Around the AAC

BearcatTalk

Help Support BearcatTalk:

rogerOH said:
When I mentioned Durden /Burton/Logan, how did I leave off Field Williams? Caupain's 4 years were 33%-40%-32%-33% so you can't always count on improvement. How about Clark's 0%-52%-29%.
Click to expand...

I understand numbers can go up and down. I just wanted to give a reference point for current player numbers. As I mentioned I don't expect Jacob to always shoot .418 for a season. Just saying we have some pretty good shooters right now in Evans and Cumberland...and Moore is supposed to be as well. The shift to better shooters seems promising.

.375 or better is a respectable number to say the least when you compare it to our past best shooters for a career. I think we have 3 guys who are in that ball park now.

Also I don't consider Clark as a viable example in this context. Caupain? Yes.
 
Last edited:
rogerOH said:
When I mentioned Durden /Burton/Logan, how did I leave off Field Williams? Caupain's 4 years were 33%-40%-32%-33% so you can't always count on improvement. How about Clark's 0%-52%-29%.
Click to expand...

I should also mention I think the circumstances are important. Perhaps Vaughn and SK would have better career numbers if they weren't the focal point of defense. Evans has the benefit of having other capable players around him so he can be selective in his shots. Same with Cumberland. I would not expect them to fall back too far because of that in their %'s. They don't have to force too many shots off. Caupain was often left with the ball in his hands when the shot clock winds down. Again, circumstances have a lot to do with this.

I think we have guys who can knock down open 3's at a reasonable rate right now.
 
waterhead said:
I should also mention I think the circumstances are important. Perhaps Vaughn and SK would have better career numbers if they weren't the focal point of defense. Evans has the benefit of having other capable players around him so he can be selective in his shots. Same with Cumberland. I would not expect them to fall back too far because of that in their %'s. They don't have to force too many shots off. Caupain was often left with the ball in his hands when the shot clock winds down. Again, circumstances have a lot to do with this.

I think we have guys who can knock down open 3's at a reasonable rate right now.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't look at this team and dream of the shooters of old times. We're fine. These guys can shoot. Not really even a discussion for me.

I am interested to see how Broome does from 3. He might have been the Vaughn or SK example you gave in terms of having to force shots he won't have to force here. We'll see. And if Keith Williams can at least be a threat, that makes us even more dangerous.
 
jacobkdoyle said:
Yeah I don't look at this team and dream of the shooters of old times. We're fine. These guys can shoot. Not really even a discussion for me.

I am interested to see how Broome does from 3. He might have been the Vaughn or SK example you gave in terms of having to force shots he won't have to force here. We'll see. And if Keith Williams can at least be a threat, that makes us even more dangerous.
Click to expand...

You might be right with Broome. A career low average shooter from 3 but probably launched a high volume contested and from long range or on the move. I am not sure on Williams. His form isn't the greatest but it doesn't need to be if he only takes open shots.

This year we will be fine from 3 I agree. After looking at some of the numbers I am less inclined to think we need to attack more and shoot less 3's. I think we can make them at a good rate...but I really think we will be better at both driving and shooting!!
 
UCBearcats said:
I get that this is a Bearcats board and we're all fans but other than that is there a reason why you'd project UC ahead of WSU?

Every preseason publication I've seen has WSU ranked as a Top 10 team.
Click to expand...

Back to this again. We return our top 3 scorers. We add depth on the bench. There is a lot of optimism about our new starters coming in. They could BOTH be better than what we lost. Cumberland was one of our top 3 players arguably down the stretch last year as a frosh. Cane has been described by coach (and fans who have watched practice) as our most unguardable player...if not the best player (or one of the best) on the floor.

I like to exercise caution on those type of comments...but it's pretty high praise so I like to think he will be serviceable at worst. I have little doubt about Cumberland adding overall value above KJ. Again, we won 30 games last year....to think we might get better is very exciting! To pick us first in the conference based on this is probably not a pipe dream even as good as WSU will be.

It's up to the players and how much chemistry and desire we have. I like the thought of Kyle being a team leader...kid is confident as hell. We need that in the locker room and on the floor. He's a guy who doesn't doubt what he or we are capable of.
 
waterhead said:
Back to this again. We return our top 3 scorers. We add depth on the bench. There is a lot of optimism about our new starters coming in. They could BOTH be better than what we lost. Cumberland was one of our top 3 players arguably down the stretch last year as a frosh. Cane has been described by coach (and fans who have watched practice) as our most unguardable player...if not the best player (or one of the best) on the floor.

