UC at Memphis

[Bearcat_NTS]

Mick Cronin ‏@CoachCroninUC 4h
A Memphis fan yelled same old Bearcats.... What a compliment!! I said thank you.

 

[waterhead]

Mick Cronin ‏@CoachCroninUC 4h
A Memphis fan yelled same old Bearcats.... What a compliment!! I said thank you.

I would be surprised if Mick Cronin tweeted that.

Sorry you probably didn't mean Cronin was the acutal user of the account.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I would be surprised if Mick Cronin tweeted that.

He did, and he also mentioned it on the post game radio interview as well as to the media. I thought it was funny! Also I agree!

https://twitter.com/CoachCroninUC

 

[mdchick]

I would be surprised if Mick Cronin tweeted that.

Sorry you probably didn't mean Cronin was the acutal user of the account.

I don't think there is anything wrong with him saying that at all, I think that's awesome!

 

[waterhead]

He did, and he also mentioned it on the post game radio interview as well as to the media. I thought it was funny! Also I agree!

https://twitter.com/CoachCroninUC

OK so that is funny. Sorry to doubt

 

[CaptDale]

I love caupain, id still like to see guyn play 12-14 mins per game though. He had 1 bad turnover, but he had some pretty big rebounds and in the half court defense there is no question he is solid. Love caupain though I think he should get the majority of the minutes, I'm just saying don't give up on guyn yet.

Agree 100%. GG shut down Joe Jackson. He played a little better on O, too, but TC added an explosive element to the offense complete with no-look passes. I think Mick is doing the right thing starting GG and bringing in TC off the bench and giving him the majority of PG minutes. We can always bring GG back in when we're having D problems, because he seems to have no problem shutting down whoever he's guarding.

 

[UCalum08]

Mick Cronin ‏@CoachCroninUC 4h
A Memphis fan yelled same old Bearcats.... What a compliment!! I said thank you.

I read that in the article the enquirer has too and loved it. The one thing of course the enquirer put to is the Memphis guy said "what a bunch of thugs, same old Bearcats". While I def take that as a compliment that line gets old. Just another classless fan group who can't lose with class.

 

[JumpinJack5]

I read that in the article the enquirer has too and loved it. The one thing of course the enquirer put to is the Memphis guy said "what a bunch of thugs, same old Bearcats". While I def take that as a compliment that line gets old. Just another classless fan group who can't lose with class.

Oh, the irony, considering Memphis may have the most thugs on their roster in the entire AAC. Michael Dixon Jr. is definitely a thug, he got accused of sexual assault 2x even though he was never charged in either. One time, okay, could be a "he said, she said" thing. Two times, he definitely doesn't make good decisions at the very least.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Agree 100%. GG shut down Joe Jackson. He played a little better on O, too, but TC added an explosive element to the offense complete with no-look passes. I think Mick is doing the right thing starting GG and bringing in TC off the bench and giving him the majority of PG minutes. We can always bring GG back in when we're having D problems, because he seems to have no problem shutting down whoever he's guarding.

GG is a good defender but he didn't shut down Jackson by himself. I found it very telling that at the end of game MC elected to use KJ instead of GG. Like you I can't argue with MC's rotation. Team is playing very well.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Many on here seem to think Rubles is a liability on offense. You may want to consider his total contribution more them a few missed shots. He had 4 assist second to TC, he had 7 second to JJ boards 2 offensive, no TO's and a steal. A very blue collar line if you will.

 

[UCalum08]

Many on here seem to think Rubles is a liability on offense. You may want to consider his total contribution more them a few missed shots. He had 4 assist second to TC, he had 7 second to JJ boards 2 offensive, no TO's and a steal. A very blue collar line if you will.

I wish Rubles would be more of a factor on offense but at this point it is what it is. The word is out on him. Just sag off him because he has shown he is unable to make a solid move and get a good shot. Which is fine bc like you said, he is a stud on defense and still gets assists.

