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(02-07-2023 09:33 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:21 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:18 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:17 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This defense has no rim protection without Lahkin. Tulane (an elite first shot offense) took advantage.

We’re not gonna credit Tulane getting layups at will

Tulane does this all the time..I get that everyone here doesn't actually watch aac teams and assumes everyone uc plays is terrible. Cross is an incredible player. Cook is a killer.

This is not a bad loss on paper. Tulane is very solid. Vik is our best and half of our total run protectors.

This are not excuses for them getting layups 4 of every 5 possessions the last 7 minutes. It’s a miracle we got it to overtime.

I mean, they kind of are though...we had to play our worst defender (Davenport) because Lakhin was gone. Normally those minutes would be Oguama's at this point, but we had to play them both, with Ody out of position. It sucks, but that's what happens when your anchor goes down.

(02-07-2023 10:14 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:59 PM)vabearcat Wrote:  UC shot 45 3-pointers and only 38 2-point shots. That is an abomination .

I get what you're saying but they were 1.06 ppp o.n 3s and .8 ppp on twos. Without vik they don't trust anyone to go get a bucket at the rim.

Their guards aren't get to the rim guards. Maw tried a few times late and had to kick it out.

They desperately need that slashing creator that can get fouled.

Yeah, we don't have a great slasher on this team. Skillings and MAW are our best at getting to the rim, which of them are you going to trust you to get you a bucket with 10 seconds left?

DDJ and Nolley are shooters, not drivers.

Ody isn't a guy who's going to score a contested shot on the interior. He scored on rim run dunks and offensive rebounds. Kalu is more capable on offense, but he wasn't playing because Ody is better on defense and at rebounding.

(02-08-2023 09:15 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:33 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:21 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:18 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:17 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This defense has no rim protection without Lahkin. Tulane (an elite first shot offense) took advantage.

We’re not gonna credit Tulane getting layups at will

Tulane does this all the time..I get that everyone here doesn't actually watch aac teams and assumes everyone uc plays is terrible. Cross is an incredible player. Cook is a killer.

This is not a bad loss on paper. Tulane is very solid. Vik is our best and half of our total run protectors.

This are not excuses for them getting layups 4 of every 5 possessions the last 7 minutes. It’s a miracle we got it to overtime.

I mean, they kind of are though...we had to play our worst defender (Davenport) because Lakhin was gone. Normally those minutes would be Oguama's at this point, but we had to play them both, with Ody out of position. It sucks, but that's what happens when your anchor goes down.

Those minutes were Phinisee's recently. We lost our two best defenders in one game and a significant portion of our depth. Worn out, not great defenders give up open layups.

(02-08-2023 09:15 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:33 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:21 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:18 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:17 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This defense has no rim protection without Lahkin. Tulane (an elite first shot offense) took advantage.

We’re not gonna credit Tulane getting layups at will

Tulane does this all the time..I get that everyone here doesn't actually watch aac teams and assumes everyone uc plays is terrible. Cross is an incredible player. Cook is a killer.

This is not a bad loss on paper. Tulane is very solid. Vik is our best and half of our total run protectors.

This are not excuses for them getting layups 4 of every 5 possessions the last 7 minutes. It’s a miracle we got it to overtime.

I mean, they kind of are though...we had to play our worst defender (Davenport) because Lakhin was gone. Normally those minutes would be Oguama's at this point, but we had to play them both, with Ody out of position. It sucks, but that's what happens when your anchor goes down.

So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

(02-08-2023 09:55 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

Eventually your guys get around their primary defenders no matter how good they are. The best defenses are built around strong initial defense as well as help defenders when the primary defender gets beat. Yes, it's be great if we had better perimeter defenders but that's not a strength of this roster.

(02-08-2023 09:58 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 09:55 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

Eventually your guys get around their primary defenders no matter how good they are. The best defenses are built around strong initial defense as well as help defenders when the primary defender gets beat. Yes, it's be great if we had better perimeter defenders but that's not a strength of this roster.

