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MAW was exceptional on both ends tonight.

(12-29-2022 11:57 PM)JFlight21 Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:37 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Yep. That was an opponent that entered the night 160+ in NET and 110+ in Kenpom.

That's a must win kind of game at home. Got it done. On to winnable road games.

They are better than those metrics. Jalen Cook missed 5 games and he is by far their best player.

They lost to Fordham and George Mason with Cook in the lineup.

Great game from MAW. Davenport the opposite. Wish you would drive the lane more...has showed some good pull ups the past couple of games the limited amount he does it. Wes seems to have limited the rotations which is good. The Nolley heave 3 was huge momentum swing. Refs need to let them play. Lahkin is key to continued success IMO. They forget about him too much. He should touch it most every possession. Take the shot or kick out after D collapses. They have to start playing through him more.

(12-29-2022 11:20 PM)Sweetness Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 09:45 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 09:43 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  I get more impressed with Skillings every game.

Our 3rd best rebounder statistically, from the wing, and while only playing 15 minutes a game. He just has a nose for the ball, if his shot starts falling from outside he'll be undefendable.undetectable. He is also figuring out defensive rotations and his wingspan has already been effective with steals and blocks.

Hopefully he starts eating more of Davenports minutes. He's been pretty awful this year. Even if Skillings doesn't shoot a 3 it's better than the basically turnover that is Davenport shooting one.

For his size Davenport is also an awful rebounder.

Skillimgs and Davenport play completely different roles...Dan would be eating into MAW and Nolley's minutes more than Davenport unless we decided to go crazy small. It's pretty much Ody at this point who seems to be taking minutes from Davenport.

It was good to get the W and all but as I said in another thread, we'll see where we are against Houston.

Tulane didn't even try to get an offensive rebound. Aint too many teams out there that are going to give us a free night on the boards like that.

This team is improving offensively but still relapses at times into the chuck the quick 3 mindset. They gotta lose that. They let teams back in the game real quickly.

(12-29-2022 11:34 PM)BrooklynRocket Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:31 PM)bearcat54 Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 09:45 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Hensley’s free throw shooting is extremely frustrating. No reason to be that sorry from the line

I feel Hensley plays too timid. Looks too nervous at times.

He's physically capable and has a decent bit of raw ability but plays with no confidence/swagger.

Smart move by Wes to bury him on the bench. No need for space fillers on the floor. Let Skillings and Reed develop in his place.

I'd say he plays like he thinks he's a guard. He has elite size and athleticism, but no clue how to use them productively.

He's 6'9", but he doesn't use his size. He's not physical and would rather come flying in to try to tip a rebound out than actually go and get it. On defense, he's great at defending his man, but is scared to help off his man, even though he's got the physical ability to help and recover better than anyone on the team not named Skillings. On offense, he prefers not to go inside and even when he gets the ball inside he contorts himself to put up a tough shot, rather than just go up strong.

I like him because he has the physical tools to be an elite player if he ever puts it all together. I hoped this would be the year that it would come together for him. As the season progresses, I see him more and more as a likely transfer candidate. If he hasn't put it all together in year three, he probably never will. He can transfer down and potentially be a star at a low level where his lack of physicality is less of an issue.

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  It was good to get the W and all but as I said in another thread, we'll see where we are against Houston.

Houston might be the best team in the country. We're not at that level. That's not the team this team is doing to really be measured against. Tulane is a top half of the league team. This was a good test and uc passed. The next two are huge tests as well. Winning on the road is hard. Need to beat two middle of the conference teams on the road. I'm way more concerned about those 2 than Houston, which for me is all upside

(12-30-2022 09:06 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  It was good to get the W and all but as I said in another thread, we'll see where we are against Houston.

Houston might be the best team in the country. We're not at that level. That's not the team this team is doing to really be measured against. Tulane is a top half of the league team. This was a good test and uc passed. The next two are huge tests as well. Winning on the road is hard. Need to beat two middle of the conference teams on the road. I'm way more concerned about those 2 than Houston, which for me is all upside

If Tulane is a top 5 team in the AAC we are going to do just fine.

