@Tulsa

[justinhub2003]

I think this next 3 game stretch will be pretty challenging. Like this game is full of athletes who try to get fouled, the uconn game will be ugly as uconn will whatever they can to Muck it up. They will have a chip on their shoulder to beat us as they seemed pretty pissed we were voted to win the conference. We ultimately are way way better but they will give us their best shot.
And the UCF game will pose challenges to our bigs.
Just so tough to stay on winning streaks but I believe we can do it

 

[justinhub2003]

Snap then we play @SMU

Yea not dropping any of these next 3 is absolutely crucial.

 

[GarradJ21]

I would imagine we really need Brooks for UConn (Brihma) and for UCF (Tacko). If Tulsa has more bigs like Gary that can stretch the floor, it might be best just to rest Brooks. Coaches know what they are doing.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Snap then we play @SMU

Yea not dropping any of these next 3 is absolutely crucial.

I don't think the next 3 games will be that bad. We'll be heavy favorites in all 3.

 

[UCalum08]

Jacob, you think we break 70 at Tulsa?! I am going to say no. Not sure why but just have a feeling. I think our offense has been rolling and we fall in love with jumpers that aren't falling in this one. I would love to be wrong.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Jacob, you think we break 70 at Tulsa?! I am going to say no. Not sure why but just have a feeling. I think our offense has been rolling and we fall in love with jumpers that aren't falling in this one. I would love to be wrong.

I think we'll be right there. They play quick tempo and our outlet passing and transition game has been on point lately. Caupain, Evans, and Cumberland are so good in the open court. I could see a Frank Haith team full of new guys crumbling and not being able to find a groove, especially with out defense bothering them so much to boot. I view Trevor Moore as a Pat Birt. Not going to carry a team, and his success should lie in plays created by others and finished with his shot. He doesn't scare me. Cronin was really happy about our response (I know it was USF) to shutting a guy down after the Bluiett game. I think this game is just too big for Tulsa. They're worse than we were 2 years ago with all the new guys, and they have a much worse coach...imagine how nervous we would've been 2 years ago about the #14 team coming in. We should overwhelm them.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

On The Skinny Podcast they were talking about if Jenifer would lead USF in scoring. That's a great test. How far down our depth chart do you have to go until you find a guy who wouldn't be one of Tulsa's top players?

*It was hilarious when they were talking about Quadri Moore getting buckets for USF. He'd be scoring 18 a game lol.

 

[GoCats88]

This has trap game written all over it imo. I have no idea how but Tulsa is playing pretty well. Better believe they will be hyped up to play the #14 team in the country. Not to mention, we have been playing a lot of games on short rest. This will be quite a test for our team. I just hope we continue to attack the basket. Good things happen when we do. I just feel like this is going to be a stressful game to watch.

I feel like people have been saying that for four games now. Not sure how this fits the definition of a trap game. We are comin off playing a terrible USF team, and following this one up at home against a bad uconn team. The cats will be fine

 

[GoCats88]

It's almost like some of you really want the cats to have an off game. Everything they've showed us this year and some guys still manage to say we are gonna struggle in games we clearly won't. Now I'm not saying the cats can't have an off night or lose a game they shouldn't. But it's okay to think we are gonna handle a team easily every once in a while. I mean there were people who literally thought we would struggle against USF at home lol. This team is for real and they are going to come to play every single game.

 

[waterhead]

It's almost like some of you really want the cats to have an off game. Everything they've showed us this year and some guys still manage to say we are gonna struggle in games we clearly won't. Now I'm not saying the cats can't have an off night or lose a game they shouldn't. But it's okay to think we are gonna handle a team easily every once in a while. I mean there were people who literally thought we would struggle against USF at home lol. This team is for real and they are going to come to play every single game.

Being able to score from all 5 positions has me worrying a lot less nowadays. We can go inside or out and have a top 10 D. We can grind it out or we can score when we need to. That's a lot of ways we can make adjustments and win a basketball game. There's a lot that has to go right for the other team and a lot that has to go wrong for us to lose against most of the remaining opponents (except SMU).

We have managed to battle through some uncharacteristically hot shooting a few times. Sure...it can happen...but it will be a perfect storm kind of thing if it does. I'm okay with that...but not okay with coming out flat with enthusiasm or hustle.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

It's almost like some of you really want the cats to have an off game. Everything they've showed us this year and some guys still manage to say we are gonna struggle in games we clearly won't. Now I'm not saying the cats can't have an off night or lose a game they shouldn't. But it's okay to think we are gonna handle a team easily every once in a while. I mean there were people who literally thought we would struggle against USF at home lol. This team is for real and they are going to come to play every single game.

I think sometimes people get to caught up in how much we win by. At this point in the season, all you have to do is look around and you see nightly someone getting knocked off who clearly were the better team. I just want to win. I want to have the team win the league. We have a 1 game lead and the team who is chasing us has lost 1 game on the road to us. Each game we play is meaningful. Building our resume, staying ranked and winning the league which leads to a conference tourney are what we are aiming for. There is a lot less pressure on the opposition then us. Couple that with the fact that as the top dog in the league every team we play wants to beat us badly to make their season. Lots of pressure on the team to go in every night especially on the road and take the other teams best shot. I'm sure everyone remembers how the ECU game was officiated. Staying unbeaten and ahead of SMU is not going to be a easy task. One game at a time. Damm the score just win and stay healthy.

 

[justinhub2003]

I don't think the next 3 games will be that bad. We'll be heavy favorites in all 3.

I never understand what being a heavy favorite has to do with the game. I'm just saying that we aren't playing ecu, Tulane and south Florida in these next few games. Tulsa coming in with some momentum, uconn wants to feel good about a shitty season and UCF has a 7'6 dude plus a volume 38% 3 point shooter.

