Iowa State

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Yessir. Strongest showing of the year. Had some great drives to the rack

this team is a tough team to run point in. Lots of inconsistent pieces on it. Clark, Ellis,Shaq, KJ and Cobb are all players who I would not define with the word consistency. They also do not really have a identity. They are in the mist of trying to speed up the offense but at times it appears they can not make up their mind. Does he use the players around him or Do it himself. As a point it's tough when your the best facilitator and the best scorer. Having Evans on the floor more often would help him. I think Troymis in a tough spot. And then there is the fact he doesn't dunk much. Lol. Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[L-T]

L-T did you have a good view of the travel on Ellis late in the game. They showed a replay but did not show his feet. Did he travel?

No, I didn't have a great view, it was on the opposite end of the floor. He started to shoot and changed his mind and passed. To me it looked like he never left his feet......like he moved upward, but was still on his tip-toes when he passed. I have the game recorded and will go back and re-watch when I can stomach it...lol.

 

[waterhead]

Dude get off Caupains jock. He played a great game and made a mistake in the end. We wouldn't have been in the game without him.

Caupain is averaging over 15 pts in our 6 biggest games. If you want to know who needs to be on the court...you need to know who plays big in big games.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

No, I didn't have a great view, it was on the opposite end of the floor. He started to shoot and changed his mind and passed. To me it looked like he never left his feet......like he moved upward, but was still on his tip-toes when he passed. I have the game recorded and will go back and re-watch when I can stomach it...lol.

Thanks. A friend of mine and I were watching and it looked like he had a Brian fart. Started to go and then changed his mind at last instant.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Thanks. A friend of mine and I were watching and it looked like he had a Brian fart. Started to go and then changed his mind at last instant.

Didn't leave the floor but slid his pivot foot. Probably not called if he was decisive but that hesitation made it obvious.

 

[L-T]

Caupain is averaging over 15 pts in our 6 biggest games. If you want to know who needs to be on the court...you need to know who plays big in big games.

He made two big mistakes at the end...turnover & missed free throw. It would have been nice to have needed just a 2-pointer to win.

 

[L-T]

He made two big mistakes at the end...turnover & missed free throw. It would have been nice to have needed just a 2-pointer to win.

And.....if you count the rushed / contested 23 foot 3-pointer air-ball with 6.5 seconds still on the clock, he had 3 key mistakes in the last 60 seconds.

 

[L-T]

Didn't leave the floor but slid his pivot foot. Probably not called if he was decisive but that hesitation made it obvious.

Actually, I just re-watched the play and his foot did actually leave the floor and touch back down before the ball left his hand.....definitely traveling.

 

[Doogle]

There were good things that happened tonight, and if the 'Cats are satisfied with another 23-10 season or somewhere thereabout, and perhaps another NCAA win before going home in their 2nd game, then they're plenty good for that.

If they have any designs on more than that, then they're going to have to find answers for the following:

-First 4-5 minutes...
vs. Butler outscored 11-3
vs. Xavier outscored 13-3
vs. Ia. St. outscored 14-2

Is that enough to qualify as a trend against excellent teams/in losses? I'd say so. You simply can't spot Top 10 teams 8-12 point leads to start games and expect to ice skate all the way back to the top of the hill. We can argue about the closing out as well (the other common thread is that they faded late in all 3 of these games) but I personally feel like at the very least, Butler and Iowa State were truly lost in the 1st half. We see it over and over again at every level - team falls behind early, makes herculean comeback and even takes a lead, only to fall at the end - and the Bearcats are no exception.

-Dribble penetration. Oh dear Lord. This defense is a corner 3 waiting to happen. Serendipitous that the shot that sealed our fate tonight was the same shot we've been leaving wide open all year. Mick says that was Jacob's fault and I defer to the Coach but at least part of the blame IMO goes to KJ and Ellis. KJ completely vacated that side of the floor to help on a guy that hadn't even really started to drive yet, and Ellis drifted to the opposite side of the court leaving Jacob to guard Tay's guy down low. Anyway, I digress. Iowa State ran more intricate offense than I'm giving credit for, I'm sure, but to me it was a simple pro-style penetrate/kick and pick/pop system. Our "guards" can't guard the ball, and our off the ball defenders drift WAY too far from their men off that dribble penetration. Let Ellis/Clark/DeBerry deal with the penetration the way our old teams let Kenyon/Max/Hicks deal with it. OK, maybe Ellis is the only one who could deal with it like Kenyon could, but I'd rather see Tay swiping at a floater at the rim than screaming my fool head off "STAY ON YOUR MAN!!!!!" to a TV screen that refuses to respond to my commands.