That's an undersized team without much depth that chucks up a ton of bad shots.

I have not seen UCF but I haven't seen 3 teams that look better than UC in this conference yet.

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  This team is improving offensively but still relapses at times into the chuck the quick 3 mindset. They gotta lose that. They let teams back in the game real quickly.

This.

Maybe I've become too old and grouchy but I just can't get on board with the way this team plays. There's just too many bad shots taken early in the shot clock.

Happy for the win and hopeful Wes can get these guys to continue to figure it out and play smart basketball.

(12-30-2022 09:23 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  This team is improving offensively but still relapses at times into the chuck the quick 3 mindset. They gotta lose that. They let teams back in the game real quickly.

This.

Maybe I've become too old and grouchy but I just can't get on board with the way this team plays. There's just too many bad shots taken early in the shot clock.

Happy for the win and hopeful Wes can get these guys to continue to figure it out and play smart basketball.

That's about 95% Jeremiah Davenport. The rest of the team generally plays composed offensive basketball.

(12-30-2022 09:41 AM)JFlight21 Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 09:23 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  This team is improving offensively but still relapses at times into the chuck the quick 3 mindset. They gotta lose that. They let teams back in the game real quickly.

This.

Maybe I've become too old and grouchy but I just can't get on board with the way this team plays. There's just too many bad shots taken early in the shot clock.

Happy for the win and hopeful Wes can get these guys to continue to figure it out and play smart basketball.

That's about 95% Jeremiah Davenport. The rest of the team generally plays composed offensive basketball.

Bolded, I agree. Without checking the box score, I'm thinking JD was maybe 1 for 9 from outside the arc. The problem remains--many of those shots are heaved up immediately without him getting his feet set. Those just squander offensive possessions which became an issue late in last night's game when the lead dwindled. On the plus side though, this team weathered that storm and prevailed by double digits.

Tulane was a good AAC test and these Bearcats passed--a big improvement over last year's home game with the Green Wave. Taking care of business against teams not named Houston and Memphis will be a sign of real progress in the rebuild.

Finally, the officiating was dreadful. We'll consistently see much better for Big 12 games next season. I've been told, the best officials are assigned to the best games in the best conferences. Last night, the leftovers were sent to Cincinnati for our matchup with Tulane.

(12-30-2022 08:34 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:34 PM)BrooklynRocket Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:31 PM)bearcat54 Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 09:45 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Hensley’s free throw shooting is extremely frustrating. No reason to be that sorry from the line

I feel Hensley plays too timid. Looks too nervous at times.

He's physically capable and has a decent bit of raw ability but plays with no confidence/swagger.

Smart move by Wes to bury him on the bench. No need for space fillers on the floor. Let Skillings and Reed develop in his place.

I'd say he plays like he thinks he's a guard. He has elite size and athleticism, but no clue how to use them productively.

He's 6'9", but he doesn't use his size. He's not physical and would rather come flying in to try to tip a rebound out than actually go and get it. On defense, he's great at defending his man, but is scared to help off his man, even though he's got the physical ability to help and recover better than anyone on the team not named Skillings. On offense, he prefers not to go inside and even when he gets the ball inside he contorts himself to put up a tough shot, rather than just go up strong.

I like him because he has the physical tools to be an elite player if he ever puts it all together. I hoped this would be the year that it would come together for him. As the season progresses, I see him more and more as a likely transfer candidate. If he hasn't put it all together in year three, he probably never will. He can transfer down and potentially be a star at a low level where his lack of physicality is less of an issue.

Hensley has the skills to be a 6-10 minute role player, not the skills to be an “elite” player. We have a large enough sample size by now to know that he is who he is. Nothing more. He is not a scorer, nor a top-notch defender, rebounder, or passer, and does not have a particularly high basketball IQ. He’s basically the # 9 or 10 guy on your roster, at best.

