2021-22 Open Thread

[Queens_NYC]

Here are a few items to wet your palette before the season officially starts next week

Highlights from the "secret" scrimmage against Ohio Bobcats (Chad said we won in a close one):

https://twitter.com/GoBearcatsMBB/status/1455218077289746433


Also, this was posted on another site:

Spoke with Dermarr yesterday and asked him about the team. Thought I would share some of his responses for everyone.

I asked him what the starting lineup might look like and he said: Mikey, DDJ, Newman, JD and Ado. Said Newman is a freak athletically and defensively, not as consistent with his outside shot but solid 12-15 feet and in. Said DDJ has his confidence back and is the teams best playmaker. Mikeys shot is looking better and his speed is unreal but not the same assist guy that DDJ is. In fact, that’s maybe one thing this team is missing behind DDJ is playmaking off the dribble.

He said MAW is first guard off the bench and likely Madsen next, however Madsen has been struggling with his shot so far but we know he can catch fire quick. AJ is struggling and probably the last guard in the rotation.

Said we have 4-5 really solid big men. Ado, Koval are solid and a presence defensively. Said Ody is really coming on in all phases. The coaches love Hensley so much they are trying him at the 3 at times to get him on the floor. Maybe the most interesting thing he said is Lahkin may be the best offensive player on the whole team between his shooting, passing and IQ. They are finding ways to get him on the floor including playing the 4. But they stat everything at practice and scrimmages in Lahkin leads in just about every category: points, rebounds, top 2/3 in assists.

I guess you could realistically see a lineup of JD/Hensley at the 3, Ody/Lahkin at the 4 with Koval/Ado at the 5. That’s a lot of size and length out there together.

Overall said it was exciting but doesn’t know yet what this team can become. They can all gel and really surprise people or they can struggle with so many new parts. He did say, having transfer last from SEC, and two from ACC with a lot of experience should help this team gel quicker. Last thing he said was this team will defend at a high, near elite level, but will they be able to score consistently. He expects a different leading scorer almost each night which could be good or bad.

Thought this would help get everyone some news to talk about.

 

[skyblade]

Great info. It's hard to imagine Lahkin playing as the 4 not being a major issue on defense due to lack of movement. Perhaps he's a freak athlete, but it's hard to avoid flashbacks of Vogt/Rap. Ado/Koval are better movers than Vogt was, but are any of them going to be able to guard a 6'7" PF who can shoot? Will we be able to play enough bully ball to make up for poor defense? Perhaps with Lakhin/Ado, but Koval isn't known for his rebounding.

I believe Chad among others has reported that they coaching staff see Davenport as a 4. I think he's a bit slow footed to guard at the three and teams would take advantage of the mismatch. Whereas at the 4 he is a mismatch due to his shooting ability. Perhaps Hensley can play the 3 though, he is said to be a freak athlete.

Perhaps we will see something like Ado/Lahkin at the 5, JD/Ody at the 4 and Newman/Hensley at the 3. Koval and AJ would be the odd ones out (mostly on the bench) in that scenario.

 

[cincrulz11]

I guess again I don't understand why DDJ is a 2 when his entire skillset is being a 1.

I hope the info on the russian sniper is true. We could use a big with that game. He's more athletic and fluid than our previous big guy centers.

I wanna see the DDJ, Mason, JD, russian sniper, Koval lineup. They might give up 200 points a game, but offense would be fun to watch (not sure i really want to see it, i just like the thought of no post players).

 

[waterhead]

With the news on Lakhin and Hensley being legit potential contributors we are truly looking like we can be 4 deep in most positions. Assuming we can slide many players to at least 2 different positions. The lineup combination potential is going to be crazy and probably take a while to see what works together.

Ado/Koval/Lakhin/Ody
Davenport/Ody/Lakhin/Hensley/Banks
Newman/Hensley/Davenport/Madsen/Banks
Dejulius/MAW/Madsen/Newman/McGinnis
Saunders/Dejulius/MAW/Madsen

Keeping enough offense on the floor while trying to be elite on D is going to take some master planning

 

[Queens_NYC]

Justin Berg was on Chad's basketball preview podcast and I thought I'd share some player notes from a recent practice he attended:

DeJulius
His biggest stance from the segment was that our offense will go as far as DeJulius takes it... He will be our greatest facilitator but there are worries about how successful he'll be given his size.... He's confident that he'll be a much better outside shooter than last season.