Ellis and Clark vex me, man. Half the time, they look like unstoppable beasts down low on both ends; the other half, I'm scanning the court to see if they're still there. Ellis in particular blew my mind about 3 times tonight with under 2 minutes left in the game; lastly was the aforementioned drift on ISU's winning 3; firstly was that completely unnecessary travel/non-travel (we HAVE to lead the NCAA in unforced turnovers); and in the middle was the turnover on Caupain which I put squarely at Ellis' feet unless someone with a sharper basketball IQ than I have talks me out of it. It appeared to me like Ellis was supposed to roll to the basket (the end result of which would have been a dunk) but instead he just stopped - much like a receiver cutting off his route - and waited for the pass to come to him, allowing his man to cut in front of him. Now maybe I'm wrong, but looking at it 2 or 3 times it certainly looks that way to me. Just another in a line of mental miscues and unforced mistakes that add up and explode off the page when you lose by 2.

I have some opinions on Caupain (who else can handle the frigging ball outside of Troy and Jacob? Nobody that I see unless someone invents a time machine to watch Justin Jenifer in 2017) but I'll leave those for another day. Bottom line is you've had 2 winnable games against Top 10 teams, IN YOUR OWN GYM, and lost them both. Now the non-conference slate has come and gone and the biggest chances you had to build a real, quality resume that could merit a top-4 tourney seed have come and gone. Your margin for error in the AAC just got a ton slimmer - can't lose to East Carolina on the road this year - if they expect to move up the ladder and get people to take them seriously as a Sweet 16 contender or better. It's doable, and I believe they can, but it's ultimately up to them to decide who they want to be. All I can do is watch, hope, and cheer...which I will be doing.

 

[L-T]

ESPN studio analysts were pretty critical of Caupain's decision making by taking the ball down the sideline instead of getting the ball to the middle, and then taking a contested 3 instead of getting the ball closer to the rim since they only needed a two to keep the game going.

 

[Doogle]

ESPN studio analysts were pretty critical of Caupain's decision making by taking the ball down the sideline instead of getting the ball to the middle, and then taking a contested 3 instead of getting the ball closer to the rim since they only needed a two to keep the game going.

Mick said the play was drawn up to get Troy the rim. Troy took a bad angle, got cut off, lost track of time and jacked up the shot he did. Lots of things to dissect there.

Almost forgot something else that could use some cleaning up - not only do they not guard the ball and sag too far off shooters, but they don't find a body to block out defensively in that matchup zone. The tying shot by Niang came off an offensive rebound by their point guard (smallest guy on the floor) while KJ stood around ball-watching in the paint. Difficult game to lose but it falls squarely on the shoulders of the players tonight. Any one small, fundamental detail cleaned up on any one of 5-10 plays and the Bearcats win the game.

 

[cincrulz11]

The tying shot by Niang came off an offensive rebound by their point guard (smallest guy on the floor) .

Evans messed up. He jumped too early and the giant bounce off the rim had him almost back on the floor before the ball came down. If he times his jump properly he easily gets the board.

 

[Chad Brendel]

There were good things that happened tonight, and if the 'Cats are satisfied with another 23-10 season or somewhere thereabout, and perhaps another NCAA win before going home in their 2nd game, then they're plenty good for that.

If they have any designs on more than that, then they're going to have to find answers for the following:

-First 4-5 minutes...
vs. Butler outscored 11-3
vs. Xavier outscored 13-3
vs. Ia. St. outscored 14-2

Is that enough to qualify as a trend against excellent teams/in losses? I'd say so. You simply can't spot Top 10 teams 8-12 point leads to start games and expect to ice skate all the way back to the top of the hill. We can argue about the closing out as well (the other common thread is that they faded late in all 3 of these games) but I personally feel like at the very least, Butler and Iowa State were truly lost in the 1st half. We see it over and over again at every level - team falls behind early, makes herculean comeback and even takes a lead, only to fall at the end - and the Bearcats are no exception.

-Dribble penetration. Oh dear Lord. This defense is a corner 3 waiting to happen. Serendipitous that the shot that sealed our fate tonight was the same shot we've been leaving wide open all year. Mick says that was Jacob's fault and I defer to the Coach but at least part of the blame IMO goes to KJ and Ellis. KJ completely vacated that side of the floor to help on a guy that hadn't even really started to drive yet, and Ellis drifted to the opposite side of the court leaving Jacob to guard Tay's guy down low. Anyway, I digress. Iowa State ran more intricate offense than I'm giving credit for, I'm sure, but to me it was a simple pro-style penetrate/kick and pick/pop system. Our "guards" can't guard the ball, and our off the ball defenders drift WAY too far from their men off that dribble penetration. Let Ellis/Clark/DeBerry deal with the penetration the way our old teams let Kenyon/Max/Hicks deal with it. OK, maybe Ellis is the only one who could deal with it like Kenyon could, but I'd rather see Tay swiping at a floater at the rim than screaming my fool head off "STAY ON YOUR MAN!!!!!" to a TV screen that refuses to respond to my commands.