I like to exercise caution on those type of comments...but it's pretty high praise so I like to think he will be serviceable at worst. I have little doubt about Cumberland adding overall value above KJ. Again, we won 30 games last year....to think we might get better is very exciting! To pick us first in the conference based on this is probably not a pipe dream even as good as WSU will be.

It's up to the players and how much chemistry and desire we have. I like the thought of Kyle being a team leader...kid is confident as hell. We need that in the locker room and on the floor. He's a guy who doesn't doubt what he or we are capable of.
Click to expand...

I think the reason I'd go with Washington as a leader (Clark too kind of) is that he isn't a kid at all. I *think* he and Clark will be 23/24 years old.

I'm not nit picking bc you called him a kid...just stating in general that having older guys who have been around the block is pretty key. It's funny to think about those guys plus Evans not only being easily among the most talented guys, but they also have more experience in big moments than most of the guys they'll play on a regular basis. That's a great way to rack up a lot of wins.
 
I have totally blocked everything about crappy Yukon out of my mind...who do they have coming back this year? Didn't they have a bunch of guys transfer?
 
Funny thing is they a player with almost the same name as M. Diarra- first name is so close( like 1 extra O or something) close to same size 6'8-medical redshirt last year- and was a consensus top100 player- it could be cool when they guard each other.
 
jacobkdoyle said:
I have totally blocked everything about crappy Yukon out of my mind...who do they have coming back this year? Didn't they have a bunch of guys transfer?
Click to expand...

Between transfers and graduation they lost 6 contributors from last year's squad - most coming from the front court. They return 3 players who essentially missed the entire season due to injury - all will have significant roles this year. An odd thing about their roster is that they don't appear to have any expected contributors between 6'4 and 6'6 which should give us a big advantage on the wings.

I see a lot of ups and downs for them this season but they could be one of the league's best teams in 18-19.
 
jacobkdoyle said:
I think the reason I'd go with Washington as a leader (Clark too kind of) is that he isn't a kid at all. I *think* he and Clark will be 23/24 years old.

I'm not nit picking bc you called him a kid...just stating in general that having older guys who have been around the block is pretty key. It's funny to think about those guys plus Evans not only being easily among the most talented guys, but they also have more experience in big moments than most of the guys they'll play on a regular basis. That's a great way to rack up a lot of wins.
Click to expand...

Yeah our average starting experience level will be very high this year. We have so much experience on the floor we may not need much leadership...lol! Just play...you already know what to do.

5th year Sr Washington
4th year Sr Clark
4th year Jr Broome
3rd year Jr Evans
Soph who's ahead of his years

Not to mention Moore, Jenifer, and Scott all 3rd or 4th year guys know what they should be doing when they get in the game.
 
I know it was a couple pages back, but I saw y'all mentioning pre-season rankings and I am up late tonight. I think UC is preseason number one in the league. I like WSU, but alot of hype around a team who didn't beat anyone last year. SMU or Cincy could have easily played UK that close on a good day as well.

An SMU perspective on pre-season AAC Rankings:

1) UC- Return your best two players Clark and Evans. Add Broome who is like McMurray for SMU a kid who is real quick and a real quality scorer. Cumberland is an improvement over Johnson and could have a breakout year. Y'all have tons of depth/experience, size, and play tough D. Really like the frosh Williams.

2) WSU- Could obviously win the league, but they didn't beat anyone last year. They got WAY TOO much hype from almost winning a game against UK. They are really good and return alot, but they aren't battle tested for going through a tougher league than the MVC. Shamet and McDuffie are legit players, but I could see them losing a surprise game or two on the road.

3) SMU- You can call me a homer, but we are still really talented and well coached. Once McMurray is eligible we will be real tough. Whitt, Foster and Agau are all top notch defenders. We will be loaded 1-3 and using Foster at the 4 quite a bit. Key will be if Agau (Grad-transfer) and Ray (averaged 10.3RPG on our foreign tour) can man the 5. I expect we finish 3rd no worse than 4th. 18-19 we should be competing for conference crown again.

4) UCF- I give them the nod over Temple because of defense. BJ Taylor is one of the best players in the conference and as long as the have Tacko they will be tough to score on. The added several real good transfers.

5) Temple- I really like Temple, but not sold on them defensively or that Obi will give them a true post presence. Shizz, Rose, Moore and Brown all in the backcourt could be deadly. They were not good last year despite having talent which is another reason I give the nod to UCF. The are older and return Brown, I think they are more talented than UCF, but not sure they finish ahead of them.