Saunders
Projects to be the starting PG... Identified him as one of two "wildcards" that will play a big role in the team's success

Newman
Praised his hustle and scrappiness... He plays like a "traditional" Bearcat... Wasn't too sure about his outside shot or his ability to consistently score

Davenport
He was hardly discussed other than reiterating that his game is more catch-and-shoot than creating off the dribble

Ado
Questions how effective he'll be due to his limitations on offense... Made it seem like he was very limited with the ball in his hands... Didn't say anything new about his defensive contributions

MAW
Expects him to be the first guard off the bench due to his versatility with playing the 1/2... Didn't have much to say otherwise

Madsen
Identified him as the other "wildcard" due to being a reliable guy off the bench who can stretch the floor and provide instant offense

Ody
He's built in a similar form to Newman with his energy and style of play... Made note of how he tries to dunk everything when he gets within a few feet of the basket

Koval
Complimented his shooting and shot blocking... insinuated that he wasn't going to be an impact player

Hensley
Was as intrigued by him as anyone else, specifically his physical attributes... Said he showed some flashes on offense but looked quite lost during other parts of practice... Is really excited to see what his game looks like in 2 years

McGinnis
Loves his shot... Like Hensley, made mention that defense was going to keep him off the court

Lakhin
Saw some impressive moves from him and thinks that he'll definitely get his looks on the court

Overall, Justin expressed a bit of concern about how we were going to score this season.

He predicted we'd go 18-13, which is on the more pessimistic side of predictions I've seen so far.

 

[sedziobs]

I can't question much of that without having seen the team play together yet, but the starting lineup being proposed definitely scares me. DDJ as the guy who carries our offense says more about the other four starters than it does him. Bad defense at the 1-3 positions was a recipe for disaster with no rim protection. Adding Ado, Ody, and Koval means we can afford to take more risks playing shooters that don't defend all that well. If Hensley, McGinnis, Madsen, and Lakhin are showing potential on offense, I would gladly accept playing one or two of them if we have Newman and a shot blocker out there. Especially so since they all have 4 years of eligibility remaining and may be our foundation going forward. I'm not even convinced that a team with a pair of 6'0 guards and slightly undersized forwards can be that great defensively.

 

[waterhead]

Justin Berg was on Chad's basketball preview podcast and I thought I'd share some player notes from a recent practice he attended:

DeJulius
His biggest stance from the segment was that our offense will go as far as DeJulius takes it... He will be our greatest facilitator but there are worries about how successful he'll be given his size.... He's confident that he'll be a much better outside shooter than last season.

Saunders
Projects to be the starting PG... Identified him as one of two "wildcards" that will play a big role in the team's success

Newman
Praised his hustle and scrappiness... He plays like a "traditional" Bearcat... Wasn't too sure about his outside shot or his ability to consistently score

Davenport
He was hardly discussed other than reiterating that his game is more catch-and-shoot than creating off the dribble

Ado
Questions how effective he'll be due to his limitations on offense... Made it seem like he was very limited with the ball in his hands... Didn't say anything new about his defensive contributions

MAW
Expects him to be the first guard off the bench due to his versatility with playing the 1/2... Didn't have much to say otherwise

Madsen
Identified him as the other "wildcard" due to being a reliable guy off the bench who can stretch the floor and provide instant offense

Ody
He's built in a similar form to Newman with his energy and style of play... Made note of how he tries to dunk everything when he gets within a few feet of the basket

Koval
Complimented his shooting and shot blocking... insinuated that he wasn't going to be an impact player

Hensley
Was as intrigued by him as anyone else, specifically his physical attributes... Said he showed some flashes on offense but looked quite lost during other parts of practice... Is really excited to see what his game looks like in 2 years

McGinnis
Loves his shot... Like Hensley, made mention that defense was going to keep him off the court

Lakhin
Saw some impressive moves from him and thinks that he'll definitely get his looks on the court

Overall, Justin expressed a bit of concern about how we were going to score this season.

He predicted we'd go 18-13, which is on the more pessimistic side of predictions I've seen so far.

This seems like a much more subdued and realistic synopsis of what is going on than some of the rose colored glasses stuff that is out there.

Expecting major jumps from anyone is more of a rare bonus than anything. Although I suspect if DD is seeing his 3 ball fall it will benefit the rest of his play making game as well.

I also agree with Seds on having Newman and Ado out there allows us to throw 2-3 offensive guys out there without getting killed on D hopefully. It would be nice if we can keep 3 good players on each side of the ball rather than 2 though.

Having two 6'0" guards and an average athleticism Davenport on the court kind of limits your D potential. I hope DD settles back in at the 1 so we can throw more length on D with a MAW, Madsen, or Hensley etc on the wing to compliment Newman. I think that will improve our offense and defense over Mikey and David out there at the same time but stranger things have happened I guess so we shall see.

 

[skyblade]

I listened to BCJ hoops podcast, one note is to take everything from Berg with a grain of salt. Berg himself admitted he hasn't been paying much attention to UC hoops (he didn't for example know Lakhin was healthy or know that highlights of the UC/OU scrimmage had been posted). He went to one two hour practice and got everything from observing that one practice - though he did also talk to some coaches/guys at the practice.

