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This represents the best opportunity to be the Cats since our last victory all the way back in 2016. This is not the typical CJC coached UK team in that it is very experienced - They start 3 seniors, a junior and just one freshman. There is one other freshman who contributes but this isn't a team filled with one and done players.

They returned Oscar Tshwiebe, who missed the first couple of games but has been about as good as he was last year, which is plenty good. They don't necessarily run their offense around him but his offensive rebounding is so good he ends up with extra touches inside by cleaning up teammates misses. They brought in transfer Reeves who was Ill. State's best player last season, Wheeler returns as the starting point, and Jacob Toppin has been elevated to starter after spending his first two seasons off the bench. The lone freshman is Wallace, who has been good as well.

What UK lacks from past seasons is height. Tshwiebe is big but stands only 6'-9" (which limits his NBA potential) and Toppin is a skinny 6'-9". They don't have any one on the roster standing taller than 6'-9", which is a far cry from the days where they had multiple one and doners standing over 6'-10". Additionally, Wheeler is a small player at 5'-9", one of the few guards in the league that Manjon and Thomas are taller than. As a result UK is not a great shotblocking team, and they don't have a great 2 pt FG%. On defense they have been not very good in league play, and they are getting outscored by 3 points per 100 possessions.

They are not a bad team, just not near as good as their preseason predictions. They are still dangerous offensively, as they are a great offensive rebounding team just by having Tshwiebe alone, and have a number of good three point shooters that we will have to contend with. That said this are very beatable, and we can be poised to end the 13 game losing streak we have against them. Let's get it done!

Tshwiebe reminds me of Dort, but Tshwiebe is slightly more polished and slightly more athletic. He might have 20 points and 20 rebounds given no Robbins and Dort to throw at him in the paint. We really don't have anyone who can body him up. While they might be down, this might be Stack's toughest assignment yet given the mismatch we have with his size and strength.

Hopefully we shoot the 3 like last game, but with our jekyl and Hyde nature, that might be wishful thinking from distance and beating UK off the dribble will be much tougher with his rim protection

Vandy187187 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:14 pm Tshwiebe reminds me of Dort, but Tshwiebe is slightly more polished and slightly more athletic. He might have 20 points and 20 rebounds given no Robbins and Dort to throw at him in the paint. We really don't have anyone who can body him up. While they might be down, this might be Stack's toughest assignment yet given the mismatch we have with his size and strength.

Hopefully we shoot the 3 like last game, but with our jekyl and Hyde nature, that might be wishful thinking from distance and beating UK off the dribble will be much tougher with his rim protection

Not sure I remember which one but there was a game last season where QMB kept Tshweibe pretty well contained, to the point that UK fans were crying about what a thug and a bully QMB was.
My comment at the time was that if DeMarcus Cousins has ever been on your team, you never again get to complain about thugs or bullies on any other team.

The Big Blue will be in the gym and I am hoping that our students take that as a challenge to out yell them. Let's go Dores!

Vandy187187 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:14 pm Tshwiebe reminds me of Dort, but Tshwiebe is slightly more polished and slightly more athletic. He might have 20 points and 20 rebounds given no Robbins and Dort to throw at him in the paint. We really don't have anyone who can body him up. While they might be down, this might be Stack's toughest assignment yet given the mismatch we have with his size and strength.

Hopefully we shoot the 3 like last game, but with our jekyl and Hyde nature, that might be wishful thinking from distance and beating UK off the dribble will be much tougher with his rim protection

I think Dort is likely far more athletic than Tshwiebe than the other way around. Tshwiebe is much more polished (obviously), but I don't see the explosiveness that Dort has shown in his short times on the floor. I really wish we had Robbins available for this game (or really, all the games), He would give UK fits in the post.

The students should be plenty loud since Jerry is treating them all to energy drinks, so they will be super-caffeinated.

I honestly think Tshwiebe should have stayed in Morgantown to finish playing for Huggy. Neither UK nor WVU is ranked at this point and the season in Morgantown that looked promising when they were like 12-2 has crashed and burned vs Big 12 competition and not much muscle in the paint. UK and WVU might be playing each other in the NIT.

Intrigued by the game tonight. While I worry that we live and die by the three pointer, the team has come together during the conference season--even with the two injuries. Hopefully, no surprise pre-game injury announcement this evening.

Stack's unblocking folks on twitter and paying for a double round of caffeine make me think that he's psyched and optimistic. Sorry i live so far away, should be a ton of fun (I hope) in Memorial tonight.

UK is only favored by 6. Anything is possible!

wish I could be there to help the team with a little noise - hope there is a lot of noise and that the students are indeed amped. Hope the team plays under control and pulls out the W.

They were awful.....except for about the first 8-10 minutes...