11-01-2021, 02:40 PM | #221 | |
Epic Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,655
|
Here are a few items to wet your palette before the season officially starts next week
Highlights from the "secret" scrimmage against Ohio Bobcats (Chad said we won in a close one): https://twitter.com/GoBearcatsMBB/st...18077289746433 Also, this was posted on another site: Quote:
|
|
11-01-2021, 06:07 PM | #222 |
Epic Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,790
|
Great info. It's hard to imagine Lahkin playing as the 4 not being a major issue on defense due to lack of movement. Perhaps he's a freak athlete, but it's hard to avoid flashbacks of Vogt/Rap. Ado/Koval are better movers than Vogt was, but are any of them going to be able to guard a 6'7" PF who can shoot? Will we be able to play enough bully ball to make up for poor defense? Perhaps with Lakhin/Ado, but Koval isn't known for his rebounding.
I believe Chad among others has reported that they coaching staff see Davenport as a 4. I think he's a bit slow footed to guard at the three and teams would take advantage of the mismatch. Whereas at the 4 he is a mismatch due to his shooting ability. Perhaps Hensley can play the 3 though, he is said to be a freak athlete. Perhaps we will see something like Ado/Lahkin at the 5, JD/Ody at the 4 and Newman/Hensley at the 3. Koval and AJ would be the odd ones out (mostly on the bench) in that scenario. |
11-02-2021, 08:01 AM | #223 |
Epic Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,329
|
I guess again I don't understand why DDJ is a 2 when his entire skillset is being a 1.
I hope the info on the russian sniper is true. We could use a big with that game. He's more athletic and fluid than our previous big guy centers. I wanna see the DDJ, Mason, JD, russian sniper, Koval lineup. They might give up 200 points a game, but offense would be fun to watch (not sure i really want to see it, i just like the thought of no post players). |
11-02-2021, 09:48 AM | #224 |
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 9,298
|
With the news on Lakhin and Hensley being legit potential contributors we are truly looking like we can be 4 deep in most positions. Assuming we can slide many players to at least 2 different positions. The lineup combination potential is going to be crazy and probably take a while to see what works together.
Ado/Koval/Lakhin/Ody Davenport/Ody/Lakhin/Hensley/Banks Newman/Hensley/Davenport/Madsen/Banks Dejulius/MAW/Madsen/Newman/McGinnis Saunders/Dejulius/MAW/Madsen Keeping enough offense on the floor while trying to be elite on D is going to take some master planning |
11-05-2021, 09:05 AM | #225 |
Epic Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,655
|
Justin Berg was on Chad's basketball preview podcast and I thought I'd share some player notes from a recent practice he attended:
DeJulius His biggest stance from the segment was that our offense will go as far as DeJulius takes it... He will be our greatest facilitator but there are worries about how successful he'll be given his size.... He's confident that he'll be a much better outside shooter than last season. Saunders Projects to be the starting PG... Identified him as one of two "wildcards" that will play a big role in the team's success Newman Praised his hustle and scrappiness... He plays like a "traditional" Bearcat... Wasn't too sure about his outside shot or his ability to consistently score Davenport He was hardly discussed other than reiterating that his game is more catch-and-shoot than creating off the dribble Ado Questions how effective he'll be due to his limitations on offense... Made it seem like he was very limited with the ball in his hands... Didn't say anything new about his defensive contributions MAW Expects him to be the first guard off the bench due to his versatility with playing the 1/2... Didn't have much to say otherwise Madsen Identified him as the other "wildcard" due to being a reliable guy off the bench who can stretch the floor and provide instant offense Ody He's built in a similar form to Newman with his energy and style of play... Made note of how he tries to dunk everything when he gets within a few feet of the basket Koval Complimented his shooting and shot blocking... insinuated that he wasn't going to be an impact player Hensley Was as intrigued by him as anyone else, specifically his physical attributes... Said he showed some flashes on offense but looked quite lost during other parts of practice... Is really excited to see what his game looks like in 2 years McGinnis Loves his shot... Like Hensley, made mention that defense was going to keep him off the court Lakhin Saw some impressive moves from him and thinks that he'll definitely get his looks on the court Overall, Justin expressed a bit of concern about how we were going to score this season. He predicted we'd go 18-13, which is on the more pessimistic side of predictions I've seen so far. |
11-05-2021, 12:09 PM | #226 |
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 2,395
|
I can't question much of that without having seen the team play together yet, but the starting lineup being proposed definitely scares me. DDJ as the guy who carries our offense says more about the other four starters than it does him. Bad defense at the 1-3 positions was a recipe for disaster with no rim protection. Adding Ado, Ody, and Koval means we can afford to take more risks playing shooters that don't defend all that well. If Hensley, McGinnis, Madsen, and Lakhin are showing potential on offense, I would gladly accept playing one or two of them if we have Newman and a shot blocker out there. Especially so since they all have 4 years of eligibility remaining and may be our foundation going forward. I'm not even convinced that a team with a pair of 6'0 guards and slightly undersized forwards can be that great defensively.
