Memphis 1/15

[CincyForLife6]

I say we should move on to the Memphis game! I will keep this short,

We have the prime time game on Thursday night @7 on ESPN. I think it would be very disappointing if the Cats lose this game given the struggles Memphis has had this year and with their terrible in-game coach. (I say "in-game" because he obviously is talented in the recruiting field). I think the Cats win by double digits in this game and move to 3-1 in the conference. Also think they will shut down Nichols who I think is their only player who could do big time damage to us. Go Cats!

Cats:63
Memphis:52

 

[#BearcatNation]

I'm ready for this game. I think our guys are going to come out fired up. The only thing that worries me is we all know Memphis has plenty of highly-touted athletes. Clearly they've had their struggles, because Pastner is a terrible coach, but I'm sure they have the ability to get hot. Hopefully that doesn't come against us. I just looked at their schedule, and they literally don't have any good wins so far, unless you count against NC Central at home.

I think there's certainly a chance Memphis pulls this off, but I don't think they do. I'll be looking for Shaq to attack the bucket. That opens up so much more on offense when he does that effectively.

I'm curious what the line will be in this one. I bet UC is favored by around 3-4, if I had to guess.

UC 60
Mem 51

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I'll say UC -1.

UC 66
Memphis 49

 

[coachpipe]

Losing to Uconn. Then Ohio state winning. I really need a Win here bearcats

 

[Eternal E]

Memphis has talent but not as much as the last few years, and even without Mick UC has far superior coaching. If UC loses this would be a BAD loss.

Cincinnati 68, Memphis 55

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I'm hoping Clark and Cobb are the leading scorers. I think we can stretch a lead out by the middle of the 2nd half and make them quit.

 

[UCalum08]

This game worries me. For Memphis, this is a must win game, very similar to UConn last Saturday. Their crowd will be rocking and Memphis will def play up for this one. They have the talent to beat us.

What it comes down to is which UC will show up? If UC doesn't execute and turns the ball over we won't win. We have to limit our turnovers and keep Memphis from getting transition baskets.

We should have beat UConn but careless turnovers did us in. Will UC have learned their lesson? We shall see Thursday.

 

[waterhead]

I just hope it's not too close. I feel like we are going to struggle in those really tight games on the road since we lack leaders and a go to guy. I think the crowd pulls us through at home but we are still learning how to do that on the road. IE...Nebraska and UConn. If we are going to win the conference we are going to need to win a couple of those.

We don't have the luxury of having the experience and confidence of SK and JJ who learned over the years how to win close games on the road. TOUGHNESS...and a little composure!

 

[Doogle]

I just hope it's not too close. I feel like we are going to struggle in those really tight games on the road since we lack leaders and a go to guy. I think the crowd pulls us through at home but we are still learning how to do that on the road. IE...Nebraska and UConn. If we are going to win the conference we are going to need to win a couple of those.

We don't have the luxury of having the experience and confidence of SK and JJ who learned over the years how to win close games on the road. TOUGHNESS...and a little composure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvMq2YZloZM

 

[Scheids21]

As someone stated earlier, this would be a BAD loss the way Memphis has played. Hoping we come out strong, angry from letting that UCONN game slip away. A win tomorrow and Saturday puts us in a good position early on to win the conference. Besides ECU, our first five games have been tough so I would be happy with a 4-1 mark after that.

 

[waterhead]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvMq2YZloZM

LMFAO!

We need Will Ferrell in the locker room!

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Opened as a PICK.

 

[bearcat jeff]

It will come down to 2 things: turnovers and offensive execution. That is the theme for this team that will beat the drum all year.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I just can't see us not scoring 60 against Memphis...and I can't see them scoring 60 on us. Our defense was spotty at UConn and we only gave up 62. We should be good to go in this game as long as we step up a little defensively and hit the boards (maybe offensively a little more on the rebounding).

 

[UCalum08]

It will come down to 2 things: turnovers and offensive execution. That is the theme for this team that will beat the drum all year.

Exactly. Those two factors will determine our fate.

 

[cincrulz11]

It will come down to 2 things: turnovers and offensive execution.

It will come down to the 2nd one. This team just turns the ball over. 18 against SMU and 15 against SDSU. Amazingly we can still win those games.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I think we are all wrong for Memphis. We just can't let Woodson or Crawford hit 3s and we have to outrebound them. Our guards are going to press and defend if nothing else and Pastner has even had trouble with us when he had an experiened backcourt. The longer it takes them to set up, the fewer touches Nichols will get. It should be easy for us to take away what they want to do offensively. UConn turned up the pressure defense on us in the 2nd half Saturday, and I don't think Memphis has an effort like that in them defensively. I hope this is a Cobb double figure game. It'd be nice if he could have a spurt in the 2nd half to help us put them away. They're going to have to use Nichols on Ellis/DeBerry I think bc they don't have a ton of other height (I don't believe that Goodwin is actually 6'9" he just doesn't look like it to me). So hopefully Clark can bang around and find his game a little. This game should be way easier than UConn for him. We also need to keep their ast/to out of whack and make the extra pass ourselves.
Hopefully this team is starting to hate losing. Say what you will about the guys we've had come through the program lately, but they have at least instilled a winning attitude. And even though they didn't necessarily play a ton, some of these guys were still around last year. We should play like we expect to win tonight. The conference title may depend on it.

 

[kskenyon4]

I think the Cats need to control the boards. Memphis leading rebounder (Goodwin) only averages 6.3.

Keep Woodson from knocking down multiple 3's and I think we should be solid.

IMO our biggest 2 game stretch for the rest of the season barring the final two against Tulsa/Memphis. If we top Memphis and Temple and are 4-1, I'll be feeling real good.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I know this won't happen but I wish Morman would start with Caupain. Morman is aggressive (to a fault even) and he'd be out there with the best passers on the team in Caupain, Ellis and Clark. Caupain is also by far the best outlet passer, and Morman is best in the open court when he can use his athleticism to break down/through the defense. On the flip side, I like the idea of KJ coming in with Cobb. Cobb is a sufficient ball handler and more importantly, he is quite possibly the most confident offensive player on the team. KJ could benefit from playing alongside a guy who is almost exclusively looking for his own offense if he wants to be part spot up 3 pt shooter. I am not a huge fan of guys getting unlimited chances to start, regardless of how they are playing. In the long run it doesn't matter a whole lot who starts, but shaking it up could give you a better combination. And I don't think we should be finished tinkering with the backcourt bc it has been far from perfect.

 

[kskenyon4]

I feel like they use Shaq as their outlet/fast break guy considering his insane leaping ability. He's best NOT in the half court so I always feel thats a set play that he releases when not under the hoop. For that reason I like Shaq and Morman not playing together.