Ellis and Clark vex me, man. Half the time, they look like unstoppable beasts down low on both ends; the other half, I'm scanning the court to see if they're still there. Ellis in particular blew my mind about 3 times tonight with under 2 minutes left in the game; lastly was the aforementioned drift on ISU's winning 3; firstly was that completely unnecessary travel/non-travel (we HAVE to lead the NCAA in unforced turnovers); and in the middle was the turnover on Caupain which I put squarely at Ellis' feet unless someone with a sharper basketball IQ than I have talks me out of it. It appeared to me like Ellis was supposed to roll to the basket (the end result of which would have been a dunk) but instead he just stopped - much like a receiver cutting off his route - and waited for the pass to come to him, allowing his man to cut in front of him. Now maybe I'm wrong, but looking at it 2 or 3 times it certainly looks that way to me. Just another in a line of mental miscues and unforced mistakes that add up and explode off the page when you lose by 2.

I have some opinions on Caupain (who else can handle the frigging ball outside of Troy and Jacob? Nobody that I see unless someone invents a time machine to watch Justin Jenifer in 2017) but I'll leave those for another day. Bottom line is you've had 2 winnable games against Top 10 teams, IN YOUR OWN GYM, and lost them both. Now the non-conference slate has come and gone and the biggest chances you had to build a real, quality resume that could merit a top-4 tourney seed have come and gone. Your margin for error in the AAC just got a ton slimmer - can't lose to East Carolina on the road this year - if they expect to move up the ladder and get people to take them seriously as a Sweet 16 contender or better. It's doable, and I believe they can, but it's ultimately up to them to decide who they want to be. All I can do is watch, hope, and cheer...which I will be doing.

Fantastic post. Nailed it...

 

[L-T]

There were good things that happened tonight, and if the 'Cats are satisfied with another 23-10 season or somewhere thereabout, and perhaps another NCAA win before going home in their 2nd game, then they're plenty good for that.

If they have any designs on more than that, then they're going to have to find answers for the following:

-First 4-5 minutes...
vs. Butler outscored 11-3
vs. Xavier outscored 13-3
vs. Ia. St. outscored 14-2

Is that enough to qualify as a trend against excellent teams/in losses? I'd say so. You simply can't spot Top 10 teams 8-12 point leads to start games and expect to ice skate all the way back to the top of the hill. We can argue about the closing out as well (the other common thread is that they faded late in all 3 of these games) but I personally feel like at the very least, Butler and Iowa State were truly lost in the 1st half. We see it over and over again at every level - team falls behind early, makes herculean comeback and even takes a lead, only to fall at the end - and the Bearcats are no exception.

-Dribble penetration. Oh dear Lord. This defense is a corner 3 waiting to happen. Serendipitous that the shot that sealed our fate tonight was the same shot we've been leaving wide open all year. Mick says that was Jacob's fault and I defer to the Coach but at least part of the blame IMO goes to KJ and Ellis. KJ completely vacated that side of the floor to help on a guy that hadn't even really started to drive yet, and Ellis drifted to the opposite side of the court leaving Jacob to guard Tay's guy down low. Anyway, I digress. Iowa State ran more intricate offense than I'm giving credit for, I'm sure, but to me it was a simple pro-style penetrate/kick and pick/pop system. Our "guards" can't guard the ball, and our off the ball defenders drift WAY too far from their men off that dribble penetration. Let Ellis/Clark/DeBerry deal with the penetration the way our old teams let Kenyon/Max/Hicks deal with it. OK, maybe Ellis is the only one who could deal with it like Kenyon could, but I'd rather see Tay swiping at a floater at the rim than screaming my fool head off "STAY ON YOUR MAN!!!!!" to a TV screen that refuses to respond to my commands.

Ellis and Clark vex me, man. Half the time, they look like unstoppable beasts down low on both ends; the other half, I'm scanning the court to see if they're still there. Ellis in particular blew my mind about 3 times tonight with under 2 minutes left in the game; lastly was the aforementioned drift on ISU's winning 3; firstly was that completely unnecessary travel/non-travel (we HAVE to lead the NCAA in unforced turnovers); and in the middle was the turnover on Caupain which I put squarely at Ellis' feet unless someone with a sharper basketball IQ than I have talks me out of it. It appeared to me like Ellis was supposed to roll to the basket (the end result of which would have been a dunk) but instead he just stopped - much like a receiver cutting off his route - and waited for the pass to come to him, allowing his man to cut in front of him. Now maybe I'm wrong, but looking at it 2 or 3 times it certainly looks that way to me. Just another in a line of mental miscues and unforced mistakes that add up and explode off the page when you lose by 2.

