Cincinnati Bearcats 94, PJ Stingers 64: Player By Player Evaluations

The Cincinnati Bearcats romped the PJ Stingers last night in their Bahamas exhibition game 94-64. We also have highlights available courtesy 10th Year Seniors (@10thyrSeniors), who were live tweeting the game last night and posted the entire game online. They also posted several photos on their website.

Really, we have give them mad props for taping the game from start to finish and taking those stills. It was really excellent coverage.

We’ll go through every player’s performance in a moment but a major observation I made is the fact that Troy Caupain and Kevin Johnson both started, with Ge’Lawn Guyn coming off the bench. It’s too early to say if this is Mick Cronin’s ideal back court but this certainly helps answer one of my questions heading into this game. Shaq Thomas, Octavius Ellis, and Quadri Moore rounded out the starting lineup but as you’ll see, no set of players garnered a vast majority of the minutes. Mick spread the wealth by getting all but Zach Tobler involved last night.

Troy Caupain (#10): 16 min, 2 points, 1-5 from the field, 0-3 from three

Caupain was decent running the offense but didn’t seem as aggressive last night as we saw for much of last season. At this point I’d call it a two-horse race between he and Ge’Lawn Guyn for the starting point guard position, with Farad Cobb as a dark horse.

Kevin Johnson (#25): 16 min, 17 points, 6-8 from the field, 5-6 from three

KJ was throwing up daggers last night, especially in the second quarter when he seemingly couldn’t miss from three. He was completely comfortable in his own skin as a sophomore. With the kind of accuracy he has from the outside, there’s no reason we can’t see performances like the one we saw last night from Kevin Johnson.

Shaq Thomas (#3): 12 min, 3 pts, 2 rebs, 1-9 from the field

His line wasn’t impressive in the slightest but two things have me encouraged about Shaq Thomas. 1) he appears to have developed more touch on his shot and 2) he aggressively attacked the rim. Going 1-9 from the field looks bad. I get it. But for whatever reason most of his shots, even layups, just wouldn’t drop.

Octavius Ellis (#2): 17 min, 6 pts, 15 rebs, 3-5 from the field

It’s clear Ellis is at an advanced stage of his collegiate career as he absolutely dominated around the rim on both ends of the floor and he owned the paint in general. At this point I see no reason why he’s not starting from game one this season.

Quadri Moore (#0): 16 min, 13 pts, 7 rebs, 5-6 from the field, 3-4 free throws

He moves pretty well for a 6’8″ 230 lbs big man and appears to have the most offensive prowess as any of the other front court players. Moore also has a smooth stroke from the free throw line, which will certainly help his point total during games this season when he’s getting fouled near the rim. But he certainly needs to come along on the defensive side.

Deshaun Morman (#1): 24 min, 10 pts, 7 assists, 5-8 from the field

Morman looked great with the ball in his hands last night. He moved the ball around, found shooters, and nailed the open three if given the opportunity. But he still has a ways to go on the defensive end. That should improve in time, especially with this staff.

Gary Clark (#11): 22 min, 17 pts, 9 rebs, 8-12 from the field

Gary Clark likes to dunk and block and is really, really good at both. That’s all.

Ge’Lawn Guyn (#14): 22 min, 7 pts, 2-4 from the field

I would almost say Guyn ran the offense better than Caupain last night. His stats don’t jump out at you but when he was at the point the other players around him seemed to perform better. That’s one of the major roles of a point guard.

Jermaine Sanders (#15): 16 min, 9 pts, 4-9 from the field

16 minutes, 9 pts is your typical Jermaine Sanders line. Nothing spectacular but solid contributions to the team’s effort.

Farad Cobb (#21): 14 min, 3 pts, 1-5 from the field

Cobb fills a nice niche as a spot-up, outside shooter but appears to still be adjusting role in the Bearcats offense. He seems to feel more comfortable at the 1 than the 2.

Coreontae DeBerry (#22): 14 min, 0 pts, 5 rebs, 0-2 from the field

He’s a gargantuan player but needs to exert his physical advantage more under the basket.

Jamaree Strickland (#32): 11 min, 7 pts, 2 rebs, 3-4 from the field

Strickland isn’t advertised as an especially “large” big man but he looks absolutely huge when you see him live. I guess he spent the last season bulking up. Both he and DeBerry really add some nice size underneath for Cincinnati.

Zach Tobler (#45): Did not play