Coach Cronin's St. Johns game plan

[Thegreatone]

Some people love him unconditionally and some people (a lot lately) have been grilling this guy. I am somewhere in the middle but more on the side that likes him.

Tonight he made proper adjustments coming out of half time. I think he had a solid game plan to start the game too. If you want to bash him, fine but please give credit where it is due.

[LongTimer]

Some people love him unconditionally and some people (a lot lately) have been grilling this guy. I am somewhere in the middle but more on the side that likes him.

Tonight he made proper adjustments coming out of half time. I think he had a solid game plan to start the game too. If you want to bash him, fine but please give credit where it is due.

I don't give him a lot of credit for that win honestly. If St. Johns makes free throws or any other shots (in the 2nd half), they probably win easy. Plus the ejection hurt them more than us. Most of that game, I spent mad at his poor coaching. He did go to the press and that helped us win, so I will give him credit for that much.

[TheLivingLegend]

Credit is defiantly due to mick, he made some great adjustments tonight. He WILL bring major major talent to this school...

I really just wish he would change the post game conference.
It bugs me that everything is directed at youth and is an excuse.

[Thegreatone]

I don't give him a lot of credit for that win honestly. If St. Johns makes free throws or any other shots (in the 2nd half), they probably win easy. Plus the ejection hurt them more than us. Most of that game, I spent mad at his poor coaching. He did go to the press and that helped us win, so I will give him credit for that much.

How did the ejection help them more? We lost our best defender and he was having one of, if not his best offensive game of his career. Please explain that.

[bearcat1518]

Really??? We took over the game after Kennedy got ejected. And besides, they were playing without Anthony Mason Jr. (their leading scorer and team leader), Malik Boothe (the starting point guard) and Rob Thomas (the second guy off the bench.

I liked in the first half, how they were feeding it into the post - (good game plan by Mick). But I don't credit Mick with very good coaching for the win. They beat an awful team down 2 starters and 1 key reserve, and another starter got ejected.

[LongTimer]

How did the ejection help them more? We lost our best defender and he was having one of, if not his best offensive game of his career. Please explain that.

They were already thin with all their injuries. The ejection took out their leading scorer and made them even more thin. With no subs, we were able to wear them down in the 2nd half. They were so tired that they couldn't make a shot or a free throw. Not too hard to figure that one out. The announcers said the same thing.

[LongTimer]

Really??? We took over the game after Kennedy got ejected. And besides, they were playing without Anthony Mason Jr. (their leading scorer and team leader), Malik Boothe (the starting point guard) and Rob Thomas (the second guy off the bench.

I liked in the first half, how they were feeding it into the post - (good game plan by Mick). But I don't credit Mick with very good coaching for the win. They beat an awful team down 2 starters and 1 key reserve, and another starter got ejected.

Good post. You are 100% right!

[Bearcat1982]

Can't complain too much about winning 2 out 3 on this past road trip-- maybe there's even a little coaching involved :)

[Thegreatone]

They were already thin with all their injuries. The ejection took out their leading scorer and made them even more thin. With no subs, we were able to wear them down in the 2nd half. They were so tired that they couldn't make a shot or a free throw. Not too hard to figure that one out. The announcers said the same thing.

Oh those announcers said it? I didnt realize that, my bad my bad. I will not trade rashad given the situation, I have a lot of faith in him.

Regardless Mick made some big adjustment that led to the victory. Also it was nice to see some called plays out of a timeout and halftime lead to easy points, great plays by Mick.

[BearcatAlum1]

I really just wish he would change the post game conference. It bugs me that everything is directed at youth and is an excuse.

I don't mind the comments about "youth," but the "missing Cash" thing really needs to stop. Anyone who is anyone understands that Cash is out and the team has sufferred.

As for the game, the refs made it very hard to coach. Obviously, we went deep on the bench for post bodies.

I thought our "set" plays were very good and we typically got wide open shots or layups. We still commit too many unnecessary turnovers and need to slow down our play.

I liked the press and it wore down a thin SJU squad. Our defense improved greatly in the second half and our rotations got better. Law of averages typically wins out, so it wasn't suprising to see SJU cool off with their long range bombs and deep jumpers.

