Transcript
@NoConfForOldMen: Welcome folks to episode number 71 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast, a podcast where three old guys are talking Houston Cougars basketball with a bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well, and proud members of the GoCougs.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider. And we are back with all three old men yet again, Bill Walker, former player, Tom Lidiak, former coach, and myself, Steve Chang, analytics guy for this episode.
@NoConfForOldMen: Well, it was a week of regrouping for the Cougs with workman-like efforts to put away two physical teams at TCU and hosting Cincy at home after the Texas Tech loss. Team is now 7-1 in Big 12 play and in sole possession of number two in the conference race behind Arizona.
@NoConfForOldMen: But now comes the brutal February on the schedule, where the Big 12 has historically loaded up on marquee games for the projected contenders. And this week comes fast with two of those games in UCF and at BYU for some separation in the conference standings.
@NoConfForOldMen: So we'll provide some thoughts around the important wins over TCU and Cincy, discuss if we saw any adjustments in those games, and then provide a detailed preview of the two upcoming games.
@NoConfForOldMen: No special topic this week. given the criticality of what we consider to be the toughest week of games so far for the Cougs on their schedule. So why don't we get started? Tom, you so you can kick things off with your key points on the 79-70 grinded out win at TCU.
Tom Lidiak: Well, the first thing I want to say is it was kind of a sloppy game. We looked like a team that was mentally and physically fatigued. And then you have to go back to the the tech game.
Tom Lidiak: Tech game was over with. We couldn't get out of Lubbock because of the weather. Sunday, I think, and Kelvin said all this on his radio show, Sunday we were supposed to fly out of Lubbock at 2.00.
Tom Lidiak: And, uh, Kelvin said by the time they got back to Houston, it was like two or three o'clock in the morning, uh, Monday morning. it was just a long ordeal. They sat in the airport, sat in the airport. even had a humorous, he had even had a humorous story about when they went, when they went through TSA, there was one lady there and she got frustrated through halfway through it and just left.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: So I don't know, you know, anyway,
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: So that can explain, you know, some of the sluggishness or just the sloppy play. You know, getting back to what time they got in. So they got in about two or three in the morning on Monday. And then later Monday they had practice. And then Tuesday they had practice. And they normally bus to Fort Worth. But this time they flew just to, you know, save some hours there.
Tom Lidiak: about the game itself the game gets off uh jojo immediately gets a foul uh sits down comes back a little bit and i think at 1350 he picks up his second foul uh before in between between that he had one bad shot one bad turnover it was just you know it was it was interesting game to watch bottom line
@NoConfForOldMen: They're
Tom Lidiak: Bottom line, though, we still won by nine points on the road to, you know, a fairly decent TCU squad.
@NoConfForOldMen: good.
Tom Lidiak: So that's, you know, that's the bottom line. So it it shows you a lot about our team that they're able to go in there and not have any excuses. You know, they had every excuse in the world not to not to win that game.
Tom Lidiak: SYNAC doing work on the defensive boards. I put down our our our bench. We didn't get a whole lot from our bench until Ramon Walker kind of kind of picked it up.
Tom Lidiak: Jamie Dixon got teed up. That was great.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: but That was great. I don't know, for a guy who grew up in North Hollywood, he's he's an angry little guy.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You'd think he'd be more more chill that.
@NoConfForOldMen: He was pretty feisty.
Tom Lidiak: Another point I want to make is some people on the, you know, on the boards were talking about Milo's and how you get, couldn't get into the paint, blah, blah, blah. Well, here's the fact of the matter is that TCU was blitzing the pick and roll and there's nobody that's still getting the paint when you blitz the pick and roll.
Tom Lidiak: You know, the whole, the whole point behind it is to get the ball out the, out of the guard's hands. you know even Kingston can't, know, you know, can't do that.
@NoConfForOldMen: When they get closed.
Tom Lidiak: And. It gave Kingston a few problems there in the in the TCU game. Yeah, overall overall, it was you know in the win column, and that means it's a beautiful win.
Tom Lidiak: But you could say it was you know just just a little uncharacteristic. Some of the turnovers we had were were uncharacteristic. So that's what i have to say about that game. I put down put down some dumb basketball at the end.
Tom Lidiak: Not so high IQ basketball-wise stuff going on. Anyway, we'll have to hear what Bill has to say about this game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, before we get to Bill, guess a quick question I've got for you, Tom, is do you view TCU as the NCAA team? are they Are they good enough to make it?
Tom Lidiak: good good Good question. I guess it's all relative to what's going on around the rest of the country. You know, if the SEC is down and they got some down teams, because how many SEC teams made it last year?
Tom Lidiak: 14 out of 16, I think.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You know, if they're not getting that many teams in, then it's going to open up, you know, a slot or two maybe in the in the Big 12. I guess it depends on how TCU does just the rest of the year.
Tom Lidiak: They had that big lead at Kansas. You know, it's too bad they didn't pull that one off because that would have been, you know, good on their resume may come March and Selection Sunday.
Tom Lidiak: They're probably going to be riding on the fence. And like I said, it depends on depends on what they depends on what they do the rest of the year.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, that's what I think too.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Okay, Bill, how about your take from the TCU win?
.0Bill Walker: well First, let me let me thank you, Tom. Because of your schedule and us us taping on Sunday morning, late Sunday morning, following the Cincinnati game and me wanting to see how how our upcoming opponents did yesterday, you forced me to actually have to do some work for this. and So, yeah, thanks thanks for that.
Tom Lidiak: Okay, no problem.
.0Bill Walker: You know, overall... Oh, were you going to something, Steve?