 

[JumpinJack5]

I love caupain, id still like to see guyn play 12-14 mins per game though. He had 1 bad turnover, but he had some pretty big rebounds and in the half court defense there is no question he is solid. Love caupain though I think he should get the majority of the minutes, I'm just saying don't give up on guyn yet.

I actually don't mind a few minutes of Guyn as a SG and a few minutes to give Caupain a breather at PG. He doesn't have the intangibles necessary to be a great PG offensively, but he is a great defender and he plays hard. He just isn't good enough to start and get the majority of the minutes, IMO.

 

[newguy]

I agree with most of your points but I think KJ only got picked twice which is bad enough. One of them was probably a very good coaching moment. I think he grabbed a rebound and split two defenders who were trapping him...but once he did that he should have realized those two defenders were going to be behind him on either side and he should have gotten rid of the ball or stopped dribbling.

Freshman move but his handles are just fine. I am not saying he should play point.

The kid played good yesterday and yes two TOs so whats that 4 maybe 5 on the season got to give these kids credit for how they continue to perform in hostel environments !

 

[waterhead]

Largest home court loss in Memphis (might be an in conference stat) since 1999.

Who was that team?

The Bearcats.


I like our road changes this year much more now. We have some pretty fearless guys in JJ, SK, TR and TC. To be down 8 points early and even deep into the first half and then come back and win by 16 shows a lot of intestinal fortitude.

We finally can play an inside out or outside in game. What a difference that makes on how our offense works. We started out missing a lot of open J's. I am loving the JJ pass from the baseline over the top of the D to someone across court beyond the arc. We can either shoot a wide open 3 or pass the ball while the D tries to play catch up. The high post pick and rolls are finally working because JJ is quick, has great hands, and can pass.

I thought the coach did an awesome job of adjusting at half time figuring out a way to stop Jackson. His game plan was solid and I might add it's a much easier job when you have a great player down low and outside. In addition to that we may have a third guy who could be in the defensive player of the year talk in conference. Our young PG is a true gamer. I thought Thomas played a nice game...and if he can get things going...look out. Our bench is solid and 4 deep.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I actually don't mind a few minutes of Guyn as a SG and a few minutes to give Caupain a breather at PG. He doesn't have the intangibles necessary to be a great PG offensively, but he is a great defender and he plays hard. He just isn't good enough to start and get the majority of the minutes, IMO.

The most refreshing thing about the Guyn/Caupain argument is that we have two pretty solid players that are competing for one spot. For many years we may have had one solid ball pg, now we have 2 capable players and one being an up and coming 18 year old Frosh.

 

[CaptDale]

I actually don't mind a few minutes of Guyn as a SG and a few minutes to give Caupain a breather at PG. He doesn't have the intangibles necessary to be a great PG offensively, but he is a great defender and he plays hard. He just isn't good enough to start and get the majority of the minutes, IMO.

it doesn't matter who starts at this stage. It matters how Cronin utilizes his assets. Notice that's he's had the same starting rotation for most of the games. Obviously it's worked with 2 exceptions to date. Maybe he's superstitious. He starts off with lockdown face-guarding by Guyn, then runs Caupain to pickup the offensive tempo. When the second half stars, he's back to the original 5 for more D then starts subbing until he finds the right combination for the opponent. It was interesting yesterday to see 4 freshmen out there with Titus. Somebody HAD to take the roll of scorer. I liked that philosophy. They quickly made some inexperience mistakes, but once they settled down, they controlled the floor pretty well. We have to know we can do that for the time we lose JJ and SK (hopefully never) to fouls or injury or they just may need a breather.

