Next years team

[david aka the TYZ]

Our defensive rebounding is a huge key imo. With a bunch of new guys, we all seem to be a little concerned with defense. Especially early in the year. If DeBerry starts and is in good enough shape to lead the team in rebounding, that could open up a lot of possibilities. Parker and Gates were the keys to the small lineup a few years ago. If Sanders and DeBerry (I know DeBerry won't score like Yancy) could give us similar defense and rebounding, we could be dangerous.

Does Ellis have the offensive game to get extended minutes at the 4? I want Clark to be a man on the defensive glass so bad. The more minutes he gets this year, the better we will be. I hope he does the little things necessary to keep himself in the mix at the 4.

To your first paragraph, I agree and that is why I think it's safe to assume DeBerry is here to be the starting five. You got to have at least one guy in there with some weight to throw around. He is supposed to be a good rebounder and a good finisher around the rim. We've been waiting for a player like that. As far as the comparison to Yancy I hope fully he can produce his senior year what Yancy did. At least in production per minutes. Deberry does have two similar players behind him that will probably keep him off the floor more than we had to rely on Yancy. For this year I imagine there will be a learning curve to some degree, but I think Mick will be happy if he boxes out, rebounds and gets some offensive putbacks. We do want to be able to work the offense into him as well down low and from what I've read he has that in his game. But everybody coming in can do this and that, coming in and doing it are two different things. Coming in though, rebounding is the number one priority for him.

As far as Eliis I'm kind of excited to see what we have with him. Mick was high on him his first go around. He seemed to be a perfect fit for what Mick wants in a four. Obviously then he was very raw. He shouldn't be raw now and I'm guessing if Mick brought him back it was because he progressed into what he was hoping he would. Initially I just naturally assumed after Lawrence left that Ellis would slide right into the starters role, but the more I think about it the more I see Sanders starting. I think Ellis will see his fair share of the court and will be expected to contribute.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Ohhh ok. I saw 210 on his gobearcats page and thought it was from his first stint here. I didn't see they have it updated with him as a JR. Dang. 210 is disappointing.

Yeah I saw that too and assumed that as well. Then, I looked at one of his recruiting pages and they had him at 185 out of high school and 205 out of juco. I'm sure Mick will have him in the weight room and building his strength. I'm not the expert at knowing all the sites to look at for stuff like that. Maybe Jeff or NTS will know his current weight.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

first off guyn is going to get the most minutes out of anyone guard wise wither you agree with it or not, that's just the way it is, I like TC's game better than guyn's but Cronin will start guyn and go with guyn over any of the guards.

I love KJ's game and everything I think he will be a really good player by his senior year but how can you make an argument that shaq cant finish at the rim when every single shot kj takes in the lane gets blocked. KJ has a better outside game but shaq definitely is better than kj at driving to the rim.

Lastly Shaq was passive last year because of SK being our go to guy. Now that he is our go to guy he is going to be completely different this year. He gets to the rim with ease better than anyone on the team its not even close and if you think otherwise you are just wrong man.

Moving this to this thread.

TC played more than Guyn last year. He will again. Whether it's off the bench or not. You can't blame Shaq being passive on having older players. This team was dying for offense from him last year. We had droughts of 5+ minutes all the time. No one was stopping Shaq from 10+ FG per game, but he just didn't have it in him. He has to change a lot.

 

[bearcat2321]

Every team we lost to last year were bigger than us inside the paint. I think we can get away with Sanders at PF for couple minutes a game not starting. Ellis is probably faster and quicker than Sanders anyway so mismatch is still there with Ellis at PF.

 

[Bearcat22]

Moving this to this thread.

TC played more than Guyn last year. He will again. Whether it's off the bench or not. You can't blame Shaq being passive on having older players. This team was dying for offense from him last year. We had droughts of 5+ minutes all the time. No one was stopping Shaq from 10+ FG per game, but he just didn't have it in him. He has to change a lot.

I agree. Mick was urging Shaq to be more assertive last year. That might not be his personality. I'm sure he'll have the opportunity to prove himself but nothing he's done thus far indicates he's the guy to put a team on his shoulders. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[bearcat2321]

Moving this to this thread.

TC played more than Guyn last year. He will again. Whether it's off the bench or not. You can't blame Shaq being passive on having older players. This team was dying for offense from him last year. We had droughts of 5+ minutes all the time. No one was stopping Shaq from 10+ FG per game, but he just didn't have it in him. He has to change a lot.

