Thoughts / Predictions on next 3 games -- all against ranked opponents with 2/3 on the road, with the quick turnaround (Sat / Mon) between Ptt and ND?
I think that Pitt will be the most difficult one to win, and would bet against it. I think we have a good chance against ND at home, but worry about ND's three point shooting and lack of mistakes. I think the Louisville game will be tough at their place -- another odd starting time (10am MKE time), but they didn't seem to struggle with the early time with WV -- hopefully Lville does (11am their time). I worry about their 3 point shooting as well, and their pressure defense.
I think it is nice that the team is still on break and can put more time / focus into these games. Is the team still on break next week?
All that being said, I would be thrilled with 2-1 in the next 3 games (ecstatic with 3-0, okay but not thrilled with 1-2, and discouraged with 0-3)
Must win at least 1. If we win 2, the BE season's off to a really good start. I expect we will be favored vs. ND by 2 points or so, and the Louisville game should be very winnable.
Gut feeling they pull out one of the two road wins and beat ND at home. I think this group is starting to get it a little bit.
Hoping it's Pitt, since I'll be at the game.
Pitt will be tough as they are so good defensively and just keep coming at you. As we saw in the 1st half yesterday, RU's pressure caused us to get sloppy, especially with Dwight out. We really need him back and healthy. We need a Vandy effort not a RU effort on the road. Need to finish 8-8 for a NCAA bid.
The short turn around in Sat-Mon scares me a little bit considering the team will have to travel from Pitt. Just hope there is enough time for prep and rest to have a good showing against ND. If we beat Pitt though I think momentum alone will be enough to carry us past the Irish.
We have to win two ofthose but not sure we can. We could lose all three.
I hate No Dick. and Louisville is not far behind on my Disdain Barometer
1 out of 3 or 2 out of 3 seems possible. Of the three teams, only Pitt scares me. ND and Ville are good, not great.
Quote from: MUfan12 on January 06, 2011, 08:01:31 AM
Gut feeling they pull out one of the two road wins and beat ND at home. I think this group is starting to get it a little bit.
Hoping it's Pitt, since I'll be at the game.
This would be great, but I'm hoping the road win is L'Ville since I'll be at that game.
The students have break until Tuesday the 18th
Quote from: indymufan on January 06, 2011, 07:57:21 AM
I think it is nice that the team is still on break and can put more time / focus into these games. Is the team still on break next week?
I do not want to lose to L'ville or ND.
I'm glad Cincy is good again this year. I've really missed hating them :)
Can you really say they are "good" again? The two credible wins they have are over Oklahoma and Dayton...and I wouldn't say either of them is a good win.
I would put more weight behind St Johns before Cincy.
Quote from: DCWarriors04 on January 06, 2011, 10:38:28 AM
Can you really say they are "good" again? The two credible wins they have are over Oklahoma and Dayton...and I wouldn't say either of them is a good win.
I would put more weight behind St Johns before Cincy.
Being undefeated at this point in the season, 14-0, is impressive. Not one fluke or bad night yet? That's a significant improvement over every team the Bearcats have fielded since Thuggins left.
I didn't say they were great. that remains to be proven... but there's a reason that they're ranked at the beginning of conference play. I'm just glad that they're not turning into DePaul 2.0.
Quote from: Skatastrophy on January 06, 2011, 11:36:47 AM
Being undefeated at this point in the season, 14-0, is impressive. Not one fluke or bad night yet? That's a significant improvement over every team the Bearcats have fielded since Thuggins left.
I didn't say they were great. that remains to be proven... but there's a reason that they're ranked at the beginning of conference play. I'm just glad that they're not turning into DePaul 2.0.
14-0 is not impressive standing alone. If Oklahoma and Dayton are indeed their best wins then it's really not impressive. OU is TERRIBLE--they lost to Chaminade for Pete's sake! And Dayton has losses to Old Dominion and East Tennessee State. Record means nothing early on in the year just ask Clemson during the Purnell era. He would rack up wins in non-conference against cupcakes and miss the tournament after getting bruised and battered in the ACC. The Bearcats still have much to prove.
