@SMU

[waterhead]

This game has been circled on the schedule for a while. I am going to assume SMU beats Temple tonight. The only thing keeping these two teams from winning 15 and 17 in a row is that we had to play each other...and that game was a toss up in the end.

It's hard to imagine being undefeated in conference and having another team playing slightly better conference basketball so far. They are ranked #1 in offense and defense in the conference and we are ranked #2 in both. Much of that has to do with some of our starters not playing their best basketball lately.

Moody is going to be rocking and a VERY tough place to win. Their home court advantage is probably closer to 6 than 4. The implications for whoever wins this game are huge! Conference title hopes, national respect, NCAA seed, etc.

We must bring the effort for 40 minutes! We will need a couple of our perimeter guys to step up and make a few shots. I think Gary and Kyle will be productive...hopefully no foul trouble.

I think both teams are playing like top 10-15 teams in the past 15 games or so. SMU is playing better than their current rank. It would be nice to get off to a hot start to take the crowd down a bit. This is what it's all about! This is our last chance to get a big win...and a road win at that. We win this game and we win the conference basically!

The "trap game" coming off of this if we win is @USF which is about as good as we can hope for followed by two home games. Leave it all on the floor on Sunday and control your destiny!

 

[2bearcatdad]

This game has been circled on the schedule for a while. I am going to assume SMU beats Temple tonight. The only thing keeping these two teams from winning 15 and 17 in a row is that we had to play each other...and that game was a toss up in the end.

It's hard to imagine being undefeated in conference and having another team playing slightly better conference basketball so far. They are ranked #1 in offense and defense in the conference and we are ranked #2 in both. Much of that has to do with some of our starters not playing their best basketball lately.

Moody is going to be rocking and a VERY tough place to win. Their home court advantage is probably closer to 6 than 4. The implications for whoever wins this game are huge! Conference title hopes, national respect, NCAA seed, etc.

We must bring the effort for 40 minutes! We will need a couple of our perimeter guys to step up and make a few shots. I think Gary and Kyle will be productive...hopefully no foul trouble.

I think both teams are playing like top 10-15 teams in the past 15 games or so. SMU is playing better than their current rank. It would be nice to get off to a hot start to take the crowd down a bit. This is what it's all about! This is our last chance to get a big win...and a road win at that. We win this game and we win the conference basically!

The "trap game" coming off of this if we win is @USF which is about as good as we can hope for followed by two home games. Leave it all on the floor on Sunday and control your destiny!

I've been to every home game and I went to Indy for the Butler game. SMU is the best team I've seen and it's not close. We played pretty well against them and we were fortunate to win at home. They're big, physical and talented at all 5 positions. The only thing they don't have is depth, but they obviously overcome that by playing their starters more minutes.

This game could mean 2-3 slots on our seed line. If we play well, we can win - but it will take our best effort on the road to date.

I can't wait for this one.

Go Cats!

 

[waterhead]

I've been to every home game and I went to Indy for the Butler game. SMU is the best team I've seen and it's not close. We played pretty well against them and we were fortunate to win at home. They're big, physical and talented at all 5 positions. The only thing they don't have is depth, but they obviously overcome that by playing their starters more minutes.

This game could mean 2-3 slots on our seed line. If we play well, we can win - but it will take our best effort on the road to date.

I can't wait for this one.

Go Cats!

They are 4 spots ahead of us in Kenpom and undefeated at home. They are the best team we have faced...I agree. We need Evans and Troy to get back on track and knock in a few important shots. Our defensive effort will have to be at our highest level. Jacob and KJ need to stay in front of their man to shield our bigs from having to make contact on drives in the lane.

