Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Penn State

(

N.C. Brown

| The News Record)

The Bearcats got the job done, dominating wire to wire against Penn State in the consolation game of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-Off. After the letdown against Rhode Island, it was encouraging to see UC put the clamp on the Nittany Lions and cruise to a dominating 71–50 victory that wasn’t even as close as the score makes it seem. Here’s the scoop:

Positives:

• Kyle Washington is going to give the AAC all it can handle. Unless the wheels completely fall off, I can’t envision a scenario in which he isn’t a first team all-conference player. He’s putting up video game numbers through four games, and it doesn’t look flukey. He’s just that good. Sunday brought 16 points and 17 rebounds. We still saw flashes of poor shot selection, dumb fouls, and bad turnovers, but I think Mick will stomach a certain amount of those issues if Washington is going to be a dependable scorer and rebounder all year.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV, GIF by OhVarsity)

• Tre Scott was terrific. I’ve said that Scott’s freshman season is a “take what you can get” year. He won’t be required to do very much aside from play without making major mistakes. Against Penn State, he went above and beyond, shooting 5-of-6 for 10 points, three rebounds, an assist, and a block in just 18 minutes. With the short rest between games, Mick needed to rely on Tre. He came through big time, and did a marvelous job of picking his spots. Penn State gave him a couple wide open mid-range jumpers. He said “thank you very much,” and knocked them down. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV, GIF by OhVarsity)

• The ‘Cats did what needed to be done. Before tip-off, this game looked like a big win on paper. UC is a veteran team that wanted to bounce back from a game they blew against Rhode Island. Penn State is led by freshman coming off a game in which they burnt themselves out trying to beat the #1 team in the country. This was a game UC should have won decisively, and they did. It’s nice to see the Bearcats pass tests like this. It’s good to see them quickly respond to a tough loss by fighting off sore muscles and pounding a solid Penn State team.
• Gary Clark took it easy. He only took four shots, and they were basically the only shots he had to take all day. However, he made all three and also threw in six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Given the short layoff and the fact that the game was a blowout early, I don’t think he wanted to do much more than that. He gave UC what they needed today, and made a pretty step-back to open the scoring.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV, GIF by OhVarsity)

• Jacob Evans moved the chains. It’s pretty cool when 14 points, five rebounds, and two steals from a sophomore elicits an ehh reaction, but that’s where we are with Jacob Evans. He hit some pretty shots. He had a couple strong finishes. He also made some sophomore mistakes. He’s having a great year so far, and an easy 5-for-7 afternoon against Penn State kept things rolling.
• UC put the lid on Tony Carr. He’s just a freshman, but he’s good, or at least he’s going to be. He racked up 20 points and six rebounds against #1 Duke on Saturday. On Sunday, the Bearcats cut that in half, holding him to 10 points and two boards on 3-for-9 shooting. Part of can be attributed to the fact that he’s just a freshman, making him streaky on top of being unprepared to play back-to-back against ranked teams. However, the Bearcats still limited him, which was an encouraging sign. They’ll face players like him in the conference slate.
• The Bearcats still look good, plain and simple. They shot 50% against the Nittany Lions and so many things looked easy for them. Passes are better. Ball movement is better. Shot selection is better. For the third time this season, they’ve maintained a lead despite stretches of less-than-stellar play. I think a mark of a good team is being able to stay in the game (or even lead it) while you find your footing.

Negatives:

• Troy Caupain had a rough weekend. After shooting 4-for-15 against Rhode Island and looking generally bad, Troy finished 5-for-13 against Penn State. He showed a bit of improvement on paper, but he didn’t look that much better in his eye test, especially in the first half. Hopefully all we’re seeing is a guy struggling to live up to the pressure of being a senior point guard in the Cronin system. I can’t imagine his struggles will drag on much longer, but it’s definitely not fun to watch right now. Regardless, he’s still Troy Caupain, so he impacted the game in other ways. His stat line included seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal. He’s also clearly the leader of this team. Even if he isn’t scoring, things just don’t quite work as well when he’s on the bench.
• The three-point shooting is still not great, although a lot of that has to do with the aforementioned shooting struggles from Caupain. UC shot 6-for-17 against Penn State, but Troy led with five attempts, making just one. I wish they looked better from outside, but you have to believe this team will regress to the mean and shoot a bit better moving forward.
• Kevin Johnson is still floundering, and seems to have lost all confidence in himself. He stepped up and knocked down a pretty three-pointer in the second half, but he passed up a couple open shots earlier. He finished with just three points on 1-for-4 shooting and 0-for-2 at the line. He did have three steals without a turnover, but it still feels like some kind of roster adjustment is imminent.
• Free throw shooting needs to be better. The Bearcats only got themselves 10 shots at the charity stripe, which isn’t that great. Worse, they only made five of them. All five misses were by guards, three by seniors. Inexcusable.