6) UH- Rob Gray can score, but they will miss Dotson. Devin Davis will be the key for UH. If he is real good in the post with Zanna the grad-transfer then UH could be real competitive, but I don't see them being able to replace Dotson's impact. Not a fan of Galen Robinson or Wes Van Beck, both liabilities on D.

7) UConn- If they make it through the season without an injury they might finish 5th or 6th, but their frontcourt is terrible and struggled last year the first few games when Larrier and Gilbert were both healthy. They will be better, but so will the AAC.

8) Tulsa- In a past year they might have been 5th, but the AAC is real deep 1-8 this year. I just don't think they have the talent outside of Etou to compete with the top 5 most nights. Taplin is a solid player too.

9) Memphis- Giving them the benefit of the doubt, but they could be 11th. They added some decent JuCo's, but JuCo's are hit or miss. Nickleberry and Johnson should be quality freshman for them. I also like Martin.

10) ECU- Barkley is the only reason I put them here. Lebo is the worst coach in the conference.

11) Tulane- They seem like they might win a few more games, but not many.

12) Terrible.
 
Last edited:
SMOOfan98 said:
I know it was a couple pages back, but I saw y'all mentioning pre-season rankings and I am up late tonight. I think UC is preseason number one in the league. I like WSU, but alot of hype around a team who didn't beat anyone last year. SMU or Cincy could have easily played UK that close on a good day as well.

An SMU perspective on pre-season AAC Rankings:

1) UC- Return your best two players Clark and Evans. Add Broome who is like McMurray for SMU a kid who is real quick and a real quality scorer. Cumberland is an improvement over Johnson and could have a breakout year. Y'all have tons of depth/experience, size, and play tough D. Really like the frosh Williams.

2) WSU- Could obviously win the league, but they didn't beat anyone last year. They got WAY TOO much hype from almost winning a game against UK. They are really good and return alot, but they aren't battle tested for going through a tougher league than the MVC. Shamet and McDuffie are legit players, but I could see them losing a surprise game or two on the road.

3) SMU- You can call me a homer, but we are still really talented and well coached. Once McMurray is eligible we will be real tough. Whitt, Foster and Agau are all top notch defenders. We will be loaded 1-3 and using Foster at the 4 quite a bit. Key will be if Agau (Grad-transfer) and Ray (averaged 10.3RPG on our foreign tour) can man the 5. I expect we finish 3rd no worse than 4th. 18-19 we should be competing for conference crown again.

4) UCF- I give them the nod over Temple because of defense. BJ Taylor is one of the best players in the conference and as long as the have Tacko they will be tough to score on. The added several real good transfers.

5) Temple- I really like Temple, but not sold on them defensively or that Obi will give them a true post presence. Shizz, Rose, Moore and Brown all in the backcourt could be deadly. They were not good last year despite having talent which is another reason I give the nod to UCF. The are older and return Brown, I think they are more talented than UCF, but not sure they finish ahead of them.

6) UH- Rob Gray can score, but they will miss Dotson. Devin Davis will be the key for UH. If he is real good in the post with Zanna the grad-transfer then UH could be real competitive, but I don't see them being able to replace Dotson's impact. Not a fan of Galen Robinson or Wes Van Beck, both liabilities on D.

7) UConn- If they make it through the season without an injury they might finish 5th or 6th, but their frontcourt is terrible and struggled last year the first few games when Larrier and Gilbert were both healthy. They will be better, but so will the AAC.

8) Tulsa- In a past year they might have been 5th, but the AAC is real deep 1-8 this year. I just don't think they have the talent outside of Etou to compete with the top 5 most nights. Taplin is a solid player too.

9) Memphis- Giving them the benefit of the doubt, but they could be 11th. They added some decent JuCo's, but JuCo's are hit or miss. Nickleberry and Johnson should be quality freshman for them. I also like Martin.

10) ECU- Barkley is the only reason I put them here. Lebo is the worst coach in the conference.

11) Tulane- They seem like they might win a few more games, but not many.

12) Terrible.
Click to expand...

I think this is a fair outlook. I'd be ok with WSU being picked as a favorite over UC too. I don't think its wrong to predict UC will be the better team at the end of the day however. The Bearcats will have a team worthy of that confidence.