I'm not liking Gates' defense. He single-handidly disrupts our defensive schemes and rotations. He is constantly late on rotations. His help defense is horrible. He doesn't box out properly. He doesn't talk. He doesn't do anything right on defense. If he wasn't such a great offensive tool, he wouldn't touch the court.

Overall, I give Mick a 7 out of 10.


BearcatAlum1

[behrlezt]

I thought Mick did a good job tonight...he obviously made solid half time adjustments because they came out a totally different team in the second. I'm not going to assume anything about his coaching skills until after they have played most of their Beast games this year. I still can't believe Mick got those guys to win some big games last year...that team had zero talent but all heart!

[Bcatfan08]

I don't give him a lot of credit for that win honestly. If St. Johns makes free throws or any other shots (in the 2nd half), they probably win easy. Plus the ejection hurt them more than us. Most of that game, I spent mad at his poor coaching. He did go to the press and that helped us win, so I will give him credit for that much.

You said that if St. Johns makes free throws or any other shots in the second half that they probably win easy. Well St. Johns was outscored by 22 in the second half. That isn't a small amount. Making a few more shots doesn't cover much of that. I think you might have a point if St. Johns didn't lose by 11. They shot horribly in the second half, but making a few more shots doesn't turn an 11 point loss into an easy win.

I think its funny that some of you are very quick to blame the losses on Mick, but won't give him credit for wins. You can't have it both ways. St. Johns shot very poorly in the second half, but that isn't an excuse. UC didn't shoot very well in the first half, but I'm sure many of you were blaming that on UC. With that mentality, UC takes all the credit for playing poorly when losing, but doesn't get any credit when winning.

[bearcated]

Tonight he made proper adjustments coming out of half time..
And those adjustments were what?

[LongTimer]

I thought Mick did a good job tonight...he obviously made solid half time adjustments because they came out a totally different team in the second. I'm not going to assume anything about his coaching skills until after they have played most of their Beast games this year. I still can't believe Mick got those guys to win some big games last year...that team had zero talent but all heart!

He got some nice wins last year, but couldn't sustain it. The team folded up and quit down the stretch. If he would have built on that nice streak in the middle of the year and finished strong, I would have a totally different opinion of him right now. His teams are all over the board...no consistency whatsoever. I like him, I don't like him, I like him...... I don't think tonight was one of his better coached games.

[LongTimer]

And those adjustments were what?

His adjustment was to keep playing bad and wait for St. Johns to play worse. It worked perfectly!

[LongTimer]

You said that if St. Johns makes free throws or any other shots in the second half that they probably win easy. Well St. Johns was outscored by 22 in the second half. That isn't a small amount. Making a few more shots doesn't cover much of that. I think you might have a point if St. Johns didn't lose by 11. They shot horribly in the second half, but making a few more shots doesn't turn an 11 point loss into an easy win.

I think its funny that some of you are very quick to blame the losses on Mick, but won't give him credit for wins. You can't have it both ways. St. Johns shot very poorly in the second half, but that isn't an excuse. UC didn't shoot very well in the first half, but I'm sure many of you were blaming that on UC. With that mentality, UC takes all the credit for playing poorly when losing, but doesn't get any credit when winning.

At one point in the 2nd half, St. Johns wa 7-21 from the FT line. That's 14 missed free throws....more than the 11 point deficit.

[behrlezt]

He got some nice wins last year, but couldn't sustain it. The team folded up and quit down the stretch. If he would have built on that nice streak in the middle of the year and finished strong, I would have a totally different opinion of him right now. His teams are all over the board...no consistency whatsoever. I like him, I don't like him, I like him...... I don't think tonight was one of his better coached games.

Yea i totally agree with you when you said there was no consistency...I felt last year they didn't have the talent to sustain it and I thought Mick did a **** of a job with those kids...but i'm hoping he continues to get more and more from this years team as the season progresses...

[JasonS]

His adjustment was to keep playing bad and wait for St. Johns to play worse. It worked perfectly!

Why don't you go root for another team (maybe West Virginia) since you are obviously living in the past and refuse to give this team any credit whatsoever. A win on the road is a good thing especially in the Big East. We aren't in CUSA anymore people. When are you going to start realizing that?

