SMU

[jacobkdoyle]

Definitely, Cumberland seems like the kind of guy that needs to shoot out of it. And my 5 starters comment was assuming Broome is starting.

Agree Cumberland has to just fire away. Also agree with whoever was saying he needs to work in a pull up jumper.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I love that. Also I love how Cumberland is playing gritty and doing the dirty work. Nice to see him hit that 3.

11 deflections for Cumberland

 

[Jon Rycek]

People complain about everything more than they praise things. Jobs, food service, sports teams, life in general. Any sports talk radio show will tell you that they have more calls after a loss as opposed to a win. The fact that people are just now realizing this is confusing part.

Whatever helps you sleep at night haha

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Agree Cumberland has to just fire away. Also agree with whoever was saying he needs to work in a pull up jumper.

That would be me. He needs a pull up game to avoid all the flopping he runs into.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

11 deflections for Cumberland

Exactly!!! He was also active on the glass tonight.

 

[juckerrules]

That would be me. He needs a pull up game to avoid all the flopping he runs into.

& maybe a bit more agility to avoid some of his freight train charges

 

[waterhead]

Broome was the magic man again. Entered the game trailing 9-5 and we quickly pushed it up to a 14-11 lead in his 5 minutes. Went to the bench, came back in a couple minutes later up 15-11 and we pushed it to a 27-13 lead in the next 3 minutes.


Looked like he re-injured the ankle late in the 1st and he really struggled after that, but man those 8 minutes we were +17 and it really turned the game around.



the energy he brings to the lineup, it just seems to get everybody going.

I agree. He just opened things up and made some moves that just aren't there with anyone else. We went on a nice run while he was in the first half. Jenifer also had a good game but we need Cane to be out there in one way or another.

 

[waterhead]

I know when we had the layoff around Christmas, Coach Cronin said we did 2 a days to get revved back up and the first one was always all offense. We really do get good looks. It's not a massive struggle like it was at times in previous years. Could be better and we could cut down on TOs, but the shots are there for guys. We move the ball pretty well imo.

Yah...we are not taking things to the end of the clock nearly as often. We are getting a lot of the looks we want. Just a matter of making them right now. Obviously we all expect Cumberland to make a higher %. If he gets his mind right on offense we will have a very potent offense to match our D. I just can't believe how good we have become on D. I think the offense is going to get better but the D can't really get much better than last night.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

& maybe a bit more agility to avoid some of his freight train charges

Sure wouldn't hurt

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Really nice to see Tre Scott have a very nice bounce back game. His dunk along the baseline was very nice. Getting minutes like that from him consistently will be a big boost for our team.

 

[waterhead]

11 deflections for Cumberland

He's got that BB IQ people speak of and plays with great instinct. He doesn't force things on offense much and he disrupts on D. He doesn't seem to get out of place on D either. There is much more to his game than his scoring ability...which is why he is on the floor for 30+ minutes even when he's struggling to find his offensive rhythm.

Even in a game where he didn't shoot well I think this game should have done a lot for his overall confidence. It takes a little pressure off when you know you aren't coming out for not scoring.

 

[juckerrules]

I agree. He just opened things up and made some moves that just aren't there with anyone else. We went on a nice run while he was in the first half. Jenifer also had a good game but we need Cane to be out there in one way or another.

We need him, & he did spark the team for a minute, but overall he had a terrible game...missed every shot, had 4 fouls and 3 turnovers in only 12 minutes...he made some good moves, but some awful ones too, I remember a sequence where he basically passed the ball into an SMU player's breadbasket (I forget who), then immediately fouled him & got yanked.
Don't get me wrong, we need him & he did some positive things last night, but as Cronin pointed out after the game, he had had only one practice..I'm sure he'll be a lot better in Florida...we'll need that against UCF...BJ Taylor is about due back, isn't he?

 

[waterhead]

SMU has some good players and I fully expect them to be a force at their place, but the difference between our frontcourts is massive this season.

Chargois went for 12 against Arizona, 21 against Western Kentucky, 21 against TCU, 16 against Boise State, and we really made him look like true freshman tonight.

Ben Moore and Semi Ojeleye gave us nonstop fits last season and SMU is really missing their size and versatility in the post.

They do not look like the same team. I am not sure just how much our awesome D had to do with that last night. We had troubles staying in front of these guys in the past. Last night was a clinic that I hope we can keep repeating the rest of this year. When we don't have to switch too much...we are a nightmare.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

He's got that BB IQ people speak of and plays with great instinct. He doesn't force things on offense much and he disrupts on D. He doesn't seem to get out of place on D either. There is much more to his game than his scoring ability...which is why he is on the floor for 30+ minutes even when he's struggling to find his offensive rhythm.

Even in a game where he didn't shoot well I think this game should have done a lot for his overall confidence. It takes a little pressure off when you know you aren't coming out for not scoring.

