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I am just as guilty as everyone on here about sometimes badmouthing Cronin and individual players and their in game performances, but this team is 19-3. Everybody back next year but two and a good recruit coming in, I for one am becoming very satisfied. If given the options that exist today at the start of the year, UC is 19-3 and Xavier has a losing record, who among us would not have taken that deal. They certainly have things to improve on but damn, this is a sweet deal. What say you ?

(02-03-2019 05:09 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  I am just as guilty as everyone on here about sometimes badmouthing Cronin and individual players and their in game performances, but this team is 19-3. Everybody back next year but two and a good recruit coming in, I for one am becoming very satisfied. If given the options that exist today at the start of the year, UC is 19-3 and Xavier has a losing record, who among us would not have taken that deal. They certainly have things to improve on but damn, this is a sweet deal. What say you ?

Thrilled with where this team is. Never dreamed the offense would be this good. Figure things out on defense and this team can make a sweet 16 run and beyond.

I'm disappointed that this thread does not yet have a 2319 reference

19-3 is certainly better than I was expecting, especially after that awful performance against Ohio State to begin the season.

I couldn't ask for a better situation after the players we lost from last year. We're still conference champs until someone knocks us off and we remain in a position to repeat. Unless we crap the bed we will return to the NCAA dance for the 9th consecutive time. Consider the programs that have made the most consecutive appearances [current streak]:

Kansas 29
Duke 23
Michigan State 21
Gonzaga 20
Cincinnati 8
North Carolina 8
Wichita State 7
Arizona 6
Villanova 6

I get the disappointment in our NCAA success but you can't have a shot at a deep run if you don't qualify for the tournament.

What stands out to me is how this team has developed over the course of the season.

With UC usually having older players, often the other top-25 teams seem to catch up to us as the season goes on. But this UC team just keeps getting better.

If Cronin's guys keep developing, I see this team as a dark horse Final Four team. Other than last year, I never felt that about any of Cronin's teams.

(02-03-2019 08:33 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  I couldn't ask for a better situation after the players we lost from last year. We're still conference champs until someone knocks us off and we remain in a position to repeat. Unless we crap the bed we will return to the NCAA dance for the 9th consecutive time. Consider the programs that have made the most consecutive appearances [current streak]:

Kansas 29
Duke 23
Michigan State 21
Gonzaga 20
Cincinnati 8
North Carolina 8
Wichita State 7
Arizona 6
Villanova 6

I get the disappointment in our NCAA success but you can't have a shot at a deep run if you don't qualify for the tournament.

Not to mention two of those teams are likely to be off of the list after this year.

Very happy with UC's season to date, but this upcoming week is huge. At Memphis and at Houston. Need to win at least one of the two games. Win both and we move in to the Top 20 and likely a potential 4-5 seed. Think we beat Memphis but at Houston will be a tough challenge.

(02-04-2019 12:15 AM)vabearcat Wrote:  Very happy with UC's season to date, but this upcoming week is huge. At Memphis and at Houston. Need to win at least one of the two games. Win both and we move in to the Top 20 and likely a potential 4-5 seed. Think we beat Memphis but at Houston will be a tough challenge.

Houston is very similar to most of the other AAC teams in that they can't defend without fouling. So if we can follow the gameplan and defend the 3 point line, then we should be ok.

(02-04-2019 05:17 AM)Edgebrookjeff Wrote:  

(02-04-2019 12:15 AM)vabearcat Wrote:  Very happy with UC's season to date, but this upcoming week is huge. At Memphis and at Houston. Need to win at least one of the two games. Win both and we move in to the Top 20 and likely a potential 4-5 seed. Think we beat Memphis but at Houston will be a tough challenge.

Houston is very similar to most of the other AAC teams in that they can't defend without fouling. So if we can follow the gameplan and defend the 3 point line, then we should be ok.

UC has the worst 3pt shooting defense in the AAC. UH is the best 3pt shooting team int the AAC. Thats a bad combo for the Cats.