We are due for a breakout game from Troy and Evans

 

[coachpipe]

I wish it was different, but im not feeling good about this game at all. Jacob hasnt been shooting well at all lately, KJ has gone back into a major slump, and Cumberland has not shot well on the road at all this year. Combine that with SMU playing really great basketball right now, especially at home and this game may not go in our favor

 

[jacobkdoyle]

UC 65
SMU 64

 

[GarradJ21]

I wish it was different, but im not feeling good about this game at all. Jacob hasnt been shooting well at all lately, KJ has gone back into a major slump, and Cumberland has not shot well on the road at all this year. Combine that with SMU playing really great basketball right now, especially at home and this game may not go in our favor

KJ is 5 out of his last 9 from 3. Washington has been great. And with Jake not shooting well it means it's going to come one of these games in a big way. Also, look at our defense last night. We will be fine. It's going to be a dog fight. Either win or lose by a couple in my mind. It shouldn't be a blow out loss or anything like 2014.

 

[GarradJ21]

We have handled SMU for the most part in the last 2-3 years. 2 years ago (Jermain Sanders SR year) we beat them twice. Last year split but really gave away that game in Moody. and this year we have won already. We will be in it until the end. I hope we can pull away.

 

[waterhead]

I wish it was different, but im not feeling good about this game at all. Jacob hasnt been shooting well at all lately, KJ has gone back into a major slump, and Cumberland has not shot well on the road at all this year. Combine that with SMU playing really great basketball right now, especially at home and this game may not go in our favor

I at least have hope for Evans to figure it out at some point. Troy and KJ have 4 years to show they just aren't great shooters. At least Troy is getting better at rebounding and assist-turnovers to show at least some improvement. The year over year shooting is not good.

That being said...Troy has shown to play a little better in big games so that is another plus on his side over the years. Experience in tight situations and being thrust into the role of end of game play maker is invaluable. I expect him to make a couple big plays Sunday.

I would rather see more minutes from Cumberland at this point because we have seen what KJ can do over 4 years. Coach just needs to keep telling Jarron to be aggressive and at some point it will stick.

We will need at least 2 out of 4 of these players to play well to win Sunday.

 

[justinhub2003]

What sucks about SMU is that they are tough to scout because like us, they can get a great scoring night from anyone they play.

I still think we focus on shutting down Semi and then keeping sterling brown from a great senior performance. He has been answering the bell for them.

Would be nice if jarron showed up too. Evans needs play like he did last night on defense

 

[waterhead]

Really hoping that Troy steps his game up coming down the stretch of his senior year. He's been an emotional leader for us and I don't think we have seen as much emotion from him this year as in the past because he hasn't been asked to do as much.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Really hoping that Troy steps his game up coming down the stretch of his senior year. He's been an emotional leader for us and I don't think we have seen as much emotion from him this year as in the past because he hasn't been asked to do as much.

Caupain has been a great emotional leader imo. He's just a mature player now and he's been through it all. Remember this lol?

@GoBearcatsMBB
https://t.co/0PYL0vyZCI

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

They are long athletic and hit shots. Beating them at Moody will be a tough assignment. Tough not impossible. This team has battled all year and found ways to win games. I see that trend continuing on Sunday. This Team understands what is at stake on Sunday. I think they get the job done.

 

[GoCats88]

I have a feeling Cumberland is gonna need to hit a couple big shots in this game, and I have the feeling he will. Would be huge confidence builder for the tourney, having a big night away from fifth third.

 

[juckerrules]

I at least have hope for Evans to figure it out at some point. Troy and KJ have 4 years to show they just aren't great shooters. At least Troy is getting better at rebounding and assist-turnovers to show at least some improvement. The year over year shooting is not good.

That being said...Troy has shown to play a little better in big games so that is another plus on his side over the years. Experience in tight situations and being thrust into the role of end of game play maker is invaluable. I expect him to make a couple big plays Sunday.

I would rather see more minutes from Cumberland at this point because we have seen what KJ can do over 4 years. Coach just needs to keep telling Jarron to be aggressive and at some point it will stick.

We will need at least 2 out of 4 of these players to play well to win Sunday.

I disagree with only your last statement. We need every single player to play really well to win there.....everybody!

