Thoughts on the Belmont game

[kirkenka]

First of all, the game was painful to watch. Like alot of games last year. I am sure glad I only bought a partial season tickets. I will still support and watch every game but I sure am not paying $24/game to watch that garbage.

The shot selection reminded me alot of last year. UC settled for way too many 3 point shots when there aren't any great shooters on the team. Lots of airballs and airbanks for a D-I college game.

The onball defense was poor and so was the perimeter defense. The experienced players don't seem to play any better defense. They looked like the same players that won 2 games in the Big East last year. I think my prediction of 15 wins looks about right on.

While watching the game, I found myself getting very angry again thinking back when UC dominated most teams. I still question Mick's coaching and recruiting ability. That has been my opinion since the day he was hired. That being said I won't make a final judgement on his ability until at least the 2010 season when I think he has had a chance to rebuild the program.

[London 'Cat]

The loss of Mike Williams is too much for this team to overcome to be any better than last year. They would have had a chance with him to be an average Big East team, maybe better. Without a true PF (Williamson is more of a 'tweener) this team will win very few games in the Big East.

[Mongoneedssleep]

First of all, the game was painful to watch. Like alot of games last year. I am sure glad I only bought a partial season tickets. I will still support and watch every game but I sure am not paying $24/game to watch that garbage.

The shot selection reminded me alot of last year. UC settled for way too many 3 point shots when there aren't any great shooters on the team. Lots of airballs and airbanks for a D-I college game.

The onball defense was poor and so was the perimeter defense. The experienced players don't seem to play any better defense. They looked like the same players that won 2 games in the Big East last year. I think my prediction of 15 wins looks about right on.

While watching the game, I found myself getting very angry again thinking back when UC dominated most teams. I still question Mick's coaching and recruiting ability. That has been my opinion since the day he was hired. That being said I won't make a final judgement on his ability until at least the 2010 season when I think he has had a chance to rebuild the program.



You are right on. The defense was horrible. How many times did Marvin Gentry get beat? I found myself switching back and forth from the game to 'Death to the Supermodels' on showtime.

[SLMadiCat]

1) Shot selection was atrocious. Player after player taking terrible shots. Someone please tell J. Williamson that he is not a good shooter. And for Sykes, I liked him last year, but honestly did not think he was the shooter everyone else thought he was. He forced way too many shots tonight. Davis, Vaughn, Mitchell's, same thing. Mitchell needs to learn how to pass.

2) Defense was terrible as well. Too much trying to pick a pocket rather than playing sound defense. I think this will improve but hopefully it happens in a hurry. Freshman always do this, but Vaughn needs to step it up. Also, the defense collapsed way too much, allowing wide-open 3's. I don't think this is what was practiced. Hopefully it just takes time.

On a positive note, Adam H. looked good and I saw plenty of potential in Davis, Belton and Mitchell. Biggie needed to play more, as he would have been a huge height advantage. Vaughn is deadly when his feet are set, unfortunately he rushes way too many shots.

[SLMadiCat]

You are right on. The defense was horrible. How many times did Marvin Gentry get beat? I found myself switching back and forth from the game to 'Death to the Supermodels' on showtime.

Marvin Gentry in the last few minutes single handedly cost the Bearcats any chance of a comeback. He looked pathetic.

[Bp4thebest]

did any of you notice how much of a joke adam was... marvin didnt lose that game adam did and mick not taking him out did! he went away from the ball was soft i wanna use the p word to describe his efforts.. he is so uncoordinated what happen to anthony not taking adam out was the biggest joke i have been alive to see as a fan for fifteen years! all that time adam may of spent in the weight room is a waist b/c 6'5'' kids from a mid major pushed him around! if mike was here it would of been him over adam and we would of won the game on free throws at the end.. adam is also the dumbest guy i have seen in the world idc how disrespectful this sounds! i love this team and school but good lord! this is my kind way of saying this!

[ralph1950]

You are failing to give credit to Belmont as a good basketball team. I posted early in the week that this would not be an easy victory. Belmont is coming off 2 consectutive NCAA tournament appearances, they drilled Gardner Webb by 20 points 3 times last year. At the present time they are a better team than the Bearcats. Give the Bearcats 29 more games to improve and they most probably will be a better team than Belmont. As a wise man once said the best thing about freshman is that they become sophomores.

[MikeInClifton]

I leaned over to my son about tip off time and said "I wouldn't be surprised if Cincinnati loses one of these games this weekend."


Work in progress.