 

[waterhead]

it doesn't matter who starts at this stage. It matters how Cronin utilizes his assets. Notice that's he's had the same starting rotation for most of the games. Obviously it's worked with 2 exceptions to date. Maybe he's superstitious. He starts off with lockdown face-guarding by Guyn, then runs Caupain to pickup the offensive tempo. When the second half stars, he's back to the original 5 for more D then starts subbing until he finds the right combination for the opponent. It was interesting yesterday to see 4 freshmen out there with Titus. Somebody HAD to take the roll of scorer. I liked that philosophy. They quickly made some inexperience mistakes, but once they settled down, they controlled the floor pretty well. We have to know we can do that for the time we lose JJ and SK (hopefully never) to fouls or injury or they just may need a breather.

I think he has had the same starters for every game. That distinction is becoming less and less important as minutes are adjusted. I agree starting GG is a neat idea because he plays ferocious D and sets the tone early for TC to come in later. I was nervous when we had JJ and SK out at the same time...but they did OK.

My main question right now is Thomas or Sanders. Sanders is a solid BB player but the upside with Thomas is pretty substantial. Other than being out of place (mental mistakes) Thomas is a really good defender and he's long. He's so quick for his height. His offensive skills are superior as well. If we can get Thomas going we are going to be looking pretty damn good.

 

[Nomadic1]

I think he has had the same starters for every game. That distinction is becoming less and less important as minutes are adjusted. I agree starting GG is a neat idea because he plays ferocious D and sets the tone early for TC to come in later. I was nervous when we had JJ and SK out at the same time...but they did OK.

My main question right now is Thomas or Sanders. Sanders is a solid BB player but the upside with Thomas is pretty substantial. Other than being out of place (mental mistakes) Thomas is a really good defender and he's long. He's so quick for his height. His offensive skills are superior as well. If we can get Thomas going we are going to be looking pretty damn good.

I think Thomas/Sanders is a nice problem to have.
When up against a shorter, guard oriented team, you can put in Thomas as an advantage. When you need a heady well disciplined player, who can shoot from the outside and won't turn it over while trying to do something crazy; there's Sanders. It's unfortunate that the bunny didn't drop for Sanders yesterday, his positioning and execution were as good as you can ask. Still, 4 boards, a timely 3, a block, a steal and two assists isn't hurting any.

 

[CaptDale]

I think he has had the same starters for every game. That distinction is becoming less and less important as minutes are adjusted. I agree starting GG is a neat idea because he plays ferocious D and sets the tone early for TC to come in later. I was nervous when we had JJ and SK out at the same time...but they did OK.

My main question right now is Thomas or Sanders. Sanders is a solid BB player but the upside with Thomas is pretty substantial. Other than being out of place (mental mistakes) Thomas is a really good defender and he's long. He's so quick for his height. His offensive skills are superior as well. If we can get Thomas going we are going to be looking pretty damn good.

Again it's utilization of assets. Each brings something to the table. Sanders has the best BB IQ out there. He always seems to be in the right place. He's very hesitant to shoot unless he's wide open. He dished out from under the hoop yesterday when he could have had an And 1 layup. Shaquille, on the other hand, can jump - HIGH! He's finally starting to mix it up under the hoop, and he's been schooled well (recently) to grab the rebound with both hands. The Cats are very into rebounding via the group method, ie, jump and tip. Nobody is trying to secure the ball on the first attempt. They're either trying to play volleyball or swat the ball to an open guard. So when I saw ST actually leap and rebound, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe JJ and TR occasionally try and grab a rebound (uncontested). But, as long as we keep outrebounding our opponents (we didn't vs Memphis), I'm for whatever methodology they want to employ.
Go Cats!

 

[BearcatMick]

BearcatMick on 12/23:

1 loss at Loserville
1 loss at uCONn
1 loss at Southern Meth U
1 loss at South Floridont
1 loss at u central floriduh

So we'll have 7 losses total. No need for insults

BearcatMick today:

We got the win at memphis. I think we lose at Loserville and at some random team like SMU.

Win the rest.

2 conference losses…

The second prediction is my official prediction after I had time to sit down and think about it.

What is yours? I guarantee mine is more accurate