(12-30-2022 09:23 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 07:22 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  This team is improving offensively but still relapses at times into the chuck the quick 3 mindset. They gotta lose that. They let teams back in the game real quickly.

This.

Maybe I've become too old and grouchy but I just can't get on board with the way this team plays. There's just too many bad shots taken early in the shot clock.

Happy for the win and hopeful Wes can get these guys to continue to figure it out and play smart basketball.

CWM is doing a great job of getting this team to play with pace and speed... something which suits the makeup of the team IMO. It seems he's trying to instill "good" quick 3s vs "bad" quick 3s if that make sense. JD seems to suffer from the "bad" quick 3 disease more than most but it seems CWM is starting to sit him down when he takes an ill timed shot or 2. As the 'Cats settle in to the style and their roles this team seems like it will be able to score well most nights which will erase a bunch of the defense lapses except against the upper upper competition. If nothing else, they will be fun to watch

Another game that was a lot of fun to attend. Tulane has a few players, and they were into it. Got heated at times.

This was probably MAW's best game as a Bearcat. He attacked on offense and scored and got guys looks. And he was great on D. Tulane was trying to exploit DDJ, but Mika was locking their little guard up.

Lahkin was flying all over on D and grabbed a bunch of rebounds and had a pretty quiet 13 points. Remarkable how good he is.

Nolley was hitting and scored 20-something, but he still plays so lax so often. Even in his good games it feels like he doesn't reach his potential.

DDJ with some big shots in the second half. He's having a fabulous year.

Love everything about Skillings except his shooting. He is long and agile and plays hard.

Ody was meh, although it was tough to play underneath this game with all the really soft foul calls in the lane.

You can see Davenport is really trying to be a team player in a lot of ways--going harder after rebounds and on D, looking for teammates and making some nice passes. But he just can't help himself taking bad shots or even decent looks super early in the shot clock. Wes seems relentlessly positive with him still.

I love the shorter rotation, the half court D, the way the offense really moves, how hard the guys play.

(12-30-2022 12:28 PM)levydl Wrote:  Another game that was a lot of fun to attend. Tulane has a few players, and they were into it. Got heated at times.

This was probably MAW's best game as a Bearcat. He attacked on offense and scored and got guys looks. And he was great on D. Tulane was trying to exploit DDJ, but Mika was locking their little guard up.

Lahkin was flying all over on D and grabbed a bunch of rebounds and had a pretty quiet 13 points. Remarkable how good he is.

Nolley was hitting and scored 20-something, but he still plays so lax so often. Even in his good games it feels like he doesn't reach his potential.

DDJ with some big shots in the second half. He's having a fabulous year.

Love everything about Skillings except his shooting. He is long and agile and plays hard.

Ody was meh, although it was tough to play underneath this game with all the really soft foul calls in the lane.

You can see Davenport is really trying to be a team player in a lot of ways--going harder after rebounds and on D, looking for teammates and making some nice passes. But he just can't help himself taking bad shots or even decent looks super early in the shot clock. Wes seems relentlessly positive with him still.

I love the shorter rotation, the half court D, the way the offense really moves, how hard the guys play.

Great summary. Agree on all points. Nice to see the team is improving. Hope we can get Phinisee and Newman back before year-end. What’s up with Ezikpe? Has Wes given up on him, is he hurt or simply in the doghouse?

My thoughts and observations of the game:
1. Davenport's play has become a problem. This team is elite in not turning the ball over and he spoils all that effort by jacking awful 3 after 3. At one point he was 1 for 8 and Nolley was 4/4. Absolutely absurd.

2. Nolley was great. The commentator said something astute "He has slowed down to the pace of the game." This really makes him efficient.

3. I owe MAW an apology. This was superb performance on offense and defense. Best game by far as a bearcat. Hopefully this becomes the trend.

4. Officiating was atrocious. I read somewhere the main ref was previously suspended by the SEC. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff.

