Around the Country

[UCalum08]

Originally Posted by Bearcat_NTS

Memphis is playing really hard but I think this is more of an indictment on how flawed Connecticut is. They are shooting just 29% from the floor. After the SMU win I thought UConn was turning the corner (and maybe they still will when the conference tournament starts).

Good point. Its surprising to me that UConn hasn't had a little better success. Its safe to say no one wants to play UConn in the tourney.

Memphis takes the lead....let's see what boatwright will do.

[UCalum08]

Wow what a win for Memphis.

Maybe that will keep UC aware of what could happen to them if they don't bring it.

[jacobkdoyle]

As much as I don't like Memphis, I actually do like Shaq Goodwin.

[Bearcat_NTS]

Originally Posted by UCalum08

Wow what a win for Memphis.

Terrific win for Memphis. They now hold the tie-breaker over UConn meaning the Huskies are looking at the 6 seed unless they win @Temple and UC beats Memphis.

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by UCalum08

Wow what a win for Memphis.

I think I'd rather play UConn in the conference tourney than Memphis back to back.

[Bearcat_NTS]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

As much as I don't like Memphis, I actually do like Shaq Goodwin.

Their team is similar to Cincinnati (in terms of the caliber of players), the difference is coaching.

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by Bearcat_NTS

Their team is similar to Cincinnati (in terms of the caliber of players), the difference is coaching.

Really? Shaq Goodwin is a top 50 player, Nichols top 20, Markel Crawford top 60, Dom Woodson top 80, Powell and Magee top 100, Dedric Lawson coming in is top 30.

Doesn't seem similar to me

[UCalum08]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

Really? Shaq Goodwin is a top 50 player, Nichols top 20, Markel Crawford top 60, Dom Woodson top 80, Powell and Magee top 100, Dedric Lawson coming in is top 30.

Doesn't seem similar to me

But they too, put their pants on, one leg at a time.

[JasonS]

Originally Posted by Bearcat_NTS

Their team is similar to Cincinnati (in terms of the caliber of players), the difference is coaching.

The local Memphis area is much better for recruiting than Cincinnati typically is. As a result, Memphis always seems to get the top players out of that area but the coaching, as you said, leaves a lot to be desired.

Also, to someone's point about recruiting rankings, you can't just look at the recruit to see the talent level on a team. You have to also look at how players have progressed. The UC coaching staff does a great job in finding players that are either below the radar or just undervalued and coaching them up to be really good to great college players. I think NTS was saying, if you look at both rosters, the talent level is very similar. That doesn't mean one set of players wasn't ranked higher coming out of high school. I think he is accurate in his assessment.

[Bearcat_NTS]

Originally Posted by JasonS

The local Memphis area is much better for recruiting than Cincinnati typically is. As a result, Memphis always seems to get the top players out of that area but the coaching, as you said, leaves a lot to be desired.

Also, to someone's point about recruiting rankings, you can't just look at the recruit to see the talent level on a team. You have to also look at how players have progressed. The UC coaching staff does a great job in finding players that are either below the radar or just undervalued and coaching them up to be really good to great college players. I think NTS was saying, if you look at both rosters, the talent level is very similar. That doesn't mean one set of players wasn't ranked higher coming out of high school. I think he is accurate in his assessment.

Exactly. Both teams recruit the same type of player, meaning very good athletes that aren't as skilled players. They even recruit a lot of the same players, especially in the late recruiting period. Like Jason said, they will always have 2-3 guys that are highly ranked from the Memphis area but this year in particular, their roster is comprised of a lot of guys similar to Cincinnati. Kids that are very athletic and play extremely hard, not so much skill. The difference is Cincinnati is much more structured offensively and defensively. If you give Mick the current roster of Memphis, we'd have a very similar record to the one we have now.