Cincy is way better than I thought

[Doris Burkes Thong]

I thought they were going to be more like last year's team, but Cronin has really got into them and has them playing a very aggressive/effective style of defense. Now, I still think both teams are about even....Cincy shot the ball extremely well tonight and got some lucky long rebounds.

[Hards Alumni]

They are the 12th best team in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yeah, a lot of folks here crapped on UC quite a bit this year.

So, does this mean it's impossible for us to finish above 8th?  I haven't looked

[rocky_warrior]

I crapped on them, but mostly because you couldn't tell anything from their non-con schedule - other than they weren't horrible.  But, they are consistent, and we are not.  Argh.

[Henry Sugar]

They are the 12th best team in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency.

They are the #66 team in offensive efficiency and scored 1.18 points per possession tonight.  

In conference play they've been averaging 1.01 ppp.  

[Doris Burkes Thong]

They are the #66 team in offensive efficiency and scored 1.18 points per possession tonight.  

In conference play they've been averaging 1.01 ppp.  

Wow, they didn't play out of their minds at all tonight a little did they?

[ChicosBailBonds]

They are the #66 team in offensive efficiency and scored 1.18 points per possession tonight.  

In conference play they've been averaging 1.01 ppp.  

Please translate....does this mean our defense stunk?

[Henry Sugar]

Wow, they didn't play out of their minds at all tonight a little did they?

Yeah, that's it.  It was just bad luck.

Gosh darn it.

[nyg]

Please translate....does this mean our defense stunk?

Translates into they have athletic bigmen in Thomas and Gates and MU does not.  

[MattyWarrior]

They had wide open threes and we don't shoot them.Take some friggin shots. 60 points. bucks is a to waitin to happen.All there guys are long and reactive..
Hustled the hell out of us. A layup parade in the first half. How dissapointing
on senior night

[Dawson Rental]

Yeah, that's it.  It was just bad luck.

Gosh darn it.

They shot far better than they typically do.  I really don't think that our defense was so off that our defense was solely responsible for their hot shooting.

[79Warrior]

Yeah, a lot of folks here crapped on UC quite a bit this year.

So, does this mean it's impossible for us to finish above 8th?  I haven't looked

We lose against SH and we are 18-13 overall. That may be just to many losses for the NCAA.

[Henry Sugar]

They shot far better than they typically do.  I really don't think that our defense was so off that our defense was solely responsible for their hot shooting.

that seems to happen a lot when teams play Marquette.

[RyanConroy]

Yeah, that was a good basketball team. I was a bit surprised by just how talented they were.

[Dawson Rental]

that seems to happen a lot when teams play Marquette.

I hope that you're wrong about that, but I can't say that I am anywhere close to saying that you are.  If you are right, whether we make the NCAA or not won't really matter.  It'll just be another one and done.

[ChuckyChip]

+1

Cincy has a very nice team.  I thought their gameplan and execution were excellent.  They identified our weaknesses and took advantage of them - and MU was not on their game tonight.

[downtown85]

Please translate....does this mean our defense stunk?

More like turnovers lead to fast break layups.  Not so much a bad defense but an inability to handle the pressure.

[willie warrior]

Yup, and that translates into another team pushing ahead of us in BEast pecking order. Puts us at about a preennial 10 th place finish.

[ecompt]

Weren't we supposed to be the team that was going to hound teams with pressure all year?

[GGGG]

Yeah, whatever happened to the "40 minutes of hell" crap that I heard on this board all off season.

And willie, don't let one game, or even one season, lead you to "pecking order" conclusion.

[GGGG]

that seems to happen a lot when teams play Marquette.

To follow this up, we are 13th in the BE in Effective FG% defense.  I realize that we had too many turnovers last night, but we actually had just as many as UC (11).  But we only had nine assists.

And despite last night, we still have the second most effective offense in the conference. 

[Dawson Rental]

Yup, and that translates into another team pushing ahead of us in BEast pecking order. Puts us at about a preennial 10 th place finish.

I don't understand why you say "perennial".  Last night was just one game.  This year is just one year.  Last year we greatly exceeded expectations by finishing fifth.

[Dr. Blackheart]

that seems to happen a lot when teams play Marquette.

A sloooooow 57 possessions in the game.  "Slow MU down so you can break them down", just like a broken record.  1-14 in games against quality opponents the past two seasons when MU scores 70 or less.  When teams go slow tempo, it is really amazing how our defense cannot make a key stop. I still say Shaw was as key recruiting loss as MU has had (visa vi Reggie).

[Dawson Rental]

Also disheartening to me was the fact that when we broke the press, we weren't able to make Cincinnati pay for pressing.  We'd pull the ball back and setup the half court offense.  It was the right thing to do because by the time we broke the press, Cincinnati had defenders under the hoop.  But when they're trapping with three guys how come we couldn't make a pass ahead that resulted in a mismatch?

[brewcity77]

Yup, and that translates into another team pushing ahead of us in BEast pecking order. Puts us at about a preennial 10 th place finish.

Hmm..."perennial" 10th place finish? Have we ever finished 10th in the Big East before? Because what you're saying means that it happens every year, and I may be mistaken, but I don't think it's ever happened before. Unless you meant something else.