[cincycat30]

did any of you notice how much of a joke adam was... marvin didnt lose that game adam did and mick not taking him out did! he went away from the ball was soft i wanna use the p word to describe his efforts.. he is so uncoordinated what happen to anthony not taking adam out was the biggest joke i have been alive to see as a fan for fifteen years! all that time adam may of spent in the weight room is a waist b/c 6'5'' kids from a mid major pushed him around! if mike was here it would of been him over adam and we would of won the game on free throws at the end.. adam is also the dumbest guy i have seen in the world idc how disrespectful this sounds! i love this team and school but good lord! this is my kind way of saying this!

on the money. perfect. adam h is a joke. and so is mick for leaving him in the game. we would have been better just playing with four guys. i seriously question micks coaching ability. this team is not great, but are a lot more talented than this. did McClain die at halftime because he was nowhere to be found. mick plays favorites too much and it kills us. im embarrased for this program.

[jeffto]

No TV here in STL. It sounds like they sucked.
Do the new kids look like there's any potential? Looks like Davis and Mitchell platooned at SG, with Davis looking like the better shooter.

OT Downey 24 pts 2 nite

[cincycat30]

did any of you notice how much of a joke adam was... marvin didnt lose that game adam did and mick not taking him out did! he went away from the ball was soft i wanna use the p word to describe his efforts.. he is so uncoordinated what happen to anthony not taking adam out was the biggest joke i have been alive to see as a fan for fifteen years! all that time adam may of spent in the weight room is a waist b/c 6'5'' kids from a mid major pushed him around! if mike was here it would of been him over adam and we would of won the game on free throws at the end.. adam is also the dumbest guy i have seen in the world idc how disrespectful this sounds! i love this team and school but good lord! this is my kind way of saying this!

you hit it right on the head.

[Bp4thebest]

1) Shot selection was atrocious. Player after player taking terrible shots. Someone please tell J. Williamson that he is not a good shooter. And for Sykes, I liked him last year, but honestly did not think he was the shooter everyone else thought he was. He forced way too many shots tonight. Davis, Vaughn, Mitchell's, same thing. Mitchell needs to learn how to pass.

2) Defense was terrible as well. Too much trying to pick a pocket rather than playing sound defense. I think this will improve but hopefully it happens in a hurry. Freshman always do this, but Vaughn needs to step it up. Also, the defense collapsed way too much, allowing wide-open 3's. I don't think this is what was practiced. Hopefully it just takes time.

On a positive note, Adam H. looked good and I saw plenty of potential in Davis, Belton and Mitchell. Biggie needed to play more, as he would have been a huge height advantage. Vaughn is deadly when his feet are set, unfortunately he rushes way too many shots.

first of all.. how can you say anything bad about vaughn... if u look at the stat sheet i bet john didnt even shoot much.. as for sikes which is how its spelled he is an avg shooter and played alright.. when u say adam looked good it makes me wounder if u watched the game! Most pathetic performance ever since we been alive and u could be 80 and id say the same thing! Wow to most of your comments.. also davis shoot real well looked great!

[cincycat30]

1) Shot selection was atrocious. Player after player taking terrible shots. Someone please tell J. Williamson that he is not a good shooter. And for Sykes, I liked him last year, but honestly did not think he was the shooter everyone else thought he was. He forced way too many shots tonight. Davis, Vaughn, Mitchell's, same thing. Mitchell needs to learn how to pass.

2) Defense was terrible as well. Too much trying to pick a pocket rather than playing sound defense. I think this will improve but hopefully it happens in a hurry. Freshman always do this, but Vaughn needs to step it up. Also, the defense collapsed way too much, allowing wide-open 3's. I don't think this is what was practiced. Hopefully it just takes time.

On a positive note, Adam H. looked good and I saw plenty of potential in Davis, Belton and Mitchell. Biggie needed to play more, as he would have been a huge height advantage. Vaughn is deadly when his feet are set, unfortunately he rushes way too many shots.

is that whole post a joke? were you trying to be funny? did you watch the game? i cant believe i just read that.

[shaunsimpson]

Well....I feel bad being pesimistic about this team, but it appears that the team will be worse than my pessimistic expectations. This Belmont team was rated by fox sports to be around the 150th best team in the country.


I don't understand what is being said:
first of all.. how can you say anything bad about vaughn...

I can say a lot bad about Vaughn. A PG with 7 TOs. Are you kidding. 7 turnovers.

. Someone please tell J. Williamson that he is not a good shooter

Williamson didn't play poorly. 3-5 from the field for 10 points and 13 boards. I don't know why you think that Williamson needs to be told that. 60% is not a bad %.