Tulane has super quick guards, and maybe the best passing/creating big in the country. I know we hate to give other teams credit, but that is what they do. They get an insane amount of layups (and free throws) as a team. Their main guys (other than Forbes) are all hitting 52%+ from 2.

Cook is 52% (and he is tiny)
Cross is 56%
Pope is 61%
Holloway is 63%
James is 60%

They are a really tough defensive matchup...and it was compounded by the injuries. UC has been very good protecting the rim since early December. I wouldn't overreact to this specific game.

(02-07-2023 10:28 PM)Dont tase me bro Wrote:  Nolley is the best player in a Bearcat uni since Cumberland graduated. Its a shame his great season is flying under the radar because the team is average.

To be a bit nitpicky, Nolley isn't even the best player on this team. Vik is our best player and our most important player.

Edit to add: I'd also take Tre Scott over Nolley, especially for this team that needs another interior presence.

(02-08-2023 09:55 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 09:15 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:33 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:21 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 09:18 PM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  We’re not gonna credit Tulane getting layups at will

Tulane does this all the time..I get that everyone here doesn't actually watch aac teams and assumes everyone uc plays is terrible. Cross is an incredible player. Cook is a killer.

This is not a bad loss on paper. Tulane is very solid. Vik is our best and half of our total run protectors.

This are not excuses for them getting layups 4 of every 5 possessions the last 7 minutes. It’s a miracle we got it to overtime.

I mean, they kind of are though...we had to play our worst defender (Davenport) because Lakhin was gone. Normally those minutes would be Oguama's at this point, but we had to play them both, with Ody out of position. It sucks, but that's what happens when your anchor goes down.

So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

No...I'm saying we had a ****** defender in there because of the Lahkin injury.

(02-08-2023 10:10 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 10:28 PM)Dont tase me bro Wrote:  Nolley is the best player in a Bearcat uni since Cumberland graduated. Its a shame his great season is flying under the radar because the team is average.

To be a bit nitpicky, Nolley isn't even the best player on this team. Vik is our best player and our most important player.

Yea. I agree with this. Nolley is damn good and a hell of a shooter, but Vik is so damn important on both ends and on the glass. He leads the team in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate, block rate, fouls drawn rate, 2poing fg percentage, steal rate, and offensive rating. He's second on the team in turnover rate (to JD who doesn't dribble much and mainly plays on the perimeter). He's our best defensive player by a wide margin, but I'd say he's also our best offensive player.

Vik has been incredible all season.

(02-08-2023 09:58 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 09:55 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

Eventually your guys get around their primary defenders no matter how good they are. The best defenses are built around strong initial defense as well as help defenders when the primary defender gets beat. Yes, it's be great if we had better perimeter defenders but that's not a strength of this roster.

I think the better word should be "occasionally".

If letting your man by is an accepted behavior on this team then we need a new coach.

The mewling about poor coaching by the usual suspects is hilarious. How do you guys not see that Lakhin is our only legit big and his injury totally changed things?

I thought the team hung in well. Hit some big shots. Battled back. I was definitely frustrated that they kept jacking 3s at the end, but it was tough to get in on Tulane's D with no post presence.

(02-08-2023 11:25 AM)levydl Wrote:  The mewling about poor coaching by the usual suspects is hilarious. How do you guys not see that Lakhin is our only legit big and his injury totally changed things?

I thought the team hung in well. Hit some big shots. Battled back. I was definitely frustrated that they kept jacking 3s at the end, but it was tough to get in on Tulane's D with no post presence.

Can we knock it off with the excuses???

We had a 7 (seven) point lead with 2:30 left in the game... without Lahkin in there.

I guess at that point the team looked around and discovered HOLY SH!T !!! LAHKIN'S GONE!!! I CAN NO LONGER GUARD MY MAN!!!