As we all know, two hours of game, much less practice is often not enough. If a player has a bad day or just an unlucky streak, they can look much better (or worse) than they really are. There are also guys who look much better in games than at practice (or vice versa).

That said, Chad was in agreement with Berg's win/loss prediction (17-20 wins was the general consensus). But he made sure to emphasize that we don't really know anything about this team and won't know until we see them play some games.

The scary part of both Berg's and Chad's notes is there may only be three guys - MAW, Saunders, DDJ - on the team who are able to create off the dribble and since they are all guards, they won't all be on the court at the same time. MAW's creation is also more fast break based. There are one/two more guys who maybe can create (Lakhin and possibly Hensley), but there are questions over if they can get on the court with defense/rebounding (especially for Hensley). Everyone else either is primarily a spot up shooter (Newman, Mason, McGinnis, Davenport, Koval) or has limited offensive ability (Ody, Ado).

Chad also said he does not think we will press - at least not at first. Apparently he's heard that we've struggled with the press in practice and against both OU and Detroit Mercy. Especially if we run lineups with two bigs, we just don't have the movement/speed to press. Which may limit Mikey's offensive ability.

It seems like we are hoping that somebody shows more offensive ability than has been seen is practice. Otherwise our offense may consist of chuck it up and grab the rebound, especially if teams are able to stop DDJ/MAW/Saunders. Even with MAW/Saunders we are hoping for something we haven't seen in the past, DDJ is the only guy on the team who has shown the ability to both score and distribute with consistency.

 

[waterhead]

I listened to BCJ hoops podcast, one note is to take everything from Berg with a grain of salt. Berg himself admitted he hasn't been paying much attention to UC hoops (he didn't for example know Lakhin was healthy or know that highlights of the UC/OU scrimmage had been posted). He went to one two hour practice and got everything from observing that one practice - though he did also talk to some coaches/guys at the practice.

As we all know, two hours of game, much less practice is often not enough. If a player has a bad day or just an unlucky streak, they can look much better (or worse) than they really are. There are also guys who look much better in games than at practice (or vice versa).

That said, Chad was in agreement with Berg's win/loss prediction (17-20 wins was the general consensus). But he made sure to emphasize that we don't really know anything about this team and won't know until we see them play some games.

The scary part of both Berg's and Chad's notes is there may only be three guys - MAW, Saunders, DDJ - on the team who are able to create off the dribble and since they are all guards, they won't all be on the court at the same time. MAW's creation is also more fast break based. There are one/two more guys who maybe can create (Lakhin and possibly Hensley), but there are questions over if they can get on the court with defense/rebounding (especially for Hensley). Everyone else either is primarily a spot up shooter (Newman, Mason, McGinnis, Davenport, Koval) or has limited offensive ability (Ody, Ado).

Chad also said he does not think we will press - at least not at first. Apparently he's heard that we've struggled with the press in practice and against both OU and Detroit Mercy. Especially if we run lineups with two bigs, we just don't have the movement/speed to press. Which may limit Mikey's offensive ability.

It seems like we are hoping that somebody shows more offensive ability than has been seen is practice. Otherwise our offense may consist of chuck it up and grab the rebound, especially if teams are able to stop DDJ/MAW/Saunders. Even with MAW/Saunders we are hoping for something we haven't seen in the past, DDJ is the only guy on the team who has shown the ability to both score and distribute with consistency.

Can't argue with much here. Although I would suspect Newman will be able to get in the lane a good amount with his quickness (and from watching his frosh tapes). He seems similar to MAW as well. MAW is left hand dominant so his play making is limited by that. Rather than breaking ankles off the bounce Newman will be more of a one move straight line attacker similar to how Caupain used to just drop his head and go from the top of the key but obviously Newman will have to come in from the wing spot more often than he will be afforded to come downhill from the top of the key. Not sure if Wes runs any weave to get different looks for players at the top of the key though.

I think we are going to need some heavy movement on the perimeter to keep the defense running rather than let them guard the 3 ball all day. We have to break the lane and kick or dump IMO.

 

[sedziobs]

The AAC is undefeated so far, but with some close come from behind wins needed against bad teams (WSU vs Jacksonville St, Houston vs Hofstra). Georgia was down at the half to FIU but came back to win by 7. X only beat Niagara by 3. Miami OH won at Georgia Tech (last year's ACC tournament champions and a 9 seed). That could turn into a quality game for us, especially since it's on the road.

 

[sedziobs]

Rough day for the ACC. In addition to Georgia Tech going down, Pitt lost to The Citadel and Virginia lost to Navy. Clemson was down by 8 to Presbyterian at the half but came back to win. We play Presbyterian next week.

