Houston Game Thread: Our true rival in the league

[cincyguy13]

Harvey earned his way onto the court the way most freshmen do, by playing defense and bringing energy. He still needs to cut down on the fouls a bit, but he looked much better than he has previously.

With Jarron taking over as PG, MAW struggling on defense lately, Jaevin struggling on defense and McNeal being an offensive non-factor, there is space open for Harvey to step into. Let's hope Harvey can keep it up, I love the big/athletic lineups.

The Jarron/Harvey/Williams/Scott/Diarra lineup that led the comeback is all players 6'5" or taller and tons of athleticism. Lacking in offense a bit, but with Jarron taking over lately it seems to have enough.

You really think MAW has been struggling on defense? Didn’t he just completely shut down the guard from smu? He also guarded Jarreau a lot last night and held his own. Did you mean offense?

 

[skyblade]

You really think MAW has been struggling on defense? Didn’t he just completely shut down the guard from smu? He also guarded Jarreau a lot last night and held his own. Did you mean offense?

Oh yeah, I meant MAW has been struggling on offense, though I don't think he did that well against Jarreau last night either. But he completely shut down SMU's leading scorer last game.

MAW has struggled on offense pretty much since we started conference play. He owns the third worst ORTG on the team in conference play (85.1, in front of only Davenport and McNeal). With Jarron playing PG there is definitely room to have Harvey in and MAW/McNeal/Jaevin on the bench.

With Diarra really coming into his own (despite a few recent poor games), our rotation at the 4/5 has solidified (though I still think Diarra should be getting all of Sorolla's minutes at the 5). But McNeal, MAW and Jaevin haven't been consistent. Harvey is a good passer and has good court vision (wouldn't be surprised if he is our PG one day), if he can continue to not make mistakes and play excellent defense (and rebound) there are minutes available for him to take.

 

[justinhub2003]

Last night was fun.

I went from furious to screaming my lungs out in a good way.

I was in the upper corner and the arena was shaking. Crowd helped rattle Houston

Houston was just playing iso ball and we stepped up and defended it in the 2nd half.

Mills is a killer and to hold him to 3-19 was insanely great.

I spent most of my night last night laughing at the takes coming from Houston fans

 

[waterhead]

I really like how he just plays. Doesn't force shots cause he feels like it like you see a lot of freshman do, and even some of our upperclassmen.

He has worked hard and just played lock down D yesterday. He's a better athlete than Keith although he doesn't look as explosive because he's so smooth. Harvey can turn his hips and recover much quicker than Keith can.

If he plays D like that he can have all of McNeals minutes. Probably a few from MAW and Jaevin as well. Jaevin is still good for a heat check in any game. Harvey is turning up the juice at the right time. We need the extra talent on the floor

 

[cincrulz11]

If he plays D like that he can have all of McNeals minutes. Probably a few from MAW and Jaevin as well. Jaevin is still good for a heat check in any game. Harvey is turning up the juice at the right time. We need the extra talent on the floor

i like that we're versatile. if they're super athletic we can play a tall, long, athletic guard lineup. if they aren't jaevin can play and stretch the floor. if they're running a lot of pnr's we can sub diarra in who reads them so well and cuts off the drive before it even starts when they deny the screen (something xavier killed us with but we locked up yesterday).


gotta love the direction we're going. ive said it before, but its so nice watching a team consistently get better as the year goes.

 

[waterhead]

We struggle with teams that play good/great D on the perimeter and at the rim. We aren't a good 2 point jumper team. Vogt started to figure out how to use the rim to keep his shots from getting blocked. He and we need to remember that when we play Memphis again. Go up and under and use the back side to lay it in. Keith and Tre can use the same strategy when attacking the rim

 

[cincrulz11]

Here are team efficiencies by month. such a huge jump. wtf tulsa?

 

[justinhub2003]

Here are team efficiencies by month. such a huge jump. wtf tulsa?

Frank Haith is the AAC coach of the year.

He knows how to keep from being fired lol

 

[cincrulz11]

last 10 games on barttorvik our defense is up to 7th best in the country with offense lagging behind at 83.

 

[justinhub2003]

last 10 games on barttorvik our defense is up to 7th best in the country with offense lagging behind at 83.

Vogt not getting exploited nearly as much helps a ton.

When he is around the rim, it helps him get 5 blocks. We make nothing easy at home

 

[cincrulz11]

Vogt not getting exploited nearly as much helps a ton.

When he is around the rim, it helps him get 5 blocks. We make nothing easy at home

most teams we'll face in conference just don't have 5's that can shoot like the mid major OOC teams. that was always going to be the case.


i was surprised to see he was able to protect the rim vs houston's quickness, even when he was already by the rim. he did a great job of blocking shots without fouling.

 

[justinhub2003]

most teams we'll face in conference just don't have 5's that can shoot like the mid major OOC teams. that was always going to be the case.


i was surprised to see he was able to protect the rim vs houston's quickness, even when he was already by the rim. he did a great job of blocking shots without fouling.

I think we finally learned to funnel guys into him.

He doesn’t need to be very close to block shots. Just need our guards to lead their man to him and have him go after the ball and still not get within two feet of the shooter.

I think he’s also getting better at moving his feet. He was isolated on to mate Hinton at one point and forces him to pass the ball.

What I like about Vogt is he is probably the most coach able player we’ve ever had at UC.

He takes in critiques and makes the changes.

