Norfolk State

[justinhub2003]

I agree, I wish we had more fan support. If watching our team wasn't like watching paint dry I'm sure more people would make the effort to show up for the games. I think the fan support is a product of our team not reaching very high levels of success, playing a frustrating and boring style of basketball, and having a crappy arena with a poor fan experience. A new arena in 2018 should help the issue in the short term but the team better be ready to up their game as well or I think you'll see any gains the new arena give us fall off quickly.

As for the substitutions I'm not really sure what Mick is doing there. We went up 15-0 before I took 3 sips of my beer and then we brought in the 2nd team and lost all the energy.

I was particularly disappointed with Shaq Thomas last night. I'm not sure why we continue to allow Shaq to shoot 3 pointers. If I were Mick I'd immediately yank him and make him sit for 5 minutes every time he shoots a 3 until he stops doing it. I don't care that he made his first 3, as soon as it went in he should have turned around and seen Evans running to the scorer's table.

I understand the frustration Shaq and the 3's especially when they have no arc and dont fall BUT I will say, He is shooting mostly wide open 3 pointers. It would be great if shaq could play as a 4 in a pinch and actually post up (not sure I've ever seen him do it). But because his post game is week, we have to keep at the 3 and thus it brings him out of the wings a lot. I'd rather have KJ taking those shots BUT at the same time, Shaq has been good for this team in a lot games

 

[UCBearcats]

I understand the frustration Shaq and the 3's especially when they have no arc and dont fall BUT I will say, He is shooting mostly wide open 3 pointers. It would be great if shaq could play as a 4 in a pinch and actually post up (not sure I've ever seen him do it). But because his post game is week, we have to keep at the 3 and thus it brings him out of the wings a lot. I'd rather have KJ taking those shots BUT at the same time, Shaq has been good for this team in a lot games

He's shooting open 3's because the other team is letting him. It's not his game and he should never be allowed to do it. He's not strong enough to be a post player but he should be attacking the rim a lot more. Maybe if we figured out a way to run some screens off the ball we might be able to get Shaq open inside the 3 point line, or god forbid, maybe even on an open cut to the hoop. Of course that would require us to be able to throw a pass.........but we can dream.

 

[justinhub2003]

All good stats, however, the one stat that I do not like, especially after the Xavier game is that Caupain only took two shots inside the 3 point line and those came late in the second half (based on the Yahoo's stat tracker). Since i didn't see the game I'm not sure if those two shots were layups or jump shots but he needs to attack the basket more.

I believe one was a drive 2 the lane and looked good but ended with a blocked by the rim result.

Either way. Troy is in a shooting slump but I do love that assist to Turnover rate and his lone turnover last night but a bit debatable (they called a double dribble I believe but he lost the ball).

But I love that Troy isn't letting his shooting slump affect him from being one of the best passing PG in the country who doesn't turn the ball over. That is not a small feat.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

SMH people really don't watch the games, huh?

 

[justinhub2003]

He's shooting open 3's because the other team is letting him. It's not his game and he should never be allowed to do it. He's not strong enough to be a post player but he should be attacking the rim a lot more. Maybe if we figured out a way to run some screens off the ball we might be able to get Shaq open inside the 3 point line, or god forbid, maybe even on an open cut to the hoop. Of course that would require us to be able to throw a pass.........but we can dream.

Will also disagree. I think Shaq displayed really good passing early on this season

Last year Shaq 19 asissts ALLL SEASON (34 games)
This year through 11 games he has 23

I think Shaq just struggles with Dribbling through the lane. and nothing is more momentum kill that driving through the lane and dribbling off your foot or getting the ball stolen.


He is also shooting 38% from 3 which isn't so bad

 

[Mcginnjw]

I understand the frustration Shaq and the 3's especially when they have no arc and dont fall BUT I will say, He is shooting mostly wide open 3 pointers. It would be great if shaq could play as a 4 in a pinch and actually post up (not sure I've ever seen him do it). But because his post game is week, we have to keep at the 3 and thus it brings him out of the wings a lot. I'd rather have KJ taking those shots BUT at the same time, Shaq has been good for this team in a lot games

I watched the replay of this game and Shaq was a bright spot for me. He played with a lot of hustle and made some great plays that won't show up in the stat sheet. Of all the seniors, Shaq looks like he cares the most. If Shaq continues to play with hustle, he deserves to take shots when he is open.

 

[justinhub2003]

I watched the replay of this game and Shaq was a bright spot for me. He played with a lot of hustle and made some great plays that won't show up in the stat sheet. Of all the seniors, Shaq looks like he cares the most. If Shaq continues to play with hustle, he deserves to take shots when he is open.