 

[sedziobs]

Arizona St lost to UC Riverside tonight. Major conferences are laying some eggs early in the season.

JP Moorman from Temple sank a three-quarter court heave at the buzzer for the win.

 

[TheRealMick]

Didn't Mick recruit Moorman?

 

[Queens_NYC]

Didn't Mick recruit Moorman?

Yeah, we offered him.

 

[justinhub2003]

Bench is gonna come in handy after we play 2 games in 3 days next week

 

[skyblade]

Decided to rewatch the game this morning, nothing better to do on a rainy morning.

- Newman played better than I recalled. He took what he was given on offense and didn't try to force anything, fought for everything on the glass on both ends, was disruptive on defense and didn't make many mistakes.

- Ody was bad. Got caught out of position, went for blocks when he didn't need to, messed up communication on switches, couldn't guard Bridges 1v1. He did provide some nice rebounding, but was a net negative. He has the athleticism and energy, but needs to learn to use it within the system.

- MAW got beat off the drive a number of times. Saunders and JD both got caught ball watching on defense a few times and left their man open for an easy shot. Saunders was excellent with his ball pressure though. Georgia also made some tough shots. They shot 48% from the field and 50% from three, we were not good on defense when we weren't turning them over.

- Koval was our best defensive big man, Lakhin was our best offensive big man. Ado seems slow to react and get himself into good position, which he shouldn't be considering he's is a super senior. Didn't make too many mistakes, but didn't do many good things either.

- Our offense is pretty good when we actually run offense (especially when Lakhin is on the floor). Way too much hero ball at times and guys trying to take their man 1v1 though. Need to work on moving the ball and taking what is given, rather than trying to force it off the drive.

- Side note: over on 247 someone posted a Lakhin post where he says he sprained his ankle before the game and played through the pain (with a post of swollen ankle). Hope he can stay healthy, as he looks like he may be our best offensive player (especially if the guards would give him the ball).

 

[sedziobs]

USF barely survived at home to North Carolina A&T after losing to Georgia Southern on Saturday. The AAC also picked up losses to Air Force and Southern over the weekend. Those were all 260+ NET teams last year. Those losses will drag down the metrics of the entire conference, limiting our chances for quality wins. On the bright side, UCF won at Miami.

 

[waterhead]

Decided to rewatch the game this morning, nothing better to do on a rainy morning.

- Newman played better than I recalled. He took what he was given on offense and didn't try to force anything, fought for everything on the glass on both ends, was disruptive on defense and didn't make many mistakes.

- Ody was bad. Got caught out of position, went for blocks when he didn't need to, messed up communication on switches, couldn't guard Bridges 1v1. He did provide some nice rebounding, but was a net negative. He has the athleticism and energy, but needs to learn to use it within the system.

- MAW got beat off the drive a number of times. Saunders and JD both got caught ball watching on defense a few times and left their man open for an easy shot. Saunders was excellent with his ball pressure though. Georgia also made some tough shots. They shot 48% from the field and 50% from three, we were not good on defense when we weren't turning them over.

- Koval was our best defensive big man, Lakhin was our best offensive big man. Ado seems slow to react and get himself into good position, which he shouldn't be considering he's is a super senior. Didn't make too many mistakes, but didn't do many good things either.

- Our offense is pretty good when we actually run offense (especially when Lakhin is on the floor). Way too much hero ball at times and guys trying to take their man 1v1 though. Need to work on moving the ball and taking what is given, rather than trying to force it off the drive.

- Side note: over on 247 someone posted a Lakhin post where he says he sprained his ankle before the game and played through the pain (with a post of swollen ankle). Hope he can stay healthy, as he looks like he may be our best offensive player (especially if the guards would give him the ball).

Agree with most here. Koval and Lakhin were the net positive bigs. Ado is playing well below his potential. Ody may have to slow things down a bit to get better. He's way to jacked up out there to be able to think straight.

Newman had a nice game of defense and rebounding and taking what is given on offense and that is exactly what he needs to do all year.

The guards will have their up and down games and we can ride the hot hands from game to game.

 

[sedziobs]

South Florida lost at home to South Carolina St, who was 0-7 and #348 on Torvik. I can't wait to get out of this conference. The American is ranked 9th on Torvik so far this year, continuing a trend of dropping one spot each season after peaking at #6 in 2019.

 

[Queens_NYC]

We're #45 in the first NET rankings of the season.

Surprisingly, the highest ranked team that we've played so far is Monmouth at #41 making it a Q2 home game.

Arkansas (#44) and Illinois (#48) are both currently Q1 games.

Miami is the only other non-Q4 game we've played. They're #118 which makes our win last week a Q2 win.