5. Tulane kind of sucks. They need foul calls to win. An elite free throw shooting team but bad at rebounding, defending (without hacking), and lack athleticism.

6. DDJ had an off shooting game. He missed a lot of good look three's during Tulane's run. If he makes those like he normally does we win this thing in a blowout. DDJ's defense was outstanding for his size.

7. Lahkin got hosed this game. Couldn't get good looks to fall and got screwed on foul calls. He's really really good. Same as DDJ if those shots fell at a normal clip we win in a blowout.

Crazy stat comparison...but if he holds to his season average, MAW will have roughly the same career numbers in per game and total count than Troy Caupain as a Bearcat.

(12-30-2022 11:19 AM)vabearcat Wrote:  

(12-30-2022 08:34 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:34 PM)BrooklynRocket Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 11:31 PM)bearcat54 Wrote:  

(12-29-2022 09:45 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Hensley’s free throw shooting is extremely frustrating. No reason to be that sorry from the line

I feel Hensley plays too timid. Looks too nervous at times.

He's physically capable and has a decent bit of raw ability but plays with no confidence/swagger.

Smart move by Wes to bury him on the bench. No need for space fillers on the floor. Let Skillings and Reed develop in his place.

I'd say he plays like he thinks he's a guard. He has elite size and athleticism, but no clue how to use them productively.

He's 6'9", but he doesn't use his size. He's not physical and would rather come flying in to try to tip a rebound out than actually go and get it. On defense, he's great at defending his man, but is scared to help off his man, even though he's got the physical ability to help and recover better than anyone on the team not named Skillings. On offense, he prefers not to go inside and even when he gets the ball inside he contorts himself to put up a tough shot, rather than just go up strong.

I like him because he has the physical tools to be an elite player if he ever puts it all together. I hoped this would be the year that it would come together for him. As the season progresses, I see him more and more as a likely transfer candidate. If he hasn't put it all together in year three, he probably never will. He can transfer down and potentially be a star at a low level where his lack of physicality is less of an issue.

Hensley has the skills to be a 6-10 minute role player, not the skills to be an “elite” player. We have a large enough sample size by now to know that he is who he is. Nothing more. He is not a scorer, nor a top-notch defender, rebounder, or passer, and does not have a particularly high basketball IQ. He’s basically the # 9 or 10 guy on your roster, at best.

Hensley is excellent on defense, I'd argue that he's the best defender on the team with Phinisee and Newman out. He can guard pretty much any position and usually shuts down his man when he's in. The problem is that his rebounding is horrible for his size (his rebound percentage is 6.7%, which is ties him with Phinisee who is 8 inches shorter) and he doesn't bring much on offense. If he could bring more on offense or rebounding he'd get time because of his defense. But you can't be bad in 2 of the three areas (defense, offense and rebounding) and expect to get many minutes.

He has the physical traits to be excellent if he does somehow put it all together. But at this point in his career it's looking like a lost cause. If he doesn't improve by next year his options should be; be a 5-10 minute per game role player (at most) or transfer down and hope to start on a low-major team, he may be able to do very well on a low-major by being much more athletic than almost anyone else playing at that level.

(12-30-2022 01:43 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Crazy stat comparison...but if he holds to his season average, MAW will have roughly the same career numbers in per game and total count than Troy Caupain as a Bearcat.

Caupain will go down as a much better all-around player.

Stats like PER, Win Shares, Off. Rating, and Def. Rating all favor Caupain by a good margin.

Caupain will be remembered as a warrior and a leader who helped the program continue its (now much more appreciated) NCAA tournament streak.

MAW is still writing his Bearcat narrative so I don't want to write him off completely, but up to this point he's just been a decent role player. Someone akin to a Kevin Johnson, Shaq Thomas, Jermaine Sanders, etc.

(12-30-2022 04:01 PM)BrooklynRocket Wrote:  MAW is still writing his Bearcat narrative so I don't want to write him off completely, but up to this point he's just been a decent role player. Someone akin to a Kevin Johnson.

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