The Bearcats return to Clifton for a Wednesday game against the Samford Bulldogs at 7 PM on ESPN3. I’d like to see UC use the next two outings against soft opponents to break Troy and Kevin out of their funks before a brutal road game at Iowa State to open December.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Rhode Island

(David Butler II — USA TODAY Sports)

In their first challenge of the season, the Cincinnati Bearcats fell short at the hands of the Rhode Island Rams. It looked a lot like the key games last season, which is terrifying. However, I think this team is much better than last year’s group, so I’m not gonna give up hope after one tough loss. There is more than enough to get excited about, and we saw a lot of it tonight, even in defeat. Here’s what happened:

Positives:

• Jacob Evans is off to an All-American start. ESPN’s John Gasaway put him in the early Player of the Year race — which I’m not brave enough to do — but the point remains. His sky-high expectations were warranted, and he’s averaging 23.3 points per game this season. Again, he’s a sophomore. Against Rhode Island, he shot 8-for-12 for 25 points and threw in six rebounds. It’s becoming clear that he’s the type of reliable scorer that a Mick Cronin team needs. To top it off, he seems to shine the most in the biggest games. The Kilpatrick comparisons will keep coming.

• Kyle Washington is magical. I won’t drone on and on, because I’ve done it after every game, but he continues to score consistently and confidently in the post and come up with big baskets.

• This team survived for a while despite not playing perfectly. Throughout the first half, they held a comfortable lead because they made shots and maximized the few mistakes Rhode Island made. Basically, we have enough offensive ability to cover up mistakes… to a certain extent. This hasn’t been the case in the past, and it will make a difference this season when UC needs to withstand a shaky half like they did in the first against Rhode Island.
• It’s only November. The Bearcats got thrown into the fire in their third game, which can never hurt. The season is very young, and the ‘Cats have a chance to do what they couldn’t do last season and learn from a tough loss and use it to better themselves. I’m not freaking out quite yet.

Negatives:

• Troy Caupain fell short when the Bearcats needed him. I love him to death, but in a game like this, UC needs him to be better than 4-for-14. He also missed the front end of a key 1-and-1, which is something you expect from a freshman (Cumberland also did it), not the preseason favorite for conference player of the year. I can’t sit here and say his mentality was wrong, because he took his shots and attacked the rim. But he needs to be a bit pickier and more controlled. There were times when it seemed he was looking only for the foul, it didn’t come, and he ended up with a wild brick for a layup. He simply has to be better, especially in big games.
• Kevin Johnson might be an issue. I went through this with Shaq Thomas, but there’s a certain point as a fan when you have to come to grips with the fact that a player you want to succeed isn’t going to do it. I think I’m getting there with KJ. In my season storyline piece, I wrote that his narrow skill set should be covered up in a lineup that is filled with dynamic players. I might have been wrong. He shot just 1-for-4, had a pair of turnovers, and three personal fouls. To top it off, he made some key defensive mistakes. I’ve said that I’m not sold on the idea of playing Justin Jenifer at point guard, but I think it’s worth a shot. There is a time and a place for KJ, but I’m starting to think it’s not as a starter.
• Get used to these kinds of games from Washington. He’ll do fantastic things like score 23 points and jaw at the other team’s bench. He’ll also do terrible things like take awful shots in big moments and score zero points after jawing at the other team’s bench. I can’t remember the last time a player went from fantastic to awful this quickly in the span of one half.
• It’s last season all over again. The Bearcats worked themselves into a close game with a few minutes remaining, at which point they blew key offensive opportunities, made horrendous defensive mistakes, and fell victim to the opposing team making everything they shot. Sound familiar? This team is better than last year’s team, but they just lost a game that last year’s team would’ve lost. I hope this doesn’t become a trend. It shouldn’t.
• Gary Clark disappeared. This actually may be the scariest part of this game for me. With Kyle Washington acting like a scoring machine in the paint, Gary was pushed off to the side. He scored just four points on 1-of-5 shooting, meaning he didn’t get nearly enough tries and wasn’t in a rhythm for the few chances he got. Gary and Kyle need to figure out how to co-exist, especially offensively.
• The bench did nothing. They shot 1-for-3 for four points. Needless to say, that’s not great. Justin Jenifer looked over-eager on defense, picking up two fouls to go with a pretty three-pointer he had in the first half. Jarron Cumberland really looked like a freshman, and was lost in all facets, aside from a wonderful assist to set up that Jenifer three-pointer I just mentioned. I need to see a bit more from Jenifer and Cumberland, but I think we’ll see a lot of games like this where they combine for single digits. UC will use a really short bench in close games.