@NoConfForOldMen: No, I was going to say, yeah yeah, we won't be publishing until Monday, though, even though, or Tuesday.
.0Bill Walker: Well, that's why I wanted to mention that we're doing this on Sunday.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, Tuesday. Yeah. yeah
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, overall, solid win versus a team that that we've discussed is far better than their record, and it was on the road. yeah That said, this probably could have been a 20-point win, but but you know it was one of those nights where...
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: Where quite honestly, we we were up, we were up 13 at half. We were really 15 at half because of the technical and, you know, the second half, just nothing would fall.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. I mean, we were just, we we were hot in the first half. We were horrendous shooting the ball in the second half. So, uh, Yeah. if If we hit more shots and they were good shots as as they typically are, they, you know, just lit on the, on the basket.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, so, uh, yeah, it could, it could have been a 20 point win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yes.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, you know, we got production from, from some, uh, Kingston had a good game despite four turnovers. And, and, you know, you mentioned the sloppiness, Tom, uh,
.0Bill Walker: sharp sharp scored and certainly snack on the boards who was just a monster and not only was he a monster but it was key that he gave us 34 minutes versus the almost standard 10 from that the tugler gave us uh
Tom Lidiak: Ha ha.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. the other The other issue that we had, and Tommy mentioned it, was the bench. The bench gave us very, very little in this game. you know Ramon hit a big shot late. He he was okay, but but very little from our from last episode, our potential X-factor Harwell.
.0Bill Walker: Chase only played one minute because of the injury, and we'll you know we'll see how that... That plays out. But
.0Bill Walker: yeah I think defensively, we were i thought we were really good. Sacco came out strong, helped to fill the Tuggler gap.
.0Bill Walker: yeah Like I said, 43-30 at half.
Tom Lidiak: Thank
.0Bill Walker: Then we just went cold. Nothing went in. you know Harding, Edmonds, Punch, that they scored.
.0Bill Walker: They didn't score ton, but but they scored, and and and it became a really close game until Ramon and and Milo's hit big late threes.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: Quite honestly, I don't really have a whole lot more to say. i You're absolutely right, Tom, about them playing.
.0Bill Walker: doubling the the guards out front. And, uh, that's something that we hadn't seen much of previously. Uh, but, uh, yeah, I mean, we shot 44% for the game, uh, but we were well over 50 in the first half, so first half driven, uh, 39% from three, which aside from Ramon and, and, and use on shots late, uh,
.0Bill Walker: but was kind of driven by by the first half where it was much better. But, you know, that that's the way it works. that There are going to be halves, hopefully not games, where not much falls.
@NoConfForOldMen: Thank you.
.0Bill Walker: And fortunately, our our defense is just consistently so good and it is getting better that it's going to keep us in a position to win games like this, win the game at home against Tech, win you know, and then lastly, and and I touched on it, but 10 minutes for Tuggler due to fouls, uh, and this was your point, Tom, when we were talking about the X factor.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So you hit on that one. Exactly.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: Uh, four fouls for Sacco. And, and even though he played 31 minutes, uh, sharp fouled out, uh, you know We need really one of two things, I think, to happen moving forward. One, stop the dumb fouls.
.0Bill Walker: yeah We're going to foul. We're going to get aggressive. We're aggressive, so we're going to commit fouls. Just limit the the dumb fouls, the reaching, the...
@NoConfForOldMen: Reaching her.
Tom Lidiak: Well, and how many but and ones did TCU have? Golly, it was, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: so So limit the the the dumb fouls. And then two, and this will get better when we talk about the next game, more production and better play off the bench.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: But in the end, it was a hard-fought win, good win on the road where it's tough to win in the Big 12. So, yeah. yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, completely agree with both of you guys. it was super tightly contested game on the road. And I'll give TCU their props. Great discipline show by the frogs and the Cougs at times as well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Of course, if you look at the advanced analytics, everything was very close between the two teams with both shooting right around their norms. Good, solid defense played by both teams and just a very physical game offensively. Our Cougs were really a two man show between Kingston and Emmanuel, uh, ended up almost hitting 40% from three point line as a team. So our long distance ju shooting is you know actually finally starting to come around.
@NoConfForOldMen: Really saved us because TCU was very effective at limiting our offensive rebounds where we're at, I think, roughly 21%. And forced us into turnovers on 16% of our possessions, which is not our norm. So again, credit to TCU and their their defense.
@NoConfForOldMen: On D, we did a great job limiting their effectiveness from three-point line where they were only 27%. for threes and we corrected our defensive rebounding woes as you guys both mentioned right from the tech game limiting tcu to 22 offensive rebound rate with senac again really being the beast behind those grabbing 14 rebounds i know sharp uzan and especially fleming's got all the love uh in this game and deservedly so but for me the start of the game was senac who was a game best player box score plus minus plus 13.4 for the game
@NoConfForOldMen: And What I want to really highlight in most importantly is that he was a plus 5.5 on the defensive side. And it's really just incredible improvement on that side of the ball for him specifically this season. He's gone from being a liability in our defensive schemes early in the season, and we highlighted it as well, right? And to now, if you look at the stats, he is now being consistently one of our best defensive players since the first Texas Tech game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Every game he's been, and you see it as well. He's just much more comfortable in our defensive schemes. Now he won't just jump up trying to block everything and fouling. He's very disciplined and in keeping his his feet on the ground while he's defending his player. Cause he knows yeah in most cases playing at the four, he's taller than most of his opponents.
@NoConfForOldMen: And so just really, really smart play on the defensive side for him. Now let's go to the dominant 7654 Cincy demolition. Bill, don't you get us started with your players' view on the Cincy beatdown?