It's going to rain 3's.

(02-03-2019 08:40 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  What stands out to me is how this team has developed over the course of the season.

With UC usually having older players, often the other top-25 teams seem to catch up to us as the season goes on. But this UC team just keeps getting better.

If Cronin's guys keep developing, I see this team as a dark horse Final Four team. Other than last year, I never felt that about any of Cronin's teams.

Bolded, it's always possible, but very improbable in my mind. The best of the tournament quality teams they've faced so far have yielded mixed results for the 'Cats (OSU, Miss. State, Ole Miss). Scoring droughts we saw in both the first and second half against SMU @ home on Saturday along with a shaky 3 point defense will be knockouts on a neutral court against better quality competition.

And that's no slap at this UC team's considerable success to date. I really believe if the 'Cats can win their way to a better seed during February, a Sweet Sixteen is highly probable.

Go back to that O$U game thread. According to some, we were going to be lucky to win a game.

(02-04-2019 09:43 AM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  Go back to that O$U game thread. According to some, we were going to be lucky to win a game.

Not according to me

Anyways, I think we can all agree that the team has steadily improved since then. To the point where we're now a borderline top-25 quality team.

(02-04-2019 09:56 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(02-04-2019 09:43 AM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  Go back to that O$U game thread. According to some, we were going to be lucky to win a game.

Not according to me

Anyways, I think we can all agree that the team has steadily improved since then. To the point where we're now a borderline top-25 quality team.

Agreed. And I think UC will be ranked this week based upon the record and lots of losses among the lower half of the top 25 once again last week.

They’re doing better than I thought. I only expected them to lose their first tournament game so if they win one I’m happy. I thought this would be a rebuilding year.

The O$U game is a bad example. I think almost everyone can agree that was by far their poorest performance of the season. It just happened to be the first game, which didn't bode well for optimism.

Ironically, this year's offensive stats are on par with how last year's team finished up. This year they shoot FT's better. Last year they were slightly better from the arc:

'17-'18
PPG= 75.0
FG%= 45.3
FT% = 68.8
3-PT%= 35.8

'18-'19
PPG =75.0
FG%= 45.9
FT%= 70.5
3-PT%= 34.9

I think the biggest difference is having that "go to" guy in JC. He's averaging almost 19 ppg. That's 6 more ppg than anyone on the team last year. (Evans 13.0)

I think they are far exceeding expectations this year. I'm not ready to consider them a Sweet 16/Final 4 contender, especially since they haven't beat a Top 25 or the (other) top team in their conference (yet). But very happy with where they are considering this was supposed to be a re-building year.

(02-04-2019 10:35 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  The O$U game is a bad example. I think almost everyone can agree that was by far their poorest performance of the season. It just happened to be the first game, which didn't bode well for optimism.

Ironically, this year's offensive stats are on par with how last year's team finished up. This year they shoot FT's better. Last year they were slightly better from the arc:

'17-'18
PPG= 75.0
FG%= 45.3
FT% = 68.8
3-PT%= 35.8

'18-'19
PPG =75.0
FG%= 45.9
FT%= 70.5
3-PT%= 34.9

I think the biggest difference is having that "go to" guy in JC. He's averaging almost 19 ppg. That's 6 more ppg than anyone on the team last year. (Evans 13.0)

I think they are far exceeding expectations this year. I'm not ready to consider them a Sweet 16/Final 4 contender, especially since they haven't beat a Top 25 or the (other) top team in their conference (yet). But very happy with where they are considering this was supposed to be a re-building year.

I'd argue they were significantly worse against ECU, but yea the OSU game was bad. A lot of new guys in key roles and then your best player sits 17 minutes in the first half. Really hurt them as far as finding an offensive rhythm.

uc has never lost to ecu

If i'm looking for a program that gets post season exposure (not Duk not KY not Kansass Michigan St), why not consider UC?