Gorgeous dish from Cumberland to Jenifer. (Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV, GIF by OhVarsity)

• The second half defense was putrid. After a solid first half that saw UC give up just 31 points, they were gouged for 45 after halftime. Remember the Butler game last year? UC held a good offense to 28 points in the opening half. They gave up 50 in the second. Lock down defense is only worth the investment when it locks down everyone. Trampling mid-level teams is nice, but you can’t afford to get broken by every big time opponent like UC did last season and tonight.
• No Duke game. This will be the biggest fallout of the non-conference schedule. The Bearcats missed a chance to add a key win to their resume, and missed a chance to add #1 Duke to their RPI numbers.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Albany

(

N.C. Brown

| The News Record)

On Monday, the Bearcats looked sloppy, sluggish, and stupid in the first half. In the second half, they replicated what they had going on Friday and stormed out to a convincing 74–51 victory over a solid Albany team. It was a nerve wracking first half that ended up being offset by a great finish. I still think this team is going to be special, but we’ll find out for sure this weekend. Let’s get to it:

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

Positives:

• The offense still looks potent, as long as everyone is where they should be. That means no more of the foul trouble we had on Monday. As soon as the starters returned in the second half, the offense (and defense) got back in gear and took off.
• Troy Caupain is still stuffing the box score. He finished with eight points, four rebounds, five assists, four steals, and zero turnovers. I hope the low scoring is because of the weak opponent, because — while he doesn’t need to shoot for 20 every night — UC will play games where they need 15 from him. First and foremost, he’s the facilitator. But he also needs to be able to get points when needed. That being said, the lack of turnovers is huge after he played an uncharacteristically sloppy game against Brown.
• The 1st Annual Troy Caupain Dunk Contest

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

• Kyle Washington is already making this team better. I said it after the last game, and I’ll say it again: Having someone of his size and energy with offensive acumen is glorious. He shot 6-for-8 from the field, and it feels like an answer from God when he turns a mediocre posession into points with is knack for finding the net down lown. I predict UC fans will end up saying a lot of things this year that make us sound like we hated Octavius Ellis. Obviously that’s not the case, but Washington will hopefully continue to be easy to gush about. The Bearcats have managed to find a guy that’s consistently done a lot of this:

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

• Is Jacob Evans actually Sean Kilpatrick? He put together a very SK stat line on Monday with 19 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals on 2-of-7 from outside and 7-of-8 from the line. Looking at the box score is like taking a trip back to 2014. Obivously I’d like if he could clean it up a bit from behind the arc, but if he’s scoring efficiently otherwise, I’m okay with letting him shoot a bit and hoping he gets hot. The most exciting part about Monday was his ability to get to the line. He got himself eight free throws and turned an otherwise decent offensive night into 19 huge points. Jacob had high expectations coming into the season, and he’s absolutely met them through two games.
• I think I’m in love with Justin Jenifer. What a revalation this kid has been through two games. Several, including Cronin, hyped him up as the most improved player on the team. I wasn’t quite sure what they meant by that, because I couldn’t picture his goofy shot getting better overnight. As it turns out, he’s basically Matthew Dellavedova now. Every Bearcats team needs a scrappy guy who gives the opponent fits and does the dirty work. JJ played the scrappiest game ever on Monday, sparking the team with six points, five assists, three steals, and just one turnover in less than 20 minutes. His effort was through the roof. If he can bring that every night, it will be massive for the Bearcats.

(Video via ESPN/Bearcats TV. GIF by OhVarsity)

• Tre Scott was perfect. Seven minutes of action. 2-for-3 shooting. Four points, three rebounds, one block. Nice little spark plug game for him. Sign me up for that every night.
• This team throws alley-oops like crazy. I can’t imagine it’s a bad sign that it seems like they’ve tossed more lobs than last year’s team did in a full season. We now live in a world where this wasn’t the most exciting play of the half:

https://twitter.com/PCBearcat/status/798343585351409664

• Cashmere Wright predicted the score. Great point guard, better psychic. Look at this.

