Different Take

[Bearcat Jeff]

I hated losing to Belmont. As a long time fan I have seen the ups and downs of 34 years of U.C. basketball and I like the up better. But having said that I am also accutely aware that this program is in year two of a total rebuilding. What I saw last night was a young team that thought too much on offense and failed to attack. I saw a team that had no ideal how to play team defense. But I also saw some potential that with experience will make for a decent team. Larry Davis is going to be good once his decision making improves. Experience will aid his growth in this area. Adam will get better every game. Remember he has not played a live game in two years and is rusty. Vaughn turned the ball over, but his final stat line was double figure scoring, 5 assist, and some rebs sprinkled in. He too will get better as he plays more point guard and gains a greater understanding. This team will be better later in the year and I believe has the potential to be a decent team. They will take some lumps early but I think they will also surprise a couple teams late in the season. Be patient. We are in year two of a total rebuilding of the program. That like these players will get beter over time.

[khrens76]

Jeff, it's nice reading your post after reading most of the others regarding last night's game. I agree with alot of what you wrote. Everyone, let's take a collective deep breath. And please, let's at least wait and see how they come out of the Peggy Cronin Classic before flushing the entire season down the crapper.

[SLMadiCat]

Good post, and I agree. They looked terrible last night, but I saw a lot of talent in the freshman. Davis, Mitchell and Bishop all looked good with the exception of the usual freshman stuff (bad defense, reaching in, trying to do too much, etc). This is still a really young and new team. They will get better. Hopefully by tonight.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

Good post, and I agree. They looked terrible last night, but I saw a lot of talent in the freshman. Davis, Mitchell and Bishop all looked good with the exception of the usual freshman stuff (bad defense, reaching in, trying to do too much, etc). This is still a really young and new team. They will get better. Hopefully by tonight.

UC should beat Belmont at home. That's the bottom line.

[SLMadiCat]

UC should beat Belmont at home. That's the bottom line.

I agree, but they didn't.

[Catmandu]

The best thing about the game last night, is that there is another game today and they can work the demons out, and put that loss behind them.

(although it will always be the loss that broke a 43 game home opening winning streak)

[nolte50uc]

I posted after the game saying how clumsy the offense looked and how lazy the defens was. I then read all the posts this morning ripping Adam H. and Cronin. They would be the last two people I would be ripping on. This team will be fine...eventually. It might not be this year, but it will be. Cronin is a very good coach, and recruiter. Nobody is going to rebuild a program in the state he took over in one year.

That being said, no matter how bad you are, YOU THERE IS NO REASON TO NOT PUT A HND IN THE FACE OF A 3-PT SHOOTER!. Sorry - that was my little rant after NKU and last night. Just having some pressure would lower their percentage a bunch. Probably would have changed the outcome of the game.

[BigDaddyCornHusker]

UC should beat Belmont at home. That's the bottom line.

And...

Kentucky should beat Gardner Webb
Georgia Tech should beat UNC-Greensboro
South Florida should beat Cleveland State

These things happen. We can't base a season on a game.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

And...

Kentucky should beat Gardner Webb
Georgia Tech should beat UNC-Greensboro
South Florida should beat Cleveland State

These things happen. We can't base a season on a game.

All of those are correct. No excuse for those 3 L either. Just poor play and poor coaching.

[Kindog202]

I agree with what Buford said during the game last night, this is a team full of freshman and sophmores, even though the jucos are seniors, this is only their second year of major college basketball.

Some quick observations from last night. I think I would have pulled Adam H. out of the game and gone with a smaller lineup. Belmont is a small, quick team and H looked lost on defense, although I thought he played well offensively or I would have put McClain in, switch to a zone and told him to stay under the basket to alter/block the back-door layup attempts. I also thought the team played well in spurts, which to me is a sign that the talent is there, it's just a matter of gaining experience and coming together as a team and sustaining those runs. Outside of the WVU game, last years team never was able to put a bunch of points together in succesion. This team ran off 10 unanswered in the last 1:30 of the first half. I think first game nerves/jitters also played a factor, Bishop and especially Mitchell looked tentative. Mitchell surprised me because he played with extreme confidence in the summer league, I never expected to see him play so timid. Larry Davis looks like a real diamond in the rough, others on here have been hyping him for a while but I wasn't too sure. He played confidently and has a very nice and quick shot. I was a little surprised Belton did not play, I had heard he had a minor injury but he looked fine to me sitting on the bench. I think I would have put Wilks out there to see if/how he could have helped the team.