[dp3113]

Really??? We took over the game after Kennedy got ejected. And besides, they were playing without Anthony Mason Jr. (their leading scorer and team leader), Malik Boothe (the starting point guard) and Rob Thomas (the second guy off the bench.

I liked in the first half, how they were feeding it into the post - (good game plan by Mick). But I don't credit Mick with very good coaching for the win. They beat an awful team down 2 starters and 1 key reserve, and another starter got ejected.

Let's clarify something real quick here with these injuries:

-Anthony Mason Jr. played 3 games this season. He is their best player, however he has not played since the pre-season NIT in mid November. The way you phrase this response, you make it sound like was just out this game, and every other big team is beating St. John's with Mason Jr. in the lineup.

-The same goes for Malik Boothe. He has been out since before Christmas, before conference play started. I just wanted to clarify what you are saying. You come off sounding like every other big east team is beating St. John's at full strength with these guys in the lineup, and UC struggled with all these guys out.

-Rob Thomas is legit- he has missed the last two games- however, Mason Jr. and Boothe have both been out for extended periods of time, and have not played against any big east teams.

[Cliftnote]

Someone mentioned they were 7-21 from the charity stripe, yet forgot to mention that a 25-30% 3PT shooting team was 6-8 at halftime. Reeeallly sick of Huggins fans masquerading as UC fans trashing Mick.

[qsilvr2531]

At one point in the 2nd half, St. Johns wa 7-21 from the FT line. That's 14 missed free throws....more than the 11 point deficit.

Since when should we assume the opposing team shoots 100% from the line against us?

For the record, UC stayed in the game and let their superior depth control the 2nd half. That's a good game plan against a team that has a short roster.

[LongTimer]

When Mick accomplishes something really great, he'll get praised. When he takes the reins of a great "winning" program and he has two losing seasons and the current season looking like .500 at best, he is not going to get a lot of praise, especially when you don't see players improving and you don't see 110% effort on the floor. The praise will come when he earns it. If you are happy with losing basketball, then praise away!!!

[LongTimer]

Since when should we assume the opposing team shoots 100% from the line against us?

For the record, UC stayed in the game and let their superior depth control the 2nd half. That's a good game plan against a team that has a short roster.

Didn't say they had to shoot 100%. I was answering a previous post that said they didn't miss enough free throws to account for an 11 point loss. Well, yes they did!

Yes, our superior depth did help us win. If that was a game plan of Mick's, then good stategy Mick!!!

[qsilvr2531]

Didn't say they had to shoot 100%. I was answering a previous post that said they didn't miss enough free throws to account for an 11 point loss. Well, yes they did!

Yes, our superior depth did help us win. If that was a game plan of Mick's, then good stategy Mick!!!

I think maybe we are both being a bit to literal this morning/last night. :)

The ESPN article has a quote from him stating that the plan was to wear St. Johns down, which is exactly what they did. Of course, he could just be lying to make it seem like he had a good game plan (and I'm pretty sure the plan did not involve falling behind by 11 while wearing the other team down).

[carolinacatfan]

Someone mentioned they were 7-21 from the charity stripe, yet forgot to mention that a 25-30% 3PT shooting team was 6-8 at halftime. Reeeallly sick of Huggins fans masquerading as UC fans trashing Mick.

I believe you just made a point to support the fact that they played poor defense on the perimeter once again. As for being a Huggins fan or UC fan, why can't you be both. I root for West Virginia in any game not against UC, in that game I hope WV get's smashed by 20 or more each time. The criticism of the current team and coach is mostly warranted. There are a few who are blatantly biased and trying to stir things up but most are legit.

[London 'Cat]

There are some fair criticisms of the team's play last night. First, they did not defend the 3 well, at all. St. John's averaged around 28% from 3 all season. They shot over 60% last night. That problem seems to linger and it irritates me to great lengths. Second, they forced passes the post when the post player was double or triple teamed and attempted passes from angles that were dificult at best. This resulted in great numbers of turnovers. Third, they "help" defended too much, switching unnecessarily, leaving open shooters/dribble drives/alley-oops. Fourth, they cannot/did not hold onto the ball, whether catching passes or rebounding.