You are failing to give credit to Belmont as a good basketball team.

Yes, they did make the tournament for 2 straight years, but when we are not expecting to beat the 2nd best team in the Alantic Sun conference after they lost probably their two best players last year then our expectations are very low - and proved tonight they should be.

Bottom line. You are a 8.5 point favorite at home. When you lose games like this then the coaching has to be called into question. This team should have been able to play well together since almost everyone is back, but it didn't happen. This is not the same thing as UK. This is not a good team. Hopefully Mick can turn it around, but from what it looks like it could be a long couple of years.

[Bp4thebest]

Well....I feel bad being pesimistic about this team, but it appears that the team will be worse than my pessimistic expectations. This Belmont team was rated by fox sports to be around the 150th best team in the country.


I don't understand what is being said:


I can say a lot bad about Vaughn. A PG with 7 TOs. Are you kidding. 7 turnovers.



Williamson didn't play poorly. 3-5 from the field for 10 points and 13 boards. I don't know why you think that Williamson needs to be told that. 60% is not a bad %.



Yes, they did make the tournament for 2 straight years, but when we are not expecting to beat the 2nd best team in the Alantic Sun conference after they lost probably their two best players last year then our expectations are very low - and proved tonight they should be.

Bottom line. You are a 8.5 point favorite at home. When you lose games like this then the coaching has to be called into question. This team should have been able to play well together since almost everyone is back, but it didn't happen. This is not the same thing as UK. This is not a good team. Hopefully Mick can turn it around, but from what it looks like it could be a long couple of years.


u r right ill take that back seven turnovers is a good point..most of them were on forcing passes but on the other hand he was obligated to force them b/c if u noticed.. our wings sat there on the perimeter! gotta do something besides pass it around the outside! these little schools are more fundamental then us they move the ball do back doors and play harder.. we trying to rely on talent? that may support your comment on not being a good team! back to vaughn.. everything else was good for him and he cant do it hiself b/c sooner or later he will make mistakes doing it by himself!

[mike pinzki]

It's a very young team. Mitchell and Bishop looked like they were scared to make mistakes (though they clearly did). Hard to get a read on what they are capable of (or any of the freshman considering this was the first game). Clear size advantage, but nothing to show for it. Adam is scary to watch. Poor, poor recognition of the double team and even poorer passing and hands. Both Adam and Biggie looked soft. Seniors appear to be as inept as last year. I truly believe that the freshman are talented, but simply freshman. The seniors were late jucos for a reason. Absolutely terrible D, but I still have hope. Belmont is good. Not BE good, but good still.

[iamspen]

Adam H. needs to learn how to play a zone defense. He didn't fare well at all when he was required to go outside to guard a guy on the wing. He's very hesitant to leave his comfort zone, and he needs to learn to cover the guy shooting the three if he has to.

I saw a talented team tonight. But I also saw a team that needs to make better decisions. For instance, Adam H. shooting threes seems, well, stupid. This team is plenty good, but their shot selection needs to improve, as does their passing. The real deficiency of our team, though, is the defense. Despite our speed, we can't realign the defense to cover the ball-carrier. EVER. That's why we get trey'ed upon all night, our guys simply refuse to shift the defense to cover the guy on the wing.

[Bearcat-in-Italy]

I'm in Italy and will not be able to see any of the games this year. So my opinions will be formed by what I read and a few clips on Bigeast.com. But man...non mi piace cosi !!!!

I am completely astonished at the depths that this program has plunged. What is there to say really. Go back four or five years and try to imagine yourself experiencing a loss to a mid-major in your HOME OPENER, in an arena where we historically won about 95% of our games (translation 1 or 2 losses FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR!) :mad: I'm not going to mention the H coach or go back and cry about the Z lady or get into any of that because I don't want to ruin my day and it is sooo worn out.

Even when our best players had names like Puffy Kennedy and Junior Davis we didn't lose our home opener. Maybe by the time I get back it will be better.:(

Quando lo finito???

[bearcatfan]

I think it's fair to call out the coaching staff some on this one. Yes, UC has a lot of inexperienced players, but they did not look prepared to play last night.

It's hard to tell what kind of offense and defense they are supposed to be playing.

I'm going to stick with the "wait and see" approach, but I hope to see much better defense after the next 4-6 games than what I saw last night. UC looked lost.

[capcbk]

They looked very much like a team with 6 freshmen...no power forward...and no point guard!

Oh, wait a minute, that's right...that is exactly what they are!

