2022-23 Open Thread

[sedziobs]

Princeton showing what you can do with backcourt size but limited frontcourt size. They're switching everything, contesting every shot, and every player can rebound. Holding a top 10 offense to 14 points in 13 minutes so far.

 

[sirthought]

Princeton showing what you can do with backcourt size but limited frontcourt size. They're switching everything, contesting every shot, and every player can rebound. Holding a top 10 offense to 14 points in 13 minutes so far.

They really pass the ball around too in a way I wish more teams did.

 

[sedziobs]

They really pass the ball around too in a way I wish more teams did.

Yeah, they are picking apart the zone. I don't know why Missouri played so much of it. Their man defense looked much better, at least against this team.

 

[sedziobs]

Princeton showing what you can do with backcourt size but limited frontcourt size. They're switching everything, contesting every shot, and every player can rebound. Holding a top 10 offense to 14 points in 13 minutes so far.

FDU showed what you can do with small but athletic guards. They run out 5'8 and 5'9 guards, but they combined for 10 rebounds against Purdue and were able to harass Edey and then recover. They had 4 steals and even a block. I'm hoping Thomas and James can provide some of that next year. They're both small but very athletic, which is something we haven't had at the guard spots in recent years.

I think one reason FDU was able to shock Purdue is they trusted the scouting report and took risks to force Purdue out of their comfort zone. They sped them up with full court traps, harassed Edey constantly, and dared Purdue's guards to shoot the three. I didn't see any other team simply not go within 10 feet of Purdue's guards this season, completely abandoning perimeter defense at times. But it's smart - Purdue only shoots 32% from three so they are getting less than a point per possession out of that shot.

We see that a lot in March. During the season, teams are focused on bettering themselves, and aren't going to reinvent their style for one game. But in the tournament, underdogs especially will do whatever it takes to beat their specific opponent. Good teams will face a strategy they haven't seen at all. That's what happed to us against Nevada. Nobody had shown us a half court double all year, and we didn't know what to do with it.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Colorado are 4.5-point favorites ahead of tonight's home match-up against Utah Valley. The winner hosts UC on either Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

The Buffs lost 1 starter (J'Vonne Hadley) and 1 rotation player (Javon Ruffin) to injury over the past month. Their 2nd leading scorer 6'2 KJ Simpson (15.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.8 apg) has also missed the past 4 games with mono. It doesn't appear as if he'll be well enough to return tonight.

Utah Valley is coming off a very impressive 83-69 win at New Mexico (KenPom #66).

I suspect Colorado may be the better match-up for us if Simpson continues to be out.

 

[sedziobs]

Xavier always seems to get favorable draws in the tourney. This year they got the lowest Kenpom ranked 6, 11, and 14 seeds in their pod.

 

[sedziobs]

Colorado are 4.5-point favorites ahead of tonight's home match-up against Utah Valley. The winner hosts UC on either Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

The Buffs lost 1 starter (J'Vonne Hadley) and 1 rotation player (Javon Ruffin) to injury over the past month. Their 2nd leading scorer 6'2 KJ Simpson (15.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.8 apg) has also missed the past 4 games with mono. It doesn't appear as if he'll be well enough to return tonight.

Utah Valley is coming off a very impressive 83-69 win at New Mexico (KenPom #66).

I suspect Colorado may be the better match-up for us if Simpson continues to be out.

Utah Valley is really good, that defense is no joke. The WAC isn't a bad conference - it's comparable to the AAC minus Houston and Memphis, lots of teams ranked around 100-150 and a couple top 75. They went 15-3, with one loss in a game with 50 fouls and their only home loss of the year to Seattle who made 12 threes. They also played a tough OOC schedule going on the road to Utah St, Wake Forest, Boise St, BYU, and Oregon - winning 2 of them.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Utah Valley and Colorado are tied at 38 at halftime.

Pretty entertaining back-and-forth game. Neither team has had an issue creating open shots. First foul wasn't called until the 7:34 mark.

Colorado's best player, Da Silva, has been a nonfactor with only 2 points. Their 7 footer has 11 though and looks like he could give Vik a game. Standout player for Utah Valley has been Woodbury, a Jimmer Fredette type, who has 10, 3 and 3.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Utah Valley dominated the 2nd half and went on to win 81-69. Colorado couldn't make a jump shot to save their lives.

Woodbury was an absolute baller for UV. He finished with 25, 7, and 7 on 11-15 shooting. UV has another good-looking guard in Harmon who had 18 and an athletic 7-footer Bandaogo who had 12, 7, and 2 blocks.

Bearcats face Utah Valley at 9 pm on Wednesday.

 

[TheRealMick]

If anybody on BCJ or Twitter with Chad. Tell him his wife and family most definitely in my prayers sincerely. We haven't seen eye to eye debating sports but this bigger than anything we could imagine. I've been TEAM KELLY since I first heard of her situation. I truly hate you have go threw this and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Stay strong Chad and Bearcat NATION! Team Kelly for LIFE!