He’s grown as a defender and rebounder a great deal in just 21 games


My only wish is that we had him for longer

 

[Bcatfollower]

Wonder if any bb recruits were in attendance? That atmosphere could help win some guys over.

 

[waterhead]

Here are team efficiencies by month. such a huge jump. wtf tulsa?

That jump in January is in large part moving Jarron to point but we are getting some improvements from certain bench players and Keith and Tre have cut way down on the 2pt jumpers lately. Our D has been getting better and better. Just hope it didn’t happen too late

 

[skyblade]

That jump in January is in large part moving Jarron to point but we are getting some improvements from certain bench players and Keith and Tre have cut way down on the 2pt jumpers lately. Our D has been getting better and better. Just hope it didn’t happen too late

It seems like we've also cut down on silly turnovers, especially those from bench players. Our TO's are more from trying to do too much, rather than just giving the ball away for no reason.

Jarron at the point (and his overall improved play in conference) is the biggest difference. Diarra has also made quite an improvement (he still leads us in ORTG in conference). Tre/Keith have also improvements, mostly by knowing their role and not trying to do too much. Vogt has improved defensively and gradually is learning to deal with more athletic bigs.

The 5 players listen above can generally relied upon on both ends on the court to know their role, play within it and provide quality minutes.

We could use improvement from McNeal, MAW, Harvey and/or Jaevin. They each have lacked on one side of the court or the other, but Brannen can mix and match them to give us some minutes. If Harvey can continue to play like he last night though, he will be separating himself from the pack.

 

[cincyguy13]

It seems like we've also cut down on silly turnovers, especially those from bench players. Our TO's are more from trying to do too much, rather than just giving the ball away for no reason.

Jarron at the point (and his overall improved play in conference) is the biggest difference. Diarra has also made quite an improvement (he still leads us in ORTG in conference). Tre/Keith have also improvements, mostly by knowing their role and not trying to do too much. Vogt has improved defensively and gradually is learning to deal with more athletic bigs.

The 5 players listen above can generally relied upon on both ends on the court to know their role, play within it and provide quality minutes.

We could use improvement from McNeal, MAW, Harvey and/or Jaevin. They each have lacked on one side of the court or the other, but Brannen can mix and match them to give us some minutes. If Harvey can continue to play like he last night though, he will be separating himself from the pack.

As far as turnovers, I think brannen has taken the ball out of everyone’s hands except Jarrons. We use to see everyone having to make decisions, now it’s just Jarron, he realized most of them couldn’t do it.

 

[waterhead]

It seems like we've also cut down on silly turnovers, especially those from bench players. Our TO's are more from trying to do too much, rather than just giving the ball away for no reason.

Jarron at the point (and his overall improved play in conference) is the biggest difference. Diarra has also made quite an improvement (he still leads us in ORTG in conference). Tre/Keith have also improvements, mostly by knowing their role and not trying to do too much. Vogt has improved defensively and gradually is learning to deal with more athletic bigs.

The 5 players listen above can generally relied upon on both ends on the court to know their role, play within it and provide quality minutes.

We could use improvement from McNeal, MAW, Harvey and/or Jaevin. They each have lacked on one side of the court or the other, but Brannen can mix and match them to give us some minutes. If Harvey can continue to play like he last night though, he will be separating himself from the pack.

Not only have we cut down on turnovers but empty possessions from ill advised shots as well. Diara and Harvey were the two guys on the bench besides Jaevin that could have the biggest impact so its good to see them get going

 

[CaptDale]

Nothing more entertaining than watching this board absolutely melt down every single game we aren’t winning by 20. You guys are always good for some laughs

All these Monday morning QBacks should go back to the beginning of this thread to see what the definition of fickleness is. A bunch of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hydes. Basically giving up then reveling in victory. What happened to "fight to the finish never give in"? Or don't you know your own fight song? I watched the game as I do every game. I may have been frustrated with their play initially, but I never got down on them. Yelled at them, yes. Yelled encouragement, yes. Got frustrated, yes- especially when Jarron couldn't make a FT. But give up? Never - until the clock runs out. When I used to live in Cincy and attend the games live, I NEVER left a game before it was over. Sounds like this thread would have been gone by halftime. But, Jon Rycek is right - nothing more entertaining than watching the board melt down when we're losing! Keep up the good work, thread contributors.

 

[CaptDale]

Harvey is a smart kid. He never tries to do too much. He's okay right now not being a focal point on offense and he certainly played D like I haven't seen him before. What a game from him all things considered! His effort kept him on the court and it was good to see him realize that's his ticket to minutes. His 3 was huge as well.

Also love seeing Tre Scott working boards as usual. He had 11 and the next best was 4. 11 of 13 assists came from Tre and Jarron. They also had 4 of our 10 blocks with Vogt adding 5. Seniors filling stat sheets...Keith gave the crowd a big lift as well!

If you noticed Tre giving sage advice to Harvey after Zack committed a foul. I'm sure he was telling Zack not to put 2 hands on his man when defending. Harvey has a bad habit of doing that - but he IS learning not to.

 

[CaptDale]

I really like how he just plays. Doesn't force shots cause he feels like it like you see a lot of freshman do, and even some of our upperclassmen.

He has worked hard and just played lock down D yesterday. He's a better athlete than Keith although he doesn't look as explosive because he's so smooth. Harvey can turn his hips and recover much quicker than Keith can.

Glad to see Keith drive into the trees and dish to Vogt instead of his usual going to the rim even though he has no way to get there.