TicketsDepth charge: Following Xavier's 69-38 victory in the Crosstown Shootout on Sunday, Xavier head coach Kevin McGuff made a very poignant comment:
"We have a lot more depth than they do, we were able to be a little bit more fresh," McGuff said. "We're much bigger and deeper in the low post. They had a good plan ... but we were able to move the ball and hit some threes, which gave us a chance to really stretch the lead out early."
I couldn't have illustrated it better than that. Not enough depth with only 10 players will be a challenge for Cincinnati to overcome all season.
Xavier is a top 10 team mostly because of its skill, but also because they have a lot of depth on the bench. They can keep everyone fresh, something Cincinnati doesn't have the luxury of doing.
Whereas Xavier head coach Kevin McGuff was able to throw fresh bodies on the court for 40 minutes, UC only has 10 eligible players on its roster, limiting options when exhaustion begins to take its toll.
Things are better than last year, however, when UC played the majority of its schedule with only eight healthy players. Things should improve next year, as well, with the influx of head coach Jamelle Elliott's first recruiting class, the activation of transfer Chanel Chisholm and the return of Shelly Bellman.
By my count, with the departure of Stephanie Stevens, Kahla Roudebush and Michelle Jones, next year the team should have 13 active players on the roster. At that point, they'll really be able to start playing with depth, provided the incoming freshman adjust to Elliott's system.
Then Cincinnati will be a more complete team, able to keep bodies fresh rather than forcing star players to stay on the court when exhaustion begins to take a toll. That's going to be a crucial step in this team's journey to be able to play with the likes of Xavier and other premier programs across the country.
Four on the floor: Before the Big East conference season opens up, the Bearcats have four games remaining against non-conference foes Butler, Eastern Kentucky, Valparaiso and Wright State. With a combined record of 16-14, these four opponents should provide fans with a good indication of what to expect headed into conference play.
It will also be interesting to see how UC responds after two consecutive tough losses against very good teams in Kentucky and Xavier.