1) The UC Bearcats score with the same frequency of your average tuba section.  Let's get this part out of the way: They're 18-6, and they're good defensively.  And yes, griping about a team's lack of offense and it might doom their chances in March beats a talking about a team that was doomed in January, but still.....

The lack of offense, which was a small inconvenience in December, and a minor concern in January, has turned into a crisis in February.

This team is going to make the NCAA Tournament because of how they prevent other teams from scoring.  They're going to lose, perhaps early, in the NCAA Tournament because of how easy it is for other teams to keep them from scoring.

They're not going to score much if Cashmere Wright isn't healthy.  Right now, he's not.  Mick is saying it, and we're seeing it, Cashmere Wright is not Cashmere Wright.  He's not even trying to penetrate, he has no explosion, and he's walking the ball up the floor more than ever.  The effort is there, and few players who've worn the red and black have ever been as gutsy as Cashmere Wright, but the results speak for themselves.

If he's hurt, he shouldn't be playing.

Sitting Cash will hurt in the short-term.  Despite their win over Marquette without Wright, they simply have no one who can replace him, and their offensive problems would be even more pressing.  At the same time, they're not yet in jeopardy of missing the NCAAs, and the scoring with Cash in the lineup really can't drop all that much without him in the lineup.  Losing some games without Cashmere Wright in February would be worth it, if they can get him back healthier for the more important games in March.

It's not all about Cashmere Wright.  Whether he sits or not, the Bearcats need to run more.  Their personnel simply doesn't work well in the halfcourt.  They need to grab rebounds and go, and they need Titus Rubles to assume the role of facilitator and penetrator and come to grips with how awful his jump shot is.

The halfcourt offense doesn't work.  The Bearcats do little more than throw some pointless passes on the perimeter that result in a three-pointer.  Sean Kilpatrick is carrying too much of the load, and if Wright sits that burden only increases, but the current approach isn't working. 

And it's not just a slump.  They've scored 70-plus three times in 14 games, and one of those required overtime.  Their six losses have been maddening mostly because they've never given up more than 66 points in defeat, and four winning opponents failed to break 57.  They're 258th in the country in field goal percentage.  They've taken more threes than any other Big East team in league play, yet they're 12th in the league in three-point shooting percentage.  They don't shoot free-throws nearly well enough.  The offensive problems might have been a little extreme this past week (more than a little actually), but they've persisted throughout the season.

They do a lot of things well....they're very good on the glass and they're still one of the best defensive teams in the sport.  Those things will keep them in almost any game.  But if they don't figure out how to score, and if their most important player doesn't get healthy, those things will not be enough to win the games that really matter.

2) Xavier's Tweetup.  First thing's first for the Musketeers:  Piling up wins, as they did Saturday night, against the dregs of what's been a pretty entertaining A-10 this season.  Fordham is bad.  After watching them meltdown and lose a game the officials tried to give them on Saturday, I'm not sure I'm ever picking Dayton to win another game ever again.  Rhode Island is awful.  XU must win the next three games, especially given what they face in their final five....

They get four straight home games - VCU, Memphis, UMass, and St. Louis - before finishing the regular season at Butler.  That's going to be mildly difficult.

The Memphis game on 2/26  in particular stands out. The Tigers are 20-3, and last year they won a game at home against Xavier that the Muskies should have won.

It's also the night of the #XavierTweetup, with a package that includes a lower-level ticket (regular price $40) plus a commemorative #Xavier t-shirt (select sizes available). It's limited to about 100 tickets, and yes, I will be there.

Are you an XU fan who wants to scream at me for my rooting allegiance?  This is your chance.

Also, the Fox Sports Ohio Girls will be there.  In our section. 

It's going to be a good time, and I'm ready to take some ribbing, so get your tickets by going here.

3) College basketball was awesome this weekend.  OK, not so much if you're a UC fan, and the UD ending had me inventing new profane words, but other than those two glaring local examples, this was a pretty incredible weekend.