 

[waterhead]

They are long athletic and hit shots. Beating them at Moody will be a tough assignment. Tough not impossible. This team has battled all year and found ways to win games. I see that trend continuing on Sunday. This Team understands what is at stake on Sunday. I think they get the job done.

I will be happy if we....

Bring intensity on defense and rebounding for 40 minutes. Know where you have to be on D and box out. On offense set picks, move the ball and make the extra pass. If the shots don't fall I can live with that.

We can win with this strategy.

 

[justinhub2003]

This game @SMU is Kenpom Tier A game (Top 50 opponent adjusted for location).

We've played 5 Tier A Games so far this year

Below is a breakdown of our main guys ORTG in Tier A Games:

Kyle Washington: 106.7 (110.8 on the season)
Jacob Evans: 96.3 (120.9 on the season)
Troy Caupain: 109.6 (114.8 on the season)
Gary Clark: 132.2 (127.7 on the season)
Kevin Johnson: 92.3 (101.1 on the season)
Jarron Cumberland: 73.2 (120.6 on the season)

What sticks out to me is that:
1. Gary Clark rises to level of competition and plays better in bigger games
2. Kyle and Troy show not much deviation from season average to Tier A game which is nice for consistency
3. Jacob is below average in top tier games. A 24 point difference between season average and top tier game is huge and I'd guess you could blame that on being only a sophomore and facing better defense
4. Jarron is by far the most different player offensively when we play top tier opponents. A near 50 point separation is just bad news. He is a freshman and this is to be expected but we still need him step up in these games
5. Not a huge difference for KJ.. He is an average offensive player and slips below that for big games.

 

[justinhub2003]

Lets look at SMU and how their guys play in Tier A games.

They have also played 5 Tier A games


Semi Ojeleye: 106.2 (122.9 on the season)
Sterling Brown: 115.7 (116.6 on the season)
Shake Milton: 109.3 (124.6 on the season)
Ben Moore: 94.9 (119.3 on the season)
Jarrey Foster: 99.3 (121.2 on the season)
Ben Emelogu: 73.2 (96.9 on the season)

 

[waterhead]

This game @SMU is Kenpom Tier A game (Top 50 opponent adjusted for location).

We've played 5 Tier A Games so far this year

Below is a breakdown of our main guys ORTG in Tier A Games:

Kyle Washington: 106.7 (110.8 on the season)
Jacob Evans: 96.3 (120.9 on the season)
Troy Caupain: 109.6 (114.8 on the season)
Gary Clark: 132.2 (127.7 on the season)
Kevin Johnson: 92.3 (101.1 on the season)
Jarron Cumberland: 73.2 (120.6 on the season)

What sticks out to me is that:
1. Gary Clark rises to level of competition and plays better in bigger games
2. Kyle and Troy show not much deviation from season average to Tier A game which is nice for consistency
3. Jacob is below average in top tier games. A 24 point difference between season average and top tier game is huge and I'd guess you could blame that on being only a sophomore and facing better defense
4. Jarron is by far the most different player offensively when we play top tier opponents. A near 50 point separation is just bad news. He is a freshman and this is to be expected but we still need him step up in these games
5. Not a huge difference for KJ.. He is an average offensive player and slips below that for big games.

Jarron as a frosh understandably hasn't shot much in tier A games. The only one he shot more than 3 times was Xavier. I assume that was tier A. I don't know all the tier A games but I assume Butler, ISU, Rhode island, Xavier, Houston and SMU cover them.

We need him to be more aggressive and confident in his abilities. I really think that's at least half the problem. Also, we played 3 of those games before he gained any confidence at all in knocking down shots. Early season freshman issues.

Since then he has gained confidence but perhaps not enough to not doubt his importance just yet. Shoot and drive Jarron...You have the game!

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I disagree with only your last statement. We need every single player to play really well to win there.....everybody!

Tobler better get his act together

 

[Big Perm]

Bearcats win by double digits. SMU is a joke.