12-06-2014, 08:14 AM | #1 |
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Early Thoughts
We have a few games under our belts. Here's a few of my thoughts so far:
Troy Caupain - Like what I see and where he's going. I would like his outside shot to be more consistent and for him to be more agressive toward the basket, but he has a nice overall stat line and I think he's on pace to be a really good player. I have to remind myself he just turned 19 and physically has a lot of growth to do still. 9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 2.7 apg isn't bad but that assist number needs to increase and the 2.1 tpg has to go down or remain the same. He's shooting .435 from the field, 83% from the ft line and 35% from the arc. Gary Clark - He has lived up to what I had hoped and is going to be way better. 8.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 bpg, and throwing in 1 steal per game for good measure. He's shooting 58% and 75% from the foul line. Most impressive is that nearly half his rebounds are on the offensive end. He leads the team in that area. Octavious Ellis - He has turned a question mark into an exclamation point! He has been the most consistent Bearcat. 9.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 2.6 bpg. Him and Clark are very good as a combo on the offensive glass. Ellis has grabbed 21 offensive boards secondly only to Clark's 26. With Johnson and Deberry showing signs of coming around, along with Morman's agressiveness, I like what I see so far. We've seen flashes from Cobb and Moore as well and Shaq finally showed up the last game. I'm still concerned with the 2 & 3 positions but overall I see the team starting to play and not think. I've lost none of my enthusiasm for what I think the team can be. There will be moments we pull our hair out but in the end I think we will really enjoy this young group and watching them come together. That's my thoughts, what's yours? |
12-06-2014, 08:46 AM | #2 |
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Jeff, like what I have seen so far.
TC is progressing but my dream is we get a PG who can penetrate and dish a bit more effectively. TC still looks more like a combo guard then a true PG to me. He reminds me more of a young Dixion then Cash. Clark is certainly a guy who has skills and a lot of room to grow. As soon as him and Ellis become better acquainted on the court we will get many more easy baskets. I have seen at least a few times when GC has tried to slip a pass to one of our bigs only for them to mishandle it. He is starting to get a lot of defensive attention when he gets the ball down low. It should help our inside out game and open up offensive rebounding opportunities when the weak side comes to double. While I was happy to see Shaq step up,its the consistent effort we need that other teams need to game plan for that is missing. When he does that it will make everyone else better. Our interior defense needs work. But our perimeter D with Mormon on the floor is very good. KJ is a good defender and his shot is starting to fall but he needs to take better care of the basketball. Cobb,DeBerry.Sanders and Guyn give us good depth. If Strickland leaves, would like to see Mick land a quality big in next years class. Without a true PG running a uptempo offense will be a work in progress that probably won't hit on all cylinders until Jennifer gets here. Love the way the kid passes the ball. Could be the missing link Mick needs to really run the pressing uptempo offense we all want. Haven't had that true PG since Cash left. It was also a shame injuries really limited his effectiveness. As good as he was he could have been better. Last edited by WAITE HOYT 2; 12-06-2014 at 08:53 AM. |
12-06-2014, 10:11 AM | #3 |
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I agree with both assessments. To add to waites comment about if Strickland leaves and landing a quality big.... I completely agree and this needs to be emphasized. I'm thinking if I am a skilled big man, why not come to Cincy?!! Clearly we need one to turn our offense into being efficient. I would be a focal point and get quality minutes. Mick needs to sell this and get a high quality big.
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12-06-2014, 10:40 AM | #4 |
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I think as the season goes on the youngsters will be better at feeding the post and people will find put low post game, while not spectacular, is sufficient. It is our perimeter play that has lacked.
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12-06-2014, 10:54 AM | #5 |
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Responding to the recruiting big men to replace Strickland comments, if Mick gets another big, I sure hope he's either skilled, mobile or both.
Mick's history of recruiting bigs who don't move well (Biggie, Big Dave) is not good, and these type of players don't fit in with Mick's system. How many times has Mick said, I would've loved to play so and so more but the other team went small? He's already said this about Deberry, but Deberry actually has some moves. Guys like Ellis, Clark, JJ, Rubles, they all can move and some are skilled. These are the types of guys I think Mick should go after. Not the traditional 6'10 240 lb center, becuase those guys won't get PT in Mick's system. There's going to be exciting times watching this team grow with the core of Caupain, Clark, Morman, Johnson, Moore and Jenifer. |
12-06-2014, 11:48 AM | #6 |
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I agree with what you guys are saying. But a couple things... I think out of 13 scholarships you have to have a 6'10" 240 true C on the roster. Even if it is someone who doesn't get a ton of regular time. I also think Caupain's outside shooting has been fine. But I agree with the part about wanting him to be more aggresive towards the basket. He's a really good FT shooter, so like Waite says hopefully he really finds that part of the game as an upperclassman when Jenifer allows him to play off the ball more often.
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12-06-2014, 11:51 AM | #7 |
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Also, Mick has talked about Morman improving his ball handling. I'd be interested in seeing him run the point some as he gets older. He could be a little college version of Russell Westbrook with his ability to get in the lane.
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12-06-2014, 12:12 PM | #8 | |
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Quote:
I think the turnover number is going to go down. He didn't turn it over a lot as a freshman and he's had 1 turnover or less in 5 of 8 games, he just had a couple sloppy games. Most of his turnovers also seem to be mental errors instead of a lack of ability to hold on to the ball. His assist numbers are likely to always suffer until we run a real offense. Very tough to get assists in certain games with this offense. He's obviously capable of racking them up (6 vs. Stony Brook, 6 vs Morehead). |
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12-06-2014, 02:25 PM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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12-06-2014, 04:17 PM | #10 | |
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I think our guards are coming around. our perimeter shooting is still inconsistent, but that is to be expected with college Bball. The future looks very bright. On a side note, our conference looks terrible so far. |
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