2017-2018 OOC

[justinhub2003]

Figure I'd do a quick scouting report on the 4 big teams we play next season:

Miss State:
IF I had to quickly sum up this team it would be: Young and Very Talented. They lack a single scholarship senior on the team but have 4 star talent all across the rest of the roster. They bring in highly rated Freshman PG Nick Weatherspoon (4 Star on 247/5 star on Scout) to add to a roster that has 6 other 4 star recruits. Its a pretty staked roster ON PAPER, but as of yet, Ben Howland hasn't had this team gelling just yet but this season they could really make strides. This could end up being a Top 50 opponent for us or at worst a top 75.

KP ranking: #88
Off Ranking: #135
Def Ranking: #72

Leading returning scorer: Quinndary Weatherspoon (JR G) 16.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Aric Holman (JR F) 6.0 RPG
Leading Returning in Assists: Lamar Peters (SO PG) 3.4APG

# of returning Starters: 4

They struggled rebounding the ball on both ends last season and look for UC to exploit in that area. Defended the 3 exceptionally well last season while being pretty bad defending 2 point shots. UC's strong post play, coupled with experience and hometown crowd should lead us to victory. But if we play bad, these guys can make you pay.


Xavier:
The nerds across town went from being top 30 good to top 15 good when Trevon Blueitt decided to get arrested and delay his European career and thus return to Xavier. They have a top 10 recruiting class coming in and also return almost everyone except Grad Transfer Malcolm Bernard and C transfer Rashid Gaston. Bernard's loss will be felt with his 3 point shooting ability and lock down defense and Gaston was mostly a dud but did rebound the ball well when he was in the game. I expect Xavier to run out of a line up of: PG Goodin, G Scruggs, G Macura, F Blueitt and C Tyrique Jones/Sean Omara. Goodin manned the point well for Xavier, but he has yet to prove he is any kind of scoring threat on offense, his numbers are downright bad in a vaccum, but could be primed for a big Sophmore season if he starts finishing around the rim. We already know what Macura and Blueitt can do. I think we should face guard Blueitt from tip with Jacob evans to reduce his touches and make the other guys beat you. Rarely do Freshman make impacts in this game (Except Jarron, he was a beast) but Xavier has 2 really stand out freshman who could work their way into the rotation: Naji Marshall and Scruggs. Scruggs is a top 40 PG recruit who is know for his effort and intensity. He isn't a deep threat and isn't nearly as dynamic and quick as Sumner was but will be lockdown defender for X and potentially an offensive threat. While Scruggs received the most attention nationally, a lot of Analysts believe Naji Marshall will have the most impact right away for Xavier. He is a wing who can guard and play 1-4 and does a little bit of enough while being really tough. This is a really talented Xavier team, but so was last years and they didn't click until they got a few favorable matchups in the tourney. This season, they will have some chemistry issues to work out with all the new faces and the game being in early December could play into UC's hands.

KP ranking: #31
Off Ranking: #29
Def Ranking: #68

Leading returning scorer: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 18.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 5.7ppg
Leading Returning in Assists: Quinton Goodin (SO G) 3.4

# of returning Starters: 4

Xavier had a ton of talent last year but struggled with Chemistry. My hope is that is the case this year as well and we can punch them in the mouth right away in their own gym. Winning at Cintas is really F'n hard and it won't be easy. On a neutral court, I like our chances head to head but its going to take an all will to win to pull this game off. Cronin has never stepped foot into Cintas with this much offensive fire power. Down goes Xavier!

Ill post the other 2 later today.

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by justinhub2003

Figure I'd do a quick scouting report on the 4 big teams we play next season:

Miss State:
IF I had to quickly sum up this team it would be: Young and Very Talented. They lack a single scholarship senior on the team but have 4 star talent all across the rest of the roster. They bring in highly rated Freshman PG Nick Weatherspoon (4 Star on 247/5 star on Scout) to add to a roster that has 6 other 4 star recruits. Its a pretty staked roster ON PAPER, but as of yet, Ben Howland hasn't had this team gelling just yet but this season they could really make strides. This could end up being a Top 50 opponent for us or at worst a top 75.

KP ranking: #88
Off Ranking: #135
Def Ranking: #72

Leading returning scorer: Quinndary Weatherspoon (JR G) 16.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Aric Holman (JR F) 6.0 RPG
Leading Returning in Assists: Lamar Peters (SO PG) 3.4APG

# of returning Starters: 4

They struggled rebounding the ball on both ends last season and look for UC to exploit in that area. Defended the 3 exceptionally well last season while being pretty bad defending 2 point shots. UC's strong post play, coupled with experience and hometown crowd should lead us to victory. But if we play bad, these guys can make you pay.


