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Old 11-23-2020, 11:09 AM   #101
skyblade
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Originally Posted by Queens_NYC View Post
Our schedule was released last week for those that may have missed it.

https://gobearcats.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

25 games
20 AAC games (home and away w/ other 10 teams)
5 OOC games (3 home, 2 away)

The Enquirer offered a nice breakdown of the OOC schedule if you can get access to the article

We're looking at:

Lipscomb (home - 12/2)
Xavier (home - 12/6)
Furman (home - 12/9)
Tennessee (away - 12/12)
Georgia (away - 12/19)

If we're able to play all 5 games then I'd say:

5-0 = remarkable; on pace to win AAC
4-1 = very good; should compete to win AAC
3-2 = not bad; especially if the losses are competitive
2-3 = a little troublesome; still time to turn things around
1-4 = looking at a rebuilding year
0-5 = only see this happening if we have to play significantly short-handed

My initial guess will be 3-2 with losses @Tenn and X/Furman.

What do others think?
I'm expecting 3-2 or 2-3, I'd be more surprised by 4-1 than by 1-4. Don't expect 0-5 or 5-0.

With lots of new faces and freshmen, I think it's going to take a bit for us to really build into a solid team. But this year we don't have a lot of time to work out kinks, it's almost straight into the fire.
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Old 11-23-2020, 11:26 AM   #102
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I pretty much agree with waterhead, my big question with the freshmen is how much will they play? Everything Brannen says indicates that he wants to go 10 deep and run at every opportunity.

But the combination of Rap/Vogt is pretty ill suited for running. If they are playing together often are we actually going to be a team that pounds it inside? We have a lot of experience with Cronin promising to run and then never following through, is Brannen going to be the same? His resume indicates he wants to run, but if he starts Rap/Vogt together, it makes it hard to believe.

As with waterhead my biggest concern with Diarra is if he has picked up the 4. He was much better at the 5 last year, but if he only plays the 5 there will only be so many minutes to go around with Vogt/Diarra.

Unlike many it seems I am am also quite concerned about Rap. Not much I have seen convinced me he can play defense at the 4 at this level, especially if he has Vogt - a poor help defender - at the 5. Rap got beat quite a bit off the drive at Colgate when he played the 4 and the AAC is going to have better players. Offensively Rap isn't exactly a sure thing either, his numbers 2 years ago were impressive, but last year the numbers he put up weren't even good at the Colgate level. With tougher defenders, he may struggle on offense at times as well.

I imagine that DeJulius and Keith will average 30+ minutes, limiting minutes for their backups. The big spot where minutes are going to be available is at SG (and possibly the 4 depending on how things play out with Rap/Diarra). I actually think Mason may surprise with the number of minutes he gets. Gabe is known for being a worse defender/rebounder than Mason and if we want a 3-and-D guy Mason may get in over Gabe. Gabe has more potential, but if it takes a while for him to get good at defense, Mason may get more minutes this season.
I wonder a little bit about Rap and his defense or lack of. it won't cut it at this level and I don't think Brannen is just going to roll over. I think Rap has bigger dreams and CJB will help him get there and playing D is going to be high on that list. As well, Rap won't have to be the focal point on offense allowing him to pick better spots and be more efficient. He is going to have to do both of these things to improve his pro stock. He didn't come here for the hell of it.

Along the same lines I don't know about the Gabe and Mason thing. Again, CJB will let them know what each player has to do to get in the game. Gabe will adjust his intensity on D if he wants to play. I could see a scenario where he puts them in the game for heat checks and see who's knocking down 3's.

He has the bench this year to use if players are taking plays off.
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Old 11-23-2020, 12:16 PM   #103
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I wonder a little bit about Rap and his defense or lack of. it won't cut it at this level and I don't think Brannen is just going to roll over. I think Rap has bigger dreams and CJB will help him get there and playing D is going to be high on that list. As well, Rap won't have to be the focal point on offense allowing him to pick better spots and be more efficient. He is going to have to do both of these things to improve his pro stock. He didn't come here for the hell of it.

Along the same lines I don't know about the Gabe and Mason thing. Again, CJB will let them know what each player has to do to get in the game. Gabe will adjust his intensity on D if he wants to play. I could see a scenario where he puts them in the game for heat checks and see who's knocking down 3's.

He has the bench this year to use if players are taking plays off.
It's not as easy as just telling a player it's not going to cut it though. We've seen plenty of cases with both Brannen and Cronin where despite the coaches best efforts, the guy never really got it together on defense.

The question I have is what position does Rap play, here and in the pro's? It's hard to see him as a 4 at any pro level and Brannen has talked about Rap playing Vogt tough in practices. Rap definitely has some effort/intensity issues on defense, but mobility and size wise he seems well suited to playing center. It's hard to see him as a PF at a higher level.

I'm excited to see the answer when we actually play a game. I could see the minutes breakdown being something like Vogt 20-25 (at center), Rap 20-25 (15-20 center, 5-10 at PF) and Diarra 25-30 at PF (depending on development of Eason/Davenport).

Essentially Rap/Vogt would share duties at center, but play together with Rap at PF for 5-10 minutes each game to give a change of pace. Diarra would start at PF with Vogt and play some sort of hybrid with Rap (where either play could be at center/PF at any given time of defense depending on the situation).

