Cincinnati Basketball PG Player Grades
Wes Miller went into this season with 2 point guards who had never played one minute of D1 basketball. I was skeptical of this decision by Coach Miller, but it turns out I should've trusted the former PG a little more. The Bearcats finished right about where I projected in the pre-season, but it wasn't because of awful point guard play. We'll get to that one big problem in a later segment of Player Grades. This isn't to say the point guard play was great or even very good, but it was better than expected.
The player grades below are based on preseason perception and not actual performance, so just because one guy got an A and the other got a C+ doesn't necessarily mean I think they had a better season.
DAY DAY THOMAS: B
Day Day ended his first D1 season with a couple of howlers but he really did show who he can be in wins vs West Virginia, Kansas State, and TCU. In between those exceptional performances there were a lot of flashes and frustrations.
The flashes? Burst, bounce, and defense. Thomas was 2nd on the team in BartTorvik's DBPM impact metric with 3.3, trailing only Aziz Bandaogo's 3.8. Day Day also had 61 steals, the most for a Bearcat since 2012. Being a day 1 above average defender in a league like the Big 12 is impressive for a JUCO transfer. His elite burst got him to the rim (2.5 attempts/g , 77th percentile) and mid range (2.1 attempts/g, 88th percentile) at a very high level. Once he got to those spots the production wasn't elite, but you aren't going to get better if you can't get there. His ability to get into threatening positions mattered.
The frustrations? Turnovers. This team struggled to win close games and turnovers were a consistent theme -- Thomas averaged 2.1 TO in 26MPG. His 19.8 TOrate was the highest for a guard on the team. The lobs were inconsistent and there were plenty of other mind boggling mistakes. Three Point Shooting. Day Day shot 28.3% from 3 OOC and 28.4% from 3 in the Big 12. He was consistently bad from long range. Rim Finishing. Thomas shot 55.7% at the rim, which is in the 41st percentile in the country. If Cincinnati wants to be great next season then Day Day has to take a year 2 leap at the rim and from 3. His 3 ball looks fine, it just doesn't go in. He gets to the rim at a good rate because of his burst and athleticism, but the touch has to improve. Thomas also showed an okay pull up mid range game (36.1%, 55th percentile).
Graphic by CBB Analytics
Day Day also had a sharp decline in conference play, specifically at the rim. His FG% OOC was 42.3% and in conference it was 36.6%. That number doesn't seem too drastic, but when you consider the 3PT% stayed the same it really shows how much the Big 12 length affected his finishing. 2PT% OOC was 51.9%, in conference it fell off a cliff to 41.0%.
Going Forward? I believe in Day Day's elite athleticism and think he will have a much better year next season at the rim and from 3PT range. The sky is the limit when you are that talented, but I think he'll end up just being a real solid senior year PG after a second offseason in the program and Big 12 experience. His athleticism got him to his spots, now he just needs the confidence and touch to finish. I can easily envision him improving his 3PT shooting to the low 30%s which really opens up the lane for him to improve his finishing at the rim. The path to improvement is clear. One potential issue here is Thomas' foot injury that will likely limit his offseason workouts.
JIZZLE JAMES: A-
Jizzle drastically exceeded my pre-season expectations as I am almost always skeptical of freshman being able to positively impact high major teams. Jizzle did just that, and Wes Miller did a great job protecting him and integrating him over time. Some coaches would've thrown him into the fire and let him make big mistakes early, but Wes had a near perfect balance to the PG room from my perspective. He didn't let James have awful performances that would negatively effect his confidence. He sat both PG when they made mistakes and for the most part kept the hot hand in the game. One memorable example of when Wes didn't keep the hot hand in the game was @ BYU -- Jizzle had a huge stretch create a Bearcats' lead but sat the bench to close the game because of a defensive decision by Coach Miller. The Bearcats won by double digits. Another is the same thing happening vs. Oklahoma State at home but Cincinnati choked down the stretch with James on the bench. Jizzle's DPM on BartTorvik was 0.9, compared to Day Day's impressive 3.3. In January Wes sat Jizzle down the stretch for defensive purposes vs BYU. In March Wes unleashed the true freshman for a brilliant 38 minute performance in a NIT win vs Bradley. The NIT performances, although not perfect, showed Cincinnati fans what Jizzle can be next season. It also showed how his experience in limited minutes prepared him for extended minutes -- he looked nothing like a freshman later on in the season which is almost unprecedented for a top 75 guy. The coaching staff really nailed their scout on Jizzle. These experiences combined with the player's talent make it easy to see a year 2 leap for Jizzle James.
We talked about Day Day's defense so let's talk about Jizzle's offense -- Jizzle had a 1.8 OBPM compared to Day Day's -0.7. He absolutely terrorized opponents all season from mid range. He was in the 93rd percentile in mid range attempts (2.6/game) and 84th percentile (46.9%) in FG% from those mid range attempts. Bonkers numbers for a freshman. He shot 44.9% from 2PT OOC and 50% in the Big 12. We all witnessed a young player improving within his freshman season. Jizzle got better or maintained most of his production even with the leap in competition.
Graphic by CBB Analytics
Why was it not an A+ or A? James was in the 26th percentile at the rim in MBB, and his 50.7% mark was worst on the team. He will figure it out.
Going Forward? This finishing problem isn't necessarily a bad thing going forward as Jizzle did show flashes around the rim and also got there a lot for a freshman (1.9 attempts/game, 64th percentile). The three ball looks good sometimes, but he was very inconsistent from long range. With Jizzle I think it's safe to throw some numbers out the window whether they are advanced analytics or counting stats. Jizzle's aura was obvious. He's a killer and every Cincinnati fan can see how great he can become. The best Bearcats' freshman since Jarron Cumberland or Jacob Evans. It's very rare to see a true freshman PG with that composure and confidence.
While Wes' gamble on inexperienced PGs may have resulted in a turnover epidemic this season, it should pay off with huge rewards in the '24-'25 season. Both PGs have obvious talent and will have two off-seasons and one Big 12 gauntlet of experience by tip off this November. Day Day and Jizzle are two of the best PG athletes Bearcats' fans have witnessed over the past decade plus and I fully believe they will improve upon their first seasons to become a deadly duo in year 2.