Xavier:
The nerds across town went from being top 30 good to top 15 good when Trevon Blueitt decided to get arrested and delay his European career and thus return to Xavier. They have a top 10 recruiting class coming in and also return almost everyone except Grad Transfer Malcolm Bernard and C transfer Rashid Gaston. Bernard's loss will be felt with his 3 point shooting ability and lock down defense and Gaston was mostly a dud but did rebound the ball well when he was in the game. I expect Xavier to run out of a line up of: PG Goodin, G Scruggs, G Macura, F Blueitt and C Tyrique Jones/Sean Omara. Goodin manned the point well for Xavier, but he has yet to prove he is any kind of scoring threat on offense, his numbers are downright bad in a vaccum, but could be primed for a big Sophmore season if he starts finishing around the rim. We already know what Macura and Blueitt can do. I think we should face guard Blueitt from tip with Jacob evans to reduce his touches and make the other guys beat you. Rarely do Freshman make impacts in this game (Except Jarron, he was a beast) but Xavier has 2 really stand out freshman who could work their way into the rotation: Naji Marshall and Scruggs. Scruggs is a top 40 PG recruit who is know for his effort and intensity. He isn't a deep threat and isn't nearly as dynamic and quick as Sumner was but will be lockdown defender for X and potentially an offensive threat. While Scruggs received the most attention nationally, a lot of Analysts believe Naji Marshall will have the most impact right away for Xavier. He is a wing who can guard and play 1-4 and does a little bit of enough while being really tough. This is a really talented Xavier team, but so was last years and they didn't click until they got a few favorable matchups in the tourney. This season, they will have some chemistry issues to work out with all the new faces and the game being in early December could play into UC's hands.

KP ranking: #31
Off Ranking: #29
Def Ranking: #68

Leading returning scorer: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 18.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 5.7ppg
Leading Returning in Assists: Quinton Goodin (SO G) 3.4

# of returning Starters: 4

Xavier had a ton of talent last year but struggled with Chemistry. My hope is that is the case this year as well and we can punch them in the mouth right away in their own gym. Winning at Cintas is really F'n hard and it won't be easy. On a neutral court, I like our chances head to head but its going to take an all will to win to pull this game off. Cronin has never stepped foot into Cintas with this much offensive fire power. Down goes Xavier!

Ill post the other 2 later today.

Sweet. Thanks.

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by Bearcatboy

11/1 Bellarmine (Exhibition -In Louisville, Freedom Hall) 7p
11/13 Western Carolina
11/16 Coppin State
11/20 Buffalo (Cayman Islands)
11/21 UAB or Richmond (Cayman Islands)
11/22 Louisiana Lafay. / Iowa / SDSU / Wyoming (Cayman Islands)
11/27 Alabama State , 7p , ESPNU
12/2 @ Xavier , Noon , FS1
12/9 Florida (in NJ)
12/12 Mississippi State , 7pm, ESPN2
12/16 @UCLA
12/21 Cleveland State
1/4 @Temple , 9p , ESPN2
1/13 @USF , 7p, ESPNNews
1/20 ECU , 4p, ESPNNews

I assume the 2 extra games will be home games and should be easy wins. So it's time to guess our regular season record!

I'm going to say 26-5 (15-3 AAC). It's really freaking hard to project being better than that. Especially with our strength of schedule (at least at the top) getting a bump this year. This season needs to just go ahead and start already. I'm getting a little antsy.

[justinhub2003]

I want to see full schedule before I make predictions. No doubt AAC will be the best it’s been since year 1. So I’m interested to see turn around times for certain games, how many tough stretches we have .

I do expect at least 2-2 in our top level games in non con and also winning the cayman classic

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by justinhub2003

I want to see full schedule before I make predictions. No doubt AAC will be the best it’s been since year 1. So I’m interested to see turn around times for certain games, how many tough stretches we have .

I do expect at least 2-2 in our top level games in non con and also winning the cayman classic

That's probably the smart thing to do...but no one ever accused me of being smart

The turnaround times really will be key. If the Thursday night ESPN thing holds this year for the AAC game of the week (I haven't heard otherwise), we may find ourselves tipping at a sleepy 11 AM local time on a Sunday after that. Could be tricky depending on the opponent.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

I assume the 2 extra games will be home games and should be easy wins. So it's time to guess our regular season record!