Agreed.

 

[TheLongHaul]

SMH people really don't watch the games, huh?

Actually a lot of people don't watch games. I was one of them last night, unfortunately had something else I had to attend.

Didn't you state you weren't going to post on this board any more?

 

[jacobkdoyle]

"I told Farad to just worry about defense". -- well no $hit Mick, if you ever told anyone on your team to worry about offense you might be on to something.

PS - in 10 years has anyone ever seen a player on our team set an off ball screen? Please provide examples and proof.

I think that's the right message to send an already offensive- minded senior. Turns out he had 8 deflections too.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

The general consensus after last night's game is that it was a good bounce back from XU, I was at the game and my thoughts were that it was pretty ugly to watch. Outside of Farad's nice shooting performance the offense was largely stagnant and our guards once again failed to penetrate or attack the rim.

I always find this board to be extremely interesting with the response many of you seem to have. We beat Morgan State 87-66 before the XU game and everyone was talking about how bad of a performance it was yet we beat Norfolk State 75-59 and it's a good performance. I'm not really sure how that works.

This season seems to be following the same pattern we always follow under Mick. Talk all off-season about the importance of offense, come out and whip up on crap teams, play a few close games against marginal teams, lose to X, throw the game plan out the window and begin the slow and ugly grind to an early exit in the NCAA's. Hope I'm wrong.......

Offense was largely stagnant? I didn't see it that way. And I thought Norfolk State was a step up from all the other cupcakes.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Caupain is now tied for 22nd in the country in assist to turnover ratio.


Having Jenifer around has made caupain a better pass first PG. I mean, sometimes last year, we'd have 6 assists the entire game and now Troy is getting that by himself. He Could very well end up averaging 6 assists per game on the season.

That would be amazing.

 

[cincrulz11]

I came away from last nights game extremely underwhelmed and rather disappointed.

If our only offense in the half court is toss it around 30 feet from the bucket and then try to throw it to a big guy and let them do all the work, we will be screwed. We didn't even do it that well vs Norfolk, what happens when good teams double us down low and stuff (like x did).

I don't know why we refuse to try to penetrate. We set a high ball screen with Ellis or Clark, but it's not in an attempt to penetrate, we kick it to the wing and then try to go down low. I mean that's fine if it isn't the only play you have.


I want to see the offense improve. The ball movement is obviously better this year than in past years, but more steps need to be taken. Our spacing and penetration game has to get better.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I can't get real excited about what happened last night. The number one thing I saw on the plus side was Farad's shot coming back. That is huge for this team. We really need this guy's offensive firepower in the worst way. If he is back, that will be a big plus. I'm not going to factor in the cupcake impact on his shooting, because he has been missing open shots against good competition. Open shots are open shots so it doesn't matter if the competition is good or bad. His shot looked good last night.

Gary, on the other hand, ate the cupcake...icing and all. It was a good performance, but let's see him do it against good competition before we believe that he is progressing. Personally, I think his inside game has regressed to this point in the season. There were times last year when I felt he was Danny Fortsonesque in terms of his inside game. He was virtually unstoppable when he got the ball on the block. I don't see the same player inside this year. On the other hand, he has massively improved his outside shot. I guess it's possible that he worked so hard on his outside game that his inside game suffered some.

KJ is the difference in this team being a final four team, or a 1st or 2nd round loss team, in my opinion. Everyone despises him right now, but we have to get him back to the player we saw early. His offense, when it's working, is absolutely critical to this team. Obviously, his defense is really good, but it has even looked so-so lately. Mick has said it many times. You do something bad offensively and you let it affect you on the defensive end. KJ is definitely in his own head right now and it isn't pretty. I still think he is a critical piece to our puzzle.

Quadri looked awful and very selfish last night. I agree with Waite, JJ's first shot was in rhythm and it hit nothing but net. His second shot was rushed a little because the defender was closing fast, and it was not nearly as good. As Cinrulz11 pointed out, JJ is now doing the pass it around the 3-pt. line routine, just like the others, so he is somewhat a shell now of the player I felt he was early in the season. You guys were right. I was wrong. I complimented Quadri yesterday. I take that one back as well after last night.

The bottom line.....we beat Norfolk State by one point in the last 36 minutes of the game. The first four minutes showed us what this team's potential really is. The last 36 minutes showed us what we've been watching for 2-3 weeks now. NKU beat this team by 21 points. Ohio U. beat them by 22 pts. Depaul beat them by 14. S. Carolina beat them by 15, and Indiana St. beat them by 9. Our 16 point margin looks pretty weak, especially when you consider that we got a 15-0 head start in the first 4 minutes.

How do we get better?