One or two of these games will be close for a while. I obviously think we should win but its still not push overs

 

[GoCats88]

I think sometimes people get to caught up in how much we win by. At this point in the season, all you have to do is look around and you see nightly someone getting knocked off who clearly were the better team. I just want to win. I want to have the team win the league. We have a 1 game lead and the team who is chasing us has lost 1 game on the road to us. Each game we play is meaningful. Building our resume, staying ranked and winning the league which leads to a conference tourney are what we are aiming for. There is a lot less pressure on the opposition then us. Couple that with the fact that as the top dog in the league every team we play wants to beat us badly to make their season. Lots of pressure on the team to go in every night especially on the road and take the other teams best shot. I'm sure everyone remembers how the ECU game was officiated. Staying unbeaten and ahead of SMU is not going to be a easy task. One game at a time. Damm the score just win and stay healthy.

Yeah everybody loves when we get out a good ass whooping lol. But I agree a win is a win at this point. Obviously we don't wanna just scrape by for the rest of the season, which won't happen, but a couple scares is fine as long as we leave with a W. I just think our team is too good to lose any easy games this year. We are deep and can make up for an off night of a couple guys, our defense can keep us in a game even if the whole team is struggling, and if a guy has a special night or is scoring easily on us, we have the offensive firepower to match. We are good at just about everything.

 

[GoCats88]

I never understand what being a heavy favorite has to do with the game. I'm just saying that we aren't playing ecu, Tulane and south Florida in these next few games. Tulsa coming in with some momentum, uconn wants to feel good about a shitty season and UCF has a 7'6 dude plus a volume 38% 3 point shooter.

One or two of these games will be close for a while. I obviously think we should win but its still not push overs

Will all probably be double digit wins. And being a huge favorite has quite a bit to do with it lol. If you're a 20 point favorite vs being a 4-5 point favorite I'm gonna guess your probability to win goes way up. Of course you can' still lose, but vegas knows that they are doing.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Looking at Jarron and Justin's splits I would like to see improvement on the road, and with Brooks a question, UC could be short handed if in foul trouble in frontcourt.

Tulsa, SMU and UCF on the road will not be gimme games. Look at all the upsets on Saturday that were on the road against unranked teams

 

[UCalum08]

I feel like people have been saying that for four games now. Not sure how this fits the definition of a trap game. We are comin off playing a terrible USF team, and following this one up at home against a bad uconn team. The cats will be fine

I agree with you. I have been one of the people who has been expecting a let down on a game we should easily win but in reality, it hasn't happened yet, which is awesome. This UC team has shown it can win in different styles so that is huge. With the way the AAC refs are, you never know how games are going to go, especially road games. The more we continue to win, the more pressure and spotlight we will have. That is a great thing and has its consequences. I think what scares me the most are the inconsistencies from the refs and our FT shooting. Like Waite said, this is the time of year teams are getting knocked off weekly. I expect us to win tomorrow, just think it might be a struggle.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

We are -8.5

 

[justinhub2003]

Will all probably be double digit wins. And being a huge favorite has quite a bit to do with it lol. If you're a 20 point favorite vs being a 4-5 point favorite I'm gonna guess your probability to win goes way up. Of course you can' still lose, but vegas knows that they are doing.

haha no it doesn't.

Your play on the court determines if your win or not. If we are 20 point favorite and play shitty, that 20 point spread doesn't help us one bit.

I mean I want us to win. But Im always guarded about being over optimistic on the road.

This board is full of optimism on the board and I find it awesome. Im pretty optimistic win or lose BUT I just know that not every team can win all the time even win they are the better team on the road.

Im always more nervous when we leave fifth third and historically we are a different team when we leave it. Will be interesting to see how we play in Tulsa.

 

[Madman81]

haha no it doesn't.

Your play on the court determines if your win or not. If we are 20 point favorite and play shitty, that 20 point spread doesn't help us one bit.

I mean I want us to win. But Im always guarded about being over optimistic on the road.

This board is full of optimism on the board and I find it awesome. Im pretty optimistic win or lose BUT I just know that not every team can win all the time even win they are the better team on the road.

Im always more nervous when we leave fifth third and historically we are a different team when we leave it. Will be interesting to see how we play in Tulsa.

he's saying you have a better chance to win against a very shitty opponent as opposed to against a regularly shitty opponent.

they're using the spread as a proxy for how bad the other team is. you can play shitty against a double digit underdog and get away with a win more easily than if you play the same level of shitty against a single digit underdog.

 

[justinhub2003]

It is pretty interesting too that Tulsa has won 6 games in conference.

And in their 2 losses in conference (@Houston and @ECU) they lost by a combined 7 points.

They went from being 6-6 out of conference to being 6-2 in the AAC.. That is the sign of a young team making growth through out the season.

Best for wins for Tulsa:
#37 Illinois State
#73 Memphis
#70 UCF
#102 @Temple
#107 UCONN

Worst Losses:
#231 Little Rock
#201 ECU
#184 Jacksonville State
#75 San Diego State (Neutral)
#47 @Houston



4 of their worst losses came before Dec 23rd and 4 of their best wins came in conference.

Also in the out of conference portion of the schedule: they did play a decent OK St down to the wire.

Most 3's made in a conference game: 8 (twice)
Most 3's attempted in conference: 26
Most FT's attempted in conference: 38
Highest FG% in conference: 52% ( Win against @Temple)
Lowest FG% in Conference: 31% (Loss to @ECU)
Average PPG In Conference: 73
Opponent PPG In conference: 68
Kenpom in conference SOS rank: 10th