.0Bill Walker: By the way, we still need more rebounding help.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, but it's not him, though.
.0Bill Walker: it No, no, no, no.
@NoConfForOldMen: He's me he's doing it, though. Yeah, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: More and more help specifically for him.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Agreed.
.0Bill Walker: But, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Agreed. agreed
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, Cincinnati. it Quite honestly, this game was was decided really early. and And again, it was our defense. I believe it was Celestine who hit two free throws right before the intermission to get them up to 20 points.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: that They could have been in the teens for the first half. we we just absolutely obliterated their offensive players. Baba Miller, one of eight for two points.
.0Bill Walker: Theen, one of five for two points. Gizel, two of six for five points. And Day-Day, who hurt us in game one, two of eight for six points.
.0Bill Walker: that That's... that's four starters who, who play well for them. Not one of them even got off double digit shots.
@NoConfForOldMen: He did.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, yeah, yeah. Our defense was just superb. Uh, we forced 19 turnovers. We created nine steals. We blocked four shots. It would be just outstanding. Uh,
.0Bill Walker: Offensively, yeah our shooting was okay, 46% and 35 from three. yeah Kingston kind of had a rare off-night, off-game, not night, off-game offensively, but he did dish out six assists.
.0Bill Walker: Our two best offensive starters were Sanak, who didn't have a big rebounding game, but...
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: but But that first half, he had a streak where he drilled three threes in a row, which just opened things up. and And I guess it kind of kind of solidifies the fact that he really is...
.0Bill Walker: really is better and and as much as I'd like to see him with that big body and height do more inside he's clearly a face-up player and then Yuzan who hit seven or 12 shots which was great dished out five assists created three of our nine steals and and led us with 16 points yeah Where we were also really, really strong, and I'm sure you'll both get into this as well, was our bench.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: Mercy played 18 minutes, shot and rebounded well, and sitting there watching the game, he was he was all over. He was busting his butt on defense, which I know is...
.0Bill Walker: it is largely what's keeping him on the bench and, you know, keeping him entirely out of games. Isaiah, who was all over the court in 17 minutes, he scored 13, grabbed three boards.
.0Bill Walker: And Sacco, who didn't necessarily put up much in terms of statistics, played a great game defensively. yeah He grabbed three boards in game.
.0Bill Walker: in 14 minutes. So it it was a really good game from the bench and a quite honestly, a relatively easy win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Now, after the game, we we stayed to see Calvin get inducted into the U of H hall of fame. And I'll say well-deserved, but that would probably be the biggest understatement of all time. But it was great to see that. And then,
Tom Lidiak: Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: and I know you guys are starting to laugh prior to leaving, there were four of us. We all went to the bathroom and sorry if this is too much information, but, but in any event, uh,
.0Bill Walker: it In line, and and it was a long line to get in, our friend Mark Croswell, who who's came to his first game this year and who can a literally engage a corpse, was discussing, at edd and he likes to gamble, he he was discussing with a Coug fan how he'd bet on us and then bet on us a second time during the game and and that the the betting line had gone up.
@NoConfForOldMen: Ha ha.
.0Bill Walker: And yeah point spread was higher, and as a you would expect, since we are headed toward the big win. now And now, so he he's talking with a Coog fan about this.
.0Bill Walker: We're now all standing at the urinals. And Mark's a couple over to my left, and and this the other person with whom he was speaking is to my right. And he asked again about, you know, how how they're kind of the the two different point spreads. and And I, since I was standing next to him, pointed out that that it was a pregame bet and then of another bet in game.
.0Bill Walker: And then he responded by saying, talk some more. And, And, and. Mark, being the extrovert, began talking, but he stopped him and said, no, him, looking at me.
Tom Lidiak: Hmm.
.0Bill Walker: So I spoke, and he said, you do the podcast.
Tom Lidiak: Hmm.
@NoConfForOldMen: Thank you.
.0Bill Walker: So immediately, i i yelled out to all my friends because they they were... a urinals further down, called out to all them and and asked him to repeat what he said.
.0Bill Walker: And he yelled out that I'm the podcast guy, eliciting literally some cheers and clapping from from everyone. So after we left the bathroom, mark Mark took a picture of of me and definitely my new friend,
@NoConfForOldMen: Ha ha ha.
.0Bill Walker: And got his name. he is He told us he is the real mark joe Mike Jones. I'm sorry, the real Mike Jones. So in addition to thanking the real Mike for listening to the podcast, I wanted to bring this up to the two of you because if you'd get off your butts, leave Silicon Valley and Iowa and attend more U of H games and engage with men in the bathroom as I did,
@NoConfForOldMen: Ha ha
@NoConfForOldMen: ha. Ha
@NoConfForOldMen: ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha
.0Bill Walker: you You can you could both help promote the podcast, better promote the podcast.
@NoConfForOldMen: Well. yeah
Tom Lidiak: I'll be at, I'll be at two games in late February, early March. So, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I'll be in a couple of games too. and I don't know what you're thinking, Bill, but engaging men in the bathroom doesn't sound that like anything I want to be involved in.
Tom Lidiak: Hmm.
.0Bill Walker: Hey. Hey.
@NoConfForOldMen: it So, but you you go for it buddy.
.0Bill Walker: Hey. Hey, the but the bottom line is do it do what you can to promote the podcast that and they're not and generate more listeners.
@NoConfForOldMen: There you go. There you go.
Tom Lidiak: yeah might
.0Bill Walker: So, hey hey, whatever you have to do, you have to do.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, my nephew and nieceness yeah my neph few nieces, they they they watch they they listen to the podcast.
@NoConfForOldMen: But they do.