The question is are these players just not talented enough? Are they not athletic enough? Are they not smart enough? Is it that they are not doing what they are coached to do or is the coaching staff teaching them all these bad habits? I tend to think it is more of the former that the latter. At times, they play very well, and don't make these irritating mistakes. Which leads me to believe that the coaching staff is teaching them the right things. At other times, they look tentative and lost, which leads me to believe the coaching staff is not placing them in position to succeed.

I am neither fully sold on Cronin nor totally against him. I think he can become a good coach, but he has to have Big east caliber players to compete. He cannot overcome his coaching shortfalls with inferior talent like some other coaches may be able to. Although, for a few games last season, he did so but was unable to sustain it. At this time, on this roster, he has three to four Big East caliber players Vaughn, Williams, Gates, and maybe Dixon. Bishop may develop, but he is not consistent. The rest of the guys are role/bench players that also happen to be inexperienced - not a good combination. Cronin is sill a couple of recruiting classes away from being properly judged, in my opinion.

[anbuc88]

He got some nice wins last year, but couldn't sustain it. The team folded up and quit down the stretch. If he would have built on that nice streak in the middle of the year and finished strong, I would have a totally different opinion of him right now. His teams are all over the board...no consistency whatsoever. I like him, I don't like him, I like him...... I don't think tonight was one of his better coached games.

It's insulting to last years players to say that they quit at the end of the year. Yes, they lost the last 7 in a row, but that doesn't mean thay quit. Unless you can confirm this through conversations with any of the players from that team, I suggest that you and others like you stop posting such drivel. If you remember, Mitchell had been kicked off the team and Gentry was hurt, limiting his effectiveness. That changed the entire rotation and the team at the end of the year was not the same as in the middle of the year. Couple that with a lack of talent when compared to the rest of the BE and the losing streak is not too difficult to understand. That group should be commended for their 8 BE wins, and not be labeled as quitters.

[LongTimer]

It's insulting to last years players to say that they quit at the end of the year. Yes, they lost the last 7 in a row, but that doesn't mean thay quit. Unless you can confirm this through conversations with any of the players from that team, I suggest that you and others like you stop posting such drivel. If you remember, Mitchell had been kicked off the team and Gentry was hurt, limiting his effectiveness. That changed the entire rotation and the team at the end of the year was not the same as in the middle of the year. Couple that with a lack of talent when compared to the rest of the BE and the losing streak is not too difficult to understand. That group should be commended for their 8 BE wins, and not be labeled as quitters.

When you get blown off the floor at G-Town and lose by 45 at UCONN (after almost beating them here), and then can't even beat Bradley in the CBIT, that looks more like quitting to me. Mitchell did almost nothing last year so losing him was not a factor. Gentry was not a ball of fire either. But, he played hard. I agree, I am assuming they quit and that is not good. But, you are also assuming that they didn't quit. Whatever the reason, they completely lost whatever they had going for them in mid-season and looked like a very bad team down the stretch. If we awere good enough to defeat some of the fine teams that we beat early on, then we should not have benn getting beat by Bradley and blown out by 45 at UCONN. It's coaching, quitting, coincidence, luck....whatever you want to call it. It stunk!

[RobPoppeil]

Someone mentioned they were 7-21 from the charity stripe, yet forgot to mention that a 25-30% 3PT shooting team was 6-8 at halftime. Reeeallly sick of Huggins fans masquerading as UC fans trashing Mick.

That might hold something if it wasn't a consistent issue. One night could be luck. A series of nights (Marquette, Providence, St Johns) shows bad perimeter defense.

[Matt1982]

Mick did not win the game last night, the Bearcats did not win the game last night, the Johnnies simply beat themselves last night. Silly turnovers, horrid free throw shooting, the ejection. We won in the 2nd half against the inexperienced youth and bench of a bottom tier BE team the last few years, by only 11 points. What does that say about our starters? Not very good.

[Not Guilty]

At one point in the 2nd half, St. Johns wa 7-21 from the FT line. That's 14 missed free throws....more than the 11 point deficit.

A couple of points:

St John's isnt a good shooting team and we were fouling some of their worst shooters.

