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Assuming Evans is gone. I am having a hard time thinking good thoughts about our hoops team next year. Our bench simply did give me ANY confidence, that they can carry the load for next year. Trevor Moore is awful-if he isn't wide open he passes, no mid range game, no driving ability-foul prone, now it's easy to see he wasn't offered by any major programs.

Keith Williams I am higher on, but despite his flashes, he was largely a non factor in his limited minutes. Seems to play reckless, and doesn't shoot a high %.

Nysier Brooks- Is Nysier Brooks. Enough said.

Tre Scott- I struggle to find positive things to say about him. Other than he hustles, umm, can make a shot within 3 feet from the basket, and sometimes rebounds well. He wouldn't start on any other top 25 team.

Cane Broome-He's a YOYO--Up and down-terrible possession in the final seconds dribbling off his thigh-that'll be my take until he does something different.

JJ-absolutely boring to watch. No polish to his game, not a natural scorer, stocky build-yes he plays defense but honestly, so do most people. He can't create his own shot, as others said-other teams don't have to guard him.

No idea about Nsoesme-but does not appears ready for major division one basketball for 10 or so minutes. Other than his build, which really doesn't matter if you suck.

Diarra redshirted-so, no idea about him. But it just seems like another Mbodj, AKA pretty subpar.

Please someone convince me otherwise that I am wrong, and that we'll do well next season.

Assuming Evans is gone, I think that depends on what happens with the final 2 scholarships. Add Cremo and Fredericks, all the sudden things are looking up.

Cumberland should emerge into a 1st team AAC player, and I expect him to take a jump, hopefully improving his FT and 3 pt shooting.

I agree that alot of the other guys look kind of like nice role players with their own little niches, but I do think they all have some nice qualities, but we probably need another Cumberland type player along side them.

I honestly think Broome may make a jump and become more of the player we thought he was coming in. Hopefully working on his ball handling and passing.

Without Evans, and if we cant land a splash recruit, we are probably looking at a 7-9 seed team IMO. Add Evans back and Cremo to the mix, we are probably back to being a 2 pushing for a 1.

Yeesh. I'm not sure anyone can talk you into being optimistic about next year. I will say, Brooks is good. You know nothing about Diarra, dude can shoot. Nsoseme will be an enforcer. Tre could and will start for a Top 25 team at somepoint, all 5 guys don't need to score. We're gonna play smaller, faster I would think. Like, seriously this time. We kinda have to. Young guards will mature.

Every team is different. The pieces coming back next year, while collectively may not be as talented as the pieces in place last year, could actually fit better together and work better as a whole.

Cumberland has the potential to be better than Kilpatrick his last two seasons. Broome had issues this year but showed flashes, if they find the right role for him I like what he can be next season. A lot will depend on whether Moore/Williams can take a nice step forward next year. Scott always rebounds, showed some offensive skill and will defend. The defense probably won't be as great as this season but could very well be a top 5-10 defense again. I think the floor next year is a double digit seed. I think a 6-9 seed is most likely, but they could be better if everything breaks right.

I really hope he comes back. But the statement he put out seemed like he was gone regardless of what happens. I don't really blame him. This coaching staff is not going to dramatically make him better his senior year, he needs a fresh start. That said, if he came back I would smile from ear to ear, but it's just not likely. Cronin is not known to produce NBA quality products. Even Yancy didn't get drafted.

Cumberland is my main reason for being optimistic. I don't know if he is as strong of a pro prospect as Evans, but unlike Evans I think he is wired to be a go-to guy in the vain of Kilpatrick. SK put up 17 and nearly 21 ppg his last two years here, and while I don't know if Cumberland will match that, I could see him averaging 15-18 easily.

Kenyon, Bobby Brannen, Justin Jackson, Leonard Stokes, Ryan Fletcher, Darnell Burton, Lazelle Durden, heck... even Donald Little.

Who are these guys, you ask?

They're all guys who didn't start out their first couple of years setting the world on fire. But they all improved year to year and ended up being great players.

It still happens.

(04-04-2018 02:41 PM)jarr Wrote:  Assuming Evans is gone, I think that depends on what happens with the final 2 scholarships. Add Cremo and Fredericks, all the sudden things are looking up.

Cumberland should emerge into a 1st team AAC player, and I expect him to take a jump, hopefully improving his FT and 3 pt shooting.

I agree that alot of the other guys look kind of like nice role players with their own little niches, but I do think they all have some nice qualities, but we probably need another Cumberland type player along side them.

I honestly think Broome may make a jump and become more of the player we thought he was coming in. Hopefully working on his ball handling and passing.

Without Evans, and if we cant land a splash recruit, we are probably looking at a 7-9 seed team IMO. Add Evans back and Cremo to the mix, we are probably back to being a 2 pushing for a 1.

Bolded, I think this is where I am. Hoping this recruiting class is still a work in progress and we see an impact player (or two) added who can provide some scoring punch. Cumberland showed some real scoring prowess and leadership in March. Prior to that, he had some slumps during the season where he couldn't find his shot from outside the arc. That happens, but the margin for error decreases sharply next season with three double digit scorers gone.