Biggext disappointmet? Without question, it was Deonte Vaughn at the point!

[SLMadiCat]

first of all.. how can you say anything bad about vaughn... if u look at the stat sheet i bet john didnt even shoot much.. as for sikes which is how its spelled he is an avg shooter and played alright.. when u say adam looked good it makes me wounder if u watched the game! Most pathetic performance ever since we been alive and u could be 80 and id say the same thing! Wow to most of your comments.. also davis shoot real well looked great!

I think someone already proved my point with Vaughn. However, I love Vaughn and think he'll be great, just needs a lot of improvement. And yes, I know John didn't shoot much, but he really shouldn't be taking any 3's. He is not a very good shooter. Adam H has some improvement but overall I thought he looked good.

ps - I know how to spell Sikes' name, I was writing quickly. And before you try to correct someone on spelling, learn how to spell first. This whole post was very poorly written, especially:

also davis shoot real well looked great!

[SLMadiCat]

I leaned over to my son about tip off time and said "I wouldn't be surprised if Cincinnati loses one of these games this weekend."


Work in progress.

Yea, I'm disappointed, but can't say that I'm really surprised. I was hoping for a win but deep down knowing they could very easily lose. I just hope they win the next two.

[cincycat1]

That game was extremely disappointing. The shot selection was awful, we couldnt hang onto the ball, and we looked like a bunch of inexperienced players (which we are). We have to remember that this team is young and Mick still only has a few of his guys and this is largely due to the depleted recruiting classes of the last couple years. Looks like it is going to be a long year, but we have to keep the faith.

[Catmandu]

I wish Cronin would leave the "excuses" out of is press conferences.

Marvin Lewis could be crying about injuries, Huggins played short all the time, Andy Kennedy never used the players missing, or the situation he was in, But Cronin has to point these things out all the time.

I just wish he would say, "we Lost", "we have alot to work on"," it shouldn't take a loss to learn", "We have to wini with who we have here we can't worry about who's not here"
instead we get and "we're out there with a lot of freshmen and no Jamual Warren and no Mike Williams."

Actually we had 5 guys on the court that should be pretty good, and we were out there without a coach coaching them.

[jbod403]

Biggie needed to play more, as he would have been a huge height advantage.


McClain does not need to play more until he learns the offense. He was totally lost out there. Yeah, the stick back was nice but otherwise he just got in the way on both ends of the floor.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

I wish Cronin would leave the "excuses" out of is press conferences.

Marvin Lewis could be crying about injuries, Huggins played short all the time, Andy Kennedy never used the players missing, or the situation he was in, But Cronin has to point these things out all the time.

I just wish he would say, "we Lost", "we have alot to work on"," it shouldn't take a loss to learn", "We have to wini with who we have here we can't worry about who's not here"
instead we get and "we're out there with a lot of freshmen and no Jamual Warren and no Mike Williams."

Actually we had 5 guys on the court that should be pretty good, and we were out there without a coach coaching them.

Different coaches say different things in press conferences.

UC had the talent to defeat Belmont.

[Inchickinkick]

I think, this team will be better than last years team.

AdamH> is going too be your 10p-10r or your 15p-3r type player.
Williamson> is their best player, 15p-10r - 3s --What would they do without him?
Sikes> is your 5p-7r guy or 10p-3r -- thats what you will get every game.
--Too many turnovers Too compete--
Vaughn> 15p-5r-5a -1s
Gentry> 10p-3r -3a-3s
Warran> DNP

Freshman help VS> a NCAA tournement team>
Larry Davis 20m- 11p-2r- 1a-1b
McClain 6m- 2p-1r
Bishop 18m -1p -1r
Mitchell 20m - 3p-1r

My other fav. team, Miami has a chance too beat Cincinnati..

thats what i think, now go a head slam it>

[Catmandu]

Different coaches say different things in press conferences.

UC had the talent to defeat Belmont.

I agree... but leadership wise, it can't make the other guys feel good about there chances if the coach thinks they lost because of people that weren't on the court.

Now the other players have an excuse to lose any game that they aren't playing, their coach just gave them one. I think it's bad form. Particularly this early.

Also it make me question cronin more, from day one he's pointed to outside factors over and over and over, eventually those excuses will run out. it all comes down to winnning.

[Inchickinkick]

"life Is 70% What Happens To You And 50% How You React To It"

[kirkenka]

To add to my initial post,

The other thing that is terrible is the total lack of intensity by the team. I am used to watching UC teams that expect to win every game and are very emotional. The teams under Mick seem to lack this type of intensity.