The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

He wants to be a stretch 4. Wes wants him to be a stretch 4. But Vik isn't really a 4. He could pull it off in a lower level conference but a lot of times he is just a fish out of water.

I'm tired of hearing Jizzle's defense is limiting him to 10 minutes a game. WVU shoots close to 50% with or without him on the floor. If he is in the portal this spring it will be on Wes.

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

(02-01-2024 12:32 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  He wants to be a stretch 4. Wes wants him to be a stretch 4. But Vik isn't really a 4. He could pull it off in a lower level conference but a lot of times he is just a fish out of water.

I'm tired of hearing Jizzle's defense is limiting him to 10 minutes a game. WVU shoots close to 50% with or without him on the floor. If he is in the portal this spring it will be on Wes.

And if James is not in the portal and Wes has built a relationship with him and knows what he's doing?

We will see. He's the best ISO scorer on the team when you need a score, and keeps being part of lineups that go on 11-0 runs like last night and he keeps getting @ 5 minutes a half in favor of Thomas who is back again next year, too.

I won't be shocked to see him leave if this keeps up.

(02-01-2024 12:57 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We will see. He's the best ISO scorer on the team when you need a score, and keeps being part of lineups that go on 11-0 runs like last night and he keeps getting @ 5 minutes a half in favor of Thomas who is back again next year, too.

I won't be shocked to see him leave if this keeps up.

I'd be fine with more James and less Thomas, but they went on an 11-0 run because Thomas and Skillings somehow managed to hit three 3s.

I'd also like to see more of the small lineups.

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

And what did he do in those 18 minutes? 5 shots (blown layup and 4 threes, including on that was a airball, iirc) 3 rebs, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a negative.

(02-01-2024 01:21 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

And what did he do in those 18 minutes? 5 shots (blown layup and 4 threes, including on that was a airball, iirc) 3 rebs, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a negative.

Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

(02-01-2024 01:34 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:21 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

And what did he do in those 18 minutes? 5 shots (blown layup and 4 threes, including on that was a airball, iirc) 3 rebs, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a negative.

Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

He isn’t close to being the best player on the team. You could convince me that he is anywhere between 4 through 6. I am taking Newman, Skillings, and Aziz over Vik and possibly even Simas and Day Day. If he wants to play the five and do what he should be doing which is score in the post then it’s a different conversation. Right now he stinks at the 4 spot and shouldn’t by playing away from the basket. Wes should be using him like they did last year with pick and rolls and working to get him the ball close to basket.

(02-01-2024 01:08 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:57 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We will see. He's the best ISO scorer on the team when you need a score, and keeps being part of lineups that go on 11-0 runs like last night and he keeps getting @ 5 minutes a half in favor of Thomas who is back again next year, too.

I won't be shocked to see him leave if this keeps up.

I'd be fine with more James and less Thomas, but they went on an 11-0 run because Thomas and Skillings somehow managed to hit three 3s.

No no no...more James and Day Day and Dan...they hit 3's because the movement was strong with Jizzle in the game and they got open looks. I'm not saying JJ is the difference maker, but those 3 together can be powerful.

(02-01-2024 01:42 PM)UCBearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:34 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:21 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

And what did he do in those 18 minutes? 5 shots (blown layup and 4 threes, including on that was a airball, iirc) 3 rebs, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a negative.

Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

He isn’t close to being the best player on the team. You could convince me that he is anywhere between 4 through 6. I am taking Newman, Skillings, and Aziz over Vik and possibly even Simas and Day Day. If he wants to play the five and do what he should be doing which is score in the post then it’s a different conversation. Right now he stinks at the 4 spot and shouldn’t by playing away from the basket. Wes should be using him like they did last year with pick and rolls and working to get him the ball close to basket.

When he's right, Vik is the best all around player although i would rate JNIII as a close 2nd. He's a good rebounder and defender, best overall post scorer, can hit the three (although needs to up that percentage significantly) when he's right. i don't know what illness he had but i'm wondering if it's still knocking him down a bit.

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

if he's not up for it, for whatever reason, Coach has got to make the hard decision to sit your best player. That's why you're the head coach.

(02-01-2024 01:56 PM)bcat1997 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:08 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:57 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We will see. He's the best ISO scorer on the team when you need a score, and keeps being part of lineups that go on 11-0 runs like last night and he keeps getting @ 5 minutes a half in favor of Thomas who is back again next year, too.

I won't be shocked to see him leave if this keeps up.

I'd be fine with more James and less Thomas, but they went on an 11-0 run because Thomas and Skillings somehow managed to hit three 3s.

No no no...more James and Day Day and Dan...they hit 3's because the movement was strong with Jizzle in the game and they got open looks. I'm not saying JJ is the difference maker, but those 3 together can be powerful.

I think he is a difference maker. He's probably the only alpha personality on the roster.

See how things go when he actually gets 25 minutes a game. Hell, his minutes are actually decreasing which is completely bizarre.