I have some opinions on Caupain (who else can handle the frigging ball outside of Troy and Jacob? Nobody that I see unless someone invents a time machine to watch Justin Jenifer in 2017) but I'll leave those for another day. Bottom line is you've had 2 winnable games against Top 10 teams, IN YOUR OWN GYM, and lost them both. Now the non-conference slate has come and gone and the biggest chances you had to build a real, quality resume that could merit a top-4 tourney seed have come and gone. Your margin for error in the AAC just got a ton slimmer - can't lose to East Carolina on the road this year - if they expect to move up the ladder and get people to take them seriously as a Sweet 16 contender or better. It's doable, and I believe they can, but it's ultimately up to them to decide who they want to be. All I can do is watch, hope, and cheer...which I will be doing.

Doogle, nice post, agree with most of what you say completely. Disagree on the Caupain turnover to Ellis. Ellis was sliding down. The defender was just reacting quickly and Caupain's pass was pretty lazy. Could Ellis have executed better, probably. But, I would give 75% of that to Caupain and 25% to Ellis. The corner 3 has been here since Mick has been here. That is on him. Obviously, he can't figure out how to adjust, because his teams give it up year after year. During the timeout, I told the people around me that it would happen and it did. As to Caupain, he's the best we have, but he has a lot of issues. I would never say that he had a great game tonight. He was 6-14, 1-4 from 3, with three key mistakes in the clutch. That is certainly not great, regardless of how much he scored.

 

[cincrulz11]

Of all the options isu had on that last play, I don't mind a 26% career 3 point shooter who hadn't made one all night taking that shot with evans running at him.


But yeah, you know it's going in against us.

 

[L-T]

Of all the options isu had on that last play, I don't mind a 26% career 3 point shooter who hadn't made one all night taking that shot with evans running at him.


But yeah, you know it's going in against us.

Anywhere but the corner would have been easier to stomach.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

There were good things that happened tonight, and if the 'Cats are satisfied with another 23-10 season or somewhere thereabout, and perhaps another NCAA win before going home in their 2nd game, then they're plenty good for that.

If they have any designs on more than that, then they're going to have to find answers for the following:

-First 4-5 minutes...
vs. Butler outscored 11-3
vs. Xavier outscored 13-3
vs. Ia. St. outscored 14-2

Is that enough to qualify as a trend against excellent teams/in losses? I'd say so. You simply can't spot Top 10 teams 8-12 point leads to start games and expect to ice skate all the way back to the top of the hill. We can argue about the closing out as well (the other common thread is that they faded late in all 3 of these games) but I personally feel like at the very least, Butler and Iowa State were truly lost in the 1st half. We see it over and over again at every level - team falls behind early, makes herculean comeback and even takes a lead, only to fall at the end - and the Bearcats are no exception.

-Dribble penetration. Oh dear Lord. This defense is a corner 3 waiting to happen. Serendipitous that the shot that sealed our fate tonight was the same shot we've been leaving wide open all year. Mick says that was Jacob's fault and I defer to the Coach but at least part of the blame IMO goes to KJ and Ellis. KJ completely vacated that side of the floor to help on a guy that hadn't even really started to drive yet, and Ellis drifted to the opposite side of the court leaving Jacob to guard Tay's guy down low. Anyway, I digress. Iowa State ran more intricate offense than I'm giving credit for, I'm sure, but to me it was a simple pro-style penetrate/kick and pick/pop system. Our "guards" can't guard the ball, and our off the ball defenders drift WAY too far from their men off that dribble penetration. Let Ellis/Clark/DeBerry deal with the penetration the way our old teams let Kenyon/Max/Hicks deal with it. OK, maybe Ellis is the only one who could deal with it like Kenyon could, but I'd rather see Tay swiping at a floater at the rim than screaming my fool head off "STAY ON YOUR MAN!!!!!" to a TV screen that refuses to respond to my commands.

