Memphis

[waterhead]

Mick didn't slow down the pace until the 6 minute mark or so to try to limit the number of remaining possessions. The majority of the comeback was a result of our complacency on defense and we stopped making shots at our end of the court.

I agree here. We were missing open 3's and layups in the second half even though we got some good looks. Our D got soft for a 10 minute stretch. We slowed the game down to limit possessions at the end...which at the time they were making the run wasn't a bad idea and it worked. Memphis also employed the press which slowed it down a little too.

Had we left in the starters we wouldn't be talking about it but Mick wanted to get them rest (as well as avoid injury) and get the bench some experience. I was even calling for the same thing. That didn't work so well...but our starters were probably +20 on the game overall.

 

[Union Bearcat]

Troy may not be shooting well on the year but it's still nice to know he can make a bucket (or two) in crunch time. This season is probably the best assist to turnover ratio by any UC point guard in the last 25 years....maybe 50....maybe ever IDK. Maybe I'm wrong who knows...but it's damn good.

If he can just get that shooting going just a little the sky is the limit for this team.

They're easily the best since 1982 and probably the best in UC history. Turnovers are a spotty recorded stat pre '82. At least from what I have. If anyone has good stats before this time period let me know.

1. Justin Jenifer - 4.57 A/TO
2. Troy Caupain - 4.37 A/TO
3. Field Williams - 3.25 A/TO (01/02 season)
4. Taron Barker - 2.86 A/TO (02/03 season)
5. Steve Logan - 2.74 A/TO (99/00 season)
6. Troy Caupain - 2.67 A/TO (15/16 season)

 

[cincyguy13]

I'm going to disagree with you, was at the game and listened to Mick's post game comments. Mick addressed the lack of defense with his team at the half (despite being up 17) and we came out in the second half playing the same way we did in the first. Gary's huge dunk and one put us up 21 points with with 18 minutes left. We gave up a few easy buckets shortly after and Mick was steamed on the sidelines and made some lineup changes. Shortly after that we stopped running and went into turtle mode.

We wound up winning the game and clearly Mick knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching defense and toughness. My concern is Mick's mentality that giving up buckets is unacceptable regardless of how much we're pouring it on on the other end. When the team plays fast Mick craves slow, and that concerns me. IMO we'd be better off if Mick would allow the team to play fast and free and reel them in only when necessary. No reason to meddle with success when you're stomping a team in the second half. If Mick does that against good competition in March we'll lose, it's simple as that.

He focuses on defense because of what happened at SMU. The offense won't always be there. Like the 2nd half. We weren't getting bad looks, we just missed shots. It happens. Also I think we can run with most teams in this league, but I'm not sure we can with the UCLAs, Novas, Dukes. Just my opinion. Who really knows

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I'm going to disagree with you, was at the game and listened to Mick's post game comments. Mick addressed the lack of defense with his team at the half (despite being up 17) and we came out in the second half playing the same way we did in the first. Gary's huge dunk and one put us up 21 points with with 18 minutes left. We gave up a few easy buckets shortly after and Mick was steamed on the sidelines and made some lineup changes. Shortly after that we stopped running and went into turtle mode.

We wound up winning the game and clearly Mick knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching defense and toughness. My concern is Mick's mentality that giving up buckets is unacceptable regardless of how much we're pouring it on on the other end. When the team plays fast Mick craves slow, and that concerns me. IMO we'd be better off if Mick would allow the team to play fast and free and reel them in only when necessary. No reason to meddle with success when you're stomping a team in the second half. If Mick does that against good competition in March we'll lose, it's simple as that.

My concern is the inability to do both. When we are scoring well we typically allow the other team to score well too and vice versa. There is rarely a happy medium.

 

[2bearcatdad]

I'm going to disagree with you, was at the game and listened to Mick's post game comments. Mick addressed the lack of defense with his team at the half (despite being up 17) and we came out in the second half playing the same way we did in the first. Gary's huge dunk and one put us up 21 points with with 18 minutes left. We gave up a few easy buckets shortly after and Mick was steamed on the sidelines and made some lineup changes. Shortly after that we stopped running and went into turtle mode.

We wound up winning the game and clearly Mick knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching defense and toughness. My concern is Mick's mentality that giving up buckets is unacceptable regardless of how much we're pouring it on on the other end. When the team plays fast Mick craves slow, and that concerns me. IMO we'd be better off if Mick would allow the team to play fast and free and reel them in only when necessary. No reason to meddle with success when you're stomping a team in the second half. If Mick does that against good competition in March we'll lose, it's simple as that.

I was at the game also - I just saw things a little differently.

That's certainly ok.