A pretty good former basketball player attended a game with me this past season. When Williams came into the game and took a shot (and missed) this guy immediately commented on his poor shooting mechanics. Can that be fixed at this age/stage for a player in high major college ball? If this guy, unprompted, saw it instantly, are the UC coaches seeing it and working to correct it? If not, I wouldn't count on him as a consistent scorer next year. There's a role for Moore as a set shooter if he can come off the bench and make a high percentage of those. But I agree with the earlier comment that he's got a long way to go in terms of creating alternate shots and staying on the floor by avoiding silly fouls.

I know the end of the season still stings... but the reality is that Mick is a good coach.

Just one example... Keep in mind he won 18 games (including 8 in the Big East) with a bunch of freshman and sophomores trying to support Deonta Vaughn (junior), Mike Williams (senior) and Steve Toyloy (junior).

Yes - some of those freshman were good (Cashmere...Yancy)... but there was no way of knowing in April how good they would be in the upcoming season.

Losing 1,000 point scorers will always hurt. But let's wait and see which of the returning/new players step up.

I'm optimistic that we will play tough D and make the tournament. Not optimistic about favorable seeding or Sweet 16.

Trevor Moore will probably be a really good player one day. Your analysis that he just shoots or passes isn't accurate. He had a nice pump fake that opened up a lot of midrange looks for him. They simply didn't fall this year. As he grows more comfortable next year I'm sure his shooting % will look a lot better. That's really the only thing holding him back right now. His defense was terrific for a freshman and his energy is contagious. To say he is "awful" is just foolish; the guy played significant minutes as a freshman on a top 10 team. Awful players don't do that.

thank goodness we have another thread to voice our concern

Unlike a lot of people I like Moore. I think with increased playing time him and Williams will show lots of improvement.
Brooks will play good D and rebound
I think Scott might be the biggest surprise he defends and rebound well. Plus has shown flashes on offense.
Broome seemed like the odd man out this year. He never seemed like he was sure if he should be trying to score or differ to Jacob and Jarron.
And last Jarron he is going to be the man this year and he will be a star

Another reason I might add to be optimistic is that this year's team reminds me a lot of the 2013-14 team in terms of talent, depth, and experience. While that team flamed out in the tournament, it had a fantastic regular season culminating in a share of the AAC regular season championship.

One thing to consider when evaluating the young guys/bench is how many options we had at each position this season. When guys like Moore or William's made mistakes they were yanked immediately. Now, you could argue that this strategy hurts their development, but it also prevents us from being able to accurately gauge how much they can contribute. Scott may have been a 10 ppg guy on a less talented team. We won't know until next year because we had the reigning AAC POY in front of him. These are good problems to have.

(04-04-2018 02:55 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(04-04-2018 02:41 PM)jarr Wrote:  Assuming Evans is gone, I think that depends on what happens with the final 2 scholarships. Add Cremo and Fredericks, all the sudden things are looking up.

Cumberland should emerge into a 1st team AAC player, and I expect him to take a jump, hopefully improving his FT and 3 pt shooting.

I agree that alot of the other guys look kind of like nice role players with their own little niches, but I do think they all have some nice qualities, but we probably need another Cumberland type player along side them.

I honestly think Broome may make a jump and become more of the player we thought he was coming in. Hopefully working on his ball handling and passing.

Without Evans, and if we cant land a splash recruit, we are probably looking at a 7-9 seed team IMO. Add Evans back and Cremo to the mix, we are probably back to being a 2 pushing for a 1.

Bolded, I think this is where I am. Hoping this recruiting class is still a work in progress and we see an impact player (or two) added who can provide some scoring punch. Cumberland showed some real scoring prowess and leadership in March. Prior to that, he had some slumps during the season where he couldn't find his shot from outside the arc. That happens, but the margin for error decreases sharply next season with three double digit scorers gone.

A pretty good former basketball player attended a game with me this past season. When Williams came into the game and took a shot (and missed) this guy immediately commented on his poor shooting mechanics. Can that be fixed at this age/stage for a player in high major college ball? If this guy, unprompted, saw it instantly, are the UC coaches seeing it and working to correct it? If not, I wouldn't count on him as a consistent scorer next year. There's a role for Moore as a set shooter if he can come off the bench and make a high percentage of those. But I agree with the earlier comment that he's got a long way to go in terms of creating alternate shots and staying on the floor by avoiding silly fouls.

Williams' shot looked better later in the year compared to the beginning. I remember the first time k saw it, it was bad. Really bad. The 3 he hit in the tourney showed much better fundamentals

Everyone wrung their hands, tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth and ashes when Oscar graduated because his was an individual presence far greater than any UC has ever seen since. Right after he left, though, we responded by garnering two consecutive national championships and almost a third. One or two special players is no substitute for sound coaching and a handful of hungry guys adept at both offense and defense who have killer instincts and who mesh as a team. It's amazing how readily a bunch of no-names can gain name recognition when they win game after game after game.

Claiming that games against rivals, marquee opponents, and in tournaments are just like any other games (yawn) isn't exactly motivating. Mick and his Bearcats should strive to kick ass and take names every time the ball is in play.

Seriously though, I think we'll be good again next season. We went 60 something and 11 the past two. Yeah, the tournament success would have been nice, but some people need to be committed based on the hysteria on this board.

NEW ARENA MOJO!!!

(04-04-2018 06:33 PM)dsquare Wrote:  NEW ARENA MOJO!!!

That's been the chant on here for a long time. Not gonna make a Tinker's Damn worth of diff.