@South Florida

[jacobkdoyle]

Game is Wednesday night at 7 on ESPNU.

We all know how bad South Florida is this year (well, every year)

We need to run them out. But will we?

UC 73
USF 56

 

[jacobkdoyle]

The worst thing we could do is let 1 loss snowball into anything else. We lost @SMU. How it happened is no longer relevant. None of our season goals were impacted by losing that game. South Florida is up next. We have to be mature enough to show up for that game and play the 2016-17 UC brand. Just like the loss today no longer matters, beating USF a few weeks ago doesn't matter either. Every game from here on out is a new chance to prove ourselves. There aren't a lot of games left, no matter how far we end up going. This is the time of year where the real teams step up. No reason that can't be us. No messing around. This should be a merciless beatdown. Sucks to suck USF, but we have bigger fish to fry and you're in the way. Don't stand on the tracks when the Bearcat train is coming through, or you're fixin' to get run over!

 

[Queens_NYC]

Prior to beating ECU on Saturday, USF had lost 12 in a row.

The only way this one has any chance of being close is if our offense is stagnant and the game turns into an ugly low-scoring affair.

I think we break this one open early on and win by 20+ however.

 

[#BearcatNation]

ECU has the nation's 334th best offense and plays at the 260th slowest pace. They won't score 50 on us. Think we'll smoke them and give our KenPom's numbers a slight boost.

UC 72
ECU 48

 

[jacobkdoyle]

ECU has the nation's 334th best offense and plays at the 260th slowest pace. They won't score 50 on us. Think we'll smoke them and give our KenPom's numbers a slight boost.

UC 72
ECU 48

Umm...we aren't playing ECU...Lol. #MondayDetail

 

[NKY Bearcat]

Umm...we aren't playing ECU...Lol. #MondayDetail

They are essentially the same level of terrible.

 

[GarradJ21]

Real depressing seeing a South Florida thread show up after a SMU loss. All I can say is I hope Troy makes some 3s and gets some confidence back.

 

[waterhead]

How far we go in March will depend greatly on whether or not Troy can somehow fix his mental block and if Jacob can create some looks at two by driving. We are still more talented than our remaining conference schedule (except possibly meeting SMU in tourney) but we will obviously see better teams in the dance.

Our inside presence is well above average. Our 3 point shooting is serviceable for the most part. Our inability to create from the perimeter is holding us back from being a great team. Just one guy is all we need. Whether it's a drive to the hoop, making a contested jumper, driving and dishing, or a step back move.

Right now I see us as being limited in how far we can go unless or until someone steps up. I sure hope Cumberland can get his shit together on D because he could be our best option right now. We know what Troy can and can't give us...Evans struggles to create consistently...KJ is a set shooter.

 

[UCBearcats]

UC - 83

USF - 62

 

[the_one_32]

Wow in Stugotz weekend observations he claims the Cincinnati Bearcats come March will be a handful.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Real depressing seeing a South Florida thread show up after a SMU loss. All I can say is I hope Troy makes some 3s and gets some confidence back.

It's beyond ridiculous that his confidence depends on that at this stage of his career. He was an All-League player last year and is the SR PG for a Top 15 team. How in the world is he at a point where he's in a bad place mentally? Really bizarre. He needs to take some pressure off of himself or something. Bc if not, we're just asking to go one and done again in both tournaments...and I know for a fact he hasn't worked his ass off his entire career to go out like that.

 

[waterhead]

It's beyond ridiculous that his confidence depends on that at this stage of his career. He was an All-League player last year and is the SR PG for a Top 15 team. How in the world is he at a point where he's in a bad place mentally? Really bizarre. He needs to take some pressure off of himself or something. Bc if not, we're just asking to go one and done again in both tournaments...and I know for a fact he hasn't worked his ass off his entire career to go out like that.

Interesting Jacob that you are wondering if Troy needs to take pressure off himself. I thought Washington, Evans, and Clark were doing that for him. Perhaps Troy needs (mentally) to be more of "the man" to get his confidence going again. He's been off all year but last year when he was a, if not THE, primary option he had better overall games in big situations.

Just two different ways of looking at the same issue...IDK which is right honestly...if either. Could be personal issues that we don't know about I guess.

 

[mdchick]

Interesting Jacob that you are wondering if Troy needs to take pressure off himself. I thought Washington, Evans, and Clark were doing that for him. Perhaps Troy needs (mentally) to be more of "the man" to get his confidence going again. He's been off all year but last year when he was a, if not THE, primary option he had better overall games in big situations.

Just two different ways of looking at the same issue...IDK which is right honestly...if either. Could be personal issues that we don't know about I guess.

We have way more options this year than we did last year offensively, Evans is way better than he was last year and Kyle Washington is 100 times better than Ellis was offensively, so if anything Troy is struggling being second fiddle right now.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Interesting Jacob that you are wondering if Troy needs to take pressure off himself. I thought Washington, Evans, and Clark were doing that for him. Perhaps Troy needs (mentally) to be more of "the man" to get his confidence going again. He's been off all year but last year when he was a, if not THE, primary option he had better overall games in big situations.