 

[waterhead]

I'm going to disagree with you, was at the game and listened to Mick's post game comments. Mick addressed the lack of defense with his team at the half (despite being up 17) and we came out in the second half playing the same way we did in the first. Gary's huge dunk and one put us up 21 points with with 18 minutes left. We gave up a few easy buckets shortly after and Mick was steamed on the sidelines and made some lineup changes. Shortly after that we stopped running and went into turtle mode.

We wound up winning the game and clearly Mick knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching defense and toughness. My concern is Mick's mentality that giving up buckets is unacceptable regardless of how much we're pouring it on on the other end. When the team plays fast Mick craves slow, and that concerns me. IMO we'd be better off if Mick would allow the team to play fast and free and reel them in only when necessary. No reason to meddle with success when you're stomping a team in the second half. If Mick does that against good competition in March we'll lose, it's simple as that.

I can agree with this for the most part. You don't go into stall ball mode when you are up 10 with 10 to play. When you are up 20 with 10 to play I don't mind it as well as when you are up 10 with 5 to play....or up 6 with 2 to play. At those points you want to limit possessions but try to get good looks at the same time on the other end. If we were getting bad looks it's one thing but I think we were still getting good looks.

If you have double the point spread compared to minutes remaining...I think running time off is a decent idea. 20-10, 10-5, 6-3 etc. Especially when we have a lot of options on the offensive side. When you get down to 3 points up with 2 minutes remaining it's another story.

 

[justinhub2003]

That Memphis comeback had very little to do with our offense and a ton to with our defense but even more importantly, Memphis really pushed the pace and forced us to get tired and take advantage of us.

In the second half, Memphis broke our offensive flow by.....fouling the shit out of us. We scored more of our points in the beginning of the second half by free throws and while that's awesome, it breaks up your flow. I mean we had a 15 half time then 10
Minutes of basketball where we got to the line a lot.

Credit to Memphis for not rolling over. They are unstoppable in the open floor and mediocre in the half court. But Martin played amazing and Dedric did what any other NBA player would do to us. But two players can't beat us and we won by 13..

 

[2bearcatdad]

My concern is the inability to do both. When we are scoring well we typically allow the other team to score well too and vice versa. There is rarely a happy medium.

It is frustrating how we consistently lose our defensive intensity on nights when we make shots. I understand that it's human nature to ease up when you run out to s big lead, but this team has definitely shown a propensity to do that and it is frustrating to watch.

 

[waterhead]

My concern is the inability to do both. When we are scoring well we typically allow the other team to score well too and vice versa. There is rarely a happy medium.

But doesn't this come down to tempo a lot? It's a PPP thing that I would be concerned with. Maybe you're right IDK...but some fans are saying we play better in high tempo games compared to low tempo.

It's one or the other IMO. Either we do or we don't...or maybe PPP is the same in low or high tempo games.

Let's see the numbers. I don't know where to get these stats since I don't have a kenpom membership.

 

[2bearcatdad]

That Memphis comeback had very little to do with our offense and a ton to with our defense but even more importantly, Memphis really pushed the pace and forced us to get tired and take advantage of us.

In the second half, Memphis broke our offensive flow by.....fouling the shit out of us. We scored more of our points in the beginning of the second half by free throws and while that's awesome, it breaks up your flow. I mean we had a 15 half time then 10
Minutes of basketball where we got to the line a lot.

Credit to Memphis for not rolling over. They are unstoppable in the open floor and mediocre in the half court. But Martin played amazing and Dedric did what any other NBA player would do to us. But two players can't beat us and we won by 13..

Agree on all points.

 

[cincyguy13]

My concern is the inability to do both. When we are scoring well we typically allow the other team to score well too and vice versa. There is rarely a happy medium.

To be fair, most teams can't do both and the teams that can are always great. Don't think we are there yet. We are better than passed years and hopefully we can get to the point where we can do both every game

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I didn't watch SportsCenter but I guess it ended up #1 on top plays! I am happy for Gary. Gotta hand it to Troy as well...that was a really tough pass to make...it's not like the defenders weren't there. It had to be perfect...and it was.

That was such an incredible play. No idea how Clark did that. Caupain's reaction was hilarious. He was so pumped. This team is so awesome.

 

[waterhead]

That Memphis comeback had very little to do with our offense and a ton to with our defense but even more importantly, Memphis really pushed the pace and forced us to get tired and take advantage of us.

In the second half, Memphis broke our offensive flow by.....fouling the shit out of us. We scored more of our points in the beginning of the second half by free throws and while that's awesome, it breaks up your flow. I mean we had a 15 half time then 10
Minutes of basketball where we got to the line a lot.

Credit to Memphis for not rolling over. They are unstoppable in the open floor and mediocre in the half court. But Martin played amazing and Dedric did what any other NBA player would do to us. But two players can't beat us and we won by 13..

