Cincinnati vs. Memphis: Rough Game to Sit Through

Holy lord that was a frustrating mess of a game last night between Cincinnati and Memphis.  It was so bad that I bet even the Memphis fans wanted their money back after that total struggle. 

Since I’m a Bearcat fan, I will list/vent the reasons why watching that game was worse than sprinting into a McDonald’s about to explode in your pants and finding people already occupying all of the stalls.  Also, I will offer a few notes as to why this game is not the end of the world for UC. 

Why I Would Have Rather Watched a Dharma & Greg Marathon Than Watch That Game:

1)    Both Teams Missed A Million Shots…Terribly.

I don’t know if the rims at the FedEx Forum were just tighter than the little kids' shoelaces at Play It Again Sports or what, but about 90% of all the shots taken in the game were GIANT bricks.  I’m talkin’ not even close to going in.  Really really awful shooting.

2)    “Hey Bearcats, You Wanna Grab That Rebound Or… “

Cincinnati played pretty solid half-court defense in this game, limiting Memphis to 37.5% from the field and a puke-inducing 11% from downtown, but on many occasions the Bearcats gave Memphis two or three extra chances.  For whatever reason, UC fumbled about 10 or 12 rebounds out of bounds.  And every UC blocked shot or tipped pass somehow magically went right to a Memphis player.  I’m not sure I remember a game where those things happened THAT much. 

3)    Ed Hightower.  Period.

How does Ed Hightower continue to have a job as a referee?  When he refs a game, he treats it like he gets paid commission for every whistle blown.  He calls more off-the-ball fouls than anyone I’ve ever seen, and makes the correct call about 0% of the time.  He starts blowin’ that whistle every three seconds and then his partners want in on the action—so they start blowin’ away. 

Hightower, who must have purchased his hair rug from “The Obvious Store,” called a blocking foul on Cincinnati’s Mike Williams that was so vexing that I felt like I was captured by British aliens and catapulted off to Saturn.  He was standing completely still, guarding his man in the post, when his man took a hard dribble, dropped his shoulder, and crashed into Williams, who then fell to the ground. 

Hightower called a BLOCKING foul on that.  What?!  Williams got up and looked around completely dumbfounded, speechless as to how in the name of Moses that wasn’t a huge charge. 

Neither team can get into a flow when the whistle is blown on virtually every single possession.  Why would the NCAA want THAT to happen?  Oh yeah, because they’re dumb. 

And referees are dumb.  They are dumb control freaks that need to just let the game be played and only call OBVIOUS fouls.  Not ticky tacks, not “he might’ve nicked his shoulder.”  And please give it a rest already with all these “illegal” screens.  Unless a moving screen leads directly to an easy basket, who cares??  Oh my God, thanks for letting me vent on that. 

(I’m not blaming the loss on the refs, just to be clear.  I just can’t stand their antics sometimes.)

Why This Loss Isn’t the End of the World 

1)    Cincinnati stands at 10-3 heading into conference play.  When the schedule initially came out, most Bearcat fans were hoping for ten non-conference wins.  UC was only 5-7 last year in its pre-conference schedule. 
2)    Memphis was 44-2 at home in the past three seasons coming into this game.  Nobody on the selection committee will punish the Bearcats for losing at the FedEx Forum.
3)    Playing poorly in a tough non-conference road game should be a good learning experience for a young team as they head into the toughest conference of all time.
4)    UC still played pretty good defense, as has been the case in all three losses. 
5)    There are still 18 Big East games left! 


So for those of you who suffered through this game because of my recommendation, I apologize deeply.  Next up: UC at No. 25 Marquette, Sunday Jan. 4 on ESPN Full Court at 11:00 PST.