SMU

[Bearcat2016]

It was until we went to Mick ball in the second half.

Technically the first half was "Mick ball" too. He is the head coach the team and teaches these guys how to move without the ball and the importance of passing. You can't just pick your spots constantly to bash him. He can get some credit when the offense looks good. But hey, I'm just a happy fan of a team who is 14-2 and leading in the conference.

 

[Jon Rycek]

Technically the first half was "Mick ball" too. He is the head coach the team and teaches these guys how to move without the ball and the importance of passing. You can't just pick your spots constantly to bash him. He can get some credit when the offense looks good. But hey, I'm just a happy fan of a team who is 14-2 and leading in the conference.

Funny how. it's pick and choose sometimes lol. But you're exactly right, this was a 3 out of 4 game stretch where a lot of people though we would lose 1-2 of them earlier I in the year. 4-0 in the conference and playing really well. I'm pretty damn happy right now.

 

[2bearcatdad]

That's a good SMU team who played well - and we beat them with our leading scorer going 1-10 with 2 points.

Certainly room for improvement, but that was a good win.

Go Cats!

 

[juckerrules]

The good:
Caupain was a beast - 5 3-pointers, led the team in rebounds, 0 turnovers.

Clark was also a beast on both ends of the floor.

The bad:
Dominated on the glass, although SMU does that to everyone.

Really faltered defensively down the stretch.

Jacob Evans is officially in a slump - 5 for his last 22. I'm guessing he busts out against ECU

Agree with most, but as Mick said after, Gary was not a beast on the boards....5 boards for both him & Washington? Not good - he was awesome offensively, but Caupain was the man - 9 boards from that size & position? Bad ass game for Troy - and 6 assists and NO turnovers - just wow!
Exciting game, but I almost had to be carried out - I can't take that level of tension in my old age - all feels good with a win though

 

[jacobkdoyle]

"This is a big trip here for SMU-"

SMU throws it to nobody

"Hmm"

Lol. That was so funny.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I hate that we played quadri Moore in this part of the game. Give him first half minutes.

He is a minus player. I feel bad for him but he can't play in these kinda games

I think Cronin was trying to go e Washington and Clark a blow for the stretch run.

 

[RedlegZdid]

It's funny how cocky smu fans are on their message board. They are convinced they are the better team and we got 'lucky'. Most believe we will get blown out at moony or w/e their court is called. Lol. On a night where the best player in the AAC has his worst career game and we still win I'll take it

 

[coachpipe]

Man. We really tried to give them that. New year. That shot would have fallen last year. BIG WIN

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Big win!!! Will need to play better when we play them at their place but for now we are in 1st place. The league title will come down to us and them. Need to keep improving as the seaso rolls along and stay healthy. On to ECU.

 

[HoosierCat]

I won't nit pick a win over a good team, but I wanted to strangle KJ at the end of the first half lol

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I won't nit pick a win over a good team, but I wanted to strangle KJ at the end of the first half lol

yes thought he shot the ball way to early. Went from a 9 point lead to a 7 and gave them mo heading into the locker room.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Cumberland is really going to be a very good player. He continues to show the game is not to big for him. After getting a full year in our strength and conditioning program he will look entirely different next year. That 3 he hit late in the game was money. Kid has ice water in his viens. Nice to have his skills coming off the bench. The more he plays the better he will get. He is still learning but you can see it's just a matter of time before he becomes a real difference maker.

 

[Bcatfollower]

Cumberland is really going to be a very good player. He continues to show the game is not to big for him. After getting a full year in our strength and conditioning program he will look entirely different next year. That 3 he hit late in the game was money. Kid has ice water in his viens. Nice to have his skills coming off the bench. The more he plays the better he will get. He is still learning but you can see it's just a matter of time before he becomes a real difference maker.

One of those guys who is always in the right spot to make a play.

 

[#BearcatNation]

It was until we went to Mick ball in the second half.

If by "Mick ball", you mean slow-paced, then that really wasn't till the last 5 minutes. I was pretty thrilled with the first 35 or so minutes. It just seems like when they have a lead, they reach a point where they're no longer playing to win, but to not-lose. Too busy staring at the clock, rather than running a successful offense. We got away with it last night, but I don't know we always will. If you have, like, a 15 point lead with 4 minutes to go, then sure, slow it down and take away clock. But that's a really silly approach to me when you're only up 5.

 

[#BearcatNation]

Someone on Twitter said it perfectly: if you look at the box score, we were an average-Jacob Evans game away from everyone performing well on offense. He shot 1/10...if he shot his average, let's say 5/10 from the field and 2/5 from three, his two points becomes 12. Suddenly, we win by 12, not 2.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm a little worried about our approach in regards to closing games out, but not too much else. I was impressed with our guys last night. Great win.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

If by "Mick ball", you mean slow-paced, then that really wasn't till the last 5 minutes. I was pretty thrilled with the first 35 or so minutes. It just seems like when they have a lead, they reach a point where they're no longer playing to win, but to not-lose. Too busy staring at the clock, rather than running a successful offense. We got away with it last night, but I don't know we always will. If you have, like, a 15 point lead with 4 minutes to go, then sure, slow it down and take away clock. But that's a really silly approach to me when you're only up 5.

last year we blew a late lead at Moody by taking bad shots with about 3 minutes to go. I agree we need to execute better then we did last night but running clock in that case was not a bad decision. No way I want to create extra possessions for SMU in that situation by extending the game. The pressure was on them and the foul situation was in our favor.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Someone on Twitter said it perfectly: if you look at the box score, we were an average-Jacob Evans game away from everyone performing well on offense. He shot 1/10...if he shot his average, let's say 5/10 from the field and 2/5 from three, his two points becomes 12. Suddenly, we win by 12, not 2.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm a little worried about our approach in regards to closing games out, but not too much else. I was impressed with our guys last night. Great win.

Terrible point. We also shot 50% from 3. That is 15% above our average.

 

[TheRealUC]

It was until we went to Mick ball in the second half.

Gotta agree with you on that. I was thrilled with the first half seeing Cronin almost stroking out telling the guys the run after a defensive rebound. Second half, i wanted to throw things at the screen. Even the announcers kept saying that you haven't been able to call Cincy a dangerous offensive team in past years. This year they are but the second half pissed me off

 

[#BearcatNation]

Terrible point. We also shot 50% from 3. That is 15% above our average.

My real point behind all this is, like many others have stated, we still have the ability to compete with anyone, even when one of our starters is way off. We've got plenty of others that can pick up the slack. Most teams that see their leading scorer shoot 1/10 and score 2 points do not pick up a victory, especially against a borderline-Top 25 team. We did.

 

[GarradJ21]

Big Win. Keep the wins coming. Man, SMU was a tall team. No one was supper tall but just everyone was tall. Glad we won.