@NoConfForOldMen: I love it.
Tom Lidiak: They don't know what we're talking about, but they just want the listenership to go up.
@NoConfForOldMen: but they do so yeah a one man
Tom Lidiak: the net The nephew does because he's an Iowa State grad.
@NoConfForOldMen: and
Tom Lidiak: so But the two the two nieces, they have no clue, but they they they listen to it just so that the listenership goes up.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: Well, the the two of you need to get down here more often, get your get your butts in the in the men's room and and start engaging everyone so that we could so that we can increase our listenership and our our subscribers.
@NoConfForOldMen: There you go. Okay, we'll we'll do that.
.0Bill Walker: Don.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Wow, I don't even know where to go. I'm over on I know.
Tom Lidiak: since The Cincy game, my my thoughts.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, this was like you guys had both highlighted. It was a thrashing from beginning to end. Now, granted, since seeing, we are,
Tom Lidiak: Do I get to talk about the Cincy game?
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, sorry, sorry. So, I mean, yes. Your take, Tom.
Tom Lidiak: it It won't take me long.
@NoConfForOldMen: Your take, Tom.
Tom Lidiak: I
@NoConfForOldMen: All
.0Bill Walker: sick
Tom Lidiak: i thought overall it was one of our better games. You know, we hit shots. And then going back to that TCU game, you know, you always hear Kelvin say, you know, we have, you know,
Tom Lidiak: we don't have two offenses. We don't have one where we hit shots and one where we don't hit shots. You know, it's the same offense, but we did have a little scoring drought in that TCU game where we only scored like six points in eight minutes, but Uzan and Emmanuel, they had white open threes where there was nobody around them.
Tom Lidiak: And, and, you know, they couldn't hit a bull in the ass from five feet, but, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, it was just one of those games. Shots didn't fall.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: It happens.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. And that could be that whole mental fiscal fatigue thing too. but going, but going to the Cincinnati game, Bill mentioned this, you know, about the bench, uh, I put down, early on the guards for rebounding. I think Emmanuel had two rebounds early, defense rebounds. Uh, Milo's Milo's had one. I even saw Kingston getting in there, you know, uh, uh, trying to, trying to rebound.
Tom Lidiak: Bill, you mentioned, you know, Sennac hitting those three threes. Those were off something they call ghost screens where it looks like, you know, Sennac's going to go to set a screen and then he just, you know sprints out of it. And that gets him a little separation from the defender who thinks it's going to be a, you know, a pick and roll and that that ended up for his is three threes.
Tom Lidiak: You mentioned Kingston having a subpar game. I had i mentioned here in my notes that he was missing, but but they were good looks. They were they were they they were shots that yeah they were shots that he he normally makes.
@NoConfForOldMen: They were.
.0Bill Walker: Agreed.
.0Bill Walker: Agreed.
Tom Lidiak: And i thought it I thought it was great to see us have other guys score as opposed to relying on, on, on Kingston and manual for, for too much of the scoring.
Tom Lidiak: But it is, we mentioned this off air, Steve and I did, but it's nice if you need a bucket to just go one, four, one, four low, and then, and then have Kingston just get to a spot and just, and just rise up above his defender, you know, and able to hit the shot.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Just cook. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: uh,
.0Bill Walker: I think we'll be seeing that in a couple games.
Tom Lidiak: And Marshall, yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: I think so too. in March too, when things bogged down.
Tom Lidiak: You know, Cincinnati, good defensive team, not particularly a good offensive team.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Specifically, b y u
Tom Lidiak: They were without sincere Harris. It looks like they they lost, I don't know how you pronounce his name.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: It's spelled T-H-I-A-M.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Dean, Dom, Shum, Shum or something like that.
@NoConfForOldMen: tom yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: I have down that, you know, I don't know what Miller got a technical foul. don't know what he was complaining about. I don't know what the deal was. Same thing with Jamie Dixon when he got his T. I'm not sure what they were complaining about. Probably they're feel like they're on the hot seat and the, you know, the pressure kind of gets to them.
Tom Lidiak: Let's see what else. Jojo didn't pick up his first foul until 730 left in the half.
@NoConfForOldMen: Which was great. Great see.
Tom Lidiak: are are are there Are there Vegas odds of when he's going to pick up his first foul?
.0Bill Walker: yep Yeah, i didn't I didn't mention it.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah Well, i I figured it was probably you probably, you can bet on anything, but
Tom Lidiak: yeah change can you Can you bet on that?
Tom Lidiak: I think I can make some money on that.
@NoConfForOldMen: You know, I figured Cincy is probably one of the few teams that are that play even more physical than us, so they're getting the fouls, right? And it gets difficult to be calling so many fouls.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. Yeah. And then...
@NoConfForOldMen: That's the case.
.0Bill Walker: Sorry, I didn't mention it because I was too focused on engaging with people in the men's room. But but but I did write down with a star that, yeah, we we we committed far fewer fouls than we have been, and and that that obviously helped.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And another point I made in my notes here is that, you know, for the people wondering how come, you know, Uzan wasn't getting to the paint like he was a lot like he was last year. i you know And I mentioned this on the boards even before Kelvin mentioned it on his radio show. It's because when teams blitz the pick and roll,
Tom Lidiak: you know they're getting the ball out of your hands, and there's you know there's not a guard in the nation that can that can be to beat a blitz. A lot of teams last year played drop coverage against us, if you want to see watch re-watch the Purdue game.
Tom Lidiak: But like yesterday, Cincinnati used a lot of drop coverage, and you saw Milo's get in there, use that little hostage dribble, you know kept his defender in jail, whatever, and shot that little floater and had some mid-range.
