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Absolutely psyched for DDJ that he got to go out with a game like that.

(03-06-2023 08:35 AM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Absolutely psyched for DDJ that he got to go out with a game like that.

DDJ has been a truly great BEARCAT.

Yesterday will likely end up being one of the more memorable senior days for me

(03-06-2023 08:43 AM)chatcat Wrote:  

(03-06-2023 08:35 AM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Absolutely psyched for DDJ that he got to go out with a game like that.

DDJ has been a truly great BEARCAT.

Ditto that--a really impressive young man. If you were watching on ESPN+ he was interviewed after the game and he expressed such love for and gratitude to our University of Cincinnati. A humble man by today's standards who deflects the praise to UC.

(03-06-2023 10:30 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(03-06-2023 08:43 AM)chatcat Wrote:  

(03-06-2023 08:35 AM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Absolutely psyched for DDJ that he got to go out with a game like that.

DDJ has been a truly great BEARCAT.

Ditto that--a really impressive young man. If you were watching on ESPN+ he was interviewed after the game and he expressed such love for and gratitude to our University of Cincinnati. A humble man by today's standards who deflects the praise to UC.

Need to make sure every future recruit sees that. Such a huge plus for the program.

It was an entertaining game to be at once again. The first half was a lot of fun. The second half was ruined a bit by the officials. The game was meaningless, so you'd have thought they'd let the players play and speed things up. Instead, they called 15 fouls before the 10 minute mark.

DeJulius hitting a 3 to get to 30 points and then kissing center court as he's taken out of the game on Senior Day--so cool. He was great, as he's been all year. He's made more tough shots this season than anyone I can remember. I recall Huggs saying that Armein Kirkland thought it was like diving and he got extra points for degree of difficulty. DDJ has to take tough shots. 44% from the field and 38% from three on the year with his shot selection is remarkable. And he doubled his assists from last season. He came to play for Brannen, seems like he might have had a hand in ridding us of that clown, and then stayed and helped rebuild the place with Wes. I'd love to see him go crazy and UC pull some upsets and finally win some big games and win the conference tourney title, but that's a long shot. Barring that, his career here will be a bit like Deonta Vaughn's (and perhaps other guys slightly before my time--Roger McClendon, maybe? Cedrick Glover? Lou Banks and Levertis Robinson? Llyod Batts and Derrek Dickey? Rick Roberson? Some of you old timers, help me out here): very good players who never played on tourney teams but sorta kept the standard going for Bearcat hoops.

Glad to see Ezikpe get the start. I love the tradition of starting all the seniors, and it's nice that Wes subscribes. Ezikpe was solid? He crammed on SMU's big guy on a great pass from DDJ off a great hockey assist from Nolley. Wes was all over him about his D and rebounding, though. Nice to see him play well at the end of the season here.

Davenport played a nice game again. He's got his three point percentage up to 34% this season after a horrid start. What a truly strange year he's had. Would be wonderful to see him catch fire in the conference tourney while continuing to play more within the offense.

Nolley was feeling it from 3. Vik committed some dumb fouls, and he still isn't back to where he was before his injury, but he showed some progress. MAW had a strong game, couple nice moves to the basket. Ody was OK? Skillings has a nose for the ball but my word is he struggling to put things together. SMU's coach picked him to shoot FTs when Ezikpe got fouled hard, and he looked happy to accept the challenge, but then he bricked both wide right. Hope he improves his shot this offseason. Reed and Hensley got walkon minutes.

The crowd was good for the Senior Day stuff pregame. The lower section was spotty for the game, but the upper level was packed despite a beautiful day and an extremely low-stakes game. The loudest cheer was when they put Tee Higgins on the big screen though LOL. I'm really surprised at how so many fans have stuck it out. If Wes can get this team just into the tourney conversation, The Shoe will be electric.

i thought jules was a bit bummed brannen got canned

Anyone listen to the post-game? Wes talked about the fans and how thrilled he is to be the coach of this program. The way he talks about uc pumps me up every time. He speaks about this program i can't remember any coach we've had speak about it (football or basketball).

(03-06-2023 12:30 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyone listen to the post-game? Wes talked about the fans and how thrilled he is to be the coach of this program. The way he talks about uc pumps me up every time. He speaks about this program i can't remember any coach we've had speak about it (football or basketball).

Yeah I’m a big fan as previously noted from all his pressers/interviews as long as results are there. Wes definitely seems to understand Bearcat basketball and how great a fanbase it is already and can be with success.

Also, DDJ noted how big it was getting to 20 wins as that had been the elephant in the room and getting there builds confidence going into the conference tourney and forward. Sometimes those stupid human mind metrics we create for ourselves mean something too

(03-06-2023 11:28 AM)Lush Wrote:  i thought jules was a bit bummed brannen got canned

Ahhhh, that's right. Am I conflating it with him leaving the team for a bit for personal reasons?

(03-06-2023 10:49 AM)levydl Wrote:  It was an entertaining game to be at once again. The first half was a lot of fun. The second half was ruined a bit by the officials. The game was meaningless, so you'd have thought they'd let the players play and speed things up. Instead, they called 15 fouls before the 10 minute mark.