Negatives:

• Foul trouble is scary. Mick called Kyle Washington’s foul struggles “a huge concern.” We got a good look at why on Monday. With all of the bigs getting rung up early, Mick was forced to play guys from the end of the bench in significant minutes. The offense — which has run well otherwise — quickly turned into a slog when it had to rely on guys like Quadri Moore and Nysier Brooks instead of Gary Clark and Kyle Washington. Not only that, but taking out key players threw less-competent offensive guys for a loop. Kevin Johnson, Jarron Cumberland, and Justin Jenifer struggled without the leaders on the floor because they were asked to do more than they should have to. The Bearcats will need to work hard to avoid situations like that, especially in big games.
• The three-point shooting is still awry. The ‘Cats are shooting 11-for-43, or 26%, through two games. This team actually has shooters for once, so I don’t think it will remain quite this rough, but it’s definitely not very encouraging to see an offensive posessoin run well but end in a brick from outside. Normally, I’d say they have time to find their shot. However, their next two games could be against #21 Rhode Island and #1 Duke. You’re gonna need to make shots against those teams, so hopefully they figure it out before this weekend.

Let’s see what these kids are made of. Bring on Rhode Island.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts On UC vs UCF, The Continuing Famine

(Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

The Bearcats lost 24–3 to fall to 4–6 on the season. They’ll need to get past two good teams if they want to make a bowl game this year. I think I’m just about officially broken. I watched every minute of the game today, and I’m not giving up, but holding onto hope and optimism has become essentially impossible. I just want these guys to finish well, whatever that may be.

Positives:

• Dredrick Snelson. The guy who scored UCF’s first touchdown is named Dredrick Snelson, which is one of the best names I’ve heard in a while.

Negatives:

• The offense is downright anemic. The streak without a touchdown stretched to 10 quarters, which is legitimately impossible for me to imagine. I’ve always known the UC offense to be the type to rack up yards, if not points. How we’ve managed to fall so quickly, I don’t know. If my math is correct, that’s just about 154 minutes of game clock since the last touchdown. To make matters worse, the Bearcats have scored just six points total in that stretch.
• The Bearcats are the worst second half team in America. I’ll update this when I get complete stats for the rest of FBS play. After last week, UC was tied for dead last in second half scoring with Vanderbilt. Today, they threw up another goose egg, so it’s only going to get worse. In Cincinnati’s six losses this season, they’re being outscored 105–6 in the second half. That’s incomprehensible.
• The Bearcats keep getting blown out. During the Tuberville tenure, the Bearcats have lost to unranked opponents by at least 21 points on nine occasions. That matches the total that Rick Minter, Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, and Butch Jones shared from 2000 through 2012. The program is falling fast, and quickly getting lapped by weaker teams, as evidenced by UCF securing bowl eligibility against UC today after going winless in 2015.
• The national media is finally noticing. I suppose this could be a good or bad thing, but I generally would rather not have all media attention towards my alma mater centered around how quickly the football program went from relevance to turmoil. Between the loss last week, Tuberville’s blow up at a fan, and the shoddy effort today, it seems like just about all media outlets are calling for a coaching change in Clifton. I agree, but the negative publicity is still hard to watch.
• Attendance next week is going to be brutal. This is going to be the hardest part for me. There are a lot of seniors on this team who I’ll look back on fondly. Gunner Kiel, Tion Green, Nate Cole, Alex Pace, Zach Edwards, etc. These guys gave their blood, sweat, and tears to my alma mater, and I just know that they’ll be playing out their last game in front of an empty stadium after suffering through a pair of brutal seasons to close their careers. If you have a ticket, please show up or give it to somebody who will. These kids deserve one last effort from us as fans.

See you at Nippert. Go Bearcats. Beat Memphis.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Brown

(

N.C. Brown

| The News Record)

The Bearcats tipped off the regular season last night, which automatically made November 11 one of the best days of the year. The Bearcats could’ve looked miserable and won by five and I would’ve been elated. Instead, they looked pretty fantastic, all things considered. Here’s what I saw in UC’s decisive 84–55 win over the Brown Bears.

