Tourney Thread

[gordontrue]

A few points for the Xavier game.


1) Zona needs to play their best defensively. Xavier is an incredibly efficient offensive team. That's who they are. If Zona isn't locked in on that end of the floor playing up to their potential... Xavier will pick them apart. Offense should come fairly easily for Zona against a team that ranks very poorly on defense. It will come down to stopping a very good Xavier offense.

2) This is Kaleb's time to shine offensively. Xavier's big man in the middle (Stainbrook) - who is their leading scorer and is going to get a lot of minutes - is not known for his defense. From what I've read he can be a serious liability on that end of the floor. If Kaleb can take advantage of that early... that will force their defense to help and open things up for everyone else.

3) Ashley needs to lockdown Jalen Reynolds. He's not their leading scorer but he might be their best scorer and the player most capable player of taking over the game and carrying his team. He's 6'10" so a lot of the defense will likely fall to Ashley, although I could see RHJ getting some of the workload. He didn't even start last game... but he carried them in many ways, including 21 points.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Wamu]

Took out the garbage. "The" Ohio State just got embarrassed. We only had two guys playing well and still thrashed them. Glad we got that game out of the way. Wouldn't work playing that way against Kentucky.

How did Ohio State get embarrassed? The Wildcats were the better team from top to bottom, nobody would argue that. And you say Arizona only had 2 players that played well? Well Ohio State only had one. Congrats to the Cats for advancing & I hope they keep winning, I picked them to win it all.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Russell got embarrassed, but just because he said no one could guard him.

I think OSU played a solid game.

 

[Wamu]

Russell got embarrassed, but just because he said no one could guard him.

I think OSU played a solid game.

Oh shit did he really say that? If so he sure stuck his foot in his mouth.

 

[Wamu]

Russell got embarrassed, but just because he said no one could guard him.

I think OSU played a solid game.

They did the best they could against a loaded squad. The Wildcats are a helluva team this year, extremely athletic. Have enjoyed watching them all year.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Oh shit did he really say that? If so he sure stuck his foot in his mouth.

I posted his remarks on the previous page in this thread. Crazy thing is that it was mostly TJ that guarded him.

 

[CatsTopPac]

They did the best they could against a loaded squad. The Wildcats are a helluva team this year, extremely athletic. Have enjoyed watching them all year.

Yeah, I was actually pretty worried about it, just because I've learned with Matta and OSU, you can't ever count them out until 00:00.

They definitely played a solid game from what I saw. They played a nice zone, kept it close, and left it all out on the court. I think we just wore you down. Nothing wrong with that. We're pretty athletic, play good defense, and none of our players average 30 mpg, so we're fresh right now. That's just going to be tough to handle. Take nothing away from the Bucks.

 

[Wamu]

Yeah, I was actually pretty worried about it, just because I've learned with Matta and OSU, you can't ever count them out until 00:00.

They definitely played a solid game from what I saw. They played a nice zone, kept it close, and left it all out on the court. I think we just wore you down. Nothing wrong with that. We're pretty athletic, play good defense, and none of our players average 30 mpg, so we're fresh right now. That's just going to be tough to handle. Take nothing away from the Bucks.

I was very disappointed in OSU's sr. class this year, didn't show alotta leadership. And as exciting as Russell was to watch this year I found myself saying more than once how much Ohio State really misses Aaron Craft's leadership. I'd like to see Russell stick around for 1 more year but that's not happening.

 

[CatsTopPac]

I was very disappointed in OSU's sr. class this year, didn't show alotta leadership. And as exciting as Russell was to watch this year I found myself saying more than once how much Ohio State really misses Aaron Craft's leadership. I'd like to see Russell stick around for 1 more year but that's not happening.

Russell's a great talent, but I agree. You want a floor general as a PG, not someone who scores and can also dish assists. He needs to run the whole offense, not have a shoot-first mentality. We're so happy to get a pass-first PG back at AZ. We've been missing it for a while now. There are a lot of similarities between TJ and Craft.

I'd say fuck it, let him go. Rebuild with someone who wants to pass and wants to stick around for a few years. That way he can be the leader, make good decisions, and facilitate a great offense.

 

[Wamu]

Russell's a great talent, but I agree. You want a floor general as a PG, not someone who scores and can also dish assists. He needs to run the whole offense, not have a shoot-first mentality. We're so happy to get a pass-first PG back at AZ. We've been missing it for a while now. There are a lot of similarities between TJ and Craft.

I'd say fuck it, let him go. Rebuild with someone who wants to pass and wants to stick around for a few years. That way he can be the leader, make good decisions, and facilitate a great offense.

Oh he's gone. He'll be a lottery pick, only question will be where will he be drafted. Also he's one major injury away from his draft stock going into the dumper. I think it's best for him (first of all) & the hoops program for them to part ways.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Word on the street is that X runs a 1-3-1 zone. We haven't fucked with that much this year, have we? Usually we have a guy post up at the FT line to draw the defense in for a kick out, or we come in through the baseline. Neither of those are going to work with a 1-3-1, right? Not gonna lie, my Xs and Os knowledge is weak in basketball.

Maybe we can still come down the baseline.

 

[johnson]

Cats are 11 point favorites. That's pretty sizable. The "experts" must think this won't be that difficult for them. Looking at Xavier's resume and seeing them play a few times, I would expect a pretty close game. Hope not though!! Save the drama for later.

 

[The Derski]

I think the spread is pretty accurate. I'm expecting the Cats to cover easily.

 

[gordontrue]

A Xavier student filed a complaint against Jalen Reynolds with the university Police Department Monday night.

The university is investigating the incident but Jalen will play tonight.


The obvious first thought is sexual assault... but local rumors are that it was physical assault... something about him getting caught cheating and ending up in the middle of a chick fight.

 

[johnson]

I'm guessing that investigation won't be on the top of their list for a few days.

 

[gordontrue]

34 hours away from the Final Four!

 

[CatsTopPac]

Here it is guys, the rematch against Wisky. This is such a huge game; biggest of the year, and could be one of the biggest in the program's history. As far as expectations, its tough for any of us to flat out "expect" to win. When we think of season expectations, the best I can usually hope for realistically is to play a great game for the FF, and better. This is such a tough draw that if we barely lose, I have to take that. It should be really interesting to see how Ashley does against Kaminsky.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Here it is guys, the rematch against Wisky. This is such a huge game; biggest of the year, and could be one of the biggest in the program's history. As far as expectations, its tough for any of us to flat out "expect" to win. When we think of season expectations, the best I can usually hope for realistically is to play a great game for the FF, and better. This is such a tough draw that if we barely lose, I have to take that. It should be really interesting to see how Ashley does against Kaminsky.

Do we think that Zeus will guard him? Can Zeus get outside to guard him from the perimeter?

 

[CatsTopPac]

PGU just said that Rabb is going to Cal. Fuck.