Vanderbilt

[Queens_NYC]

Reports of Saunders spraining his ankle at the end of the 1st half and that he was on crutches and a walking boot after the game.

Looks like we'll be finishing the season with 7 scholarship players.

[cincyguy13]

Originally Posted by skyblade

As I've said numerous times in the past, the time for developing a project was last year and this year. It's why I didn't like the Vogt/Sorolla and even Rap signings. Next year the rebuild should be over and we should be fighting for an NCAA tournament spot. I can't see a HS project doing that.

Brannen has put us in a position where we have to rely on transfers at center to turn it around now. If we are using a HS project at center in year 3, we might as well just fire Brannen because that's not getting us to the NCAA tournament.

Well we can’t go back in time and develop one this year. Brannen tried and missed on a couple high school guys. He did try but he has put the team in this position. Best case scenario to piece together something next year, while developing something. Maybe the Russian guy is better than Vogt or dou. That’s all I want next year. Someone who isn’t Vogt or dou.

[TheLivingLegend]

Originally Posted by Queens_NYC

Reports of Saunders spraining his ankle at the end of the 1st half and that he was on crutches and a walking boot after the game.

Looks like we'll be finishing the season with 7 scholarship players.

Yea he did not come out of the lockeroom after half... Also had to be carried into the lockeroom.

[cincrulz11]

I'm not really concerned about last nights game or any game we might have left. It just about getting the young guys as many minutes as possible.

They played like freshman last night. Tari just has these games where its like his mind just isn't in the building. Madsen was cold but took good shots all night long.

MAW is coming around a bit and actually penetrating off the ball movement. Pretty big strides from him lately and thats a great thing.

Big strides all year from Davenport. Big strides at the end from Saunders and MAW.


Maybe picking up that game for the 5th in 12 days wasn't the best considering the extremely small roster, but theres really nothing wrong with just letting the young guys play.

[TheLivingLegend]

I truly think this might be the worst bearcat team in 20 yrs. And yes that includes Nicks early years.

The defense is bad. And I mean very bad. If we aren't making shots we aren't winning.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by skyblade

As I've said numerous times in the past, the time for developing a project was last year and this year. It's why I didn't like the Vogt/Sorolla and even Rap signings. Next year the rebuild should be over and we should be fighting for an NCAA tournament spot. I can't see a HS project doing that.

Brannen has put us in a position where we have to rely on transfers at center to turn it around now. If we are using a HS project at center in year 3, we might as well just fire Brannen because that's not getting us to the NCAA tournament.

I think you have to get both a transfer 5 and a HS kid or at least someone who can give us 2-3 years. We need to build the program as if CJB is going to turn this around. We don't need him to be in panic mode.

To quote a line from one of my favorite movies "Strange Brew". I think the brakes had just stopped working on the van while they were driving and the line was "No point in steering now" and the response was "Take off...you steer this thing".

Well something is not working but we have to keep building the program and not keep putting bandaids on.

[sedziobs]

I think MAW should work on his right hand in the offseason. Part of the reason he doesn't drive a lot is he favors his left hand so much, and defenders that know the scouting report just sit on it. Even when MAW does drive right, he has to finish with his left, which makes him a lot easier to defend. I would guess Vandy didn't scout us much because they let MAW get to his left several times last night.

I think Brannen was forced to go zone because of foul trouble, which resulted in lots of open threes and offensive rebounds. Eason, Diarra, and Vogt combined for 12 fouls in only 43 minutes. We definitely looked like a team full of underclassmen.

[cincrulz11]

Originally Posted by sedziobs

We definitely looked like a team full of underclassmen.

Yep, those games are just going to happen. Underclassmen are almost always inconsistent and when you're depending on 5 of them, there are going to be nights like last night.


It's encouraging for me to see when you take Keith out the team shot 41 times and only 1 of them was a midrange shot. We got a ton of great looks from 3, from the guys we want taking them, Mason was just cold as ice (and we still shot 36% from 3).

The defense was a disaster, but like you mentioned they were forced into that awful zone because they just don't have the bodies.

Brannen mentioned in his postgame that they weren't fully into practice this week, and it showed. I think these guys are ready for the season to be over.


You can see where things are going, well at least on offense. Its not there yet, but you see the plan. They get great shots, they just have to cut down on all the mental mistakes. Defense is trouble, but that can change quickly with an offseason and 1 good big. You'd like to see a real offseason so the guys can learn the defense and the switches and rotations. Some guys are just lost.

[Loser Mentality]

Originally Posted by cincrulz11

Yep, those games are just going to happen. Underclassmen are almost always inconsistent and when you're depending on 5 of them, there are going to be nights like last night.


It's encouraging for me to see when you take Keith out the team shot 41 times and only 1 of them was a midrange shot. We got a ton of great looks from 3, from the guys we want taking them, Mason was just cold as ice (and we still shot 36% from 3).

The defense was a disaster, but like you mentioned they were forced into that awful zone because they just don't have the bodies.

Brannen mentioned in his postgame that they weren't fully into practice this week, and it showed. I think these guys are ready for the season to be over.


You can see where things are going, well at least on offense. Its not there yet, but you see the plan. They get great shots, they just have to cut down on all the mental mistakes. Defense is trouble, but that can change quickly with an offseason and 1 good big. You'd like to see a real offseason so the guys can learn the defense and the switches and rotations. Some guys are just lost.

We got out toughed again, and it's a major theme in most or not all of our losses this year. Not saying the guys Brannen recruited aren't capable of being any player they set their minds to be, but these are nice guys, and that's a recipe for disaster in the AAC of at least toughness that has been branded by our program.

We need recruits and players with an edge, but maybe that is where Brannen the Diplomat maybe draws the line. Who knows?

The Pippen kid is good but, give me 5 wide open 3's I'm going to knock them down too.

Our players helped the other Teams Players off the floor, at any given moment. Those acts of kindness are a small display of weakness, that other teams and coaches take notice of and exploit. Of course not being a jerk about it, but maintaining our competitive edge which the players and program have yet to reach under Brannen.

[cincyguy13]

Originally Posted by Loser Mentality

We got out toughed again, and it's a major theme in most or not all of our losses this year. Not saying the guys Brannen recruited aren't capable of being any player they set their minds to be, but these are nice guys, and that's a recipe for disaster in the AAC of at least toughness that has been branded by our program.

We need recruits and players with an edge, but maybe that is where Brannen the Diplomat maybe draws the line. Who knows?

The Pippen kid is good but, give me 5 wide open 3's I'm going to knock them down too.

Our players helped the other Teams Players off the floor, at any given moment. Those acts of kindness are a small display of weakness, that other teams and coaches take notice of and exploit. Of course not being a jerk about it, but maintaining our competitive edge which the players and program have yet to reach under Brannen.

If you aren’t good, you aren’t going to look tough. If you win, you are. At the beginning of the year, I heard about how tough xavier was and how their culture was about toughness. Well, they are on the bubble again and might miss the tournament for the 4th year in a row. Culture and toughness is great thing to talk about but just be good at basketball.