Temple

[waterhead]

Are you 100% sure we were 15? I thought we were 9. But maybe that was earlier.

Yah we dropped hard after the Marshall game.

Either way I like that we can win road games with guys like Scott and Cumberland getting significant minutes. Evans sat for 10 more minutes than normal. If Washington can get back to where he was, or something close, we should be good to go. Right now that's a big if.

 

[waterhead]

We were fortunate they weren't making shots. That's why you play the game I guess. A lot of that was because we have a great D. Scott really adds a lot on that side of the ball. He can guard just about anyone with his quickness.

 

[#BearcatNation]

While I agree Washington has to make adjustments getting 5 points in 37 mi utes from TC will not cut it.

Great night from Cumberland. Kid is growing his game.

Tre Scott is turning into a all purpose player that does things to help us win that won't always show up on the stat sheet.

I agree that Troy really has to start stepping it up. His terrible percentages for a senior are driving me crazy. I just think we need a solid post-game to truly compete. Our backcourt isn't elite enough to make up for a sub-par frontcourt. Need to start clicking on both cylinders.

 

[UCalum08]

I don't get your point here. We have a track record in AAC road games that has led to being 10-9 the last 2+ seasons. That track record includes scoring in the 50s, not the 90s.

Yesssssss, this is the stat that has been keeping UC from being great.

 

[waterhead]

While I agree Washington has to make adjustments getting 5 points in 37 mi utes from TC will not cut it.

Great night from Cumberland. Kid is growing his game.

Tre Scott is turning into a all purpose player that does things to help us win that won't always show up on the stat sheet.

Cumberland and Clark both had a couple turnovers that were horrible but usually they don't. I understand the D getting a good steal but we had a LOT of very poor wasted possessions. I guess we can look at this as a positive too. I don't see that continuing.

 

[waterhead]

Cumberland and Clark both had a couple turnovers that were horrible but usually they don't. I understand the D getting a good steal but we had a LOT of very poor wasted possessions. I guess we can look at this as a positive too. I don't see that continuing.

Several passes that didn't come close to a UC player. At least a couple of dumb offensive fouls away from the ball. Anemic offense is one thing...We can't waste that many possessions.

 

[waterhead]

Several passes that didn't come close to a UC player. At least a couple of dumb offensive fouls away from the ball. Anemic offense is one thing...We can't waste that many possessions.

A couple of head scratchers is one thing but I think we had at least 6 bonehead plays. 4 more possessions is like 4 more points.

 

[waterhead]

If you told me Evans plays 26 minutes and Kyle 18 with 15 total turnovers and 28 percent from 3 and nobody scoring over 11 points. I would say it sucks we lost.

Once again...Playing D is proving to be extremely important. We will need to score in March though.

 

[Bearcat22]

I think his main point is there wasn't much to take from this game to indicate that this team is making strides at playing better basketball. Sure, our resume is now better, and winning the game is always preferable to losing, but projecting forward the only real thing we can hopefully take from tonight is some more progress from Cumberland, assuming Mick is willing to live with his highs and lows.

Basically for this team to reach the level that NTS and I would like to see, nights like tonight are not a step in that direction.

It's also possible to play well, lose, and be optimistic about how the team will perform going forward too (E.g against UConn in the conf tournament last year).

I share your viewpoint. I would add that the encouraging thing is not just Cumberland's progress but that Mick does seem (at least last night) to be willing to live with highs and lows. Historically, I always thought he pulled some players too fast after a mistake.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

That charge call on Evans in the 1st half was freaking terrible. I hate that call so much.

 

[justinhub2003]

I know last night was ugly but we won and Im pretty happy about it.

We now are 2-1 on the road this year. We have won 2 grind it out games @temple and @iowa State, and then we some how still won after giving 17 threes at home. Thats a good sign, just refusing to lose. I'd love to have another go at Rhode Island as well.



What I love about this team so far, is that we can play and win at different styles. We can grind it out like nobody else, but we can also shoot our way to victory (Marhsall, Penn state, Buy Games). Why is that important? Because in the tournament you never know what kinda team your gonna play.