@NoConfForOldMen: His mid range. Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh
Tom Lidiak: And speaking of that, how about that – move with about two minutes left in the game that he put on that kid.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah.
Tom Lidiak: broke his
@NoConfForOldMen: Broke his ankles.
Tom Lidiak: Broke his ankles. And, yeah, the benchch bench had a great time with with with that one. But overall, just a solid game.
Tom Lidiak: And attribute some of that to just being able to get home after that TCU game, you know sleep in your own bed, you know get some rest, and you know mental rest and physical rest.
Tom Lidiak: So 76, what was it, 76-54, just a really absolutely fantastic performance.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, completely agree. Thrashing from beginning to end. Yeah, it doesn't really matter that there were missing people that gave our Cougs a chance to continue to refine our defensive rotations and just really stifled Cincy's offense.
@NoConfForOldMen: If you look at, just quickly from an advanced analytics perspective, if it wasn't for Tillery and Celestine making a bunch of threes after things had already gotten out of hand, and their kind of 40% offensive rebound rate, it would have been much, much worse.
@NoConfForOldMen: i mean, our rotations were fast, crisp, and we forced Cincy into turnovers on over 30% of the possessions. Offensively, honestly, our Cougs were able to get any shot we wanted. Ended up almost hitting 55% rate from two-point range as a team. only turned it over 7% of our possession. So it was really efficient display by our kooks against, you know, guys, you know, people tend to forget since he is an elite defense, right? Ninth in Ken Palm. Now, from a player perspective, all our starters were great, but like you guys had both highlighted as well, it was the two bench players in Miller and Harwell that really showed out for me in this game. And similar to how I've probably been the hardest of the three of us on McCarty, I've probably been the highest on Mercy Miller. I just...
@NoConfForOldMen: I just want to see him get more time. And I understand, you know, some the lapses historically on the de defensive side. But with some minutes today, he delivered with the player box score plus minus plus 17.5 in the 18 minutes of play.
@NoConfForOldMen: And of course, maybe our most critical bench player for our final four run, Isaiah Harwell also came through with a player box score plus minus plus 9.3 in 17 minutes. Really bodes well going into probably our toughest two games stretch so far this season. And so why don't we get into those two games now? And Tom, you can kick things off with UCF.
@NoConfForOldMen: What's your coach's take on Dawkins' squad this season?
Tom Lidiak: Okay, one last thing before we get to UCF. I forgot to mention this. Our boy, Kirk Creasa, yesterday, is as soon as he got in the game, we went right after him.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: Of course.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: That was, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Every time, right?
Tom Lidiak: He said yeah there's a reason he's at his fourth school, you know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Anyway, UCF, thank God we are playing them at home. I mean, look at our team last year. our team last year, you know, almost won a national championship.
Tom Lidiak: And we had to escape with a out-of-bounds play, a sideline out-of-bounds play with Juwan Roberts last year at the buzzer. i't know if you guys remember that game.
.0Bill Walker: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: So good thing we're playing at home. I know it's a complete you know it's a different squad for for UCF, but you know I'm glad we got them at home.
.0Bill Walker: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: There's probably going to be a natural letdown for UCF because they just had, you know, that, that really good win over tech, just like, just like tech beating us probably had a letdown playing UCF. You know, it's natural to have a letdown. If you win your Superbowl, you know what saying?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: With tech, you know, tech won their Superbowl, they beat us. And, and, uh, you know, it's just only natural to have that, that letdown, uh, So, you know, we'll we'll see about how UCF comes out after, you know, I'm sure it's an emotional win against against Tech.
Tom Lidiak: But, you know, we're at home. And I'm not going to say nothing' nothing's easy in this world, you know. But I don't think it's going to come down to the last minute this time beating UCF.
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow. Well, but let me ask you this as well. Just like I asked on TCU, do you view UCF as a NCAA attorney team?
Tom Lidiak: what Once again, it all depends on how they do the rest of the year and how other teams around the country do. whether You know, SEC is kind of down this year.
Tom Lidiak: Big East, you know, doesn't have doesn't have much, you know, ACC. So the the worse those conferences are, you know, it it it opens up, you know, a spot or two for, you know for the Big 12, I think.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. I mean, i what do you think, Bill? Do you think they're an NCAA team?
.0Bill Walker: I mean, they're They're in the Big 12.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They're in sixth place right now. So if things stay largely the way they have been, then yes, they're absolutely in.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And they do have wins over Kansas and Tech, home wins.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. And and Texas A&M, right? Don't forget that one in preseason.
.0Bill Walker: Yes.
Tom Lidiak: Oh, okay.
@NoConfForOldMen: So they've got three big wins.
Tom Lidiak: And they're lead they're leading the SEC, right?
.0Bill Walker: Yes. Yes.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: A&M is, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. So, okay, sorry, Bill, so so what's your take?
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, I erroneously thought that UCF would finish dead last in the in the Big 12 when we did our our previews.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
@NoConfForOldMen: i was going to highlight that.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, well, don't don't worry.
.0Bill Walker: I'm self-effacing enough to point out my deficiencies.
@NoConfForOldMen: Well, we all missed it. We all missed it.
.0Bill Walker: But...
@NoConfForOldMen: and
.0Bill Walker: the Yeah, with zero starters back and some of the top recruits coming from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, UWM, a school I know very, very well, but more so socially than athletically.
@NoConfForOldMen: guys hmm
.0Bill Walker: However, yeah it Johnny Dawkins has done a great job this year and yeah while what While I will not call UCF a really good team, they have been very solid. forty They're but they're only in Ken offensively, defensively, i believe,
.0Bill Walker: have yeah and And we mentioned it. They've got some good wins at A&M and then Kansas and yesterday, eighty eight to eighty over Tech. They've also lost to Iowa State by 30.