You had yet another great game atop the Big Ten. Wisconsin and Michigan might have had coaches trying to out-dumb each other, but they did play the latest dramatic game in what's been the conference with the most drama. 

You had Miami of Florida let by Barry Larkin's kid.  Those Larkins have some decent athletic genetics.  There isn't a team passing the eye test better right now than the Hurricanes.

You had the Louisville/Notre Dame five-OT game.  If you had no dog in the fight, you wanted it to keep going.  The first 38 or so minutes was brutal.  The final 25-27 minutes were fantastic drama.

You had Indiana/Ohio State.  OK, so it wasn't the game I thought it would be, but it was still a standout performance by the Hoosiers.  IU will probably fall from the top of the polls, and Duke, Miami, and Gonzaga are making convincing cases to be number one, but I still think Indiana is the best team in the country, and neither the Illinois loss or the win against a good, but not great, Ohio State team did anything to make me waver on that stance.

I've griped about college basketball's bad on-court product this season, and those gripes remain in place, but the game still has the potential for some of the best theater and drama in sports.

4) Stop and appreciate the basketball genius that is LeBron James.  As hard as it is to imagine, he's playing his best basketball ever.  He's otherworldly right now.  He's made 49 of his last 65 shots.  He's making 42% of his threes.  And he's still affecting the game with his passing (at his career average in assists) and rebounding (averaging one more board a game this season than his career average).  The scary thing about LeBron isn't that he's simply having a career season after reworking his game during the offseason.  It's not like he spend the summer in the gym shooting, with the Olympics, time off, and other obligations taking up his time, instead you're seeing a guy who continues to progress, and who is now just starting the explore the depths of his game.  He's a better shooter.  His low-post game is nearly unstoppable.  And while the sight of him charging down the lane remains the scariest thing in basketball, he picks and chooses his spots more than ever.

People have their opinions on LeBron.  Little is likely to change that.  But if you can appreciate an all-time great at the height (or maybe approaching the peak) of his powers, you can appreciate what LeBron James is doing right now.

5)  Pitchers and catchers report.  Those are among the best four words in sports.  Among the best individual words: "Doubleheader."  GABP will host one on April 6th.  Reds/Nationals, then UC/Louisville.  I like this for a billion reasons, but primarily because it helps bring college baseball into focus.  We all love baseball.  Most of us love the Reds.  But make a point to take in a college game at one of the local schools.  The games are a great value, and perfect for introducing children to the game.  And many of the players who play for UC, XU, NKU, and Miami are from the Cincinnati area.  The games are usually fast-paced, and they're often played during the day. 

College baseball remains one of this area's great sports bargains.

....But Wait, There's More....

-Kate Upton.  You've seen this by now, but I'm not doing my duty if I don't post this.....

-Yancy Gates.  Remember when people said they couldn't wait for his UC career to end?  This team sure could use someone like him right now, no? Sometimes you don't know what you have 'til it's gone.

The Grammys were last night.  It might be my favorite night of the year on Twitter for multiple reasons. 

A) People say funny things on Twitter about musicians, who mostly are pretty weird people.

B) People enjoy saying funny things on Twitter about musicians, until someone says something funny about the musician they like, then they get really upset.

C) Many people spend the entire night bitching about the Grammys, yet stay and watch the entire broadcast.

The Deadspin Grammys Live Blog was pretty well-done and provides a good recap of the evening.

Dick Clark, while often at odds with the Grammys, should have been recognized with more than two cursory mentions.

-Here's your sports tear-jerker of the weekend. 

-Well done, SNL.....

-The Reds have a top-five infield.  That's not just me saying that, this guy is saying that.

-Got a hipster in your life?  There IS a cure....

-Loaded radio show today at 3:04 on ESPN1530.  College basketball, and a preview of spring training with Jim Day are on the docket.  I'm excited.  I hope you're excited.  Kate Upton is exciting.