I believe deferring to SK has held Shaq back. In our biggest games Shaq comes out on fire then makes one mistake and Mick yanks him out immediately. Without SK, Mick doesn't have luxury of benching Shaq for long stretches. If Mick opens up offense and let players run, we could be looking at a late March run with guards we have along with Shaq, Clark, Ellis running court filling lanes.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I believe deferring to SK has held Shaq back. In our biggest games Shaq comes out on fire then makes one mistake and Mick yanks him out immediately. Without SK, Mick doesn't have luxury of benching Shaq for long stretches. If Mick opens up offense and let players run, we could be looking at a late March run with guards we have along with Shaq, Clark, Ellis running court filling lanes.

Shaq only scored in double figures 1 time in the final 12 games in 22.3 mpg. And only 11 times overall. That overall # needs to double. He got minutes. You make it sound as if he was getting yanked and not getting a chance to get back in. His overall #s that I posted earlier are hard to defend. I hope Shaq is good too, but I dont see the killer instinct.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I believe deferring to SK has held Shaq back. In our biggest games Shaq comes out on fire then makes one mistake and Mick yanks him out immediately. Without SK, Mick doesn't have luxury of benching Shaq for long stretches. If Mick opens up offense and let players run, we could be looking at a late March run with guards we have along with Shaq, Clark, Ellis running court filling lanes.

its more then one mistake. In 20 minutes against Louisville in biggest game of year he didn't get one rebound. That is pitiful. Beyond bad. Mick has the luxury to bench anyone who can't run 1 board down in 20 minutes against your rival. It's simple if Shaq wants minutes he needs to guard and help on the glass every game. In your view Mick should not hold players accountable for defensive assignments because they may score a bucket. That is insane. It also would never fly at other universities. If you get beat on D by a good move or a tough shot fine. But when you start blowing assignments that were gone over In practice the day before or walk through your coming out. Accountability is a good thing. Something he learned from two HOF coaches Huggins and Pitino.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

What position battles are people most looking forward to? I'm most interested in the PF situation. I don't know what to expect from Ellis. I'm looking for a solid contribution off the bench from Clark. I'm hoping Sanders can get it done for stretches in a small lineup. And I'm ondering if Moore will get any minutes at all at the 4. Too many ?

 

[mdchick]

What position battles are people most looking forward to? I'm most interested in the PF situation. I don't know what to expect from Ellis. I'm looking for a solid contribution off the bench from Clark. I'm hoping Sanders can get it done for stretches in a small lineup. And I'm ondering if Moore will get any minutes at all at the 4. Too many ?

SG for sure, competition is going to good for these kids, I would not be surprised to see KJ, morman or cobb as the starter.

PF will be interesting it's gotta be between Ellis and Clark and moore might get some time off the bench.

Center I have no clue which seems to be the basis with everyone because of how little video there is on Strickland and deberry. But from what all of the players (Rubles) and coaches (Larry Brown) have said about deberry, he is going to be really good. So I guess I have to take them for their word on that.

I'm starting to think moore could be a red-shirt this year though...

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Looking forward to the battle for minutes on the wings. Think the PG is going to be TC with lots of competition at the wings for Newcomers and Returning players.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Looking forward to the battle for minutes on the wings. Think the PG is going to be TC with lots of competition at the wings for Newcomers and Returning players.

I agree Waite. Next year will be fun to watch unfold. They have a very challenging OOC with road games at NC State and Nebraska (will be very good) as well as home games with Xavier, San Diego St and VCU.

I wouldn't dwell too much on who starts and who doesn't, the season will play itself out. The most exciting part is that everyone but Guyn and Sanders will return meaning 2015-16 has a chance to be a very special year. I would be satisfied with an NCAA bid as an 8-12 seed.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I agree Waite. Next year will be fun to watch unfold. They have a very challenging OOC with road games at NC State and Nebraska (will be very good) as well as home games with Xavier, San Diego St and VCU.

I wouldn't dwell too much on who starts and who doesn't, the season will play itself out. The most exciting part is that everyone but Guyn and Sanders will return meaning 2015-16 has a chance to be a very special year. I would be satisfied with an NCAA bid as an 8-12 seed.