Of course that depends on Diarra playing the 4, something he struggled with last year. But it seems like the most sensible rotation based on the players we have.
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Old 11-23-2020, 01:28 PM   #104
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I have zero expectations for this season.

So I’m 100% less focused on wins & losses and more focused on growth.

I wanna see better defense, a flowing offense and growth from our young guys.


I do think playing Rap and Vogt at the same time is going to be asking for problems defensively. Just need to score more than the other team when those guys are out there. I think rebounding will also be a sore spot for those two guys.


By mid season I’d like to see rap paired with Dou and Vogt paired with Tari. I think it will makes us more balanced.

Guard wise, Zach Harvey is the guy I’m expecting big growth from. I want to see him shake those freshman jitters and just play.

I don’t have huge expectations from the freshman. We need them to help but we don’t need them to be great. With DD, KW, MAW, & ZH, that should be enough to hold down a long of minutes.
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Old 11-23-2020, 01:31 PM   #105
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But I am also excited to see Keith Williams get the keys to the car.

I went back and watched the @USF game and he was brilliant in that comeback. When he believes in himself, he can be unstoppable with his athleticism.
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Old 11-23-2020, 03:47 PM   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skyblade View Post
It's not as easy as just telling a player it's not going to cut it though. We've seen plenty of cases with both Brannen and Cronin where despite the coaches best efforts, the guy never really got it together on defense.

The question I have is what position does Rap play, here and in the pro's? It's hard to see him as a 4 at any pro level and Brannen has talked about Rap playing Vogt tough in practices. Rap definitely has some effort/intensity issues on defense, but mobility and size wise he seems well suited to playing center. It's hard to see him as a PF at a higher level.

I'm excited to see the answer when we actually play a game. I could see the minutes breakdown being something like Vogt 20-25 (at center), Rap 20-25 (15-20 center, 5-10 at PF) and Diarra 25-30 at PF (depending on development of Eason/Davenport).

Essentially Rap/Vogt would share duties at center, but play together with Rap at PF for 5-10 minutes each game to give a change of pace. Diarra would start at PF with Vogt and play some sort of hybrid with Rap (where either play could be at center/PF at any given time of defense depending on the situation).

Of course that depends on Diarra playing the 4, something he struggled with last year. But it seems like the most sensible rotation based on the players we have.
I would not argue it would be nice if Dou could play the 4. but I haven't heard much to suggest that will be his main position. Dou can't really put the ball on the ground and is not a great passer. If he and Vogt are in that leaves 3 guys running the motion. Rap will be a 4th player who can run the motion and Eason would probably be a 5th.

I would agree that Vogt and Eason or Rap and Dou give us the best motion offense while giving us some perimeter defensive options at the same time. Rap and Dou would be something Brannen could really run everything with. Vogt limits our options but sometimes we will need that inside presence.
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Old 11-23-2020, 03:51 PM   #107
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But I am also excited to see Keith Williams get the keys to the car.

I went back and watched the @USF game and he was brilliant in that comeback. When he believes in himself, he can be unstoppable with his athleticism.
If Keith goes all out this year he will be first team with an outside shot to get CPOY. He will likely make some bonehead plays by trying to do too much at times but he's good enough to make big plays for us. The key will be his willingness to assist his teammates and not have a one track mind. Cumberland was always a willing passer. Keith will need to do that as well. He should get 3-4 assists per game.
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Old 11-23-2020, 03:54 PM   #108
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I would not argue it would be nice if Dou could play the 4. but I haven't heard much to suggest that will be his main position. Dou can't really put the ball on the ground and is not a great passer. If he and Vogt are in that leaves 3 guys running the motion. Rap will be a 4th player who can run the motion and Eason would probably be a 5th.

I would agree that Vogt and Eason or Rap and Dou give us the best motion offense while giving us some perimeter defensive options at the same time. Rap and Dou would be something Brannen could really run everything with. Vogt limits our options but sometimes we will need that inside presence.
When I say running that motion I mean guys who can shoot, dribble or pass without thinking too much. Dou can knock an open 3. Rap and Eason give you more options.
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Old 11-23-2020, 04:56 PM   #109
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Rick Barnes and multiple other "personnel" for Tennessee tested positive today. That could potentially include players. Two of their games this week have been cancelled. We'll have to see if our matchup with them is affected, which is nearly 3 weeks from now.
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Old 11-25-2020, 10:21 AM   #110
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Brannen, DeJulius and Rap had a press conference recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQoXkxVOnQ4.

Not much new there, Brannen talked about the struggle of not playing another team. He says that the rotation isn't really set and he needs to see how guy perform against competition. Sounds like we will go pretty deep in our first few games just to try to figure out what works.

DeJulius and Rap had a lot of praise for a lot of guys. It seemed like Saunder's - extremely fast - and Eason - extremely athletic, good defender, can handle like a guard and shoot the three - got the most praise among freshmen. Rap talked about personally needing to improve at defense, said it was never a point of emphasis at Colgate. Said - as a number of us have already speculated - that there will big a lot of options among bigs, with Rap/Vogt being the big/tough offensive guys and Eason/Diarra being excellent athletic defenders. He also said Eason and Diarra are very physical as well, said Diarra might be the most physical guy on the team.

DeJulius said that we've been mainly working on defense. Said Brannen trusts that they can play offense and doesn't need to teach it, so the focus is heavily on defense.

According to Brannen we are a young team with a lot of new faces. Said he needs to see us play against real competition before he knows how good we are.
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