Notre Dame

[Hicks' Guns]

13-1

-Smoked Kentucky (at South Bend)
-Won 11 straight...Outside of Kentucky only a couple sort of notable wins (BYU, Seton Hall) Also beat struggling Purue and Geroge Washington...but they have beaten all of those 11 teams handily
- #1 in the country in assists per game
- #4 in the country in Field Goal percentage
- Shoot 40.6% from threes
- 11 Turnovers per game
- Only 6 steals a game

I think we need to turn up the D and run. Big time pressure, and rattle them. Cooley is good but slow...run them all over the place. Gotta defend the 3 and not give them open looks. Our biggest advantage over this team is speed.

I know some of you will say "we beat there ass last year" but I will never forget that we got the living sh*t kicked out of us at MSG the year before. ND also leads the series 8-4.

I'm nervous and unable to make a confident prediction but I think we'll bounce back after a terrible effort the last game and we will be ready to play. I think the effort, defense and rebounding will be there. I simply cannot speak confidently about our ofensive gameplan and performance.

 

[BearcatMick]

Mick has them prepared. Uc will win this one and the atmosphere will be electric

 

[Amberlycolonel]

Mick has them prepared. Uc will win this one and the atmosphere will be electric

Want to wager on it, Mick?

 

[UCalum08]

I think we lose this one, 64-55. Our offense will continue to struggle BC no one knows how to move without the ball. Our offense will consist of running around the 3 point line and if we actually do get around the rim, will have a tough time finishing. ND two big white boys will have big games on both ends of the court. SK will still have problems dribbling the ball and keep everyone wondering why we all thought he would go to the NBA after this year. Hope I am wrong but I think its going to be disappointing.

 

[ralph1950]

I think we lose this one, 64-55. Our offense will continue to struggle BC no one knows how to move without the ball. Our offense will consist of running around the 3 point line and if we actually do get around the rim, will have a tough time finishing. ND two big white boys will have big games on both ends of the court. SK will still have problems dribbling the ball and keep everyone wondering why we all thought he would go to the NBA after this year. Hope I am wrong but I think its going to be disappointing.

Thank you for your analysis Chicken Little!

We can now all do something else tonight as there is no reason to watch the game.

 

[UCalum08]

Thank you for your analysis Chicken Little!

We can now all do something else tonight as there is no reason to watch the game.

Lol why am I chicken little? Because I don't give a biased 15 point win every time? Coming from a person who thinks UC and the Bengals have stellar offenses, I know I have made a good prediction. Keep drinking the kool aid ralphy. The problems with this team are glaring and I don't think the players have the IQ to change to become elite. ND is the best team will have faced yet, they will continue to expose UC's weaknesses. Teams have clearly read the memo on how to stop us, it doesn't take a rocket science. Our players don't have the mentality to impose their style of play on others. I hate to say it but having the 3 amigos has made our offense stagnant and dependent on those 3 guys solely. It has led to everyone else standing around not moving with out the ball and not developing any offensive confidence.

 

[Hicks' Guns]

To me, Mo Egger's read of things is pretty much accurate when it comes to the Bearcats (football and basketball). He sums up the current status pretty well in the below...


4) The Bearcats. The offensive problems are no longer an aberration. They are a trend, and a frightening one for a team whose best player has gone cold. They're going to be good enough to win a lot of games because of their defense, and because Cashmere Wright will find ways to bail them out with big plays on offense. But the sheer stiffness of the bigs when they get the ball, the enigma that is Titus Rubles, and the lack of options in the halfcourt, especially in close games down the stretch, are all troublesome, and the teams they'll be playing will mostly be much, much, better than that St. John's team that just handed UC and unforgivable home loss.

http://www.espn1530.com/pages/mo.html

Btw...McRalph, this blind optimism crap is taxing and ridiculous.

 

[ralph1950]

To me, Mo Egger's read of things is pretty much accurate when it comes to the Bearcats (football and basketball). He sums up the current status pretty well in the below...


4) The Bearcats. The offensive problems are no longer an aberration. They are a trend, and a frightening one for a team whose best player has gone cold. They're going to be good enough to win a lot of games because of their defense, and because Cashmere Wright will find ways to bail them out with big plays on offense. But the sheer stiffness of the bigs when they get the ball, the enigma that is Titus Rubles, and the lack of options in the halfcourt, especially in close games down the stretch, are all troublesome, and the teams they'll be playing will mostly be much, much, better than that St. John's team that just handed UC and unforgivable home loss.

http://www.espn1530.com/pages/mo.html

Btw...McRalph, this blind optimism crap is taxing and ridiculous.

