Small Ball
January 20, 2012 04:37 PM | General
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES | CINCINNATI GAME NOTES
What you will see on Saturday from Cincinnati’s four-guard lineup is really similar to what Villanova and Marquette have run so effectively for years. The Bearcats went to this alignment earlier this year out of necessity following the Xavier loss, and it is really paying off in a big way for the Bearcats.
Since losing 76-53 to cross-town rival Xavier in a game that was marred by a bench-clearing brawl, Cincinnati (15-4) has won 10 of its last 11, the only loss being a 57-55 decision to St. John’s on Jan. 7.
What makes Cincinnati so tough to stop right now is its ability to spread teams out and then beat them off the dribble.
“They stretch you,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They’re going to play off the bounce so guarding the bounce is going to be important.”
Six of Cincinnati’s top eight scorers are guards, including 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore Sean Kilpatrick, who is quickly becoming one of the best players in the Big East. Kilpatrick hit the game-winning shot on Wednesday night against Connecticut, but Huggins says that’s only because he was the guy with the ball in his hands at the end.
“They all take big shots,” Huggins said. “(Kilpatrick) ended up with the ball (to beat Connecticut) but it could have been (Dion) Dixon, it could have been (JaQuon) Parker or it could have been (Cashmere) Wright.”
There is a certain amount of risk-reward to using a small lineup and teams typically do it to improve their offense.
“I’m sure Mick (Cronin) would say they are better defensive with two bigs but they are way better offensively with four guards,” Huggins explained. “We’ve been playing three little guys because we’re better offensively. You pass the ball better. You handle the ball better. It’s amazing. They’re averaging 10 turnovers a game. Their stat line … they’re averaging 10 steals a game and people don’t take the ball from them. You don’t get easy baskets.”
And easy baskets are what turned the Marshall game into a blowout for the Mountaineers on Wednesday night.
“Really we extended the lead in the Marshall game when we got easy baskets,” Huggins said. “We got a couple of steals and then we got out in transition. This game is about betting easy baskets in some form or fashion.”
Huggins says the four-guard system Cincinnati uses has also benefitted senior center Yancy Gates, who shows averages of 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in 13 games now.
“I think Yancy has done a more consistent job rebounding it,” Huggins said. “He’s always rebounded it, but I think he’s been more consistent. They rely on him to rebound the ball and to kind of guard the basket and he can score. Between last year and this year his game has gotten so much better. He’s more consistent shooting shots on the perimeter. He can go either shoulder. He’ll hook it right-handed or he’ll hook it left-handed. I think he’s worked really hard at expanding his repertoire.”
The Bearcats aren’t a great shooting team, hitting 42.8 percent of their shot attempts, and they are getting beat slightly on the glass, but they take care of the basketball, they make at least eight 3s per game, and they are winning tight games. Six of UC’s last seven games have been decided by two possessions or less.
Even more impressively, Cincinnati is bringing a seven-game Big East road winning streak that dates back to last season into the Coliseum on Saturday.
“If you look at their games, they’ve won a lot of close games,” said Huggins. “The Georgetown game went right down to the last possession. The Connecticut game went right down to the last possession. They’ve figured out how to win. Kilpatrick is a sophomore but he’s been there three years. Dixon, Parker and those guys have been there four years and look at our two four-year guys. The difference is they’ve got a lot more of them than we do.
“It keeps amazing me,” Huggins continued. “They keep showing the youngest teams in America and we’re not on there. I don’t understand that. There are a lot of times we play with four freshmen on the floor.
“But they’ve got guys that have kind of been through it before and that helps. You don’t get rattled.”
What you will see on Saturday from Cincinnati’s four-guard lineup is really similar to what Villanova and Marquette have run so effectively for years. The Bearcats went to this alignment earlier this year out of necessity following the Xavier loss, and it is really paying off in a big way for the Bearcats.
Since losing 76-53 to cross-town rival Xavier in a game that was marred by a bench-clearing brawl, Cincinnati (15-4) has won 10 of its last 11, the only loss being a 57-55 decision to St. John’s on Jan. 7.
What makes Cincinnati so tough to stop right now is its ability to spread teams out and then beat them off the dribble.
“They stretch you,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They’re going to play off the bounce so guarding the bounce is going to be important.”
Six of Cincinnati’s top eight scorers are guards, including 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore Sean Kilpatrick, who is quickly becoming one of the best players in the Big East. Kilpatrick hit the game-winning shot on Wednesday night against Connecticut, but Huggins says that’s only because he was the guy with the ball in his hands at the end.
“They all take big shots,” Huggins said. “(Kilpatrick) ended up with the ball (to beat Connecticut) but it could have been (Dion) Dixon, it could have been (JaQuon) Parker or it could have been (Cashmere) Wright.”
There is a certain amount of risk-reward to using a small lineup and teams typically do it to improve their offense.
“I’m sure Mick (Cronin) would say they are better defensive with two bigs but they are way better offensively with four guards,” Huggins explained. “We’ve been playing three little guys because we’re better offensively. You pass the ball better. You handle the ball better. It’s amazing. They’re averaging 10 turnovers a game. Their stat line … they’re averaging 10 steals a game and people don’t take the ball from them. You don’t get easy baskets.”
And easy baskets are what turned the Marshall game into a blowout for the Mountaineers on Wednesday night.
“Really we extended the lead in the Marshall game when we got easy baskets,” Huggins said. “We got a couple of steals and then we got out in transition. This game is about betting easy baskets in some form or fashion.”
Huggins says the four-guard system Cincinnati uses has also benefitted senior center Yancy Gates, who shows averages of 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in 13 games now.
“I think Yancy has done a more consistent job rebounding it,” Huggins said. “He’s always rebounded it, but I think he’s been more consistent. They rely on him to rebound the ball and to kind of guard the basket and he can score. Between last year and this year his game has gotten so much better. He’s more consistent shooting shots on the perimeter. He can go either shoulder. He’ll hook it right-handed or he’ll hook it left-handed. I think he’s worked really hard at expanding his repertoire.”
The Bearcats aren’t a great shooting team, hitting 42.8 percent of their shot attempts, and they are getting beat slightly on the glass, but they take care of the basketball, they make at least eight 3s per game, and they are winning tight games. Six of UC’s last seven games have been decided by two possessions or less.
Even more impressively, Cincinnati is bringing a seven-game Big East road winning streak that dates back to last season into the Coliseum on Saturday.
“If you look at their games, they’ve won a lot of close games,” said Huggins. “The Georgetown game went right down to the last possession. The Connecticut game went right down to the last possession. They’ve figured out how to win. Kilpatrick is a sophomore but he’s been there three years. Dixon, Parker and those guys have been there four years and look at our two four-year guys. The difference is they’ve got a lot more of them than we do.
“It keeps amazing me,” Huggins continued. “They keep showing the youngest teams in America and we’re not on there. I don’t understand that. There are a lot of times we play with four freshmen on the floor.
“But they’ve got guys that have kind of been through it before and that helps. You don’t get rattled.”
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
