth your going to keep fresh and score more points.

I COULD see this O stepping up into a respectable range to match the D a bit.

Worse case the loss of Troy and KJ cause the D to drop to around the 15 range nationally. The O stays the same because of leadership and ball handling. Turnovers goes way up.

So your looking at a team that is still top 25, but will probably be in and out of that range.

I don't think that is the case though.

They should finish this year in the top 25, and going into next year they should be at the very least considered a top 20 team.

There isn't any reason why this team can't be a top 10 team.

They can rebound, D, score, have depth.

If they fail it will be mostly intangibles imo.

On paper they are stacked.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I think your being overly pessimistic here.

Could they lose 2 yes. But they could just as easily lose 0. The team will be better. The only question will be if the AAC gets better as a whole. I don't see it being that much different. Swap SMU with UCON. I don't think UCON recovers enough to pass the cats but I expect them to close the gap and play like the "UCON" we all know.

I doubt they will go from mediocre to passing a 30-6 team that looks to be better.

I'm not being pessimistic at all. I'm just saying it's hard to expect to go 16-2 in any conference no matter what. You basically can't drop a single game that you shouldn't. And you most likely have to go undefeated at home. If Ojeleye goes back to SMU, they'll be tough again. I want to win the league. So I'm just saying if it takes 16-2 or better, we gotta find a way to make that happen. I'm not really projecting right now, just saying in general we have to do whatever it takes and be up for the challenge.

 

[HExus]

I'm not being pessimistic at all. I'm just saying it's hard to expect to go 16-2 in any conference no matter what. You basically can't drop a single game that you shouldn't. And you most likely have to go undefeated at home. If Ojeleye goes back to SMU, they'll be tough again. I want to win the league. So I'm just saying if it takes 16-2 or better, we gotta find a way to make that happen. I'm not really projecting right now, just saying in general we have to do whatever it takes and be up for the challenge.

Agreed.

They need to will it.

That will come down to wanting it more. Coming to play every night.

I think it can be easy for a good team playing a bad schedule to take nights off. Thats how you get "UCF" games.

I can agree, its hard to go 18-0 in a conferences period. 1 off night can end it.

But they should be more clearly the fav next year. SMU won't be an easy out, and UCON should play well, but I don't think there is any question who SHOULD win the leauge. Remember the same could be said for those teams. They have to win the games they should too. SMU has a target on its back.

 

[ZCat]

I appreciate everything our seniors have done and the effort they have given us for 4 years. Troy has been one of my favorite players and KJ has represented us well. However, next year will be the first time in 4 years where we won't be slow and methodical as opposed to fast and dynamic. I assume Broome will run point but even Jenifer will push tempo.

I don't think there is any way on Earth Cronin will be able to slow them down nor do I think he will want or attempt to. This will be the first year in Cronin's tenure where he will be forced to play guys who are all VERY good on the offensive side of the ball as opposed to guys who are good on D or a bottle neck on offense.

It will be a team that will be built for March success because we will have dynamic play makers on the perimeter. We can probably iso any of the 3 next year and expect a decent result. We will be solid on the interior once again.

We are picking up addition by subtraction. By many accounts our best player on the team hasn't played a single minute all year (Broome). Obviously Cumberland is going to be a HUGE step up at the 2 guard as well. No question in my mind...we will be significantly better.

WH , my issue with our guards is their height. Against top teams it comes into play. Troy was tall, and it made a difference. Also we don't have elite athletes (JEIII may be). Really need 1-2 to get out of the first round. I have no worries about a strong regular season.

 

[Queens_NYC]

I'd like to see us play with more offensive assertiveness on the road next year. We only outscored conference opponents by 7.1 ppg while away from home this year. SMU on the otherhand outscored opponents by 12.3 ppg on the road.

The Temple, ECU, Tulsa, and UCF games were all very ugly for us and one more loss could've dropped us down another few seeds in the NCAA tournament.

 

[ZCat]

WH , my issue with our guards is their height. Against top teams it comes into play. Troy was tall, and it made a difference. Also we don't have elite athletes (JEIII may be). Really need 1-2 to get out of the first round. I have no worries about a strong regular season.

I mean to get out of the second round consistently. Can add having a good shooting team / not an off night. Even for the most part w/o injuries we had small margin for error.

 

[justinhub2003]

I think it's easy to see who the alpha dog of this team is: Jarron Cumberland

There is nothing shy about him. He wants the ball. And as he gets older, he'll make smarter decisions.

I thought it was Evans.

 

[HoosierCat]

I think it's easy to see who the alpha dog of this team is: Jarron Cumberland

There is nothing shy about him. He wants the ball. And as he gets older, he'll make smarter decisions.

I thought it was Evans.

I agree. He's going to be fun to watch next year in a starting role

 

[waterhead]

WH , my issue with our guards is their height. Against top teams it comes into play. Troy was tall, and it made a difference. Also we don't have elite athletes (JEIII may be). Really need 1-2 to get out of the first round. I have no worries about a strong regular season.

I assume you are talking about our point guards...and yes height is a factor. But having the ability to break someone down of the bounce is going to offset that height disadvantage. They will be quick and elusive. Also, Evans is the definition of an elite athlete. Cumberland has proven you don't have to be.

I just hope Evans can catch on a little from what Cumberland does and stop dribbling around so much and just make one or two dribble moves and go or just pop the open shot when it's there. He gets a little to cute with the ball and then has to pass it away too often.

All in all I think we have the ingredients next year to make a legit run.