What team shoots 100% from the free thrown line. 14/21 would have been about average for a team, and that is only 7 points.

If St John's is such a bad team shooting from the foul line, doesn't it suggest that their performance from 3 was very lucky (7 of 10 at point).

[Not Guilty]

I believe you just made a point to support the fact that they played poor defense on the perimeter once again. As for being a Huggins fan or UC fan, why can't you be both. I root for West Virginia in any game not against UC, in that game I hope WV get's smashed by 20 or more each time. The criticism of the current team and coach is mostly warranted. There are a few who are blatantly biased and trying to stir things up but most are legit.

Not really. If a team can't shoot free throws, why would they be able to shoot from 3? Its illogical.

[Bearcat Jeff]

Mick did not win the game last night, the Bearcats did not win the game last night, the Johnnies simply beat themselves last night. Silly turnovers, horrid free throw shooting, the ejection. We won in the 2nd half against the inexperienced youth and bench of a bottom tier BE team the last few years, by only 11 points. What does that say about our starters? Not very good. One thing is abundantly clear Matt and that is that regardless of what happens you will put a negative slant on it. U.C. won the game. It will go in the "W" column and not the "L". You said we won against a bunch of inexperienced youth yet when U.C. loses it is an excuse to say they are young. The one thing that was clear is that both teams are young and inexperienced and that the one player on the floor with experience (Vaughn) took over. You can't have it both ways. Inexperience and youth matters or it doesn't. You can't rebute U.C.'s wins by saying they played a young and inexperienced team and then blast them for losing when they are young and inexperienced. Fact is that youth and inexperience does matter for both teams. Fortunately we have one experienced player to stand up when it counted. U.C. deserved that win and won it on the court where it matters. Missed free throws are part of the game. Free throws have won and lost many games before last night. Give credit where it is due. U.C. won 2 of 3road games within the league and moved to 3-4.

[carolinacatfan]

Not really. If a team can't shoot free throws, why would they be able to shoot from 3? Its illogical.

Agreed, however as Robpopeil noted in a prior post, it's become somewhat of a constant. Most perimeter players at the college level can shoot the three point shot if uncontested and not rushed. It seems the Cats consistently allow this to happen. Once is luck....several times is a problem.

[Bearcat Jeff]

Agreed, however as Robpopeil noted in a prior post, it's become somewhat of a constant. Most perimeter players at the college level can shoot the three point shot if uncontested and not rushed. It seems the Cats consistently allow this to happen. Once is luck....several times is a problem. The Bearcats defensive rotations are lacking. They are at times overly aggressive trying to trap and that is typical of young teams. Experience teaches you to not leave a shooter open. You rotate to close a lane not to double. Time and experience will work this out.

[STKohls]

The Bearcats defensive rotations are lacking. They are at times overly aggressive trying to trap and that is typical of young teams. Experience teaches you to not leave a shooter open. You rotate to close a lane not to double. Time and experience will work this out.

This may be true, but the game plan last night as I saw it was to press (thus exploiting SJ's lack of depth and lack of experience at point guard) and then to frequently fall back into a zone in the half-court defense (exploiting their poor 3-point shooting). My guess, and it's just a guess, was that the players were told initially not to rotate out of the paint to the 3-point line. You can see several instances in the first half, especially early, when the bigs would stay home instead of sliding out to help defend on a screen.

The press worked reasonably well, so it stayed. The zone defense didn't, so it didn't. The second half defense was a lot more aggressive to the perimeter, whether by increased hustle or design, and it worked.

Other good things about the game were the clearly evident change in offensive game-plan in the second half, with Vaughn running off screens without the ball instead of handling it. This allowed him to get to the foul line, or occasionally drive and dish to a secondary shooter.

Finally, the Cats didn't play that well, but they still won on the road by double digits. I'll take it.

[Forsure21]

All I care about is a W I dont care how the haters like Alan Cutler(this guy bleeeeeeeds blue) want to say about it. I will take a win in any way possible!

