The Cards are out to an early 11-7 lead...
Louisville is putting it on them right now. They seem to be everywhere getting 2 of every 3 loose balls.
I spoke too soon. The teams seemed to have reversed roles at the half. Cinci now up by 7.
Cincy looks like their tourney hopes will stay alive.
If they do hang on and beat UL, they will need at least 1 more win to have any type of good chance, though.
Cincy is a NCAA tournament caliber team in my opinion, although they have no chance of getting in as an at-large. In most leagues they'd be competing for the title.
If Cincinnati beats West Virginia they have a crack at an at-large bid. A win over West Virginia would give Cincinnati 19 wins, and a win, on a neutral court, against Louisville, #20 Vanderbilt, #19 Maryland, #6 West Virginia, home wins against Notre Dame and Withrop, and a season sweep against Connecticut. Cincinnati would have 15 losses (assuming they don't win the Big East tournament), but the Selection Committee might forgive them for that because of the fact that they play in the Big East, and they played a powerful non-conference schedule. Cincinnati also has no bad losses, and will not have any bad losses the rest of the regular season. A win over West Virginia and Cincinnati is back in the bubble picture.
I'm not trying to be sour grapes, as it's congrats to Cincy on the win. I think they are classic NIT material, and honestly UofL is NIT material as well if they had not somehow swept Syracuse.
UofL is mentally and physically weak. UC is not a great team, but at least tonight Cronin got out of his own way and had the guys playing hard and getting every damn loose ball and rebound when it counted. They may not be able to shoot their way out of a paper bag, but you can win when you shoot 72 field goals to 54 for the opponent.
(03-10-2010 11:37 PM)CollegeCard Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not trying to be sour grapes, as it's congrats to Cincy on the win. I think they are classic NIT material, and honestly UofL is NIT material as well if they had not somehow swept Syracuse.
UofL is mentally and physically weak. UC is not a great team, but at least tonight Cronin got out of his own way and had the guys playing hard and getting every damn loose ball and rebound when it counted. They may not be able to shoot their way out of a paper bag, but you can win when you shoot 72 field goals to 54 for the opponent.
That is sour grapes. If Louisville had won a close game you would be saying it's a great game. Both teams are NCAA Tournament caliber teams. I know it hurt to lose to Cincinnati, but Cincinnati almost beat Louisville at Freedom Hall so the Bearcats are a good team.
College Card, I couldn't agree more. We have to win tomorrow to even get into the discussion, and probably the night afterward.
Yes, we are short in the skills department, but it's a very good win, and I love seeing effort pay off.
(03-10-2010 11:41 PM)CatsClaw Wrote: [ -> ] (03-10-2010 11:37 PM)CollegeCard Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not trying to be sour grapes, as it's congrats to Cincy on the win. I think they are classic NIT material, and honestly UofL is NIT material as well if they had not somehow swept Syracuse.
UofL is mentally and physically weak. UC is not a great team, but at least tonight Cronin got out of his own way and had the guys playing hard and getting every damn loose ball and rebound when it counted. They may not be able to shoot their way out of a paper bag, but you can win when you shoot 72 field goals to 54 for the opponent.
That is sour grapes. If Louisville had won a close game you would be saying it's a great game. Both teams are NCAA Tournament caliber teams. I know it hurt to lose to Cincinnati, but Cincinnati almost beat Louisville at Freedom Hall so the Bearcats are a good team.
Absolutely not. That could not be more off base. With a Cards win I was about to post that I could not ever remember being more disgusted with a win and I was going to apologize to UC for winning when they clearly outhustled UofL.
I know good basketball when I see it, and both teams are bubble/NIT type teams. That isn't going to change with the season 95% over. UofL in 1 game can beat anyone in the nation, and lose to anyone in the Top 150. UC can't shoot enough to be a better team. Congrats to UC, but I won't lie on what I see.
(03-10-2010 11:43 PM)BJUnklFkr Wrote: [ -> ]College Card, I couldn't agree more. We have to win tomorrow to even get into the discussion, and probably the night afterward.
Yes, we are short in the skills department, but it's a very good win, and I love seeing effort pay off.
Yes, I agree that UC has a slim shot with a WVU. 7-11 says they likely need to beat WVU and then either Pitt or a super hot Notre Dame to really get in.
I'm disgusted with UofL's play, but the tale of two halves was this season in a nutshell. UC deserved the win tonight.
No way is that sour grapes. He is right on the money.
There are 3 great teams, 1 good team and 8 bubble teams in this league, and the 8 would likely not even be considered bubble, but locks, if they were in another conference. Such is life with hoops in the BE. If only the FB side of things could have the same problem.
UC's bubble will get popped tonight...
(03-11-2010 09:33 AM)Tigeer Wrote: [ -> ]There are 3 great teams, 1 good team and 8 bubble teams in this league
I'm curious whether you are placing Pitt or Nova a class below Cuse, WVU, and your #3.
(03-11-2010 10:17 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: [ -> ]UC's bubble will get popped tonight...
I couldn't agree more. If there are two teams in the league Huggy will try to humiliate. One is Pitt and the other is Cinci. Pitt because he is a WVU alum and they reflexively hate us, but Cinci is personal.
(03-11-2010 10:40 AM)Shannon Panther Wrote: [ -> ] (03-11-2010 10:17 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: [ -> ]UC's bubble will get popped tonight...
I couldn't agree more. If there are two teams in the league Huggy will try to humiliate. One is Pitt and the other is Cinci. Pitt because he is a WVU alum and they reflexively hate us, but Cinci is personal.
He can try, but so far has not been able to humiliate us.
His lone win against UC was this year's 6 point victory in Morgantown.
The slate gets evened tonight...
Another typical Cardinal fold after winning a big game. We’ve seen it too often this season and every time it completely disgusts me. Four stats tell the entire game IMO.
Points in the paint - CIN 40......LOU 24
2nd chance points - CIN 18......LOU 6
Bench points - CIN 15..........LOU 2
Rebounds - CIN 54............LOU 33
The rebounding, PIP, and 2nd chance points are all major indicators that UofL’s front line needs to toughen up considerably in the next outing. The front court got smacked in the mouth in the second half and they folded. Unfortunately, UofL doesn't seem to have an answer for teams like Cincy that emphasis on strength and aggressiveness in the paint.
As for complaints about Sosa, I think most Cards fans were WAY too hard on him for last night's loss. He did make some big mental errors in the 2nd half (5 missed FT, some very bad passes/shot selections) and I'm not excusing that; however, he looked like a man with a hand pump trying to save the Titanic. Where was the help? Swop (0-4 shooting)? Knowles (1-12 shooting)? Kuric (0-1 shooting)? Jennings (2-6 shooting)? Siva? Samardo? Sosa was the leading rebounder from last nite. Simply put, the kid had absolutely no help from the bench or most of the players on the court. He can't make up for Samardo and Jennings playing horrifically soft D in the paint, Swopshire and Knowles missing wide open shots, or the bench basically contributing no points. Sosa (and Delk) looked to me to be the only players who came to play.
The UC team that showed up last night was the team that pushed around Maryland and Vanderbilt in Maui earlier in the year. Hopefully that effort continues again tonight and Gates has a big game.