Just two different ways of looking at the same issue...IDK which is right honestly...if either. Could be personal issues that we don't know about I guess.

Could just be general pressure that he is feeling since he's a SR and he wants so badly to go out leaving a big mark. Maybe the loss leads to a bit of a refocus and catching our breath. Winning 15 straight isn't easy, and the buzz around the team is real. That's a lot for a young person (or anyone else) to handle.

 

[waterhead]

Could just be general pressure that he is feeling since he's a SR and he wants so badly to go out leaving a big mark. Maybe the loss leads to a bit of a refocus and catching our breath. Winning 15 straight isn't easy, and the buzz around the team is real. That's a lot for a young person (or anyone else) to handle.

A lot of times this comes down to overthinking and not just "playing basketball" and letting the game come to you. Playing by instinct and feel is sometimes better than trying too hard to make something happen. IMO he needs to play a little more freely. I'm okay with putting the ball in his hands in tight spots if he uses all the available options on the court.

He's a really good experienced player if he can get out of his own head. I honestly thing it will happen at some point as the season gets more and more important...hopefully we can win games until it does. One thing is for sure...he is going to be on the court for 35+ in big games.

 

[UCBearcats]

Could just be general pressure that he is feeling since he's a SR and he wants so badly to go out leaving a big mark. Maybe the loss leads to a bit of a refocus and catching our breath. Winning 15 straight isn't easy, and the buzz around the team is real. That's a lot for a young person (or anyone else) to handle.

Troy had a bad game but he's had a phenomenal season. I've said for 3 straight years that I want to see Troy become more assertive but this year he really hasn't needed to. Maybe the fact that Troy has been able to take a back seat when it comes to scoring has made him a little soft? That being said you cannot underestimate the terrific season the kid has had. He's making impacts on this team away from the scoring sheet and obviously yesterday was not one of his better games.

I fully expect Troy to be ready to put this team on his shoulders when we get to March. Maybe now is the time for him to start asserting himself a little more so he's ready come tourney time.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Troy had a bad game but he's had a phenomenal season. I've said for 3 straight years that I want to see Troy become more assertive but this year he really hasn't needed to. Maybe the fact that Troy has been able to take a back seat when it comes to scoring has made him a little soft? That being said you cannot underestimate the terrific season the kid has had. He's making impacts on this team away from the scoring sheet and obviously yesterday was not one of his better games.

I fully expect Troy to be ready to put this team on his shoulders when we get to March. Maybe now is the time for him to start asserting himself a little more so he's ready come tourney time.

The first bolded part is precisely why I'm so confused about him losing confidence after 1 missed shot.

The second part...mskes me nervous. A lot of the time in the past few years, Caupain "being assertive", "taking over", what have you, has led to the rock fights. The last thing I want to see is him being the only one with the ball all game. He's obviously going to have it the most, but he's not a dynamic playmaker. And having the extra help this year is what's for the most part kept us out of the possession-by-posdession type games for the full 40 minutes. His default setting and natural instinct is to go slower. He can't slip back into that full-time down the stretch.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Troy had a bad game but he's had a phenomenal season. I've said for 3 straight years that I want to see Troy become more assertive but this year he really hasn't needed to. Maybe the fact that Troy has been able to take a back seat when it comes to scoring has made him a little soft? That being said you cannot underestimate the terrific season the kid has had. He's making impacts on this team away from the scoring sheet and obviously yesterday was not one of his better games.

I fully expect Troy to be ready to put this team on his shoulders when we get to March. Maybe now is the time for him to start asserting himself a little more so he's ready come tourney time.

Just generally speaking, I don't like the mindset that at this time of year you have to change how you play. Makes me pretty nervous bc we get into that big game mode where we don't use the bench and we get zilch in transition and the entire game becomes watching Caupain try to do stuff late in the clock. That will get us nowhere.

 

[waterhead]

Troy had a bad game but he's had a phenomenal season. I've said for 3 straight years that I want to see Troy become more assertive but this year he really hasn't needed to. Maybe the fact that Troy has been able to take a back seat when it comes to scoring has made him a little soft? That being said you cannot underestimate the terrific season the kid has had. He's making impacts on this team away from the scoring sheet and obviously yesterday was not one of his better games.

I fully expect Troy to be ready to put this team on his shoulders when we get to March. Maybe now is the time for him to start asserting himself a little more so he's ready come tourney time.

Troy was helping with rebounds until recently. He has been averaging 2 in his last 7 games...But was averaging 7 in his previous 7 games.

He's scored 7 points or less in 4 of his last 5 games shooting 25 percent from the field and 15 percent from 3.

I love Troy but this can't continue if we want to play well in March.

 

[waterhead]

Troy was helping with rebounds until recently. He has been averaging 2 in his last 7 games...But was averaging 7 in his previous 7 games.

He's scored 7 points or less in 4 of his last 5 games shooting 25 percent from the field and 15 percent from 3.

I love Troy but this can't continue if we want to play well in March.

Honestly, we cannot play well in March with this type of efficiency from our starting PG. He holds the keys to a great finish. We have a great supporting cast...but he's the engine that makes it all run.