Troy will be fine. He will break out of his shooting slump. This is Mick's offense, and he likes it slow. Troy also had 10 rebounds last night, so while he was suffering on the offensive end, he was playing his azz off in other ways.

As maddening as Mick ball can be, I have to give it to the coach. One aspect that I find especially encouraging now more than ever - and others have pointed this out - is personnel. Our classes are incredibly balanced, AND our young guys are contributing. This is consecutive years where - despite the normal bumps in the road - we have not had to look at a freshman or sophomore and wonder if or when the light is going to go on. Evans is becoming a star, and Jenifer is a very capable backup PG. Cumberland is going to be a guy who I believe we look back on with reverence some day, and Brooks and Scott will be beasts on the boards for four years. Frankly, the only person on the roster who seems to fit the maddening "when will he develop?" mold is Quadri, and even he has progressed quite a bit this year.

Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

I agree and would love to see Evans be much more assertive in the early going of games.

Again, as the thought occurred to me yesterday, we don't usually shoot 35% from the floor.
Part of that is their defense, part of it is our team struggling with their own slumps and freshman progress.
I think going forward, we will have very few nights like that. Not to say the offense won't be slow, but more often than not we'll win comfortably.
With Rhodie, we would have walked away with that one, if not for them hitting a lot of crazy ass 3's. We dominated a good 25-30 minutes of that contest before we fell off a cliff, with them hitting fade away NBA 3's and a lot of poor possessions toward the end.
It's December 2nd, we will continue to improve and I still think come March, this UC squad will be a very tough team to beat. We knocked off a team that went toe to toe with Gonzaga and we played like crap.

Sky isn't falling, but it's frustrating to see so much potential yet realized.
In that regard, rarely does Kyle Washington disappoint. he seems to know who he is as a player. Evans does so many things well, I just hope the game comes to him and he goes unconscious with his scoring. He's got ridiculous skill.

Seems several UC players were banged up by the end of the game last night. Perfect time for a game with Bowling Green Sunday. Based upon last season at BG, UC will be able to use the bench for large portions of the game if needed, gaining some valuable experience for those guys. Not to overlook the Falcons, but that was a physical game last night, a late return and there are final exams next week. They can't look ahead but last night's win set the table for a really nice December.

(12-02-2016 03:35 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  Seems several UC players were banged up by the end of the game last night. Perfect time for a game with Bowling Green Sunday. Based upon last season at BG, UC will be able to use the bench for large portions of the game if needed, gaining some valuable experience for those guys. Not to overlook the Falcons, but that was a physical game last night, a late return and there are final exams next week. They can't look ahead but last night's win set the table for a really nice December.

Much better than a long December.

Last night was the first game I watched all the way through. I got to say that while I was not very pleased with Troy (again) I really liked Washington and Gary together and the backend of the roster looks to have more talent than the back ewnd of our roster has had in a long time.

With Michigan pulling out, the December schedule does afford the Cats a good bit of rest. Sunday game vs BG, then off until the next Saturday at Butler. Followed by an easy week at home with Texas Southern and FD. One game the week before Christmas, and one game the week after.

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

Virginia is 10th in Adjusted offensive efficiency and 351 in Adjusted Tempo
Villanova is 2nd in Adjusted Offensive efficiency and 330 in Adjusted Tempo
Wisconsin is 13th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 348 in Adjusted Tempo
St Mary's is 3rd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 350 in Adjusted Tempo
Baylor is 15th in Adjusted OFfensive Efficiency and 336 in Adjusted Tempo

That's half of the kenpom top ten right now, all top 15 offenses all below 330 in adjusted Tempo. All are very talented offensive teams. People need to stop thinking top offensive teams play fast. Talented offensive teams score efficiently at whatever pace they play.

Anyone else heading to the Butler Game next Saturday? Looking forward to checking out Hinkle.

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

I had the exact same thought. If we are better, we limit possessions that can distance us from inferior teams. Playing not to lose, is the equivalent of playing prevent defense.

(12-02-2016 05:43 PM)rosewater Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

I had the exact same thought. If we are better, we limit possessions that can distance us from inferior teams. Playing not to lose, is the equivalent of playing prevent defense.

It's really not. Nova won the title at 267 in adjusted tempo last season. 5 of the top ten teams according to kenpom right now are below 330 in offensive tempo, all have top 15 offenses.

It was just nice to walk into work this morning with an extra something in your step (besides being Friday). Great job Cats!

(12-02-2016 05:18 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyone else heading to the Butler Game next Saturday? Looking forward to checking out Hinkle.

I am going. Have not been there since my HS graduation.

Mark, I'm not interested in the team going crazy trying to fast break after every missed shot. What I am interested in is pushing it a little quicker and when you have a 4 on 3 or a 5 on 4 take the good open shot. Too many times we pull it back out and are forced to throw up a tough shot at the end of the shot clock.

(12-02-2016 12:29 PM)dsquare Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 09:27 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 09:14 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Kj isn't a good enough ball handler to play the point

No doubt. While Troy's working out of this funk though I wouldn't be afraid to let him sit a little bit and use Jacob Evans at PG.