[anbuc88]

When you get blown off the floor at G-Town and lose by 45 at UCONN (after almost beating them here), and then can't even beat Bradley in the CBIT, that looks more like quitting to me. Mitchell did almost nothing last year so losing him was not a factor. Gentry was not a ball of fire either. But, he played hard. I agree, I am assuming they quit and that is not good. But, you are also assuming that they didn't quit. Whatever the reason, they completely lost whatever they had going for them in mid-season and looked like a very bad team down the stretch. If we awere good enough to defeat some of the fine teams that we beat early on, then we should not have benn getting beat by Bradley and blown out by 45 at UCONN. It's coaching, quitting, coincidence, luck....whatever you want to call it. It stunk!

You are right. It's a lot easier to assume someone is a quitter than to assume that they are not. Here's a novel idea, try playing competitively at this level before labeling someone a quitter.

Regarding last year, Mitchell may not have been a big contributer and Gentry may not have been a ball of fire, but it is undeniable that the rotation changed when they were not available. Guys had to play more minutes and were worn out at the end of the game. This may not explain the horrid losses to UConn or Gtown, but they lost in overtime to Providence and in the last seconds to Depaul. How much better would last year have looked if they had ended 10-8 in the BE and 15-15 overall. Would you still call them quitters? But, enough about last year (and previous years, for that matter), let's concentrate on the rest of this year and the future. GO CATS!

[Mick's Da Man]

I don't see much wrong with this team other than nobody seems to be able to make a wide open shot, namely our guards not named Deonta.

If Mike Williams had shown up offensively last night like he has recently, UC wins by 15+. Bishop is starting to come on and contribute more scoring. If Vaughn-Williams-Bishop can consistently score 10-20 ppg, and we could get Davis/Dixon/Mitchell to start making some shots, I think this team becomes more competitive. This relying on Deonta to carry the load is a crock and hurting this team. We need other guys to step up...........then this team will show improvement.

[Bp4thebest]

Some people love him unconditionally and some people (a lot lately) have been grilling this guy. I am somewhere in the middle but more on the side that likes him.

Tonight he made proper adjustments coming out of half time. I think he had a solid game plan to start the game too. If you want to bash him, fine but please give credit where it is due.

I have failed to see any adjustments made all year from half to half whether he is telling them is one thing but they don't ever do it! Our problem every game is that we don't run offensive sets and can't simply hold on to the ball. I mean of course turnovers happen, but this team gets so nervous at times they can't even dribble or catch passes. Any contact and they mishandle it!

I think it was more so UC made alot of shots and forced alot of turnovers and st john's folded. If they didn't play so bad we would not have came back. One thing I did see was the press was alot better! at first they would trap the ball then have no middle man to pick off passes. When they starting having an off the ball guy press we started cutting off passes and that created for our offense.

[levydl]

At one point in the 2nd half, St. Johns wa 7-21 from the FT line. That's 14 missed free throws....more than the 11 point deficit.

So if they would have made 21 straight FTs in the second half they would have won? I didn't realize they had 5 Steph Curry's on their team.

Sean Evans was 4 of 13 from the line. Coming into the game he was 27 of 59 from the line - 46%. Last year he was a 35% shooter (18 of 52). His FT shooting last night was not an aberration.

[Bp4thebest]

I don't see much wrong with this team other than nobody seems to be able to make a wide open shot, namely our guards not named Deonta.

If Mike Williams had shown up offensively last night like he has recently, UC wins by 15+. Bishop is starting to come on and contribute more scoring. If Vaughn-Williams-Bishop can consistently score 10-20 ppg, and we could get Davis/Dixon/Mitchell to start making some shots, I think this team becomes more competitive. This relying on Deonta to carry the load is a crock and hurting this team. We need other guys to step up...........then this team will show improvement.

The only thing I agree on is that we need others to step up. right now they double vaughn and when he passes it off we don't attack, we just wait for them to recover. As far as bishop stepping up, he had one good game. I guess you didn't see the prov game where he air balled an open three then bricked a short runner like he always does when he hesitates so much.

[LongTimer]

You are right. It's a lot easier to assume someone is a quitter than to assume that they are not. Here's a novel idea, try playing competitively at this level before labeling someone a quitter.