|
11-05-2021, 03:45 PM | #227 | |
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 9,298
|
Quote:
Expecting major jumps from anyone is more of a rare bonus than anything. Although I suspect if DD is seeing his 3 ball fall it will benefit the rest of his play making game as well. I also agree with Seds on having Newman and Ado out there allows us to throw 2-3 offensive guys out there without getting killed on D hopefully. It would be nice if we can keep 3 good players on each side of the ball rather than 2 though. Having two 6'0" guards and an average athleticism Davenport on the court kind of limits your D potential. I hope DD settles back in at the 1 so we can throw more length on D with a MAW, Madsen, or Hensley etc on the wing to compliment Newman. I think that will improve our offense and defense over Mikey and David out there at the same time but stranger things have happened I guess so we shall see. |
|
11-06-2021, 07:54 AM | #228 |
Epic Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,790
|
I listened to BCJ hoops podcast, one note is to take everything from Berg with a grain of salt. Berg himself admitted he hasn't been paying much attention to UC hoops (he didn't for example know Lakhin was healthy or know that highlights of the UC/OU scrimmage had been posted). He went to one two hour practice and got everything from observing that one practice - though he did also talk to some coaches/guys at the practice.
As we all know, two hours of game, much less practice is often not enough. If a player has a bad day or just an unlucky streak, they can look much better (or worse) than they really are. There are also guys who look much better in games than at practice (or vice versa). That said, Chad was in agreement with Berg's win/loss prediction (17-20 wins was the general consensus). But he made sure to emphasize that we don't really know anything about this team and won't know until we see them play some games. The scary part of both Berg's and Chad's notes is there may only be three guys - MAW, Saunders, DDJ - on the team who are able to create off the dribble and since they are all guards, they won't all be on the court at the same time. MAW's creation is also more fast break based. There are one/two more guys who maybe can create (Lakhin and possibly Hensley), but there are questions over if they can get on the court with defense/rebounding (especially for Hensley). Everyone else either is primarily a spot up shooter (Newman, Mason, McGinnis, Davenport, Koval) or has limited offensive ability (Ody, Ado). Chad also said he does not think we will press - at least not at first. Apparently he's heard that we've struggled with the press in practice and against both OU and Detroit Mercy. Especially if we run lineups with two bigs, we just don't have the movement/speed to press. Which may limit Mikey's offensive ability. It seems like we are hoping that somebody shows more offensive ability than has been seen is practice. Otherwise our offense may consist of chuck it up and grab the rebound, especially if teams are able to stop DDJ/MAW/Saunders. Even with MAW/Saunders we are hoping for something we haven't seen in the past, DDJ is the only guy on the team who has shown the ability to both score and distribute with consistency. |
11-06-2021, 12:41 PM | #229 | |
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 9,298
|
Quote:
I think we are going to need some heavy movement on the perimeter to keep the defense running rather than let them guard the 3 ball all day. We have to break the lane and kick or dump IMO. |
|
11-09-2021, 09:39 PM | #230 |
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 2,395
|
The AAC is undefeated so far, but with some close come from behind wins needed against bad teams (WSU vs Jacksonville St, Houston vs Hofstra). Georgia was down at the half to FIU but came back to win by 7. X only beat Niagara by 3. Miami OH won at Georgia Tech (last year's ACC tournament champions and a 9 seed). That could turn into a quality game for us, especially since it's on the road.
|
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|