.0Bill Walker: They've lost to Oklahoma State by 11. They lost to Colorado by 9.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So yeah they've they've been good, but quite honestly, i don't think – aside from largely where they've had some wins at home, that they're that good.
.0Bill Walker: that Touch on a few of their players, Riley Kugel, their leading scorer, 6'5", senior two guard, started at Florida, then then came to UCF from Mississippi State. He's averaging 15 points, three boards, three assists, shoots 40% from three. so So we'll have to defend him there. Maybe their best player, Demas Fulks, is a 6'1 point guard grad student. He's one of two that transferred in from UWM. 14.7.3 assists.
.0Bill Walker: of He's shooting 49% from the field, 45.5% from three. Commits three turnovers a game. He will have the ball in his hands a lot. So that'll be a good matchup with Kingston, I think. Maybe Sharpe. as well. Uh, Jamichael Stillwell is a six, eight senior power forward also from UWM.
.0Bill Walker: And, uh, it's like, why the hell are all these people leaving Milwaukee? But, uh, but, uh,
Tom Lidiak: They don't like beer.
.0Bill Walker: or cheese.
@NoConfForOldMen: Or cheese, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. Uh, yeah. He's a, he's a 12 and a half points, eight boards.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He is a monster on the board. So, uh, So he'll be a challenge likely for Tuggler, maybe Sinek.
.0Bill Walker: Jordan Burks, 200 pounds, small forward. he He played one year Kentucky. played last year at Georgetown. He's averaging just under 13 points, for little over four boards, 39% from three. He's the only one of the four that I just mentioned that's shooting 80% from the line. So we'll see how that comes into play. And then just the last guy I'll mention, John Bull, 7-2 center. He had 14 and 10, 10 boards versus Tech.
.0Bill Walker: They've got four other players that are the that play double-digit minutes. So, you know, they they they'll play a lot. They've got a deep bench, but these are really their top five. yeah You know, UCF can score lot.
.0Bill Walker: but They don't defend especially well, giving up 87 Iowa State, 84 to the mighty quinipiac
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: add a hundred and 105 Vandy. yeah if if we If we defend the perimeter, we contain folks, close out on their shooters, avoid fouls, as always, and quite honestly, beat them off the dribble, hit some shots, this game is not going to be close. we what What a lot of people don't understand is that we are so good at the Fertitta Center at and yeah That just seems to get lost on a lot of people. That's why I thought we would we would beat Cincinnati so handily.
.0Bill Walker: I see us beating Central Florida 25 points. sixty
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, wow.
.0Bill Walker: twenty twenty five points
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, my God. OK. I mean, UCF has got to be the surprise team in the Big 12 this season. Going back, you'd highlighted, Bill, you know we had them 13th, 13th, and you had them, like you hit highlighted, dead freaking last in the conference in our preseason prediction. So we all got it wrong. And now you look at them, they've got wins like we highlighted over Texas A&M, KU Tech. I think it's safe to say that they're safely in the tourney as of right now.
@NoConfForOldMen: And yeah, man and they're coming in.
.0Bill Walker: Agreed.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's respectable. 45 in Ken Palm is very, very respectable. Now, you know if you look at In more detail, they're currently in adjusted offensive efficiency and number 76 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
@NoConfForOldMen: So there're you know they've they've hit that threshold of being great offensively this season. And 76 is solid. It's you know right in the middle of being good and respectable on D.
@NoConfForOldMen: But of course...
.0Bill Walker: but not against good teams.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, no agreed, agreed. But it's just where it's at right now. And of course, right, we're elite right now. Fifth in Ken Palm overall, in adjusted offensive vision efficiency, and ninth in adjusted defensive efficiency.
@NoConfForOldMen: i mean, UCF's are a really good shooting team. Almost excellent coming in at 49th in effective field goal percentage. In fact, they're excellent from three-point range, ranking 17th in three-point percentage.
@NoConfForOldMen: So this is really going to be a challenge for our good three point D this season because we're not especially great defending the arc. But to make things tougher, just like us, UCF is also an excellent offensive rebounding team. 17th in offensive rebounding rate in Ken Palm. Kingston's really got to push things on the defensive side this game. No slipping behind screens at the arc. And so we'll see if he's going to be able to maintain that all game. Now, on D for UCF, they're good coming in, as I'd highlighted, at 76th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
@NoConfForOldMen: But when you dig in deeper, the only thing they do well is defensive rebound, ranked 28th in Ken Palm. In fact, if you look at... kind of the other key stats that that we track, they are dreadful across all key metrics that I cover other than defensive rebounding. They're ranked past 200 in shooting percentage D, forcing turnovers, blocking shots, and steals. So, I mean, like like you had highlighted, Bill, if I think you're right. We're going to be able to...
@NoConfForOldMen: you know, get the shots that we want. And if we can get even close to our normal levels of offensive rebounding, we'll be successful. Now, based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 12-point win for the Cougs at home by Ken Palm. I was actually surprised that the margin was so high, but like you had highlighted as well, Bill, you look more closely and they've just really struggled on the road. So I'm i'm going with the Ken Palm projections for a 76 to 64 12 point win. And really why think it'll be that close is I think we're going to, we're going to pull away early and we are going to let, you know, some of the younger kids on the bench play a lot more minutes, similar to this last game and it'll keep it at 12 points.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, Bill onto BYU and Provo. I know I'm higher on them than you. What's your view of the game from, ahba what's your view of the game from a player's view?