NTS would love to see some of the early season practices. PT will be a war. Agree with you about 2015-16.

 

[Bearcat22]

I agree Waite. Next year will be fun to watch unfold. They have a very challenging OOC with road games at NC State and Nebraska (will be very good) as well as home games with Xavier, San Diego St and VCU.

I wouldn't dwell too much on who starts and who doesn't, the season will play itself out. The most exciting part is that everyone but Guyn and Sanders will return meaning 2015-16 has a chance to be a very special year. I would be satisfied with an NCAA bid as an 8-12 seed.

I wasn't sure if this game has been mentioned yet.

Jon RothsteinVerified account ‏@JonRothstein

Cincinnati will host Stony Brook on 12/2/14 as part of its non-conference schedule, source told @CBSSports. Good RPI game for Bearcats.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/475268090448445440

 

[bearcat jeff]

I think TC and Kj start along with Shaq, Sanders and Deberry. In my opinion Sanders, Mormon and Cobb with play multiple positions. Guyns health will be interesting to follow and whether a Henderson or Mason can be added.

To me the 1, 2, 5 are set at least in terms of who will man the positions. The 3 will likely see Shaq, Sanders and Mormon. The 5 will be Deberry and Strickland with Strickland trying to get in basketball shape Deberry will start. The 1 TC, Guyn, Cobb. The 2 KJ, Cobb, Mormon and I think we will see some Cobb and TC. The 4 like the 3 will be interesting. Sanders, Ellis and Clark get the nod.

It is going to be interesting to watch the growth and pieces come together. Things will likely be fluid the first month or so.

 

[bearcat2321]

I think TC and Kj start along with Shaq, Sanders and Deberry. In my opinion Sanders, Mormon and Cobb with play multiple positions. Guyns health will be interesting to follow and whether a Henderson or Mason can be added.

To me the 1, 2, 5 are set at least in terms of who will man the positions. The 3 will likely see Shaq, Sanders and Mormon. The 5 will be Deberry and Strickland with Strickland trying to get in basketball shape Deberry will start. The 1 TC, Guyn, Cobb. The 2 KJ, Cobb, Mormon and I think we will see some Cobb and TC. The 4 like the 3 will be interesting. Sanders, Ellis and Clark get the nod.

It is going to be interesting to watch the growth and pieces come together. Things will likely be fluid the first month or so.

Can wait for start of season. I think its going be close between TC and Cobb at PG.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Cobb is the sharp shooter we need at sg has more experience and like I said weeks ago I was not impressed with KJ last year there were several game where he didn't even play because he wasn't good enough for the 9 player rotation and what 4 games where he played more than 15 minutes and you guys are willing to give him the starting spot over a juco that's proven?

I'm switching my reply to this thread.

Since Cobb is slated to get some time at PG, it just seems like a lot to ask for a new player to start at one spot and play backup minutes at PG. If it was any other position, or if we werent as deep, I'd say no big deal...but we have other talented players. Just dont want too much on one new guy. I think playing behind a 1st team AA also has everything to do with KJ not being "good enough for the 9 player rotation". And no, Cobb is not proven. In his D-1 experience, he averaged about 5 ppg and shot 25% 3s for a lower level D-1.

 

[Bearcatboy]

I'm switching my reply to this thread.

Since Cobb is slated to get some time at PG, it just seems like a lot to ask for a new player to start at one spot and play backup minutes at PG. If it was any other position, or if we werent as deep, I'd say no big deal...but we have other talented players. Just dont want too much on one new guy. I think playing behind a 1st team AA also has everything to do with KJ not being "good enough for the 9 player rotation". And no, Cobb is not proven. In his D-1 experience, he averaged about 5 ppg and shot 25% 3s for a lower level D-1.

I don't know how you don't think juco gives you experience it's not high school there are very good players in juco that just don't get good grades.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I don't know how you don't think juco gives you experience it's not high school there are very good players in juco that just don't get good grades.

I'd take KJ's 1 year at high major UC behind a 1st team AA over Cobb's UT-Chattanooga and juco experience all day.

 

[Bearcatboy]

I'd take KJ's 1 year at high major UC behind a 1st team AA over Cobb's UT-Chattanooga and juco experience all day.

You act like KJ played 15 minutes a game, there were games he didn't even play. The most experience KJ got was by watching sk not hands on, not enough minutes to evaluate.