I think bottom line is this. He is a soph. who last season was coming of the bench in particular spots. This year he is being asked to be a 30+ minute a game key contributor. Big difference in roles and how the other team prepares for you. Hope he can handle it. We need him.

 

[waterhead]

Moore needs to shoot that.

He passed up a wide open 3 after missing his first. I don't want to see that happen very often. He passed it up and tried to make a move to the lane and it didn't work out. We need Moore taking wide open 3's...he can work on penetrating in the off season. Vice versa with Keith.

 

[juckerrules]

SMU has some good players and I fully expect them to be a force at their place, but the difference between our frontcourts is massive this season.

Chargois went for 12 against Arizona, 21 against Western Kentucky, 21 against TCU, 16 against Boise State, and we really made him look like true freshman tonight.

Ben Moore and Semi Ojeleye gave us nonstop fits last season and SMU is really missing their size and versatility in the post.

Yep, when you lose 2 guys who are now getting paid to play, it hurts

 

[waterhead]

We need him, & he did spark the team for a minute, but overall he had a terrible game...missed every shot, had 4 fouls and 3 turnovers in only 12 minutes...he made some good moves, but some awful ones too, I remember a sequence where he basically passed the ball into an SMU player's breadbasket (I forget who), then immediately fouled him & got yanked.
Don't get me wrong, we need him & he did some positive things last night, but as Cronin pointed out after the game, he had had only one practice..I'm sure he'll be a lot better in Florida...we'll need that against UCF...BJ Taylor is about due back, isn't he?

I remember the play he had a TO and then fouled...that is never good. Jenifer did that in the previous game. One of his other turnovers came from getting bumped near the baseline and he travelled or went out of bounds...can't remember...but that is not a bad TO in my mind. It could have been called a foul.

He may have played a terrible game to you...but the offense really clicked when he was in and our point differential was huge while he was in. If that is a worst case scenario I will take it. I am more worried about the ankle than him being a little rusty.

 

[waterhead]

I think bottom line is this. He is a soph. who last season was coming of the bench in particular spots. This year he is being asked to be a 30+ minute a game key contributor. Big difference in roles and how the other team prepares for you. Hope he can handle it. We need him.

I am not really worried about him in a new expanded role as a BB player. I worry more about things going on in his head on a personal level. There was a lot of speculation about an incident early on that could have shaken his confidence a bit. When your reputation gets tarnished a bit (whether legit or not)...it can have lingering effects. I hope he can work through whatever his issue might be. I agree...we need him to get over them to be a great BB team...whatever they are. He seems to be pretty focused in other parts of his game...but his confidence has been lost on offense. Many of his shots are hitting the outside of the rim vs the inside. Whether or not the scouting report from other teams has limited his effectiveness...he's still isn't taking contested jumpers (he's just missing) and he's not driving as much on top of that. I personally don't believe it's because the other team has stopped biting on his pump fake...he can still put his head down and go to the lane whenever he wants really. He's just off on his rhythm all together.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I am not really worried about him in a new expanded role as a BB player. I worry more about things going on in his head on a personal level. There was a lot of speculation about an incident early on that could have shaken his confidence a bit. When your reputation gets tarnished a bit (whether legit or not)...it can have lingering effects. I hope he can work through whatever his issue might be. I agree...we need him to get over them to be a great BB team...whatever they are. He seems to be pretty focused in other parts of his game...but his confidence has been lost on offense. Many of his shots are hitting the outside of the rim vs the inside. Whether or not the scouting report from other teams has limited his effectiveness...he's still isn't taking contested jumpers (he's just missing) and he's not driving as much on top of that. I personally don't believe it's because the other team has stopped biting on his pump fake...he can still put his head down and go to the lane whenever he wants really. He's just off on his rhythm all together.

WH whatever the reason is we need him to play well. The reason he is off on his rhythm is because guys are waiting for him to charge to the hoop and then taking the charge. As I pointed out yesterday, him developing a pull up jumper would be huge for him. Right now they are waiting for him trying to draw the charge. By the way that is the other team preparing for him.

 

[waterhead]

It's crazy but I think we moved up a full point in AdjEM after the SMU game but we did not move up a single spot in Kenpom overall.

I start to wonder a little about our offense. We moved down after the SMU game in Kenpom. But...BUT...we started our stall game very early because we were blowing them out (maybe 7-9 minutes left). We have inserted the second unit in a lot of games this year against very easy competition blowouts. We have played almost half a season with Broome not playing 25-30 minutes and Cumberland is playing well below average. We have played a good amount of minutes with at least one big in foul trouble.

We are ranked #52 Kenpom on offense...but I don't believe that number one bit. I think we are a top 25 offense with Cane in the game and a confident Cumberland. Maybe top 15 if our bigs can stay on the court. We don't lose much on D when we insert the bench so I think our rating there is legit but can also be #1.