(02-14-2015 08:43 PM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-14-2015 08:33 PM)payday Wrote:  Four straight NCAAs (likely 5) should probably justify a little optimism around here. Instead of the constant meltdowns with every loss or the unforgivable bad half.

I think fans are not satisfied with a team that manages to barely make it in every year with a 6- seed. That's consistency sure, but it is not good enough for a lot of us. Given UC's history fans can and should expect more. Expect a team that can dominate a poor conference and end the season ranked with a 5 or higher seed.

Worse is that we see the same problems year in and year out. A team that plays good (great) D but plays bad (horrible) O. A team that can't run an effective offense even against teams it should dominate or when there is an obvious mismatch. Should we be satisfied with a coach who can't seem to coach offense to the degree required for a top tier basketball program?

Cronin's leash is getting short, he brought the program back from the brink. But he hasn't shown he can get us to elite.

I don't know if I agree that Cronin's leash is getting short, I do think there is a sizeable group of fans who are tired of watching rock fights as opposed to basketball games. It is ugly ball, and that gets old. My concern is that he seems to stubborn to address it, he brings the criticism on himself with his comments that offense is for friends and family, and in games where the team can't even score 60 points and loses by 4, if we had just played better d we would have won. That is where he loses me as a fan, and I think many others. Now , having said all that, this year is very different for obvious reasons, but I do think some adjustments need to be made, and that starts with Mick.

(02-14-2015 09:00 PM)InspectorHound Wrote:  People who think that UC would fire Cronin anytime in the next 5 years are delusional

Cronin is a fixture here.

Cronin isn't going anywhere. But I agree sometimes coaches tend to get tunnel vision. They can't see the situation for what it is because a)they're too close to it; and b)they're control freaks.

What worked for the less talented teams Mick had to deal with when he arrived is not what should be employed now. I'm not saying this team is an offensive juggernaut but there are players capable of doing things if the offensive style was a more fluid, aggressive one.

Hopefully in his time away, Coach has been able to reassess what he's doing and will address it soon. Might be too late for this squad but next year's team could be special.

(02-14-2015 05:23 PM)Crewdogz Wrote:  Buzzer beaters...

Always make me think of 2 games; NCAA vs. WVU and UC partially blocking the shot that banks in.

Syracuse in BE tournament 2006

The unfortunate part is, some of these buzzer beaters (tulane today, wva, arizona 1997) we had no business being close enough that a buzzer beater could beat us.

We should have been up 10+ on a team like Tulane at home...instead we are in a dog fight and we lose on a 40footer. unreal

I'm thinking, if we can hold teams to 15ppg the rest of the way, we may win just enough to sneak into the big dance...

This game reminded me of the loss to Coastal Carolina in 1990.

(02-14-2015 09:49 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  

(02-14-2015 08:43 PM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-14-2015 08:33 PM)payday Wrote:  Four straight NCAAs (likely 5) should probably justify a little optimism around here. Instead of the constant meltdowns with every loss or the unforgivable bad half.

I think fans are not satisfied with a team that manages to barely make it in every year with a 6- seed. That's consistency sure, but it is not good enough for a lot of us. Given UC's history fans can and should expect more. Expect a team that can dominate a poor conference and end the season ranked with a 5 or higher seed.

Worse is that we see the same problems year in and year out. A team that plays good (great) D but plays bad (horrible) O. A team that can't run an effective offense even against teams it should dominate or when there is an obvious mismatch. Should we be satisfied with a coach who can't seem to coach offense to the degree required for a top tier basketball program?

Cronin's leash is getting short, he brought the program back from the brink. But he hasn't shown he can get us to elite.

I don't know if I agree that Cronin's leash is getting short, I do think there is a sizeable group of fans who are tired of watching rock fights as opposed to basketball games. It is ugly ball, and that gets old. My concern is that he seems to stubborn to address it, he brings the criticism on himself with his comments that offense is for friends and family, and in games where the team can't even score 60 points and loses by 4, if we had just played better d we would have won. That is where he loses me as a fan, and I think many others. Now , having said all that, this year is very different for obvious reasons, but I do think some adjustments need to be made, and that starts with Mick.

good point.
its great seeing defense played where we can keep teams around 50 points but it's awful to realize that we struggle to make 50 points ourselves. Mick does need to reevaluate what he's been bringing into UC because to stay up among the top 10 teams, one has to be able to score regularly. How many 6 footers are air balls and how many missed layups and stickbacks on the past few years of Bearcat basketball? if Mick was coaching track and field along with basketball, he's got the recruits to do both. But it's only basketball and it doesn't appear that after he recruits athletes that his staff can teach the other skills. Watching teams like Wisconsin is touch to watch when so many of their players can just flat out shoot. They play pretty good defense too because they outscore their opponents. Anyways, i'm off the soap box now.

(02-14-2015 10:25 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  What worked for the less talented teams Mick had to deal with when he arrived is not what should be employed now. I'm not saying this team is an offensive juggernaut but there are players capable of doing things if the offensive style was a more fluid, aggressive one.