Had we played our starters and not subbed out all/many of them for a small stretch I think we win by 20+. We had to bring them back in right away after giving up like 7 points. I called for getting our starters off the floor...but we blew it.

Our starters know how to play with each other....they are tough to beat as a group. Even if we sub in one or two guys but the other starters are out there we are still a very good team. This has happened now in what would have been 3 blowout games. UConn and Memphis for sure and I think Tulsa too. We subbed and let them back in.

 

[waterhead]

Had we played our starters and not subbed out all/many of them for a small stretch I think we win by 20+. We had to bring them back in right away after giving up like 7 points. I called for getting our starters off the floor...but we blew it.

Our starters know how to play with each other....they are tough to beat as a group. Even if we sub in one or two guys but the other starters are out there we are still a very good team. This has happened now in what would have been 3 blowout games. UConn and Memphis for sure and I think Tulsa too. We subbed and let them back in.

Either way, when we put the starters back in we handled the business at hand and won them comfortably. In each of these games we let them get it back to a margin that gave the other team hope. We won't even have that option in most, if not all, the remaining games so I am not sure it's a big deal.

 

[waterhead]

That was such an incredible play. No idea how Clark did that. Caupain's reaction was hilarious. He was so pumped. This team is so awesome.

Instantly one of my favorite Bearcat dunks of all time!! Evans had a great one earlier in the year and even in this game Cumberland had a really nice put back dunk which would have been a highlight if not for Gary's play.

I want that poster right now!!!

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I know a lot of people tend to look at Troy and say he's not breaking down defenses off the dribble like other guards. But if you watch closely (and Cronin has pointed this out) Troy get's into creases where the defense has to make a decision. That can be right at the shoulder of the FT line where Troy will get two guys on him and make the pass over the top back to a guy like Clark who has been left open causing the D to scramble a bit to recover. This creates the option of starting extra passes. Some will say it's boring but it's actually a beautiful thing to have a taller guard be able to pass OVER the defender like that. We used to run the give and go with Ellis where Troy would dribble to the point where two defenders had to be on him and then Ellis would break towards the bucket and Troy would pass over the top.

Other guards will have to break defenders down off the dribble...but I'm not sure either is better than the other really. Having a tall guard just dribble to the soft spot creates a lot of opportunity as well.

It is so nice for the offense for Clark to catch outside the 3 point line and be a threat.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I'm going to disagree with you, was at the game and listened to Mick's post game comments. Mick addressed the lack of defense with his team at the half (despite being up 17) and we came out in the second half playing the same way we did in the first. Gary's huge dunk and one put us up 21 points with with 18 minutes left. We gave up a few easy buckets shortly after and Mick was steamed on the sidelines and made some lineup changes. Shortly after that we stopped running and went into turtle mode.

We wound up winning the game and clearly Mick knows what he's doing when it comes to teaching defense and toughness. My concern is Mick's mentality that giving up buckets is unacceptable regardless of how much we're pouring it on on the other end. When the team plays fast Mick craves slow, and that concerns me. IMO we'd be better off if Mick would allow the team to play fast and free and reel them in only when necessary. No reason to meddle with success when you're stomping a team in the second half. If Mick does that against good competition in March we'll lose, it's simple as that.

Up 19* at half.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I agree here. We were missing open 3's and layups in the second half even though we got some good looks. Our D got soft for a 10 minute stretch. We slowed the game down to limit possessions at the end...which at the time they were making the run wasn't a bad idea and it worked. Memphis also employed the press which slowed it down a little too.

Had we left in the starters we wouldn't be talking about it but Mick wanted to get them rest (as well as avoid injury) and get the bench some experience. I was even calling for the same thing. That didn't work so well...but our starters were probably +20 on the game overall.

We were getting good looks for sure. That's why I'm not concerned.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

They're easily the best since 1982 and probably the best in UC history. Turnovers are a spotty recorded stat pre '82. At least from what I have. If anyone has good stats before this time period let me know.

1. Justin Jenifer - 4.57 A/TO
2. Troy Caupain - 4.37 A/TO
3. Field Williams - 3.25 A/TO (01/02 season)
4. Taron Barker - 2.86 A/TO (02/03 season)
5. Steve Logan - 2.74 A/TO (99/00 season)
6. Troy Caupain - 2.67 A/TO (15/16 season)

This is ridiculous. I feel like I've just taken the whole TO thing for granted. These numbers are insane.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

To be fair, most teams can't do both and the teams that can are always great. Don't think we are there yet. We are better than passed years and hopefully we can get to the point where we can do both every game

And it's not like Memphis is some horrible team. Tubby Smith doesn't just get his ass kicked by 30 all the time.