Memphis Post Game Thoughts

[I.I.]

1. I hope the color commentator is not on the committee.

2. Ray was outstanding.

3.Harrison's 3 was perfect form. Just like practice.

4. Have to feel sorry for Pastner and his highly rated recruits.

5. The offensive goal tend by Wright almost cost us everything.

6. Cincy is everything now.

7. SMU on other side of bracket.

8. TK may have kept us in the game.

9. Why does ESPN use a BPI instead of what the committee uses?

10. Fill the gym Wednesday.

This post was edited on 2/28 9:39 PM by I.I.

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by I.I.:

1. I hope the color commentator is not on the committee.

2. Ray was outstanding.

3.Harrison's 3 was perfect form. Just like practice.

4. Have to feel sorry for Pastner and his highly rated recruits.

5. The offensive goal tend by Wright almost cost us everything.

6. Cincy is everything now.

7. SMU on other side of bracket.

Can't disagree with your assessment.

I would add I didn't like taking out Ray for Curtis and it burned Haith. Curtis gave up the offensive rebound.

Wright tried to emphatically dunk late on our miss, that could have won the game.

Shaq, throw the ball into Ray at the end of the game. Just give it to him.

GO TU!!!!

 

[TU_Landman]

Originally posted by I.I.:

9. Why does ESPN use a BPI instead of what the committee uses?


This post was edited on 2/28 9:39 PM by I.I.

ESPN always has to try to make up their own statistics. BPI is dumb and should never catch on. Only reason they use it is cause they created it.

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by TU_Landman:

Originally posted by I.I.:

9. Why does ESPN use a BPI instead of what the committee uses?


This post was edited on 2/28 9:39 PM by I.I.

ESPN always has to try to make up their own statistics. BPI is dumb and should never catch on. Only reason they use it is cause they created it.

You wonder if it is a way ESPN can skew the data, probably to favor Power 5 teams.


GO TU!!!

This post was edited on 2/28 9:55 PM by Tu Geo

 

[GoldandBlew]

* Great road win against a top 100 team. Memphis is much improved and played well tonight.
* We made a "decent" percentage of FT's. If we only make our season average we lose.
* Ray made some huge shots; he should shoot more but he, like the rest of team, plays very unselfish.
* Memphis played more physical and the officials let them. They mugged Woodard all night.
* Shaq showed up. They took Woodard out and he took over the scoring load.
* Defensive rebounding was a big issue tonight. We have to do a better job of limiting second chance points. Memphis outscored us in this area 16-2 on 18 offensive rebounds. We only had 7 offensive rebounds.
* The announcers seemed to be pro Memphis, complaining about every call or non-call that went against Memphis. I thought they sucked and so did the officials!
This post was edited on 2/28 10:02 PM by GoldandBlew

 

[TUBballJunkie]

Originally posted by TU_Landman:

Originally posted by I.I.:

9. Why does ESPN use a BPI instead of what the committee uses?


This post was edited on 2/28 9:39 PM by I.I.

ESPN always has to try to make up their own statistics. BPI is dumb and should never catch on. Only reason they use it is cause they created it.

Did you see the blind resume graphic? They picked the team with the better BPI which was worse in all other categories. It was UCLA vs Tulsa.

It's bull, really. (Sorry!)

 

[astonmartin708]

Originally posted by Tu Geo:

Originally posted by TU_Landman:

Originally posted by I.I.:

9. Why does ESPN use a BPI instead of what the committee uses?


This post was edited on 2/28 9:39 PM by I.I.

ESPN always has to try to make up their own statistics. BPI is dumb and should never catch on. Only reason they use it is cause they created it.

You wonder if it is a way the can skew the data, probably to favor Power 5 teams.


GO TU!!!

It is. Take a look. They have a horrid Vandy team in the top 50

 

[TU Sepp]

Hey...

It puts that d-bag balarney's face on tv and makes him fell important!!!

After that it serves no purpose...

 

[Cairns824]

BPI measures how good teams are based on factors like who they play and how much they win by. It's basically the ESPN version of Pomeroy's stats. It's basically ESPN trying to kill RPI. (Which is a VERY good thing.)

This post was edited on 2/28 10:01 PM by Cairns824

 

[TU_BLA]

I said a week ago that the BPI is the Bastardized Power Index. Gives too much credence to conference ranking and power.

 

[Tu Geo]

ESPN2 just had an updated Lunardi Bracket. Tulsa is in as last four teams in.

GO TU!!!!

 

[Cairns824]

Originally posted by TU_BLA:
I said a week ago that the BPI is the Bastardized Power Index. Gives too much credence to conference ranking and power.