If we go up against an uptempo team with great ball movement, then were gonna have to adjust. but if we play another slower tempo team who plays great D, then were gonna have to grind it out. Having versatility and the ability to win in multiple ways is absolutely huge. We got bad matchups against Harvard and St Joe's but a good one against Purdue. Versatility is huge for this team


Also have guys who have a knack for making big plays is absolutly crucial. Caupain has proven he can do that (Purdue, Marshall), Evans has done it multiple times in his short career ( the block last night, the 3 against marshall), Gary Clark has as well (The And 1 at uconn, the steal last night, the 3 and block on the other end against marshall), Tre Scott proves he can make clutch Defensive stands (the block last night was huge) and even KJ has always grabbed the right rebound, made the steal or hit a clutch floater.

Guys who aren't afraid to make big plays both offensively and defensively are huge. We have a multitude of those players and we can win in multiple ways. Ill take a grind it out win away vs a loss any day. So would everyone else. Conference play is no joke, Nova almost lost to DePaul, Indiana lost to Nebraska at home and an unbeatable looking UCLA team got beat last night. A win is a win.

 

[#BearcatNation]

If you told me Evans plays 26 minutes and Kyle 18 with 15 total turnovers and 28 percent from 3 and nobody scoring over 11 points. I would say it sucks we lost.

Once again...Playing D is proving to be extremely important. We will need to score in March though.

Ehhhh....this is kind of cherry-picking. If you told me Temple would only score 50 points, I'd assume we won pretty comfortably, which wasn't even remotely the case. Offense is plenty important, too. Especially your last sentence.

 

[waterhead]

Clawing out wins on the road when you are playing horrible is a very good sign as long as horrible isn't the norm...Lol!

Offensively we played better against Butler and Rhode island but we didn't defend.

We have the ability to play better offense but looking at the two games above and ISU and Temple... Defense is your first priority.

 

[waterhead]

Ehhhh....this is kind of cherry-picking. If you told me Temple would only score 50 points, I'd assume we won pretty comfortably, which wasn't even remotely the case. Offense is plenty important, too. Especially your last sentence.

I will add three more. Only 7 assists, 35 percent from 2 and 65 percent from the line. There is no way to cherry pick this was a defensive win.

 

[#BearcatNation]

I will add three more. Only 7 assists, 35 percent from 2 and 65 percent from the line. There is no way to cherry pick this was a defensive win.

I'm not cherry-picking that. We absolutely won due to our defense. I'm saying there are others way you can look at it that make our win look less-fantastic. I'm not buying that "it all starts with defense." But, I'm also not trying to devalue defense. Offense and defense are equally important. They could've easily won this game on offense had they made more shots. It goes both ways is all I'm saying.

 

[waterhead]

On a side note... Watching Virginia hand it to Louisville was a thing of beauty. They are the epitome of what Cronin wants to be.

Killer D and efficient O!

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I share your viewpoint. I would add that the encouraging thing is not just Cumberland's progress but that Mick does seem (at least last night) to be willing to live with highs and lows. Historically, I always thought he pulled some players too fast after a mistake.

Mick said in the post game last night that KJ was sick. That's probably why Cumberland got more minutes.

 

[waterhead]

I'm not cherry-picking that. We absolutely won due to our defense. I'm saying there are others way you can look at it that make our win look less-fantastic. I'm not buying that "it all starts with defense." But, I'm also not trying to devalue defense. Offense and defense are equally important. They could've easily won this game on offense had they made more shots. It goes both ways is all I'm saying.

The reason it has to start with D is because you can control it. You can't control when shots aren't falling.

Obviously I would love to have both. We will need to score more efficiently but perhaps even more than that...We cant waste possessions. We had 15 turnovers and probably 5 of those were extremely careless. Add to that offensive fouls away from the ball. If you are low tempo...You can't waste possessions.

 

[bearcatbacker82]

Mick said in the post game last night that KJ was sick. That's probably why Cumberland got more minutes.

Kj needs vitamin c or something. He is always sick

 

[waterhead]

Having a guy like Scott on defense adds a lot of versatility. This wasn't Kyle's matchup...But he will certainly have better ones.

It will be tough putting Kyle and Cumberland on the floor together because it's hard enough hiding one guy on D...But you can hide one in a matchup zone.