Come on, man.

(02-08-2023 11:38 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 11:25 AM)levydl Wrote:  The mewling about poor coaching by the usual suspects is hilarious. How do you guys not see that Lakhin is our only legit big and his injury totally changed things?

I thought the team hung in well. Hit some big shots. Battled back. I was definitely frustrated that they kept jacking 3s at the end, but it was tough to get in on Tulane's D with no post presence.

Can we knock it off with the excuses???

We had a 7 (seven) point lead with 2:30 left in the game... without Lahkin in there.

I guess at that point the team looked around and discovered HOLY SH!T !!! LAHKIN'S GONE!!! I CAN NO LONGER GUARD MY MAN!!!

Come on, man.

We built that 7 point lead taking those 3 pointers that you all became so pissed at.

(02-08-2023 11:47 AM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 11:38 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 11:25 AM)levydl Wrote:  The mewling about poor coaching by the usual suspects is hilarious. How do you guys not see that Lakhin is our only legit big and his injury totally changed things?

I thought the team hung in well. Hit some big shots. Battled back. I was definitely frustrated that they kept jacking 3s at the end, but it was tough to get in on Tulane's D with no post presence.

Can we knock it off with the excuses???

We had a 7 (seven) point lead with 2:30 left in the game... without Lahkin in there.

I guess at that point the team looked around and discovered HOLY SH!T !!! LAHKIN'S GONE!!! I CAN NO LONGER GUARD MY MAN!!!

Come on, man.

We built that 7 point lead taking those 3 pointers that you all became so pissed at.

This is a good point. The 3 pointers kept the lead even as they couldn't stop Tulane at all in the second half without Lahkin. The rim protection was a huge issue all half, but UC mostly weathered it because they were hitting like 45% of their 3 pointers. They cooled off late but still didn't get stops. It cost them against a good Tulane team.

(02-08-2023 09:58 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 09:55 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  So you're saying it's OK to let you guy blow right by you as long as lahkin is back there to bail you out?

Maybe losing Lahkin wouldn't be so devastating if our guards could defend their man.

Eventually your guys get around their primary defenders no matter how good they are. The best defenses are built around strong initial defense as well as help defenders when the primary defender gets beat. Yes, it's be great if we had better perimeter defenders but that's not a strength of this roster.

UC doesn't play many teams that create the kind of matchup problems Tulane does. It's a team where your help defense is essential because of how quick they are, how good they are off the bounce, and how great they are at getting to the rim off the bounce and off the action they run through Cross. They are a really uniquely skilled basketball team.

The other thing is they are a bad rebounding team, but without Vik, UC didn't really take advantage of this. UC was outrebounded (because they got more shots) but more importantly, the rebounding rates were essentially even (UC was ever so slightly better). I don't see Tulane hanging on the glass with Vik in the game.

(02-08-2023 10:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 10:10 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 10:28 PM)Dont tase me bro Wrote:  Nolley is the best player in a Bearcat uni since Cumberland graduated. Its a shame his great season is flying under the radar because the team is average.

To be a bit nitpicky, Nolley isn't even the best player on this team. Vik is our best player and our most important player.

Yea. I agree with this. Nolley is damn good and a hell of a shooter, but Vik is so damn important on both ends and on the glass. He leads the team in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate, block rate, fouls drawn rate, 2 point fg percentage, steal rate, and offensive rating. He's second on the team in turnover rate (to JD who doesn't dribble much and mainly plays on the perimeter). He's our best defensive player by a wide margin, but I'd say he's also our best offensive player.

Vik has been incredible all season.

Speaking of Nolley, Terry Nelson was hugely disappointed in his play all game last night. Hated the way he gestured to the crowd, then would take a play or two off. Nelson was especially critical when we needed big buckets and he would take himself out of the play instead of being a leader. Personally I thought the criticisms had merit, but were a little overdone.

