SMU

[cincrulz11]

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?

he was bad after he tweaked the ankle, no doubt, but the 8 minutes prior completely changed the game. we get such easy looks with him out there because the defense has to pay so much attention to him. Cumberland multiple open 3 looks, gary's in the corner, moore had a wide open look. all because cane is penetrating and forcing the defense to help.


plus he picked up that 3rd foul on emelogu in the first half by taking it right into his chest.

 

[waterhead]

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.

He probably had more charges last year so I don't think that is the issue. It was a common theme in here last year about his charges. He has taken some pull up J's this year and hasn't converted. You and I can disagree. BUt by end of season last year most teams had enough tape on him...but he got better as we got into better competition. Which team could dismiss a guy getting 20+ minutes last year at the efficiency he was putting up? None.

 

[cincrulz11]

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.

our guards have way too many turnovers for our offense to be top 25. its not just the PG position, evans and cumberland both have been horrible with turnovers.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

our guards have way too many turnovers for our offense to be top 25. its not just the PG position, evans and cumberland both have been horrible with turnovers.

Your absolutely right!! I do think there is a method to the madness though. The benefit of Evans handling the rock more is Mick trying to get him to utilize his talents to their fullest. It seems to be working. He is starting to understand how to get his shot and involve others as well. Still not all the way there yet but it is coming. Cumberland has increased his minutes and needs to add a pull up game to avoid 2,3 charges a game. Also running a bit faster pace with JJ and Cane was always going to add a few TO's to the game. What has surprised me is how their To's have occurred. Its not been so much pace related as at times sloppy ball handling. Examples are Cane last night and JJ the temple game.

A surprise for Me is Washington seems to have become a bit more selective and not forcing everything.

 

[cincrulz11]

What has surprised me is how their To's have occurred. Its not been so much pace related as at times sloppy ball handling. Examples are Cane last night and JJ the temple game.

carelessness for a lot of the turnovers. cumberlands last night were just lazy.


i still dont think evans is a PG at all. he has alright handles for a SG, but as the lone PG on the court has really struggled. He's ok bringing it up some when another PG is on the court but temple really attacked him when no other PG was in.


allowing him to start sets and all that is great, just please no more time without JJ or Cane in there.

 

[MacBearcat]

Looked pretty good last night. Need to improve our FG% but don't forget they are a tough Defensive unit.

 

[waterhead]

our guards have way too many turnovers for our offense to be top 25. its not just the PG position, evans and cumberland both have been horrible with turnovers.

I agree with the TO's. We have to get that under control. I thought we had a nice game with only 11 against a good D. We have enough fire power to not need to press the issue a whole lot. We have been getting very good looks for the most part without needing to make risky passes.

This is the perfect team to do all the little things right. We can get good looks and should be able to drop the shots.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

carelessness for a lot of the turnovers. cumberlands last night were just lazy.


i still dont think evans is a PG at all. he has alright handles for a SG, but as the lone PG on the court has really struggled. He's ok bringing it up some when another PG is on the court but temple really attacked him when no other PG was in.


allowing him to start sets and all that is great, just please no more time without JJ or Cane in there.

I agree on Evans but he is improving dramatically in the ability to get his own shot. he still does get to the rim enough for me but his pull up game is right there. If he could add some FT's to the stat sheet I would be thrilled.

 

[Nayers]

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

I wish he could develop a euro-step. Evans and Gary use it well in fast break and drives to avoid defenders. It would help if he learned to change speed too. He goes full blast and cant avoid the contact. Once you get that step on someone, you can control the speed with them on your hip.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

He probably had more charges last year so I don't think that is the issue. It was a common theme in here last year about his charges. He has taken some pull up J's this year and hasn't converted. You and I can disagree. BUt by end of season last year most teams had enough tape on him...but he got better as we got into better competition. Which team could dismiss a guy getting 20+ minutes last year at the efficiency he was putting up? None.

Not saying they dismissed him at all. Just that after last year there is more of a focus on him. Look at it this way. If he scores 15 points in a game we are going to be very tough to beat. He scored 0 against temple and we all no how that game went. Shutting him down is now a primary focus. They are also aware we have two Frosh behind him that aren't quite there yet. I'll guarantee you he is getting much more attention this year then last in how other teams are game planning us. They would be crazy not to.

 

[cincrulz11]

I agree on Evans but he is improving dramatically in the ability to get his own shot. he still does get to the rim enough for me but his pull up game is right there. If he could add some FT's to the stat sheet I would be thrilled.

theres a certain fearlessness that great rim attackers have. not really something you can develop i dont think.


he looked much more confident last night with penetrating a bit and shooting that mid range jumper. if we spread the court a better it might make it easier on him to attack the rim, its tough when we always have 1 or 2 bigs on the lower block.