Quote from: Skatastrophy on January 06, 2011, 11:36:47 AM
Being undefeated at this point in the season, 14-0, is impressive. Not one fluke or bad night yet? That's a significant improvement over every team the Bearcats have fielded since Thuggins left.
I didn't say they were great. that remains to be proven... but there's a reason that they're ranked at the beginning of conference play. I'm just glad that they're not turning into DePaul 2.0.
Some friends of mine who live in Cincy told me that Cronin is coaching for his job this year so he scheduled just about the easiest non-conf he could in order to rack up the wins. 14-0 was not a surprise. The next 2 weeks should give a better indication of whether or not this team is going anywhere.
Quote from: DCWarriors04 on January 06, 2011, 10:38:28 AM
Can you really say they are "good" again? The two credible wins they have are over Oklahoma and Dayton...and I wouldn't say either of them is a good win.
I would put more weight behind St Johns before Cincy.
Cincy is all smoke in mirrors. Their Dayton win isn't much to look into as they aren't that strong.
Quote from: windyplayer on January 06, 2011, 12:08:12 PM
14-0 is not impressive standing alone. If Oklahoma and Dayton are indeed their best wins then it's really not impressive. OU is TERRIBLE--they lost to Chaminade for Pete's sake! And Dayton has losses to Old Dominion and East Tennessee State. Record means nothing early on in the year just ask Clemson during the Purnell era. He would rack up wins in non-conference against cupcakes and miss the tournament after getting bruised and battered in the ACC. The Bearcats still have much to prove.
I agree that they still have much to prove, but we nearly lost to UW-M this year and we lost to DePaul last year. Cinci has still played 14 straight games without effing up. That's a good start!
The cupcake schedule won't help them when they face the meet grinder.
I'll take our 11-4 over there 14-0.
no matter what happens the next 3 games, some people on here will have a complete meltdown after every game.
1 of 3 with a decent chance at 2 of 3.
If it's 3 of 3, warm up the NCAA bus now.
Quote from: BrewCity on January 06, 2011, 08:00:42 AM
Must win at least 1. If we win 2, the BE season's off to a really good start. I expect we will be favored vs. ND by 2 points or so, and the Louisville game should be very winnable.
2-1 would be great. We'd be off to a much better start than last year at 11-8. The one thing I dont get is how you think we will be favored when ND beat UW and we (in Buzz's words) get blown out at home to UW?
0-3(cant see this happening) puts us in serious trouble
1-2 puts some bubble pressure on us(but we get a quality win somewhere)
2-1 would put us in great shape with 2 quality wins and atleast 1 on road
3-0(also dont see happening) basically tourney locks and playing for BEast title
Moreso than just the next 3, it's really the next 8 that we have to focus on. After these three, we get DePaul at home, then another 4 against ranked opponents, 2 home and 2 away.
But focusing on the question at hand, we really need to get at least one of these. An 0-3 stretch could easily have us facing a very harsh potential reality of a 3-7 start in BEast play, and we would likely need to win our last seven straight to have a realistic shot of making the tourney.
1-2 would be acceptable. I wouldn't be happy with it, especially as our style would likely lead to all of us lamenting two more one-possession losses. But come out of this stretch 1-2, then beat DePaul, we're 4-2 and need to win just one of that brutal four-game stretch to stay at .500.
2-1 or 3-0 would be fantastic. I could see 2-1, would be very pleasantly surprised at 3-0. As others have said, if we go 3-0, you can pretty much start booking NCAA trips, considering how much easier our schedule gets in the final 8 games.
My guess is 1-2 with a solid road win at Loserville. We will be very competitive in the other two games but succomb to road woes at Pitt and make too many mistakes (i.e. lack of defensive rebounding) to beat a very disciplined ND team. This would still have us in a solid position to go 8-8 and possible 9-7 if we get one major upset win.