(02-08-2023 12:04 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 10:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 10:10 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 10:28 PM)Dont tase me bro Wrote:  Nolley is the best player in a Bearcat uni since Cumberland graduated. Its a shame his great season is flying under the radar because the team is average.

To be a bit nitpicky, Nolley isn't even the best player on this team. Vik is our best player and our most important player.

Yea. I agree with this. Nolley is damn good and a hell of a shooter, but Vik is so damn important on both ends and on the glass. He leads the team in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate, block rate, fouls drawn rate, 2 point fg percentage, steal rate, and offensive rating. He's second on the team in turnover rate (to JD who doesn't dribble much and mainly plays on the perimeter). He's our best defensive player by a wide margin, but I'd say he's also our best offensive player.

Vik has been incredible all season.

Speaking of Nolley, Terry Nelson was hugely disappointed in his play all game last night. Hated the way he gestured to the crowd, then would take a play or two off. Nelson was especially critical when we needed big buckets and he would take himself out of the play instead of being a leader. Personally I thought the criticisms had merit, but were a little overdone.

That's interesting. He's mostly been lights out lately, and I've appreciated the work he's done on the glass...but he has seemed to be feeling himself even more with the trash talk(gestures).

Both Tulane and UC are largely going to go where their big 3 take them. Both teams are defined by those guys.

Nolley had 26 8 and 4 (but 4 turnovers) on ok shooting
DDJ had 12 and 8 assists (on a very bad 4-15 shooting night)
Vik only played 7 minutes, but was 2-2 from the floor in that time.

Tulane's big 3:
Cook had 27 points and 14 assists
Cross had 27 points 15 rebounds and 6 assists (we did force him into 6 turnovers)
Forbes had 24 points and 8 rebounds (and was 9 for 9 from the line).

Tulane was 25-29 as a team. I mentioned before the game keeping them around 15 free throws would be a big win. They doubled that. Not having Vik probably factored in there too.

(02-08-2023 12:04 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 10:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-08-2023 10:10 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-07-2023 10:28 PM)Dont tase me bro Wrote:  Nolley is the best player in a Bearcat uni since Cumberland graduated. Its a shame his great season is flying under the radar because the team is average.

To be a bit nitpicky, Nolley isn't even the best player on this team. Vik is our best player and our most important player.

Yea. I agree with this. Nolley is damn good and a hell of a shooter, but Vik is so damn important on both ends and on the glass. He leads the team in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate, block rate, fouls drawn rate, 2 point fg percentage, steal rate, and offensive rating. He's second on the team in turnover rate (to JD who doesn't dribble much and mainly plays on the perimeter). He's our best defensive player by a wide margin, but I'd say he's also our best offensive player.

Vik has been incredible all season.

Speaking of Nolley, Terry Nelson was hugely disappointed in his play all game last night. Hated the way he gestured to the crowd, then would take a play or two off. Nelson was especially critical when we needed big buckets and he would take himself out of the play instead of being a leader. Personally I thought the criticisms had merit, but were a little overdone.

Some, including myself, were critical of Nolley for that earlier in the year. It seems like lately he has a least ramped up the rebounding and effort on defense, though he (and Davenport) still does take off plays at times. He does seem to be happy to let DDJ or MAW take over at the end of games, but Nolley is much more of a shooter than a creator, not a guy to take over in iso. You could argue that he should make more of an effort to get open and other guys should make more of an effort to find him late in games.

Didn't see it but it's exactly what Memphis fans said they wouldn't miss. He's a microwave then he unplugs himself for long stretches. They used to use the word "pout" a lot.

Just glanced at the box score. Yeesh. Gave up 55 points in the second half. Tulane shoots 51% for the game. UC took 15 more shots than Tulane in a game that goest to OT. Nearly 4 dozen 3pt attempts for the good guys.

BTW...if there was a fantasy college basketball draft I'd draft about every forward on any team that plays UC. Yet another season high or career night against this squad this season.