 

[cincrulz11]

I wish he could develop a euro-step. Evans and Gary use it well in fast break and drives to avoid defenders. It would help if he learned to change speed too. He goes full blast and cant avoid the contact. Once you get that step on someone, you can control the speed with them on your hip.

and it would help if the refs wouldn't call charges that aren't charges. he is quicker than opponents and refs give him credit for, a lot of his charges were just bad calls. sort of hard to blame the player for that.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

theres a certain fearlessness that great rim attackers have. not really something you can develop i dont think.


he looked much more confident last night with penetrating a bit and shooting that mid range jumper. if we spread the court a better it might make it easier on him to attack the rim, its tough when we always have 1 or 2 bigs on the lower block.

That is why I like his pull up game. He gets the shot off with ease and Kyle and Gary are In position to rebound if it misses. When Kyle hits the glass we are a much better team especially offensively

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

and it would help if the refs wouldn't call charges that aren't charges. he is quicker than opponents and refs give him credit for, a lot of his charges were just bad calls. sort of hard to blame the player for that.

Im not disagreeing with you but regardless the reason we can not have him picking up personal fouls and turn over the ball

 

[Nayers]

and it would help if the refs wouldn't call charges that aren't charges. he is quicker than opponents and refs give him credit for, a lot of his charges were just bad calls. sort of hard to blame the player for that.

with that style of play he is always going to basically have a 50/50 shot at getting a charge called. Its just the way it goes, and hes a big body so it might even be a higher probability.

 

[GarradJ21]

Like I said our biggest tests in the American are as followed:

Home:
SMU
WSU

Away:
Temple
UCF
SMU
Houston
WSU

We currently stand at 2-0. I could possibly see adding to the list the two homes games against Houston and UCF but realistically we shouldn't go into those games even thinking there's a possibility of losing at home to those teams. So I'm going to say 5 more true tough test remain. I predicted only 2 losses in conference and some people said that's crazy. I would love to know their reaction now after seeing us handle SMU the way we did. Really, the optimistic and fan in me thinks the only possible loss could be at WSU. We are better than all the teams in the American with a coin flip between us and WSU.

Lets gooooo

 

[jacobkdoyle]

theres a certain fearlessness that great rim attackers have. not really something you can develop i dont think.


he looked much more confident last night with penetrating a bit and shooting that mid range jumper. if we spread the court a better it might make it easier on him to attack the rim, its tough when we always have 1 or 2 bigs on the lower block.

I think something that people may be overlooking for next year is the mobility of our bigs. Obviously the post scoring will be a negative trade. No denying that. But it will be nice having 4s and 5s that can screen and move their feet. The lane should be less clogged as a result. And as has been mentioned before, we could go Cumberland, Evans, and either Williams or Moore if we want to go small. Lots of room to attack the hoop.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

and it would help if the refs wouldn't call charges that aren't charges. he is quicker than opponents and refs give him credit for, a lot of his charges were just bad calls. sort of hard to blame the player for that.

It's the charge circle. Refs only look at that now and call a charge no matter what if the guy is outside. Not the intention of putting that in. Must be addressed.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Like I said our biggest tests in the American are as followed:

Home:
SMU
WSU

Away:
Temple
UCF
SMU
Houston
WSU

We currently stand at 2-0. I could possibly see adding to the list the two homes games against Houston and UCF but realistically we shouldn't go into those games even thinking there's a possibility of losing at home to those teams. So I'm going to say 5 more true tough test remain. I predicted only 2 losses in conference and some people said that's crazy. I would love to know their reaction now after seeing us handle SMU the way we did. Really, the optimistic and fan in me thinks the only possible loss could be at WSU. We are better than all the teams in the American with a coin flip between us and WSU.

Lets gooooo

I'd say from most concerned to least concerned I'd rank the games:

1) WSU (away)

2) WSU (home)

3) SMU (away)

4) UCF (away)

5) Houston (away)

 

[juckerrules]

Like I said our biggest tests in the American are as followed:

Home:
SMU
WSU

Away:
Temple
UCF
SMU
Houston
WSU

We currently stand at 2-0. I could possibly see adding to the list the two homes games against Houston and UCF but realistically we shouldn't go into those games even thinking there's a possibility of losing at home to those teams. So I'm going to say 5 more true tough test remain. I predicted only 2 losses in conference and some people said that's crazy. I would love to know their reaction now after seeing us handle SMU the way we did. Really, the optimistic and fan in me thinks the only possible loss could be at WSU. We are better than all the teams in the American with a coin flip between us and WSU.

Lets gooooo

Just hoping the UCF away game doesn't include BJ Taylor....it might