BULLDOG OUT!

 

[Queens_NYC]

If anybody on BCJ or Twitter with Chad. Tell him his wife and family most definitely in my prayers sincerely. We haven't seen eye to eye debating sports but this bigger than anything we could imagine. I've been TEAM KELLY since I first heard of her situation. I truly hate you have go threw this and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Stay strong Chad and Bearcat NATION! Team Kelly for LIFE!


BULLDOG OUT!

It was rough to get that heartbreaking update last night. Through the highs and lows and countless debates surrounding UC sports, the consistent love and support for Kelly and the Brendel family has united us all.

 

[sedziobs]

Looks like UConn and Colorado could be the top candidates to replace Texas and Oklahoma in the B12. I wonder if we'll end up with two divisions, maybe east-west:

Cincinnati, UConn, West Virginia, UCF, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St

Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St, Colorado, BYU

Or swap BYU and UCF and call it north-south. There's also a lot of rumors about Arizona and Gonzaga. What a ridiculous basketball conference that would be.

 

[Queens_NYC]

We're two days away from the return of Bearcat (alumni) basketball with the start of the 2023 TBT tournament.

Nasty Nati, who's 2022 TBT debut ended in a 1st round defeat, open this year's competition as the #6 seed in the Xavier Regional where they'll take on #3 seed, The Money Team.

Here is the team:

Coaching Staff
Co-Head Coach: Cane Broome
Co-Head Coach: Cashmere Wright
GM/Asst Coach: Kevin Johnson
Asst Coach: Kevin Anzenberger (former UC Video Coordinator)

Roster
Coreontae DeBerry
Deshaun Morman
Jacob Evans
Jarron Cumberland
Keith Williams
Mamoudou Diarra
Marquez Letcher-Ellis (Rice University)
Shaquille Thomas
Tre Scott
Troy Caupain

Nasty Nati will play at 6 pm on Friday, July 21st at the Cintas Center.

Their game will also be streamed on ESPN+.

 

[sedziobs]

Looking forward to watching these guys again. Deshaun Morman isn't a name I expected to see. Looks like he last played in Africa over a year ago and shot only 38%.

 

[Queens_NYC]

The TMT team we're facing tonight is pretty accomplished. Most of the team has NBA/G-League experience.

Here is the roster and how they fared in their last year of college basketball.

CJ Elleby - 6'6 - Washington St - 18.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg (19/20)
Corey Davis - 6'1 - Houston - 17.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg (18/19)
Devin Booker - 6'8 - Clemson - 13.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg (12/13)
Devin Davis - 6'7 - Houston - 10.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg (17/18)
James Batemon - 6'1 - Loyola Marymount - 16.4 ppg, 3.6 apg (18/19)
Jeff Ledbetter - 6'3 - Idaho - 12.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg (10/11)
Jordan Crawford - 5'6 - Bowling Green - 15.0 ppg, 4.3 apg (12/13)
Kyle Vinales - 6'1 - Central Connecticut St - 17.3 ppg, 3.9 apg (13/14)
Peyton Aldridge - 6'7 - Davidson - 21.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg (17/18)
Terrico White - 6'5 - Ole Miss - 15.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg (10/11)
Tomislav Zubcic - 6'11 - Croatia - Drafted 56th in 2012 NBA Draft
Trevor Booker - 6'7 - Clemson - 15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg (09/10)

Hopefully our "youth" is an advantage against a team where over half the roster is in their early-mid 30s.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Nasty Nati is down 48-42 at the half thanks to a Jarron buzzer beater 3 that stopped the bleeding of a late half implosion.

Tre Scott and Keith Williams are MIA (not playing) and sorely missed.

 

[skyblade]

Nasty Nati wins! Cumberland finishes them off with a long three. I really enjoyed watching the former UC players play, Cumberland and Evans provided most of the offense, Diarra and Letcher-Ellis brought energy, effort and defense and Caupain was the solid PG.

Not sure why Tre Scott didn't play, hopefully he will be able to play in the next game. Keith would be nice to have as well, though I don't think he'd start on this team.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Nasty Nati wins! Cumberland finishes them off with a long three. I really older watching the former UC players play, Cumberland and Evans provided most of the offense, Diarra and Letcher-Ellis brought energy, effort and defense and Caupain was the solid PG.

Not sure why Tre Scott didn't play, hopefully he will be able to play in the next game. Keith would be nice to have as well, though I don't think he'd start on this team.

Second half was a masterpiece.

I can't help but feel proud regardless of the stakes.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Nasty Nati starts the game down 6-0 to Zip em up but rips off an 18-0 run to end the quarter with a 22-9 lead. Tremendous defensive effort.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Nasty Nati was up 30-11 early in the 2nd quarter before a very sloppy finish allowed Zip em up to cut into the lead. 35-28 at halftime.