Just because BPI says Tulsa's not very good doesn't mean it's not a good rating. I feel like people are hating on it just because it doesn't favor Tulsa, but RPI is a HORRIBLE metric, and RPI favors Tulsa. Pomeroy lines right up with BPI, so are we saying Pomeroy is secretly out to get the non P5 schools?

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by Cairns824:

Originally posted by TU_BLA:
I said a week ago that the BPI is the Bastardized Power Index. Gives too much credence to conference ranking and power.

Just because BPI says Tulsa's not very good doesn't mean it's not a good rating. I feel like people are hating on it just because it doesn't favor Tulsa, but RPI is a HORRIBLE metric, and RPI favors Tulsa. Pomeroy lines right up with BPI, so are we saying Pomeroy is secretly out to get the non P5 schools?

Not buying it Cairns. South Carolina is 13-14 and rated ahead of Tulsa. Do you really believe that?

UCONN beat Florida on their own court. Florida is rated #39 with a 13-15 record. that is BS!!!!

GO TU!!!!

This post was edited on 2/28 10:14 PM by Tu Geo

 

[GoldandBlew]

Originally posted by Tu Geo:
ESPN2 just had an updated Lunardi Bracket. Tulsa is in as last four teams in.

GO TU!!!!

Good to see us back in the bracket. Beat Cincy and I think we are in. Who do they have us playing, Temple? lol

 

[Tulsafanzz]

Great top ten synopsis I.I. I'll throw in one more.

11. We have to rebound better to beat Cincy &/or SMU

Great win for TU ! This win should really give us confidence for the big games coming up !

 

[mcane]

Espn running a crawl
Tulsa replaces UCLA in last 4 in
Made me grin for self explanatory reasons

 

[GoldandBlew]

If it stays this way, we will be in Dayton with a play in game versus another 11 seeded team. That would be fun!

 

[GoldandBlew]

Our stay in the last 4 in may be short-lived if BYU hangs on and beats Gonzaga tonight. Go Bulldogs! Down 10 with 6 mins. to go

 

[TUBballJunkie]

Word.

At least one vs Cinci and SMU is necessary no matter what. IMO.

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by GoldandBlew:

Our stay in the last 4 in may be short-lived if BYU hangs on and beats Gonzaga tonight. Go Bulldogs! Down 10 with 6 mins. to go

Remember this only Lunardi's bracket.

We were already in the Palm bracket before the Memphis game.

We are tied for first place in a good conference that speaks for itself.

Time will tell.

GO TU!!!

 

[GoldandBlew]

BYU beats Gonzaga AT Gonzaga. My guess they will jump us in the ESPN bracket. Not worried though as we should still be in when the selection committee meets. Just need to win the next game vs. Cincy and move on. #takecareofbusiness

 

[Tu Geo]

nm


This post was edited on 2/28 11:23 PM by Tu Geo

 

[GoldandBlew]

Yes... I am only referring to ESPN's bracket. I think we are in regardless. I just think Lunardi will move us back into the first 4 out group.

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by GoldandBlew:

Yes... I am only referring to ESPN's bracket. I think we are in regardless. I just think Lunardi will move us back into the first 4 out group.

Lunardi might start messing with Temple of Cincy? That was a huge win by BYU they are #34 in the RPI.

Go TU!!!

 

[Cairns824]

You're just too used to the idea that wins and losses make a team good or bad. When there are over 350 teams and the schedules aren't balanced at all, it's about who you've played and how much you've won by. Good teams win more often, but some times bad teams win a lot too because they play bad teams. We're not ranked well because we've proven we can beat decent teams, but not good ones. Until we beat a good team, or even have a close loss to a good team, our BPI is totally warranted.

 

[ctt8410]

I agree with your premise, but there are already at least 2 systems (Sagarin and Pomeroy) that do a better job of measuring those things than BPI does.

 

[astonmartin708]

BPI is a flawed statistic that rewards teams for playing against the top 25 (which is generally the Power 5) Minnesota, Vandy, and Florida are all top 50 BPI teams. Heck TCU is the 2nd worst team in the Big 12 and they're number 55. In reality they should all be closer to 75-125

 

[Tu Geo]

Originally posted by GoldandBlew:
BYU beats Gonzaga AT Gonzaga. My guess they will jump us in the ESPN bracket. Not worried though as we should still be in when the selection committee meets. Just need to win the next game vs. Cincy and move on. #takecareofbusiness

I guess Lunardi has BYU last one out. Tulsa is the last one in.

Go TU!!!

 

[ctt8410]

And of course, none of this matters if it was just another rinky-dink rating system. The problem is that they present BPI as a legitimate factor to consider regarding NCAA selection when there's zero evidence the committee cares about it. It's just another example of ESPN self-promoting at the expense of quality.