Really both teams played a soft schedule last year, but UC did win some big games, and did win 30. WSU brings back everyone, but UC only lost 2 and IMO its addition by subtraction.

If you glance at the preseason predictions all of them put a lot of weight on what we lost which is why IMO we are undervalued.

So thats fine, put UC at around 16, and put WSU at around 10-6.

Lets see how it plays out on the court. Can't wait till November.

EDIT:

The more I look at WSU's schedule and compare it to UC's last year and the overall outcome of the season, id say these teams will be very closely matched indeed.

Again I think the prediction gap is mostly the respect that Troy had with the writers, and the fact that WSU lost NO ONE in comparison.
 
Last edited:
SMOOfan98 said:
I know it was a couple pages back, but I saw y'all mentioning pre-season rankings and I am up late tonight. I think UC is preseason number one in the league. I like WSU, but alot of hype around a team who didn't beat anyone last year. SMU or Cincy could have easily played UK that close on a good day as well.

An SMU perspective on pre-season AAC Rankings:

1) UC- Return your best two players Clark and Evans. Add Broome who is like McMurray for SMU a kid who is real quick and a real quality scorer. Cumberland is an improvement over Johnson and could have a breakout year. Y'all have tons of depth/experience, size, and play tough D. Really like the frosh Williams.

2) WSU- Could obviously win the league, but they didn't beat anyone last year. They got WAY TOO much hype from almost winning a game against UK. They are really good and return alot, but they aren't battle tested for going through a tougher league than the MVC. Shamet and McDuffie are legit players, but I could see them losing a surprise game or two on the road.

3) SMU- You can call me a homer, but we are still really talented and well coached. Once McMurray is eligible we will be real tough. Whitt, Foster and Agau are all top notch defenders. We will be loaded 1-3 and using Foster at the 4 quite a bit. Key will be if Agau (Grad-transfer) and Ray (averaged 10.3RPG on our foreign tour) can man the 5. I expect we finish 3rd no worse than 4th. 18-19 we should be competing for conference crown again.

4) UCF- I give them the nod over Temple because of defense. BJ Taylor is one of the best players in the conference and as long as the have Tacko they will be tough to score on. The added several real good transfers.

5) Temple- I really like Temple, but not sold on them defensively or that Obi will give them a true post presence. Shizz, Rose, Moore and Brown all in the backcourt could be deadly. They were not good last year despite having talent which is another reason I give the nod to UCF. The are older and return Brown, I think they are more talented than UCF, but not sure they finish ahead of them.

6) UH- Rob Gray can score, but they will miss Dotson. Devin Davis will be the key for UH. If he is real good in the post with Zanna the grad-transfer then UH could be real competitive, but I don't see them being able to replace Dotson's impact. Not a fan of Galen Robinson or Wes Van Beck, both liabilities on D.

7) UConn- If they make it through the season without an injury they might finish 5th or 6th, but their frontcourt is terrible and struggled last year the first few games when Larrier and Gilbert were both healthy. They will be better, but so will the AAC.

8) Tulsa- In a past year they might have been 5th, but the AAC is real deep 1-8 this year. I just don't think they have the talent outside of Etou to compete with the top 5 most nights. Taplin is a solid player too.

9) Memphis- Giving them the benefit of the doubt, but they could be 11th. They added some decent JuCo's, but JuCo's are hit or miss. Nickleberry and Johnson should be quality freshman for them. I also like Martin.

10) ECU- Barkley is the only reason I put them here. Lebo is the worst coach in the conference.

11) Tulane- They seem like they might win a few more games, but not many.

12) Terrible.
Click to expand...

Very nice breakdown. Thanks for sharing.
 
UConn scores a big pick up. Could be eligible for this upcoming season and would give them some much needed depth at the 3 spot.

basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/sidney-wilson-pledges-to-uconn
 
Queens_NYC said:
UConn scores a big pick up. Could be eligible for this upcoming season and would give them some much needed depth at the 3 spot.

basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/sidney-wilson-pledges-to-uconn
Click to expand...

Ironic that St. John's was complaining of tampering. Which I'm sure UCONN did steal his kid
 

Similar threads

Q
Memphis Part II
Replies
15
Views
27K
sedziobs
S
Q
Merrimack
Replies
7
Views
31K
sedziobs
S
Q
UCF Part II
Replies
14
Views
26K
David H
D
Q
BYU
Replies
8
Views
27K
Queens_NYC
Q
Q
Temple Part II
Replies
6
Views
16K
sirthought
S
Back
Top