I think that is what pisses people off most about Mick's teams. It is one thing if we don't have the offensive talent. It is another to watch a team with talented players fail over and over work as a team and play good offense. It is even worse to watch this team be consistently unable to figure out how to beat a 2-3 zone (I believe that has been an issue in years past to). Individually they can play good O, but as a team they are clueless far too often. That is on coaching as much or more than it is on the players

Ellis, Clark, Caupain, Thomas, Morman and Cobb have shown the ability to be offensive threats at times. But the lack of a sense of urgency and the lack of good passing results in far too many wasted possessions given the skill of players we have on the floor.

Cronin seems to have gotten by so far with recruiting players who can play D, focusing on teaching them D and hoping they can play some O (maybe learn it in the off season under other coaches). That works for a mid-major that wants to be competitive and can't recruit at a high level. But it should not be acceptable for a program like UC.

(02-15-2015 06:47 AM)back2vinyl Wrote:  This game reminded me of the loss to Coastal Carolina in 1990.

Reminded me of the UAB games from the 1990's. Tulane held the ball for at least 30 seconds every time they had the ball. UC's offense wasn't good but Tulane out coached the UC staff by holding the ball and going with zone. Slowed the game to the point where the energy in the building was very low.

(02-15-2015 09:00 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-14-2015 10:25 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  What worked for the less talented teams Mick had to deal with when he arrived is not what should be employed now. I'm not saying this team is an offensive juggernaut but there are players capable of doing things if the offensive style was a more fluid, aggressive one.

I think that is what pisses people off most about Mick's teams. It is one thing if we don't have the offensive talent. It is another to watch a team with talented players fail over and over work as a team and play good offense. It is even worse to watch this team be consistently unable to figure out how to beat a 2-3 zone (I believe that has been an issue in years past to). Individually they can play good O, but as a team they are clueless far too often. That is on coaching as much or more than it is on the players

Ellis, Clark, Caupain, Thomas, Morman and Cobb have shown the ability to be offensive threats at times. But the lack of a sense of urgency and the lack of good passing results in far too many wasted possessions given the skill of players we have on the floor.

Cronin seems to have gotten by so far with recruiting players who can play D, focusing on teaching them D and hoping they can play some O (maybe learn it in the off season under other coaches). That works for a mid-major that wants to be competitive and can't recruit at a high level. But it should not be acceptable for a program like UC.

This is what drives me crazy. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me the directive from Mick is that we don't take a shot until the clock is under 15. Most of the little movement there is, is done without any real intent to score the basketball. It's basically the exact opposite attitude of how he coaches defense where there is 100% intensity and attention to detail at all times.

(02-15-2015 09:34 AM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(02-15-2015 09:00 AM)skyblade Wrote:  

(02-14-2015 10:25 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  What worked for the less talented teams Mick had to deal with when he arrived is not what should be employed now. I'm not saying this team is an offensive juggernaut but there are players capable of doing things if the offensive style was a more fluid, aggressive one.

I think that is what pisses people off most about Mick's teams. It is one thing if we don't have the offensive talent. It is another to watch a team with talented players fail over and over work as a team and play good offense. It is even worse to watch this team be consistently unable to figure out how to beat a 2-3 zone (I believe that has been an issue in years past to). Individually they can play good O, but as a team they are clueless far too often. That is on coaching as much or more than it is on the players

Ellis, Clark, Caupain, Thomas, Morman and Cobb have shown the ability to be offensive threats at times. But the lack of a sense of urgency and the lack of good passing results in far too many wasted possessions given the skill of players we have on the floor.

Cronin seems to have gotten by so far with recruiting players who can play D, focusing on teaching them D and hoping they can play some O (maybe learn it in the off season under other coaches). That works for a mid-major that wants to be competitive and can't recruit at a high level. But it should not be acceptable for a program like UC.

This is what drives me crazy. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me the directive from Mick is that we don't take a shot until the clock is under 15. Most of the little movement there is, is done without any real intent to score the basketball. It's basically the exact opposite attitude of how he coaches defense where there is 100% intensity and attention to detail at all times.

I remember a play (I think it was against Tulsa, though the games start to get jumbled in my mind late in the season). We in-bounded the ball, Tulsa was sitting back in 2-3 zone with no on the ball pressure. Caupain slowly walks the ball up the court and crossed the time-line with like 26 seconds left on the clock. That type of stuff what drives me crazy about this team.

Our O is already bad enough. But we are content with no pressure from the opposing team to waste 10+ seconds before we even start our O. If it's not slowly walking the ball up the court, it's throwing the ball around the perimeter for 10-15 seconds before we even attempt to score. A bad offense should be attacking from the start and take the first good opportunity. Our offense doesn't even make the other team play D until 15-20 seconds have already run off the clock and because of that we take bad shots. If players are getting tired from playing hard on D then sub them out of the game, don't have them rest on O.