Positives:

• Holy cow, the offense. I’m going to reign in my hot takes for at least another game or three, but this team looks very skilled and confident on the offensive end. Early in the season, you’ll usually get a few games where they look like a good Mick Cronin offense — they can pass it around the perimeter until they find a guy open enough to take a shot. When they’re hot, that looks good. Last night, they looked like a good offense, period. This has nothing to do with anything I saw on paper. This team passed the eye test with flying colors. For the most part, the offense moved quickly when it needed to, especially when the ball got to guys like Jacob Evans, Jarron Cumberland, and Kyle Washington. There were times when it slowed down, and those worked as well. No matter what lineup Mick runs out during important games, it will always have at least three guys who can score in a few ways. It sounds nice on paper. It looks fantastic in action.
• Kyle Washington will change this team. He had a good game, but it wasn’t a perfect game. Didn’t matter. He gave us a good look at what he can do over the course of 30+ minutes, and it looked fantastic. He has energy similar to Justin Jackson, but he also has offensive knowledge and confidence to go with it. He caught passes in the post and turned around for the slam. He had guys hanging on him and went with a little teardrop for the score. He once ran from below the basket to collect a loose ball outside the three point line. He had an impressive (although perhaps ill-advised) pass from the top of the key into the post to Gary Clark for the assist. He’s got all the best parts of a big man — size, energy, interior offense, basic shot-blocking ability. On top of that, he looked like an impressive passer and scorer. I can tell he’ll frustrate us at times this season, but he has so many weapons in his game.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV — GIF via OhVarsity)

• Jacob Evans is as good as advertised, at least after one game against a middling Ivy League team. I’m keeping my expectations low, because I saw how he looked at times last season when shots weren’t falling. However, he looked almost like a new player last night. Everything was easy. He made the right plays. He hit the open shots. He looked very confident. 23 points is often a season-high for any player on a Cronin team. Evans did it relatively effortlessly after not playing in the preseason due to injury. Oh, he also had a ferocious dunk that was whistled off after an awful technical call. Bearcats TV doesn’t care that the points didn’t count, and put the play in the highlight reel. Thank you.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV — GIF via OhVarsity)

• Troy Caupain had a Troy Caupain game. I’ve seen several people say that Troy needs to average at least 15 points this year. If he’s chasing that AAC Player of the Year, that may be the case. If he’s trying to win games and let his teammates drive the train, I think he needs to do what he did last night. 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block. Stuff the stat sheet, kid. If he played more than 30 minutes and really went for it, that was the kid of game where you’ll see a triple-double. That’s what I want to see from the quarterback of my team.
• If Gary Clark can do this all year, look out. Not that this was ever an issue with Gary, but he played very within himself on Friday. His game was all layups, put-backs, and dunks. As a result, he quietly put up 14 points in just 27 minutes on 7-of-9 shooting. To go along with it: nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.
• Jarron Cumberland is big and confident. I’m just going to keep pointing it out until I get used to it, but Jarron Cumberland has the body of a 30 year old. He does not look anything like a freshman, in stature or in playing style. You can tell he’s got it going on between the ears, because on a few occasions Friday night I caught myself thinking, “I’ve never seen a freshman confident enough to make that play.” And it’s not like they were flashy plays. At one point, he caught the ball on the wing before the defense set up, noticed he had the baseline, and took it in for an easy score. Let’s be honest, we’ve seen seniors too timid to make that play. Cumberland did it without a second thought. That will be huge.
• The Bearcats shut down Tavon Blackmon. In his media availability on Wednesday, Mick talked about how college basketball is a guard-driven game and how senior guards are invaluable. He expressed concern over Brown PG Tavon Blackmon. Last season, Blackmon averaged 13 points on 46% shooting. On Friday, Blackmon got stuffed. He finished with just six points on 2-for-13 shooting. He filled other areas of the box score, but I’m happy with completely negating the opposition’s biggest scoring threat.
• This alley-oop from Cumberland to Scott.

• THE INTRO VIDEO IS AMAZING. It won’t be on YouTube until later in the season, as the folks at UC want to keep it special for a little while. If you want to see it, you’ll have to go to the game. It’s worth the price of admission. I won’t spoil it.

Negatives:

• Troy had four turnovers. I’m willing to chalk this one up as a rusty start to the season. Last year, Troy’s only four-turnover game was on the road against UConn. Matching last year’s total on opening night, at home, against Brown is not a great look. The last time Troy had four turnovers in a non-conference game? 12/23/14 against Wagner, who cruised past UConn in Connecticut last night.
• The defense didn’t look great. I’m even less worried about this statistic, because the defense is never an issue with Cronin’s teams. They looked rusty against Brown, on top of getting away with a lot of errors because Brown isn’t the type of team that can make you consistently pay for mistakes. UC allowed 40% from outside the arc on 25 attempts, which is more than I want to see. They’ll be okay, though.

These are much more fun to write when I have to search for negatives instead of positives. The Bearcats are back at The Shoe on Monday night to face Albany at 7 PM on ESPNU.