NCAA Tournament

[jacobkdoyle]

Although I don't disagree with this, why don't we wait to see what happens in the tourney and then have this conversation?

Yeah this is where I'm at too. We play KState or WF in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. A game we will be favored to win. I'm going to enjoy the build-up this week and enjoy the game on Friday. Nothing is promised for any team beyond 1 game. So let's win the 1 game we know is on the schedule. There will be plenty of time to discuss everything else when the season is over.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

SMU won the league and the conference tourney. They beat us twice. They also got a 6 seed. Our conference sucks and the only way to change that is for us and SMU to win some games. Long range goal is to get out of this conference. Its only going to get worse.

Definitely agree. I'll be pulling hard for SMU. I typically don't care how our conference-mates do, but we need it bad this year.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I think we are kinda a poor mans Arizona, which gave them trouble. I would at least like the chance to play them

Arizona is 2 spots ahead of us in KenPom. They are good, but they sometimes struggle to get production from the supporting cast.

 

[Cartel]

This Bearcat team is good. I know everyone hopes for "good draw" to aid in getting to the E8 and F4, but it's supposed to hard. They are better than both Wake Forest and K-State. It won't be an easy game, but they should win. If not, they either didn't shot the ball well or aren't as good as I think they are. And even if they don't shoot the ball well against either of those teams, they can still win.

UCLA presents a challenge, but a good one. They kinda think about playing D, but that's about it. Their offense is through the roof, but the Cats D is not something they see everyday. It won't be easy, but it's doable. I guarantee they'll be looking past the Bearcats. A potential match up with UK and UNC are all they're thinking about.

If we beat ucla to get to the sweet 16 we will get the recognition we want. If we beat a pile of crap to get to 16 then I am not sure how much our reputation will change. I actually don't mind the match up. We have an offense that can score if they hit their shots.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

This Bearcat team is good. I know everyone hopes for "good draw" to aid in getting to the E8 and F4, but it's supposed to hard. They are better than both Wake Forest and K-State. It won't be an easy game, but they should win. If not, they either didn't shot the ball well or aren't as good as I think they are. And even if they don't shoot the ball well against either of those teams, they can still win.

UCLA presents a challenge, but a good one. They kinda think about playing D, but that's about it. Their offense is through the roof, but the Cats D is not something they see everyday. It won't be easy, but it's doable. I guarantee they'll be looking past the Bearcats. A potential match up with UK and UNC are all they're thinking about.

West Virginia shot like 6-29 in the 1sr half vs KState after starting 3-20 and they still won the game in the Big XII Tournament presented by Phillips 66.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

If we beat ucla to get to the sweet 16 we will get the recognition we want. If we beat a pile of crap to get to 16 then I am not sure how much our reputation will change. I actually don't mind the match up. We have an offense that can score if they hit their shots.

All people will remember is that we played on the 2nd weekend.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Hopefully our players aren't looking past KState/WF like some of our fans. That's a recipe for a quick exit. The UCLA/Kent State game is after our game. No point in even thinking about it. Gotta beat Level 1 to get to Level 2.

 

[cincyguy13]

Arizona is 2 spots ahead of us in KenPom. They are good, but they sometimes struggle to get production from the supporting cast.

So like us?

 

[Bearcatmatt]

Hey gents, first post in a long time, but I lurk here often and enjoy reading the discussion that takes place.

My gut tells me that we will probably end up playing Wake, and that we will probably lose that game because they shoot the 3 so well and we don't defend the 3 as much as we need to. I really hope I'm wrong. This IS Cronin's best team so far, but I don't have faith in the offense to be consistent enough to win games. Despite our improvements offensively, there have still been too many games where we simply don't make shots. A lot of those games we managed to win, but against good teams, you have to knock down some shots to move on. Defense isn't enough.