You're partially correct as he is not a good enough ball handler to play the point full time, but he is good enough to use part of the time. One of the big issues this offense has is their tempo is way to slow in large part due to TC just playing at his deliberate pace. You have to mix things up against better competition to keep them honest, and we need to get away from every possession the predictability what they are doing. By the end of a game it's a battle to make the first pass half the time. If you mix it up with a quicker guy who can take guys off the dribble(which KJ can), you also mix up their pressure and defenders and make it harder for the other team to defend. He's a good enough ballhandler to give it a shot. They are just way to easy to guard and it starts at the point. You have to mix in a guy who is a threat to blow by a defender. KJ did it on at least two occasions last night. He may not make all his shots, but he's improved the past several games. I would rather him take that chance early in possessions on occasion rather than end up with all the last second 3 point launches they are taking with guys no where around to rebound. You have to give multiple looks unless you are really talented on the offensive end.

Interesting analysis

(12-02-2016 05:16 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

Virginia is 10th in Adjusted offensive efficiency and 351 in Adjusted Tempo
Villanova is 2nd in Adjusted Offensive efficiency and 330 in Adjusted Tempo
Wisconsin is 13th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 348 in Adjusted Tempo
St Mary's is 3rd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 350 in Adjusted Tempo
Baylor is 15th in Adjusted OFfensive Efficiency and 336 in Adjusted Tempo

That's half of the kenpom top ten right now, all top 15 offenses all below 330 in adjusted Tempo. All are very talented offensive teams. People need to stop thinking top offensive teams play fast. Talented offensive teams score efficiently at whatever pace they play.

Mark come on, I don't know about St. Mary's and Baylor, but watch Nova, Wisconsin and Virginia and then tell me that their offense looks even remotely like UC's. I don't give a crap what our adjusted tempo rank is, our guys spend way too much time standing around, setting pathetic screens, and either not cutting at all or when they do cut it is with no purpose at all. Like I've said before I feel better this year since we have a couple NBA level talents on offense. That will help big time.

Did anyone catch Mick's interview with Hoard and Nelson after the game. Terry was lamenting how too many times the other guys on the team put Troy in a bad situation at the end of the shot clock and Mick just agreed and said yeah that's why he's shooting so poorly. I like Mick a lot, but he seems clueless on offense, hello you're the damn coach you should be putting him in better positions to score.

(12-02-2016 09:20 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 05:16 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

Virginia is 10th in Adjusted offensive efficiency and 351 in Adjusted Tempo
Villanova is 2nd in Adjusted Offensive efficiency and 330 in Adjusted Tempo
Wisconsin is 13th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 348 in Adjusted Tempo
St Mary's is 3rd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 350 in Adjusted Tempo
Baylor is 15th in Adjusted OFfensive Efficiency and 336 in Adjusted Tempo

That's half of the kenpom top ten right now, all top 15 offenses all below 330 in adjusted Tempo. All are very talented offensive teams. People need to stop thinking top offensive teams play fast. Talented offensive teams score efficiently at whatever pace they play.

Mark come on, I don't know about St. Mary's and Baylor, but watch Nova, Wisconsin and Virginia and then tell me that their offense looks even remotely like UC's. I don't give a crap what our adjusted tempo rank is, our guys spend way too much time standing around, setting pathetic screens, and either not cutting at all or when they do cut it is with no purpose at all. Like I've said before I feel better this year since we have a couple NBA level talents on offense. That will help big time.

Did anyone catch Mick's interview with Hoard and Nelson after the game. Terry was lamenting how too many times the other guys on the team put Troy in a bad situation at the end of the shot clock and Mick just agreed and said yeah that's why he's shooting so poorly. I like Mick a lot, but he seems clueless on offense, hello you're the damn coach you should be putting him in better positions to score.

Yeah, Mick is completely clueless. He's only won the most games of any active coach under 50 in college basketball

(12-02-2016 09:20 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 05:16 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(12-02-2016 02:39 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Slowing the game down to limit possessions seems to be a game plan for teams with less talent. I believe this team now has enough talent on the offense end to compete with most teams and should push the ball up the floor a bit more often and take the 1st available open shot.

Virginia is 10th in Adjusted offensive efficiency and 351 in Adjusted Tempo
Villanova is 2nd in Adjusted Offensive efficiency and 330 in Adjusted Tempo
Wisconsin is 13th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 348 in Adjusted Tempo
St Mary's is 3rd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 350 in Adjusted Tempo
Baylor is 15th in Adjusted OFfensive Efficiency and 336 in Adjusted Tempo

That's half of the kenpom top ten right now, all top 15 offenses all below 330 in adjusted Tempo. All are very talented offensive teams. People need to stop thinking top offensive teams play fast. Talented offensive teams score efficiently at whatever pace they play.

Mark come on, I don't know about St. Mary's and Baylor, but watch Nova, Wisconsin and Virginia and then tell me that their offense looks even remotely like UC's. I don't give a crap what our adjusted tempo rank is, our guys spend way too much time standing around, setting pathetic screens, and either not cutting at all or when they do cut it is with no purpose at all. Like I've said before I feel better this year since we have a couple NBA level talents on offense. That will help big time.

Did anyone catch Mick's interview with Hoard and Nelson after the game. Terry was lamenting how too many times the other guys on the team put Troy in a bad situation at the end of the shot clock and Mick just agreed and said yeah that's why he's shooting so poorly. I like Mick a lot, but he seems clueless on offense, hello you're the damn coach you should be putting him in better positions to score.

Do you think my point is uc has an offense as good as these teams? My point is stop blaming tempo. That's the argument of the clueless