1) you are so wrong, BearcatMick and I are not the same person, ask the mods who do things like check IP addresses

2) Coach K could not beat Lehigh in last year's NCAA tourney, does he run lousy offense and defense?

3) Mick is an excellent coach, easily the best option for UC, there is a reason Missouri, NC State, etc. wanted to hire him away.

 

[westsidecat]

this game is kinda big.

can't afford to lose 3 in a row at home.

you never want to be under 500 in conference. even 3 games in.

another national tv game. fair to say we didn't impress the country last time.

if there is such a thing of needing a game, 3 games in, this is it.

 

[Hicks' Guns]

1) you are so wrong, BearcatMick and I are not the same person, ask the mods who do things like check IP addresses

2) Coach K could not beat Lehigh in last year's NCAA tourney, does he run lousy offense and defense?

3) Mick is an excellent coach, easily the best option for UC, there is a reason Missouri, NC State, etc. wanted to hire him away.

Let's start backwards:

I agree with you on (3)...just saying we have some offensive challenges and I'm not sure Mick's offensive strategy this year is a good one. I hope I'm wrong and we snap out of it.

On (2), No...that was one game. Coach K consistenly has top notch O and D, and very fluid, effective offense. Mick is a great coach and we are lucky to have him (particularly in this conference realignment BS atmosphere). But for a month now (if not more), our offense has struggled and is not well-run and does not appear to be a sound plan. And it's struggled in previous seasons as well.

On (1), Largely a joke but "the Bearcats are the greatest team in the land. Cronin is the best ever and Xavier is the worse ever" theme lumps you two together.

 

[JasonS]

UC loses to St. John's EVERY YEAR!! Or so it seems anyway. I do think the offense is troublesome but I don't go nearly as far as Mo. I am not as optimistic as Ralph. I am somewhere in between. I like to look at numbers and based on what I am seeing in shooting percentages, UC is going to get hot at some point and blow someone out that we never saw coming. Then they will be the greatest ever again. People overreact to one game in a season of over 30. Would you have taken 13-2 in their first 15 before the season started? And if the Harrison Hail Mary didn't go in, this team is 14-1. If there is one thing fans should be worried about, it is the fact that these bullshit shots keep going in against UC no matter the coach or decade we are in.

 

[juicy]

We need this one to keep me off the ledge.

In all seriousness, we have to get some offense outside of shooting 3's.

 

[ralph1950]

We need this one to keep me off the ledge.

In all seriousness, we have to get some offense outside of shooting 3's.

If Justin, Dave, and Chek cannot put the ball in the basket from 2 feet maybe every shot should be a 3. Shooting .33333 from the 3 point line is equal to shooting .50 from inside the 3 point line.

 

[mdchick]

This game is huge for me as a uc basketball fan, it is going to show me how well we are going to be come tournament time, Jack cooley is one of the best big men in the nation on the offensive end and defensive end. I heard all season long how much cheikh has improved as a big man, if we are going to be a contender for a national championship we need to have a cosistant big man prescence. Mbodj is a solid defender, there is no doubt about that, but he needs to show something on the offensive end and establish a inside game for us.

 

[mplebanon]

Attendance should be interesting. I was offered season ticket seats by 2 groups of friends before about 2 pm. Around 3:30-4:00-ish, I had 2 more groups of friends with season ticket seats offer me tickets.

Appears everyone is more interested in the national championship game than the UC b-ball game.

 

[adhdfan]

I hate losing but they have lost two games by less than two. Sometimes you lose close games. We will bounce back tonight.. UC 64 Domers 55.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I haven't picked them to lose all season and frankly they should have beat every team they played. If this team can't get up for this one then the players are clearly lacking emotionally and mentally. Seems like the last couple 3 seasons UC has lost at home to St. Johns and won on the road so I'm over that. Sean Kilpatrick is way overdue and has probably played the worse 4 game stretch of his career. I think UC's athleticism and defense will present a problem for Notre Dame and call me crazy but I'm picking the Bearcats by double digits tonight.

 

[ralph1950]

This game is huge for me as a uc basketball fan, it is going to show me how well we are going to be come tournament time, Jack cooley is one of the best big men in the nation on the offensive end and defensive end. I heard all season long how much cheikh has improved as a big man, if we are going to be a contender for a national championship we need to have a cosistant big man prescence. Mbodj is a solid defender, there is no doubt about that, but he needs to show something on the offensive end and establish a inside game for us.

Why would a game played on January 7 show you anything about how a team will be playing in March?

 

[BearcatMick]

Notre lame is talented. It won't be easy but uc wins this by 7-10. Out pressure and athleticism combined with home court will be too much for them

 

[Crimedogg25]

Rubles with his first start.