.0Bill Walker: correct
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, it's a 9.30 start, 9.30 central time start, and it it it'll be on ESPN, which is good. BYU, like UCF, is also 17-4, in conference, so they're seventh right now. You you know, BYU's biggest win...
.0Bill Walker: And they've won 17 games, but their biggest win was over an okay Wisconsin team, admittedly, by 28. Their four losses have been to UConn by two, Tech by 13, Arizona by three at home, and yesterday to Kansas by eight.
.0Bill Walker: they'll they'll They'll be at Oklahoma State prior to our game. That'll obviously be a win. they're Right now, 15 in Ken Palm, 10 offense, 32 defense. yeah Two years ago, I was, as opposed to the two of you, a fan of BYU and thought that they would they would have a solid year.
.0Bill Walker: And they did play well. They played well enough for Mark Pope to to get a pay raise and move on to Kentucky.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah. Yeah. Hmm.
.0Bill Walker: you know Kevin Young comes in the NIL money soars, and BYU is now a top 20 team. With that said, i do think they're a bit overrated.
.0Bill Walker: Not a ton, but a little bit. yeah They do have, who I still feel is going to be the top pick in the draft, uh, DeBonce, uh, I, and I could be wrong.
.0Bill Walker: It could be Peterson, but if I'm a, if I'm an NBA GM, I mean, he's a freshman and he's, and he's so injured, granted it's the hamstring, but, uh, I don't know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Peterson. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I, I, I think I would take DeBonce. Uh, uh, and, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, so did
.0Bill Walker: yeah, you know, if it, if they continue to get great play out of him and and he, he has made them better, you know, that they'll, they'll be right in it for a while. Uh, and, and perhaps in it a, in a, position to make a run in the NCAAs, uh, I'll only mention four their players, uh, DeBonsa, of course, the six, nine freshman, small forward is averaging over 23 points, six and a half boards, three and half assists, three turnovers, uh,
.0Bill Walker: Eddie shooting 53% from the floor, not, not particularly well from three, but he's phenomenal off the dribble. He gets to the basket and and he finishes next.
.0Bill Walker: who could be another NBA first round pick, Richie Saunders. He's he's just under 20 points, 19 and a half, 5.7 boards, 2.1 assists, 50% from the floor, 40% from three.
.0Bill Walker: it Seems like he's been in college for about 800 years. Two steals a game as well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: if he's If he's feeling it, he he's an absolute threat from the outside, and he can put the ball on the floor. he's He's obviously going to be a matchup. It'll be a difficult matchup.
.0Bill Walker: then Then their third big scorer is Robert Wright, the 6'1 sophomore point guard who transferred in from Baylor, and it's too bad he didn't stay because Baylor could have
@NoConfForOldMen: Really use them, you
.0Bill Walker: been a hell a lot better if they had a point guard.
@NoConfForOldMen: no
.0Bill Walker: He's at 17.5 points, five assists, almost four rebounds, a couple of turnovers a game, 43% from three.
.0Bill Walker: when i don't like as much about Wright is he despite the the five assists, he is an absolute shoot first point guard. And I think he could, uh,
.0Bill Walker: I think he could help the team a bit more if if he was more of a pure point guard. And then the last guy I'll i'll mention is, uh, Kiba Kida, uh, the six, eight power forward. He's a force inside only seven points, but eight boards, two blocks a game, 68% from the field and and everything with him comes inside. Uh,
.0Bill Walker: BYU has 10 guys playing double-digit minutes, so they have a deep, fairly productive bench. The ones I mentioned are are are their top four. yeah This will be a key game, i think, for Kingston.
.0Bill Walker: And by the way, I'll just throw in that I saw that Wally Zerbiak, who I think is kind of a moron, ad and yeah, and
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah. agree.
.0Bill Walker: and and doesn't seem to be able to comprehend how, how good we are, especially on the defensive end.
Tom Lidiak: It's because Wally didn't play any defense.
@NoConfForOldMen: Exactly. Every year it's the same with him.
.0Bill Walker: I just think he's a moron, but, uh, but, uh, he listed the five best players in the country, all of which are freshmen, all of whom are freshmen.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And Kingston was one of the five that he mentioned. So, So i won't I won't kill him as much as I otherwise would because at least he mentioned Kingston.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: But yeah in this game, what's going to be key against BYU is that Kingston's going to have to do a good job of defending Wright throughout the game because in the past where where Kingston's had some defensive issues and and Sharp has helped out, Sharp it and Uzan going to have more than their hands full with 6'5 Saunders and 6'9 DeBansa.
.0Bill Walker: DeBansa is just a matchup issue for us as a 6'9 perimeter player and ball handler. And i I expect a variety of defenders on him, including Sharp, potentially Yuzan, Ramon, Isaiah.
.0Bill Walker: With that said, We annihilated them twice last year, and I think our defense will, again, adversely affect their shooting confidence and percentage.
.0Bill Walker: And if we make them work hard on the perimeter defensively, ed God, I'm going to say this again, limit fouls.
@NoConfForOldMen: And.
.0Bill Walker: And I think Kingston, as I mentioned before, if he takes advantage of Wright and makes Wright just bust his ass defensively, and Wright can be a defensive liability, then I think we we can win.
.0Bill Walker: since it's Since it is BYU and there are 17,000 fans, playing on the road is for me is really a toss-up. I mean, it's really a toss-up and I've struggled with predicting this one, but, uh, but we, our defenses has gotten better virtually every game.