 

[JesseTU]

BPI depends very heavily on who you play and where you play. It also rewards piling on and high scoring games. But the proof is in the pudding - if it predicts winners in the NCAA bracket, then I will give it credence. But I think it is just ESPN propoganda. No way this Tulsa team way down as a is a 75-100 caliber team.

Fun game. Glad Shaq went into beast mode in OT.

 

[astonmartin708]

Tulsa HASH to be prepared for the matchup zone on Wednesday. No one on the Cincy team averages more than 10 points, but they all do their part to chip in a couple. We can't let Ellis or Copain take over a low scoring game.

Their matchup zone looks like a disjointed yet effective version of ours. Hopefully that helps.

 

[cbonham]

Last I checked, Lunardi, Palm or any other of these prognosticating yahoos don't have a seat at the table on Selection Sunday. We as fans give them WAY too much credence and act like what they're saying really matters. It doesn't. We've seen it time and again how teams that seem to be locks don't make it and teams that seem to be on the outside looking in actually make it. So I could care less what the so-called "Bracketology" says. It's just another way for ESPN, CBS, Fox Sports, etc., to insert themselves into the conversation and make themselves feel way more powerful than they already are.

cb

 

[saliva]

Originally posted by astonmartin708:
Tulsa HASH to be prepared for the matchup zone on Wednesday. No one on the Cincy team averages more than 10 points, but they all do their part to chip in a couple. We can't let Ellis or Copain take over a low scoring game.

Their matchup zone looks like a disjointed yet effective version of ours. Hopefully that helps.

UC has made it a priority to push the ball off of defensive rebounds the past few games and it has led to much better offensive performances, albeit against bottom feeders. Not sure why it took UC this long to play fast given the amount of athleticism on the squad, but it has led to a much more aesthetically pleasing style of a play.

As far as the matchup zone, UC exclusively played that defense until recently. The past few games they have switched to man-to-man and it has allowed UC to use their quickness to push offenses further outside the 3-point line to run their offense. The man to man is more effective against three point shooting teams, so given that Tulsa isn't great in that area I would expect UC to at least play some matchup zone.

Ellis and Clark are the two most consistent players on the team. Both are great on the glass and defensively. Clark is a little more polished in the post (kid has an AAC POY award or two in his future), but Ellis has a better face up jumpshot. They'll get the ball a ton on Wednesday night.

Caupain CAN be great, but he plays passively far too often. He has great shooting splits 46/42/79 but really only seems to play aggressively in big games. Hopefully that is the case on Wednesday.

Others to watch for are Shaq Thomas, Kevin Johnson and Farad Cobb. Thomas came to UC with a big time rep, but the last three games is the first time he has ever eclipsed double figures in scoring three games in a row. Hopefully the light is coming on for him. He's very long and athletic, not an outside shooter, and can be turnover prone. Kevin Johnson is often a walking turnover, but is great defensively and a capable long range shooter. Cobb is very streaky. When he is on, he can take over the game as he did against San Diego State and the first SMU game. But when he is off he can really hurt UC with poor shot selection. Don't really know what you'll get from him game-to-game.

I haven't seen much of Tulsa, aside from the second half of the game last night. I was really impressed with Harrison (obviously) and Ray. They really took that game over in the last 5 minutes and OT. I didn't notice much size for Tulsa, so that will be interesting matchup against Clark and Ellis. Should be a fun game on Wednesday!


This post was edited on 3/1 6:53 AM by saliva

 

[TU_BLA]

Saliva, you better hope UC plays better against us than they did against Houston because if they don't we will run them out of the gym.

That said, we had struggled shooting but the last 2 games have been 50% or above and we have only allowed above 50% once in conference (UCONN).
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[TUPacer]

Good post saliva, thanks for the intro and analysis. Wednesday should be a great atmosphere
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[hotterthanyourhusbandTU]

Great data, Saliva...Wednesday should be fun!

 

[Tu Geo]

Good post Saliva.... as a Tulsa fan I'm really glad we are this league.

GO TU!!!!

 

[T Up]

A couple of other comments on the game last night.

Kudos to the coaching staff. May have been their best game of the year. Except for inserting Curtis for that last defensive possession, they made almost perfect adjustments. If you had told me that all three of our "bigs", and I use that term lightly, would sit for the last 10 or so minutes of the first half, I would have thought we would be in an unrecoverable situation. But the staff was able to adjust, insert Edogi, Big E, Dew, etc and milk them thru the remainder of the half. They also recognized that Ray was going to be more effective than Curtis and left him in.

Those moves, and Memphis loss of Nichols were the difference. Nichols was on his way to a 20/15 night. Without Swanny and Dre we couldn't stop him. That kid, if he can stay healthy, is a beast and will only get better.