Regarding last year, Mitchell may not have been a big contributer and Gentry may not have been a ball of fire, but it is undeniable that the rotation changed when they were not available. Guys had to play more minutes and were worn out at the end of the game. This may not explain the horrid losses to UConn or Gtown, but they lost in overtime to Providence and in the last seconds to Depaul. How much better would last year have looked if they had ended 10-8 in the BE and 15-15 overall. Would you still call them quitters? But, enough about last year (and previous years, for that matter), let's concentrate on the rest of this year and the future. GO CATS!

I don't think players intentionally quit. It's more of a mental process where they get demoralized and it just effects the way they play. They still run up and down the court and go through the motions, but their intensity level drops. It is often called quitting and that might be a bad term. The point is, whether it was quitting, poor coaching, poor execution, bad luck, coincidence, or whatever, their play down the stretch was horrible and took them from what was looking like a run at the NCAA to not even an NIT bid and then accepting an offer from the CBIT and losing to Bradley there. If they had finished even respectable, they would have been in the NIT and Mick would have been viewed much differently today. As it is, some like him and some don't and many are on the fence. Until he becomes a consistent winner, or a consistent loser, you will continue to get this wide range of opinions on him. It's no big deal. That's why we have forums...to state your feelings and make your points and some will agree and some will disagree. It doesn't mean that one is a fan and the other isn't. We are all fans or we wouldn't be on here posting.

[hammerbearcat1]

In my humble opinion Mick will be a top 20 caliber coach next year and when everyone returns and we add some speed at PG and a very athletic PF who can shoot and defend, we will be back in the top 20.

[Matt1982]

5 years ago we would have been absolutely disgusted with the performances we're seeing right now... now into the present, we're just happy to get a win.... that's that problem people, you've all become too easy to please, just don't get blown out, just make it a game, just sneak a win here and there to make it respectable... that's the attitude that ruined the Bengals/Reds and it will ruin Bearcat Basketball if everyone keeps this crap up.

[anbuc88]

5 years ago we would have been absolutely disgusted with the performances we're seeing right now... now into the present, we're just happy to get a win.... that's that problem people, you've all become too easy to please, just don't get blown out, just make it a game, just sneak a win here and there to make it respectable... that's the attitude that ruined the Bengals/Reds and it will ruin Bearcat Basketball if everyone keeps this crap up.

5 years ago there were upperclassmen on the team and the program hadn't been decimated. So yes, we would have been disappointed with this type of performance. We could, however, follow your lead and pout and complain and act like a spoiled child who isn't getting what they want. Isn't that the attitude that all on this board should have?

[CincyBeerCo]

5 years ago we would have been absolutely disgusted with the performances we're seeing right now... now into the present, we're just happy to get a win.... that's that problem people, you've all become too easy to please, just don't get blown out, just make it a game, just sneak a win here and there to make it respectable... that's the attitude that ruined the Bengals/Reds and it will ruin Bearcat Basketball if everyone keeps this crap up.

On 01/21/04 we lost @ L'ville by 27 pts. 10 days later we lost @ home to Charlotte, immediately followed by a 2 pt loss in the shootout and a rousing 3 pt win on the road @ Houston (wow). Just sayin'....5 years ago :)

Not to be combative, but your views are the ones that need a reality check. We are in a completely different situation (which has been discussed ad naseum) and views need to be adjusted accordingly. Today's team cannot be judged against the team from 5 years ago. The people that are "just happy to get a win" are not settling for mediocrity, they are realists that understand the growing pains of rebuilding a once (and soon to be again) proud program. Each loss pains me as it always has, but upon evaluating all of the circumstances, my perspective has been adjusted appropriately, as it will continue to be.

[Scheids21]

5 years ago we would have been absolutely disgusted with the performances we're seeing right now... now into the present, we're just happy to get a win.... that's that problem people, you've all become too easy to please, just don't get blown out, just make it a game, just sneak a win here and there to make it respectable... that's the attitude that ruined the Bengals/Reds and it will ruin Bearcat Basketball if everyone keeps this crap up.

You cant have the same mentality as 5 years ago. Yes winning is the goal but building is the key. If we looked at this team the same as we did 5 years ago then Mick should be gone without question. Youre expectations have to go down a bit until they build up back to the point we were at. It sounds bad but its true.