.0Bill Walker: it's been stronger. And I just think that, uh, that overall we are the better team. Uh, they're not going to force any turnovers,
.0Bill Walker: against us and and i think in the end win 76 71. who loves himself
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Hey, Tom, how about your coaches beyond BYU? I know you love Coach Young. yeah
Tom Lidiak: The wonder kind, the wonder, the wonder kind, the, yeah, the self-anointed, uh, offensive genius who, uh, anyway, I, I digress on that.
@NoConfForOldMen: No wonder, kid. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: who loves himself
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Hey, uh, home game for BYU and bill, there won't be 17,000 fans. There'll be 17,000 fanatics all hopped up on, uh, all hopped up on cougar tails, crumble cookies and, and seven up, uh,
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, I agree.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: but but But they got great fans. You know, they got great fans. it's only It's the only show in town. DeBonsa against Arizona really, really struggled couple of games ago.
Tom Lidiak: He played hero ball.
@NoConfForOldMen: He did.
Tom Lidiak: He was just forcing shots. But Arizona had the length. They switched everything. And so they were able to, you know, but they had the length. They had three guys out there on defense.
Tom Lidiak: that were tall enough, quick enough, strong enough to where the Bonsa couldn't just pull up right in their face and just, you know, elevate, elevate over them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Next game. that BYU played was, uh, who was it the other day? Kansas. Okay. They played at Kansas yesterday. Kansas actually threw a couple of defenders on him and even had by doing, uh, you know, the, what is he?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep. Mm-hmm.
Tom Lidiak: 6, 10, 6, 11, seven foot.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: But you know, but Dunga has, uh, he has the height, he has the length, he has the, the foot quickness to stay with, uh, Devonza.
@NoConfForOldMen: Athletic ability. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And, uh, it was interesting because in the Arizona game, Devonza, man, was just launching shots and forcing shots.
Tom Lidiak: In the Kansas game, he didn't take a shot until like four or five minutes into the game. So I don't know if he was right got the word from the coaching staff that, hey, just don't force things.
Tom Lidiak: So like Bill mentioned, it'll be interesting to see how we how we defend Devonza because You know, we, what, Kingston's How tall is Milo's?
Tom Lidiak: 6'3", 6'4". Is that what he is?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: And and Emmanuel's 6'2", on a good day.
@NoConfForOldMen: yep
Tom Lidiak: So they'll'll there'll be that'll be interesting, how we defend, you know, DeBonsa.
Tom Lidiak: too.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: You got Robert Wright, the third, and hopefully the last. You know, there's probably a reason, Bill, that that he's a shoot-first point guard now.
Tom Lidiak: It's because after DeBonsa has the ball all the time and he finally gets his mitts on it, it's like, I better shoot it, you know, before it gets back to A.J. Anyway, i mean i'm just i'm im i'm I'm just joking here.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah no kidding
Tom Lidiak: I'm joking here, but... With those three guys, I mean, that's those are really three really, really good to great players. Keita, you mentioned him, Bill, too.
Tom Lidiak: I could see that guy being a Houston Cougar big.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah yeah agreed
Tom Lidiak: I mean, just kind of right right out of the mold of a Houston Cougar big. a isa he's a specim He's a specimen, you know, out there. so But having said all that, I think we come out with a hard-earned road win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice.
Tom Lidiak: Mm-hmm.
@NoConfForOldMen: Love it.
.0Bill Walker: You guys have to pick us to lose at some point. You didn't yeah you didn't you didn't pick us to go undefeated. And even at even Calvin says that absolutely nobody's going undefeated in this conference.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, I know. Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, agreed. So just quickly from me, I know everyone's view of BYU is that they're all offense and no D, but this is really a different BYU team this year. Come in at number 15 in Ken Palm overall. And yes, BYU is yet again elite on offense, 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency.
@NoConfForOldMen: But this season, they're also number 32 in adjusted defensive efficiency, which is within our top 40 threshold of excellence. and They're actually 50 spots higher than they were on the defensive side from last season. They like to run just like last year, 49th in tempo and continues to be a great shooting team, 35th in effective field goal percentage.
@NoConfForOldMen: They're especially effective from two point range with the Bonsa where they're ranked 36th in two point shooting percentage and have much improved at protecting the ball, 56th in turnover percentage. So.
@NoConfForOldMen: Bottom line is BYU presents all types of challenges for us on D. But like with Tech, we've got to be disciplined on D with Kingston and Tugler needing to be on the court, as we've been kind of overemphasizing here, staying true to their assignments in order for us to contain BYU.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, on D, BYU is good across all the major metrics, which results in their great rating with no major weaknesses. But based on the analytics, they can be had from three-point range, where they're ranked 116th in three-point percentage D. So I'm looking for a similar approach from the TCU game with Kingston driving and dishing out to Sharp, Uzan, and Senac for threes. Based on the metrics, this is projected to be a one-point loss for Houston on the road by Ken Palm.
@NoConfForOldMen: But this isn't one of the teams that I'm expecting us to lose. And we'll see that in subsequent weeks. Though I i understand why we're projected to lose, I can't see us losing to BYU in hoops. So I think we grind out a 78 to 75 three-point win.
@NoConfForOldMen: So we'll see where it goes. I know we're running short on time, so we're going to end it here. That's it for our 71st episode of the No Conference for Old Men podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it.
@NoConfForOldMen: And again, we'd really appreciate it if folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast on your preferred platform. We're also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric podcast. We're at the gocougs.com YouTube page for those that want to see our old faces. We appreciate the continued support from all.
@NoConfForOldMen: Also, please give us a follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Old and Men. Thank you all again for listening, and please be on the lookout next week and listen as our next episode drops. Take care, of everyone.
@NoConfForOldMen: Go Cougs!
