Pressure on 'Cats to rediscover defense
Would open up offense once again
2:19 AM, Jan 11, 2013


NCAA Basketball: Notre Dame at Cincinnati
Jan 7, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard/forward Pat Connaughton (24) is double teamed by the Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick (23) and center David Nyarsuk (33) in the second half at FifthThird Arena. Notre Dame defeated Cincinnati 66-60. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports / USA TODAY Sports

Written by
Bill Koch

Quote:UC at Rutgers

When: 8 p.m. Saturday,
Piscataway, N.J.
TV: Fox Sports Ohio
Radio: WLW-AM (700)

There’s no disputing that the University of Cincinnati Bearcats have hit a wall with their half-court offense that has made scoring a difficult proposition during a downturn that has seen them lose three of their last four games.

The Bearcats continue to work to fine-tune their offense, but UC coach Mick Cronin said they could also benefit from getting back to forcing turnovers at the rate they were earlier but have been unable to do consistently – starting with the New Mexico game and continuing through their first three Big East games.

Saturday’s game at Rutgers might present the ideal opportunity for a turnaround in that department. The Scarlet Knights (11-3 overall, 2-1 Big East) have won seven of their last eight games and are looking to start 3-1 in the Big East for the first time since joining the league in 1995-96.

But they have turned the ball over an average of 15 times a game, which is tied for the fourth most in the league.

“It’s kind of been an Achilles heel for them,” Cronin said Thursday.

Cronin pointed out that many of Rutgers’ high-turnover games came in December when the Scarlet Knights got sloppy after building a substantial lead, but they committed 17 turnovers against Pittsburgh last Saturday and 20 against Syracuse in their Big East opener.

“Against Pitt that was a problem for them,” Cronin said. “And it got Pitt back in the game, so hopefully we can score some points off turnovers. It would be nice because we have not had that. In the three Big East games that we played, that’s been a problem for us. We haven’t generated any offense off our defense.”

The Bearcats (13-3, 1-2) need any edge they can find after dropping their first two conference home games.

“The mentality right now is we’ve got to get this win,” said senior guard JaQuon Parker.

UC has forced an average of 15.6 turnovers – tied for fourth-most in the league – but its last four opponents have averaged only 11.7.

Notre Dame coughed up the ball only seven times in its win over the Bearcats on Monday, and Pitt committed only nine turnovers in a UC win. St. John’s committed 17 turnovers against UC, but the Bearcats still lost by a point.

“It’s just a matter of keeping at it,” Cronin said. “Transition baskets, fast-break baskets and points off turnovers were huge for us in November and December. That all starts with defense and defensive energy. Our deflections are way down. When your deflections are down, you’re not going to have as many steals.

“The last three games we’re averaging 4.3 steals a game. Going into that, we were averaging nine steals a game.”

Of course, it’s more difficult to force turnovers against quality teams. Both Notre Dame and Pitt traditionally do a good job of taking care of the ball.

But regardless of the opponent, UC needs to get back to wreaking havoc with its full-court pressure.

“We’re just not getting it done,” Cronin said. “We’re not attacking the basketball. Our defensive energy has got to pick up.

“You’ve got to get easy baskets, and we haven’t been able to generate easy baskets.”

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130...er-defense

Im a little confused...I always heard that if you can play good defense, it's something that never leaves you, unlike a team that is known for offense, which comes and goes. This is why the argument is always, if you can play good defense, you will always be in the game (which we have been this year)....why then does it seem like we need to get our defensive mojo back?