Mick on Alan Cutler this morning

[Mick's Da Man]

Sometimes I'll start having my doubts about Mick, and then I'll catch him on one of the sportstalk shows and he sounds more intelligent about basketball than most of the coaches I've ever listened to.

The charting of contested and uncontested shots...........defensive insight, etc.........

I really believe he is just up against it and that we will see results by the end of the season. The record won't show it, but we will having something more to look forward to next season. I really believe that.

[steveocincy]

I too heard the interview and was thinking the same thoughts. With all the negatives posted about this team having more talent than last year and having worse results, I sometimes wonder about my belief that he is a good coach. Then I hear an interview like that and think that he is just dealing with talented but still only freshmen players without some of the b-ball IQ learned by more experience. These freshmen probably earned things in high school on talent alone. I continue to recall how Connecticut finished 12th in the BE last year relying a lot on highly regarded freshmen. I think we need to allow time for this team to mature. That said, hopefully we will see continuous improvement.

Also, Cutler asked about McClain not getting as playing time as he thought he should, and Mick agreed that he should play a lot more minutes, but with the foot injury he had missed alot of practice and got out of game shape. He should be increasing his minutes soon.

[CincyBeerCo]

Thanks for brining some perspective and sanity back guys. It gets old having to rehash this for nay-sayers on such a regular and ongoing basis.

[cincycpaw]

Thanks for brining some perspective and sanity back guys. It gets old having to rehash this for nay-sayers on such a regular and ongoing basis.

This cracks me up. It is completely ok to question Cronin's abilityto coach at this level, an interview certainly gives some insight, but you'd get more insight if you actually saw something on the floor.

I certainly think Mick needs a couple of more years before he is really judged, but I haven't seen a whole lot out of him to this point, except for some potentially great recruiting.

[Josh Rexhausen]

I heard Cutler before Cronin got there, and he was talking to Bill Koch (I think, it may have been another writer) and he asked him what he thought, they both agreed that they expected UC to be better this year, and that it is as if the Seniors have regressed. I know Warren was hurt, Williamson had a surgery, but there has to be something else. Is part of the loss in production, due to the added responsibility to teach this year?

They also said no one will like it, but we are two years away. Next year we are going to be in a similar possition, the seniors will be gone, we will have Vaughn as the only player who played two years, Williams will probably help as a leader but the rest will be sophs with one year under their belt and the need to teach the new freshmen.

[Mick's Da Man]

I expect this year to be DOWN. I expect next season to be UP AND DOWN. There will be some great games and letdowns next season, which is par for the course with young players, but they will be in their second season.

I think Mick fully intends to go to war most of this season with the guys he considers the future.

[jeffto]

I certainly think Mick needs a couple of more years before he is really judged, but I haven't seen a whole lot out of him to this point, except for some potentially great recruiting.
So stop judging him already!

[cincycpaw]

So stop judging him already!

"Really judged" meaning fired or kept on. He took the job and can certainly be judged on his everyday performance.

[BigDaddyCornHusker]

I had my doubts about Mick a few times this season. But in watching him at the game on Sat, I was impressed with how involved he was with the players. He seems to have a good report with his players and is active on the sidelines. The formers Illinois State coach Porter Moser did not have the players respect. He'd call a time out and would struggle to get his players to pay attention. Mick seemed connected and the younger players looked very active. I'll suffer a down year but I'll want some wins next year.

[james jr]

Sometimes I'll start having my doubts about Mick, and then I'll catch him on one of the sportstalk shows and he sounds more intelligent about basketball than most of the coaches I've ever listened to.

The charting of contested and uncontested shots...........defensive insight, etc.........

I really believe he is just up against it and that we will see results by the end of the season. The record won't show it, but we will having something more to look forward to next season. I really believe that.

My doubts about Mick have never been in the area of basketball I.Q., or talent evaluation or recruitng. I believe that he EXCELS in all of these areas. However, the results that he is getting from this team gives me some pause about his ability to teach. Also, I have some reservations about his ability to relate to but especially his ability to motivate the players. I am still wary because last years players seem to have regressed and I wonder if they are affected by his consistently referring to their inferior ability.