Ellis and Clark vex me, man. Half the time, they look like unstoppable beasts down low on both ends; the other half, I'm scanning the court to see if they're still there. Ellis in particular blew my mind about 3 times tonight with under 2 minutes left in the game; lastly was the aforementioned drift on ISU's winning 3; firstly was that completely unnecessary travel/non-travel (we HAVE to lead the NCAA in unforced turnovers); and in the middle was the turnover on Caupain which I put squarely at Ellis' feet unless someone with a sharper basketball IQ than I have talks me out of it. It appeared to me like Ellis was supposed to roll to the basket (the end result of which would have been a dunk) but instead he just stopped - much like a receiver cutting off his route - and waited for the pass to come to him, allowing his man to cut in front of him. Now maybe I'm wrong, but looking at it 2 or 3 times it certainly looks that way to me. Just another in a line of mental miscues and unforced mistakes that add up and explode off the page when you lose by 2.

I have some opinions on Caupain (who else can handle the frigging ball outside of Troy and Jacob? Nobody that I see unless someone invents a time machine to watch Justin Jenifer in 2017) but I'll leave those for another day. Bottom line is you've had 2 winnable games against Top 10 teams, IN YOUR OWN GYM, and lost them both. Now the non-conference slate has come and gone and the biggest chances you had to build a real, quality resume that could merit a top-4 tourney seed have come and gone. Your margin for error in the AAC just got a ton slimmer - can't lose to East Carolina on the road this year - if they expect to move up the ladder and get people to take them seriously as a Sweet 16 contender or better. It's doable, and I believe they can, but it's ultimately up to them to decide who they want to be. All I can do is watch, hope, and cheer...which I will be doing.

Nice post.

A big problem with Ellis is he is very slow to recognize where the double team comes from. The ball goes into him and a double team immediately follows. He looks Ike he panics a bit trying to find the open man and either turns ball over or causes the offense to reset with loss of time on shot clock which generally means a rushed 3. Of course whoever is being left to double Ellis could do a better job of becoming a target for him to pass too.

We are also seeing a bunch of Zone. If we are to get good looks Ellis and Clark both need to not only make themselves available at foul line area but actually catch the ball and find the hole in defense when help comes. Both can also knock down that shot.

Agree completely about the defense. We have gotten killed with not stopping dribble penetration and over helping leaving wide open 3's.

Evans and his skill set need to be on the floor more. Next to Troy he is the only other person who can facilitate the basketball. Start him.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Guys basketball is changing on all levels. Once upon a time big guys were all the rage. Couldn't win without a dominate big. Now with both college and professional using match up zones perimeter shooting players are what is working. Bigs have to rebound, protect the rim and be able to pass out of double teams to the open wings. Their offense is set up on pick and roll opportunities. Heck many more bigs can hit shots from the perimeter. Kevin Love. Back to the basket post play is becoming obsolete. Half court sets are about spreading the floor, dribble penetrate and find the knockdown shooter. The game is being won on the perimeter now. Teams are developing defense to disguise were the double comes from making it tough to run your offense through the post players. Drawing the defense and finding the open wing is what is working now. It is why Evans needs to see the floor more. It is why to some extent I agree with those who are critical of TC at times. Troy is a very good player but what he struggles with is pressuring the defense to create opportunities. It's this element that fuels the TC versus Jenifer debate.On this team he is the best option because he takes care of the ball but he does leave a bunch of meat on the bone as far as offensive creator. I'm not casting all the blame on TC for his lack of creativity. At times the handles of other players he passes to are terrible. I guess if I could build a perfect PG it would be TC with his size,maturity and shot with the quickness and vision of Jenifer.

 

[UCalum08]

Our home losses in the last three years: Lousville- Russ Smith at the buzzer, Tulane- Kid hits a near half court shot at the buzzer, Xavier- they hit two FT's in the closing seconds, Butler- Jones at the buzzer, Iowa State- Nader three in the closing seconds. Just brutal.

Exactly. Especially because i was at all those games. What has happened to our home court advantage? What's worse is all those games you mentioned had huge crowds. What have we done to remain in this purgatory?! Are our players taking for granted playing big games at home and just expecting to win? Is it just simply our players aren't getting it done on defense in the closing min? Can our players not handle the pressure of getting that final stop with so many fans at hand to watch? It's a bad trend that has been going on for a little bit.

One thing is for sure, no one (UC fan base) feels good when the away team has the ball in the final possession with a chance to win. This has been a heart breaking occurrence.

 

[UCBearcats]

There were some good things to take away from last night's game. Our guards did a great job of attacking the rim and Evans played his best game yet.

Defense was pretty bad last night and second chance points killed us. Bottom line though is letting them get out to an early double digit lead, if we just show up in the first 5 minutes of tha game we win. You're not going to hold Iowa State to 65 points and I'm glad our offense showed again it can hang in there with teams that can fill it up.

Turnovers and second chance points killed us all game but if we get out to a better start we win.