That said, if we do face UCLA, the one team that did beat them twice this year was Arizona, who is basically ranked in the 20's for Defense and Offense. We are better than AZ on D, but worse on O. That gives me some hope. UCLA is TERRIBLE on D, ranking 78. If we can make some shots, we can at least compete.

But hey, you have to win the first game to even get a shot at UCLA. It's dumb to look past the first game.

 

[DCBearcat]

Hopefully our players aren't looking past KState/WF like some of our fans. That's a recipe for a quick exit. The UCLA/Kent State game is after our game. No point in even thinking about it. Gotta beat Level 1 to get to Level 2.

I don't think anyone is looking past our first game, it would be really dumb to do that considering our recent performances in the tourney. However, it's hard to talk about round 1 when we don't know who we will be playing.

 

[cincyguy13]

Hopefully our players aren't looking past KState/WF like some of our fans. That's a recipe for a quick exit. The UCLA/Kent State game is after our game. No point in even thinking about it. Gotta beat Level 1 to get to Level 2.

Looking at potential matchups is the fun part of the tourney. We have nothing to do with the outcome so I think it's fine to think about possible matchus

 

[Alum2013]

West Virginia shot like 6-29 in the 1sr half vs KState after starting 3-20 and they still won the game in the Big XII Tournament presented by Phillips 66.

I'm more worried about WF and their stud big man.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

So like us?

I think so.

 

[ervins84]

I'm more worried about WF and their stud big man.

Never a fun feeling when the other team has the most talented player on the floor. See last year vs St Joe's

 

[UC86]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ament-bracket-projections-cincinnati-bearcats

Need insider to see this but it's Joe Lunardi's bracket projections. I think some will be surprised where he puts UC.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Against WF, it may not be a bad thing to (I can't believe I'm going to say this *gulp*) have Caupain control the pace and walk it up the floor some. They thrive on rhythm and want to score 90. We could throw a serious wrench in that and still score efficiently.

I'm not SO concerned with poor shooting. Evans had an off game on the 3rd game in 3 days. Not the end of the world. I believe he'll show up and be a huge key. Caupain also shot better in the AAC Tournament in the first couple games. And we all know Cumberland was just born to shine in these types of situations. If we make our own breaks for transition points (aka pick 6s by guys like Evans and Cumberland), we can play the rest of the game pretty tight against the high octane offenses we may face and still score enough to win.

 

[eric3287]

If we beat ucla to get to the sweet 16 we will get the recognition we want. If we beat a pile of crap to get to 16 then I am not sure how much our reputation will change. I actually don't mind the match up. We have an offense that can score if they hit their shots.

I disagree with this. "Beating a pile of crap and getting to the Sweet 16" is also known as "The Xavier Way." And they're always talked about as a team that makes runs in March because of it.

 

[justinhub2003]

Ok. Assuming we beat wake or k state.

We will be the toughest defense ucla has played all season long. The PAC 12 really has no defensively elite teams.

It's all offense. So our advantage on them is: our stifling defense, and our rebounding. They are a bunch of softies. We can bang them around.

They also are a really high 3 point shooting team however in the last 10 games, they only made double digit 3's twice and it was against Washington, who literally plays no defense.

Ucla defends the 3 really badly as well. I think jarron and jake can have good games against them.

 

[cincyguy13]

I disagree with this. "Beating a pile of crap and getting to the Sweet 16" is also known as "The Xavier Way." And they're always talked about as a team that makes runs in March because of it.

Yeah, it doesn't matter how you do it

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Ok. Assuming we beat wake or k state.

We will be the toughest defense ucla has played all season long. The PAC 12 really has no defensively elite teams.

It's all offense. So our advantage on them is: our stifling defense, and our rebounding. They are a bunch of softies. We can bang them around.

They also are a really high 3 point shooting team however in the last 10 games, they only made double digit 3's twice and it was against Washington, who literally plays no defense.

Ucla defends the 3 really badly as well. I think jarron and jake can have good games against them.

I'd bet a UCLA player wouldn't go on to score 25 if they got a tooth knocked out.