One game does not a season or a team make. After watching last night, sure I was disappointed but I see real potential in this team for this year and still feel this team will win 16-18 with an NIT berth this year.

[SLMadiCat]

The best thing about the game last night, is that there is another game today and they can work the demons out, and put that loss behind them.

(although it will always be the loss that broke a 43 game home opening winning streak)

Who really gives a crap about their 43 game home opening winning streak? If the media didn't keep pointing it out, I wouldn't have had a clue about the streak. I mean, really, what difference does a home opening winning streak make? Its like the NCAA tournament streak, who cares? That was the most overrated thing ever. I'll trade a nat'l championship for any of those streaks.

[shaunsimpson]

OK....now that I have sobered up I will say that it still sucked, but the good thing is that one game against a top 15 team eliminates it and then some. Bad losses do not hurt you as much as good wins do.

I am still hopefull, but damn that sucked.

[tophat]

I expected to lose last nite, although that doesn't mean I was satisfied with what I saw. It was ugly. But I can't expect much when a coach has the hurculean task of trying to teach 6 freshmen how to play and at the same time try to integrate them into a team structure.

What we've got is a bunch of freshmen and some very marginal veterans from a really bad team. This team will lose more than it wins, as I expected. I think we'll be good next year. This year is about rebuilding. Any hope it would be more than that was lost with Mike Williams.

[CincySuperFan]

I would rather have an experienced team that is less talented, they will always win.

[Kindog202]

I would rather have an experienced team that is less talented, they will always win.

Not always, but experience should be given more credit than what it is normally given.

[Bp4thebest]

I posted after the game saying how clumsy the offense looked and how lazy the defens was. I then read all the posts this morning ripping Adam H. and Cronin. They would be the last two people I would be ripping on. This team will be fine...eventually. It might not be this year, but it will be. Cronin is a very good coach, and recruiter. Nobody is going to rebuild a program in the state he took over in one year.

That being said, no matter how bad you are, YOU THERE IS NO REASON TO NOT PUT A HND IN THE FACE OF A 3-PT SHOOTER!. Sorry - that was my little rant after NKU and last night. Just having some pressure would lower their percentage a bunch. Probably would have changed the outcome of the game.

i was one of those who ripped adam and mick! im not oblivious to the rebuilding stage w are in i actually understand real well! my comments are not ment to be taken in a way to where ppl think that i feel mick will never be good! we cant expect mick to turn us into winners right now..infact.. he took over a situation that could possibly never be turned around.. it was that bad.. but so far he has done a great job getting good players.. suck a good job that idk how he has done it b/c of the state this program was in.. my whole point of yesterdays ripping was that the way he coached last nights game was poor.. not b/c he lost.. b/c he didnt make a couple key adjustments at half time that i mentioned in other blogs! the youth was not the point.. i feel other coaches would of coached this inexperienced team better last night.. as for adam his numbers were there but if u watched the rest of his game it was embarassing! all night long especially dropping that one rebound that killed our run and resulted in a lay up.. they never looked back! having him in there killed our chances and his mistakes further killed us.. even more so... mick keeping him in there was a bigger problem! dont feel like going through every horrible part of adams game last night again.. i hope he improves but potential was not there even though it was one game.. i usually dont judge this harsh after a single game but good lord he looks sad!

[ME80]

UC should beat Belmont at home. That's the bottom line.

Just curious but was it bad coaching when UC lost to Canisius at home?

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

Just curious but was it bad coaching when UC lost to Canisius at home?

No doubt. Same coach had 399 W and 127 L over 16 years.

I have a hunch the 127 L won't take 16 more years.

[ME80]

No doubt. Same coach had 399 W and 127 L over 16 years.

I have a hunch the 127 L won't take 16 more years.


1958, I appreciate the honest answer. I thought the world of the former coach but I sense many times in your posts that things never were wrong in the old days. He did lose games that he shouldn't have. He did make coaching and leadership mistakes. He frustrated the **** out of me at times because of the lack of offense on his teams. But, he won. I can never take that away from him. All I ask is the the current coach is critiqued in the same manner that the former coach is remembered.

[ralph1950]

(edited - off topic)