• We need KJ back badly.
• Troy's shot must return.
• The Gary we saw last night must play must play the same against good competition.
• Ellis must get tougher and more consistent.
• The defensive magic must return.

I'm done with KJ. He was exactly like this last year too outside of a 5 game stretch. I'd give him 8-12 minutes per game and give the rest to Jenifer to keep Caupain fresher by playing off the ball some.

*Also, 16 pt victory? Who cares how much other teams beat them by? We let our bench guys play a lot to have the 15 point lead early cut to 4...then we stretched it back to 23 before they hit garbage 3s. Making sure we play 40 minutes is the only takeaway imo.

 

[UCBearcats]

Offense was largely stagnant? I didn't see it that way. And I thought Norfolk State was a step up from all the other cupcakes.

Norfolk State is 5-7 and lost to NKU by 21 points. I didn't see them as a step up at all, in fact, I saw them as maybe the 2nd worst team we've played this season behind Morgan State. I'm still trying to figure out why some on the board thought the 87 point performance again Morgan was so terrible yet last night's game was so refreshing.

Disagree with your previous post too, let's just keep talking defense after every game and never address our offensive problems, that's been a solid strategy for us for the last 10 years. It should get us right where we want to be at the end of the year, a nice little 7-9 seed in the tourney and an NCAA exit on the first weekend.

 

[cincrulz11]

I don't know what's up with KJ. I don't know if he has confidence issues or what. After 4 turnovers in the first 7 games he has 11 in the last 4 games. He honestly looks scared to have the ball the past couple games.

 

[cincrulz11]

Disagree with your previous post too, let's just keep talking defense after every game and never address our offensive problems

I think you are taking the quote out of context. He has said it in the past about Cobb. He is such a good shooter that he doesn't need to worry about shooting the ball, when he's slumping he should just focus on defense, the offensive game comes naturally to him.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Actually a lot of people don't watch games. I was one of them last night, unfortunately had something else I had to attend.

Didn't you state you weren't going to post on this board any more?

That's fine. I haven't gotten a chance to watch last nights game either so I didn't comment on it. It's the clueless commentary that makes me question the motives of some posters...

 

[jacobkdoyle]

He is learning to adjust. Last year, Ellis got all the attention and Clark could beat anyone on the block 1 on 1, but he hasn't seen one on one a whole lot this season. Against X, he had 2 guys on him the entire game when he touched the ball. I like that Gary doesn't try to force a shot when he clearly would be forced to take bad one. He is really unselfish. He will figure out ways to score, its still early and I have faith that Gary will figure it out. Last night he was assertive, If he is left one on one, and is assertive, you can score like that on anyone


Also I will agree that Quadri has been very selfish. Actually on KenPom, they call him a "major contributor" because when he is in the game he shoots in 25% of his possessions. Thats a bit nuts. and higher than any one else.

I like how Clark is averaging 2.2 assists per game. He could average 4 at some point in his career as he gets more comfortable facing up and getting away from the hoop.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I agree, I wish we had more fan support. If watching our team wasn't like watching paint dry I'm sure more people would make the effort to show up for the games. I think the fan support is a product of our team not reaching very high levels of success, playing a frustrating and boring style of basketball, and having a crappy arena with a poor fan experience. A new arena in 2018 should help the issue in the short term but the team better be ready to up their game as well or I think you'll see any gains the new arena give us fall off quickly.

As for the substitutions I'm not really sure what Mick is doing there. We went up 15-0 before I took 3 sips of my beer and then we brought in the 2nd team and lost all the energy.

I was particularly disappointed with Shaq Thomas last night. I'm not sure why we continue to allow Shaq to shoot 3 pointers. If I were Mick I'd immediately yank him and make him sit for 5 minutes every time he shoots a 3 until he stops doing it. I don't care that he made his first 3, as soon as it went in he should have turned around and seen Evans running to the scorer's table.

Shaq is only shooting 1.5 3s per game. No defense will ever take us seriously if our 3 doesn't shoot. You want the guards to drive right? Well the defense sagging on a wing player when we already have 2 other big guys on the floor won't help that. Also won't help big guy TO if their wing can double on Shaq's side with no consequence.

 

[cincrulz11]

Shaq is only shooting 1.5 3s per game. No defense will ever take us seriously if our 3 doesn't shoot. You want the guards to drive right? Well the defense sagging on a wing player when we already have 2 other big guys on the floor won't help that. Also won't help big guy TO if their wing can double on Shaq's side with no consequence.

Problem is I think Shaq could take that shot all day and they'll still sag off him and let him shoot it. Until he shows in a larger sample size he has the ability to hit that shot, nobody will care if he takes them. They won't try to defend it.