(02-01-2024 01:42 PM)UCBearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:34 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:21 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:20 PM)eroc Wrote:  Coach made a huge mistake playing Vik as many minutes as he did. He didn't have it last night and needed to sit. Bring in Ody or Jamille, and use Vik in a "break in case of emergency" situation. Ody may have giant gaps in his skills but he knows his role and responsibilities and brings effort and energy. i would have taken that over whatever Vik was bringing last night. Jamille, imo, takes more then he gives rn but at least he got us a few buckets last night. Vik was empty possessions. To me, that was the biggest mistake Coach made last night. Players can run hot and cold. Are margins are so thin that he can't just run with a player that's ice cold for that long.

Vik played 18 minutes, his lowest of the season and 8 fewer than his average.

And what did he do in those 18 minutes? 5 shots (blown layup and 4 threes, including on that was a airball, iirc) 3 rebs, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a negative.

Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

He isn’t close to being the best player on the team. You could convince me that he is anywhere between 4 through 6. I am taking Newman, Skillings, and Aziz over Vik and possibly even Simas and Day Day. If he wants to play the five and do what he should be doing which is score in the post then it’s a different conversation. Right now he stinks at the 4 spot and shouldn’t by playing away from the basket. Wes should be using him like they did last year with pick and rolls and working to get him the ball close to basket.

Lakhin's our 6th best player, the most important part of coaching is timeout management, and Wes should be fired, got it, thank you.

(02-01-2024 01:58 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:39 PM)levydl Wrote:  Yes, that is clear after the fact. In hindsight, he was terrible. Wes seems to have picked up on that, given he played him many fewer minutes than normal. But I don't think it's much of a sin to trust your best player a bit at the end of a close game.

if he's not up for it, for whatever reason, Coach has got to make the hard decision to sit your best player. That's why you're the head coach.

It's not that Wes is not up for it, it's that the decision was not a bad one even if it did not work out.

Vik isn't the problem, Vik at the 4 isn't the problem. He struggled last night (wonder if he was fully healthy) but he has been one of our best players (if not the best) on the team all season. His decision making was terrible last night, which might be the result of a brain fog from still being sick.

The problem is we can't make threes, every team just clogs the paint and dares us to make open threes. Any interior opportunity becomes a 2v1 very quickly, because the scouting report is that it's okay to leave anyone on the team (besides maybe Skillings) wide open from 3.

Taking away our best interior scorer isn't going to make things better, it's just going to be one less threat other teams have to worry about, allowing them to 2v1 every drive with even less concern.

That said, there's definitely an argument that Reynolds should have been playing late instead of Vik late in the game. I'm assuming he didn't because he isn't nearly as good on defense and it's hard to set-up a quick post up play late in the game. Vik spreads the other teams defense more, opening drives for lanes.

(02-01-2024 01:56 PM)bcat1997 Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 01:08 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-01-2024 12:57 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We will see. He's the best ISO scorer on the team when you need a score, and keeps being part of lineups that go on 11-0 runs like last night and he keeps getting @ 5 minutes a half in favor of Thomas who is back again next year, too.

I won't be shocked to see him leave if this keeps up.

I'd be fine with more James and less Thomas, but they went on an 11-0 run because Thomas and Skillings somehow managed to hit three 3s.

No no no...more James and Day Day and Dan...they hit 3's because the movement was strong with Jizzle in the game and they got open looks. I'm not saying JJ is the difference maker, but those 3 together can be powerful.

They made threes because a 25% three point shooter got lucky a couple of times. Day Day has been left open consistently throughout big 12 play. He's bound to hit a few, but there's a reason teams are letting him take them.

(02-01-2024 12:32 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  He wants to be a stretch 4. Wes wants him to be a stretch 4. But Vik isn't really a 4. He could pull it off in a lower level conference but a lot of times he is just a fish out of water.

I'm tired of hearing Jizzle's defense is limiting him to 10 minutes a game. WVU shoots close to 50% with or without him on the floor. If he is in the portal this spring it will be on Wes.

IMO Vik is worse at the 5 than he is the 4. When he gets pushed around it gets into his head too much. When he's at the 5 he also gets out of position too much leading to easy rebounds/putbacks by the opposing team.

I felt this was a game Reynolds could have had an impact. When he got a decent low post pass he was effective. Also I saw 3-4 times on pick and rolls UC guards had a clear alley-oop to their bigs but refused to finish. WV finished their pick and rolls and that was part of the reason for the L.

UC is losing games with Thomas as the lead pg, I would like to see James get 3,4 or 5 consecutive games at 30 min. a game, then we could compare....playing a couple of min. and getting yanked and the a couple more and getting yanked would suck,,,,,also, millers in game management leaves a lot to be desired....

I don’t know where to put this, so just adding here… I’d really like to see Simas stick to the catch & shoot rhythm 3s until he gets hot. The creating his own 3 off the dribble thing just isn’t working & has even hurt them a lot some games. He’s good at getting in the lane, hitting from mid range & dishing to others. Would really love to see him stick to that & rhythm 3s until he starts hitting again.