Memphis continues to have quick, VERY physical players. They are just not as talented as past teams.

Wondered with others what happened to Swanny in the second half. Didn't seem hurt, but did lose his cool a couple of times.

Couldn't believe it when I heard the announcers say that Tulsa was number 302 in the nation in free throw percentage. That is so sad for a team full of guards that penetrate. The past two games we have shot better than 75% in both. Could have been ugly if we hadn't shot so much better in both. Heck if we had shot our normal % we may have been in the bottom 20 teams in the nation by now. Good and great teams hit these shots and make teams pay for fouls. We almost always shoot more than our opponents.

Finally, it seems that Woodard has spent the past month working very hard on his 3-point shot but has forgotten about his most deadly weapon, the mid-range (10-15) pull up jumper. He was always money on that shot and seemed to be able to get it at will. Don't know why but I have only seen him shoot it about 3 times in the past 4-5 games. That is where he can disrupt a physical man to man that everyone wants to play on him. He just needs a half step to get it off. It also creates havoc with the opponents defense. Sure hope he re-finds that shot. We really need him scoring 15-20 a night to go to new heights.

Love the kids. Love watching TU basketball again.

 

[saliva]

BTW, I'm curious, is this the first meeting between the two schools since Tulsa beat UC in the tournament after Kenyon Martin's injury?

 

[youngblood223]

Originally posted by saliva:

Originally posted by astonmartin708:
Tulsa HASH to be prepared for the matchup zone on Wednesday. No one on the Cincy team averages more than 10 points, but they all do their part to chip in a couple. We can't let Ellis or Copain take over a low scoring game.

Their matchup zone looks like a disjointed yet effective version of ours. Hopefully that helps.

UC has made it a priority to push the ball off of defensive rebounds the past few games and it has led to much better offensive performances, albeit against bottom feeders. Not sure why it took UC this long to play fast given the amount of athleticism on the squad, but it has led to a much more aesthetically pleasing style of a play.

As far as the matchup zone, UC exclusively played that defense until recently. The past few games they have switched to man-to-man and it has allowed UC to use their quickness to push offenses further outside the 3-point line to run their offense. The man to man is more effective against three point shooting teams, so given that Tulsa isn't great in that area I would expect UC to at least play some matchup zone.

Ellis and Clark are the two most consistent players on the team. Both are great on the glass and defensively. Clark is a little more polished in the post (kid has an AAC POY award or two in his future), but Ellis has a better face up jumpshot. They'll get the ball a ton on Wednesday night.

Caupain CAN be great, but he plays passively far too often. He has great shooting splits 46/42/79 but really only seems to play aggressively in big games. Hopefully that is the case on Wednesday.

Others to watch for are Shaq Thomas, Kevin Johnson and Farad Cobb. Thomas came to UC with a big time rep, but the last three games is the first time he has ever eclipsed double figures in scoring three games in a row. Hopefully the light is coming on for him. He's very long and athletic, not an outside shooter, and can be turnover prone. Kevin Johnson is often a walking turnover, but is great defensively and a capable long range shooter. Cobb is very streaky. When he is on, he can take over the game as he did against San Diego State and the first SMU game. But when he is off he can really hurt UC with poor shot selection. Don't really know what you'll get from him game-to-game.

I haven't seen much of Tulsa, aside from the second half of the game last night. I was really impressed with Harrison (obviously) and Ray. They really took that game over in the last 5 minutes and OT. I didn't notice much size for Tulsa, so that will be interesting matchup against Clark and Ellis. Should be a fun game on Wednesday!


This post was edited on 3/1 6:53 AM by saliva

Tulsa, by many coaching account, is the fastest team end to end in the league. We're a huge problem going toward the basket, and we typically rack up fouls. You didn't see much size last night because our entire front court was in horrendous foul trouble. We play a little undersized in there with Rashad Smith, but he's a tremendous athlete and very skilled. He only played 10 minutes yesterday.

The key will be rebounding for us, we can't let what happened yesterday happen against Cincy or SMU. We got absolutely no benefit from the officials, and we need a slightly tighter game on glass because we're not the biggest team. We lead the league in defensive rebound percentage, so we're by no means a team that struggles to rebound usually. But we did last night, and we did against SMU.

We'll make things very difficult on the guards, and I see that has the Bearcats weakness. I'm not high on their guards, not even that high on Caupain. I do see him as the X-factor, when you get it from him, you're a lot better team. Last night Kevin Johnson looked really good against Tulane. Not sure if he'll be a factor against TU, and it's switching defenses.

Really great to see a cordial Bearcat fan. The internet is littered with fans of your school trashing Tulsa and it's program. So by and large, I hope we run you by 30 points.... And I hope some flashbacks are shown from 2000.