I'm going to say 26-5 (15-3 AAC). It's really freaking hard to project being better than that. Especially with our strength of schedule (at least at the top) getting a bump this year. This season needs to just go ahead and start already. I'm getting a little antsy.

I will say 25-6. The AAC is going to be significantly better. We play our toughest 3 OOC opponents away from home. We won't have the same home court advantage playing off campus.

I say we lose 3 conference road games. 2 OOC games. 1 conference home game.

We will be a better March team and we win the AAC tourney and advance in the dance past the first weekend.

[Bearcatboy]

24-7

[Bcatfollower]

Originally Posted by justinhub2003

Figure I'd do a quick scouting report on the 4 big teams we play next season:

Miss State:
IF I had to quickly sum up this team it would be: Young and Very Talented. They lack a single scholarship senior on the team but have 4 star talent all across the rest of the roster. They bring in highly rated Freshman PG Nick Weatherspoon (4 Star on 247/5 star on Scout) to add to a roster that has 6 other 4 star recruits. Its a pretty staked roster ON PAPER, but as of yet, Ben Howland hasn't had this team gelling just yet but this season they could really make strides. This could end up being a Top 50 opponent for us or at worst a top 75.

KP ranking: #88
Off Ranking: #135
Def Ranking: #72

Leading returning scorer: Quinndary Weatherspoon (JR G) 16.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Aric Holman (JR F) 6.0 RPG
Leading Returning in Assists: Lamar Peters (SO PG) 3.4APG

# of returning Starters: 4

They struggled rebounding the ball on both ends last season and look for UC to exploit in that area. Defended the 3 exceptionally well last season while being pretty bad defending 2 point shots. UC's strong post play, coupled with experience and hometown crowd should lead us to victory. But if we play bad, these guys can make you pay.


Xavier:
The nerds across town went from being top 30 good to top 15 good when Trevon Blueitt decided to get arrested and delay his European career and thus return to Xavier. They have a top 10 recruiting class coming in and also return almost everyone except Grad Transfer Malcolm Bernard and C transfer Rashid Gaston. Bernard's loss will be felt with his 3 point shooting ability and lock down defense and Gaston was mostly a dud but did rebound the ball well when he was in the game. I expect Xavier to run out of a line up of: PG Goodin, G Scruggs, G Macura, F Blueitt and C Tyrique Jones/Sean Omara. Goodin manned the point well for Xavier, but he has yet to prove he is any kind of scoring threat on offense, his numbers are downright bad in a vaccum, but could be primed for a big Sophmore season if he starts finishing around the rim. We already know what Macura and Blueitt can do. I think we should face guard Blueitt from tip with Jacob evans to reduce his touches and make the other guys beat you. Rarely do Freshman make impacts in this game (Except Jarron, he was a beast) but Xavier has 2 really stand out freshman who could work their way into the rotation: Naji Marshall and Scruggs. Scruggs is a top 40 PG recruit who is know for his effort and intensity. He isn't a deep threat and isn't nearly as dynamic and quick as Sumner was but will be lockdown defender for X and potentially an offensive threat. While Scruggs received the most attention nationally, a lot of Analysts believe Naji Marshall will have the most impact right away for Xavier. He is a wing who can guard and play 1-4 and does a little bit of enough while being really tough. This is a really talented Xavier team, but so was last years and they didn't click until they got a few favorable matchups in the tourney. This season, they will have some chemistry issues to work out with all the new faces and the game being in early December could play into UC's hands.

KP ranking: #31
Off Ranking: #29
Def Ranking: #68

Leading returning scorer: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 18.5ppg
Leading returning rebounder: Trevon Blueitt (SR F) 5.7ppg
Leading Returning in Assists: Quinton Goodin (SO G) 3.4

# of returning Starters: 4

Xavier had a ton of talent last year but struggled with Chemistry. My hope is that is the case this year as well and we can punch them in the mouth right away in their own gym. Winning at Cintas is really F'n hard and it won't be easy. On a neutral court, I like our chances head to head but its going to take an all will to win to pull this game off. Cronin has never stepped foot into Cintas with this much offensive fire power. Down goes Xavier!

Ill post the other 2 later today.

Goodin was a to machine at the point. He will play the 2 and scruggs the 1.