DeJulius hitting a 3 to get to 30 points and then kissing center court as he's taken out of the game on Senior Day--so cool. He was great, as he's been all year. He's made more tough shots this season than anyone I can remember. I recall Huggs saying that Armein Kirkland thought it was like diving and he got extra points for degree of difficulty. DDJ has to take tough shots. 44% from the field and 38% from three on the year with his shot selection is remarkable. And he doubled his assists from last season. He came to play for Brannen, seems like he might have had a hand in ridding us of that clown, and then stayed and helped rebuild the place with Wes. I'd love to see him go crazy and UC pull some upsets and finally win some big games and win the conference tourney title, but that's a long shot. Barring that, his career here will be a bit like Deonta Vaughn's (and perhaps other guys slightly before my time--Roger McClendon, maybe? Cedrick Glover? Lou Banks and Levertis Robinson? Llyod Batts and Derrek Dickey? Rick Roberson? Some of you old timers, help me out here): very good players who never played on tourney teams but sorta kept the standard going for Bearcat hoops.

Glad to see Ezikpe get the start. I love the tradition of starting all the seniors, and it's nice that Wes subscribes. Ezikpe was solid? He crammed on SMU's big guy on a great pass from DDJ off a great hockey assist from Nolley. Wes was all over him about his D and rebounding, though. Nice to see him play well at the end of the season here.

Davenport played a nice game again. He's got his three point percentage up to 34% this season after a horrid start. What a truly strange year he's had. Would be wonderful to see him catch fire in the conference tourney while continuing to play more within the offense.

Nolley was feeling it from 3. Vik committed some dumb fouls, and he still isn't back to where he was before his injury, but he showed some progress. MAW had a strong game, couple nice moves to the basket. Ody was OK? Skillings has a nose for the ball but my word is he struggling to put things together. SMU's coach picked him to shoot FTs when Ezikpe got fouled hard, and he looked happy to accept the challenge, but then he bricked both wide right. Hope he improves his shot this offseason. Reed and Hensley got walkon minutes.

The crowd was good for the Senior Day stuff pregame. The lower section was spotty for the game, but the upper level was packed despite a beautiful day and an extremely low-stakes game. The loudest cheer was when they put Tee Higgins on the big screen though LOL. I'm really surprised at how so many fans have stuck it out. If Wes can get this team just into the tourney conversation, The Shoe will be electric.

That first free throw from Skillings was crazy bad.

(03-06-2023 11:28 AM)Lush Wrote:  i thought jules was a bit bummed brannen got canned

I think the opposite...he took time off due to mental health issues right as the Brannen heat was growing. Obviously he isn't the kind of person to say anything like that in public, but I definitely didn't take it as him being upset that Brannen left as much as just having another new coach (he had 4 in his college career).

maybe it was a front but i don't think he ever entered the portal and seemed sincere about playing for jb

(03-06-2023 06:13 PM)Lush Wrote:  maybe it was a front but i don't think he ever entered the portal and seemed sincere about playing for jb

I think Justin interviewed him for an article in the Athletic about it. My recollection is he was careful not to "take sides", but made it pretty clear that he was appreciative and supportive of Brannen and didn't have any significant problems with his coaching.

(03-07-2023 04:50 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(03-06-2023 06:13 PM)Lush Wrote:  maybe it was a front but i don't think he ever entered the portal and seemed sincere about playing for jb

I think Justin interviewed him for an article in the Athletic about it. My recollection is he was careful not to "take sides", but made it pretty clear that he was appreciative and supportive of Brannen and didn't have any significant problems with his coaching.

He definitely didn't throw Brannen under the bus or take shots at him. For whatever that is worth.

(03-07-2023 04:52 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(03-07-2023 04:50 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(03-06-2023 06:13 PM)Lush Wrote:  maybe it was a front but i don't think he ever entered the portal and seemed sincere about playing for jb

I think Justin interviewed him for an article in the Athletic about it. My recollection is he was careful not to "take sides", but made it pretty clear that he was appreciative and supportive of Brannen and didn't have any significant problems with his coaching.

He definitely didn't throw Brannen under the bus or take shots at him. For whatever that is worth.

I got curious and looked it up. He was even a little more supportive of Brannen than I remember. It's behind a paywall (David DeJulius speaks out on his support for coach John Brannen, commitment to Cincinnati basketball) but here's a snippet:

Quote:On Saturday, The Athletic spoke with guard David DeJulius, a soon-to-be senior for the Bearcats who transferred in from Michigan before last season. DeJulius acknowledged the internal struggles of this season, many of which were shielded from the public, and did not discredit the reported feelings or decisions of his teammates who elected to transfer or leave the program. He also wanted to publicly state his commitment to the Bearcats and express his support for Brannen as the coach at Cincinnati.

“I have complete trust in (my teammates), just like I do in the coaching staff. So if they feel a certain way about all that, I can’t tell them they’re wrong or how to feel about it. All I can speak from is my point of view, and it’s been great with Coach Brannen and the coaching staff,[I feel like they’ve been mentors in my life not only as basketball players but most importantly as a person. Throughout this tough season of COVID, mentally and emotionally, when I was a little down and out, they were there for me in any way possible. Not just as a basketball player, but who I am, supporting me as a person. That was huge for me, as far as my trust with them that I already had and moving forward.]" DeJulius said. “I’m very confident that if Coach Brannen is at the helm and we keep as many staff members as possible, I feel we can be a very successful group.”

Wasn’t it dejulias that JB got in trouble for paying for a mental health visit because he said the university wasn’t helping him?

(03-06-2023 12:30 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyone listen to the post-game? Wes talked about the fans and how thrilled he is to be the coach of this program. The way he talks about uc pumps me up every time. He speaks about this program i can't remember any coach we've had speak about it (football or basketball).

Very true. I'm fired up (literally).