Bearcats' 'unorthodox' lineup causing havoc for opponents

CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins has been confronted with the evidence, which is overwhelming. His team is guilty -- guilty of being short where it should be tall, tall where it should be short, this where it should be that.

The Bearcats are guilty of first-degree unorthodoxy, a fact Huggins doesn't dispute. Instead he nods his head at a retired jersey hanging on the wall at Fifth Third Arena, where unorthodox Cincinnati had just battered DePaul 83-54 Thursday.

Jason Maxiell averages 14 points and nearly 10 rebounds. (AP)

"I'd like to have Kenyon Martin," he said. "But we don't. We've got what we've got."

What Huggins has is a nonsensical starting lineup. His two wing guards are bigger than his two post players. The only point guard-shaped Bearcat in the starting lineup, 6-foot Jihad Muhammad, isn't a point guard at all.

These are among the reasons why Cincinnati was picked by league coaches to finish third this season in Conference USA, despite finishing first eight times in the league's nine-year history.

Good reasons.

Wrong reasons.

For one thing, Conference USA isn't as strong as everyone expected, and certainly isn't as strong as last season when an unprecedented six C-USA teams reached the NCAA Tournament. Marquette and Charlotte could be really good. Louisville, UAB and Memphis are pretty good.

Then there's Cincinnati, which is as strong as last season -- maybe stronger. That's conjecture at this point, but it will be proved or disproved soon: Louisville, Charlotte and Wake Forest visit Fifth Third Arena between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22.

At 12-1, the No. 23 Bearcats' only blemish is a 67-45 loss to Illinois on Dec. 31. It was ugly, but no uglier than what Illinois did to Wake Forest and Gonzaga -- and neither the Deacons nor Zags defended Illinois like Cincinnati. The Bearcats held the country's No. 1 shooting team (51.8 percent) to 39.3 percent from the floor.

Cincinnati isn't as big, deep or dangerous from the perimeter as its 25-7 team last season -- yet could be better because of its defense. The unorthodox Bearcats shrink the court with quick feet and long arms.

"A lot of teams are interchangeable from one to two, or two to three," said UC associate head coach Andy Kennedy, referring to point guards, shooting guards and small forwards. "We're interchangeable from two to five."

Two would be the shooting guard. Five would be the center. Calling the two interchangeable would be blasphemy -- but in Cincinnati's case it's the gospel.