Exhibition Thoughts

[Helicopter]

Few thoughts on tonight's game...

1. Highlight reel just makes me sad now. I look up at all the games I attended and how unbelievable they were with a rocking Shoe and a nationally relevant team. I wish the students could get a taste of that.

2. Justin Jackson. Yessir I found my new favorite bearcat real quick. He has got an edge to him that you have to see in person. Granted he fouled out but he went out there and played some exciting basketball and gave us the right amount of "crazy" needed to jumpstart the rest of the team.

3. Sean Kilpatrick. A very smooth, efficient scoring performance. When you are perfect from the stripe and take high percentage shots you can score a LOT of points.

4. Offensive sets. Non-existent. I know enough about basketball to know what Cronin is trying to do but he's being stubborn about it. We lack the basketball IQ on the court to run reactive offense. You must have a few set plays to create motion. If this happens again during real games it will be wholly unacceptable.

5. Press break. 6'4" 180lb white guys should not be face guarding you for 40 min in the back court. Set a back court screen once and when his ears are still ringing next time down the court he won't even turn around to bother the point.

6. Biggie. Is HUGE, and has definitely been working out but still does not look Big East calibre. Look, I hate to rip on any player but I see his impact as being minimal this year.

7. Carelton is crap. Save the coach speak. Aside from their ballhandler #23 they should have been ran out of the gym.

8. Its just exhibition. That being said, this team is leaps and bounds away from where I expect Bearcat basketball to be at. I will be more critical when we get into real games.

[Alpha5]

My initial reaction:We're going to have a lot of trouble scoring points but should be good defensively.

[Mr. Bearcat]

Wow, I must have watched a different game than many in here. I came away far more impressed than most. But, that is not a surprise in a forum that calls itself "positive", but has way more negative undertones than positive. My season prediction was 22-9 and an NCAA At large bid. I came away tonight much more confident in that prediction than I was when I made it. I also came away more convinced that Mick Cronin has us on the right path. For once, I could see the future of this basketball program, and the future looks very bright to me!

First, little things impressed me a lot. I saw sustained effort and hustle. I saw a team having fun. I saw a killer instinct which told them to "put this team away"...and they did. I saw a coach actually clapping for his players and giving a little skin to them as they came out of the game. How refreshing was that to see? I saw a lot of depth. Unlike others, I saw a better Biggie. He may not get tons of minutes, but I think he can contribute. I saw Sean Kilpatrick giving skin to each teammate in pregame drills and just looking excited to be playing again. He looks like a leader and the glue that may pull this team together. I saw Dion Dixon take a disastrous blunder last year, and obviously go to work in the offseason, and come in much improved and become quite possibly the best player on the team. Justin Jackson proved to me tonight that "3-stars" is not so bad. This guy plays with an attitude and may become one he11 of a prescence on the front end of our press. He also rebounds with a vengence. I saw an offense that took a while to get started, but once it got rolling, I liked what I saw. I saw signs of a great defense and great press becoming a big part of our offense. I loved our transition game and and I see real potential to finally bring the press out of hibernation. I have never complimented Yancy much, but I have to give him props, he looked vastly improved and I actually saw some passion out of him tonight, plus he finally looked like a "power" forward!

Now the negatives....I have been a staunch opponent of letting Rashad Bishop back on the team and he lived up to my opinion of him. 7 players played more minutes than him and he had zero points and zero assists. The effort I saw out of him was not close to most of the rest of the team. I saw no improvement in his ability or his attitude over last year. Mick didn't play him much in the 2nd half. Our point guard play was not stellar. Neither Parker nor Wright were great, but they did have 8 assists between them. Their shot was not falling and they turned the ball over a little more than I would like. Their play needs to improve. Davis made a lot of mistakes, but he was hustling his arse off. If he keeps playing with that kind of effort, he has to keep getting some minutes. Our outside shooting will be streaky. I didn't see much potential for us to be filling it up from the three this year, which may leave us vulnerable to the zone D.

All in all, a great first game. We have some weaknesses to address, but I believe this team can overcome a lot thru better team chemistry, hard work and hustle. I like where Mick has them and I see great potential beyond this season as well. Great job Coach Cronin....you're making a believer out of me!

[psax889906]

I'm with you Mr. Bearcat... save a couple stretches, including the very beginning of the game, UC completely outplayed the opponent (which they should have) while playing a lot of players and still searching for a rotation... and Helicopter... yes Carleton would not be very good in the United States, DII team certainly, but they are a pretty fundamentally sound team from what I saw (with one **** of a shooter in that Thompson kid I think was his name) and while UC had a talent, size and athleticism advantage a key I took away from the game is that I do not think they won on those traits alone...

There is certainly still a lot of work to be done... the press was sloppy at times but shows promise with Jackson at the top of it... breaking the press was also an adventure when it shouldn't have necessarily been one... as to the offense, I thought the movement off the ball was ten times better in this game than in any one game last year... was it perfectly executed Princeton offense? Certainly not. But I thought it was definitely a step in the right direction. If there's anything we know, it's that Mick Cronin teams are going to defend and rebound... so if they can continue to progress offensively, with the weapons they have, I like this team's chances to return to the Big Dance.

Good first game and I can't wait to see more of the same effort in the final exhibition next Tuesday vs. Indiana University Southeast or whatever exact region they're from! lol

[juckerrules]

My new prediction guru....he had the game at 90-57
Congrats!

[capcbk]

My favorite Justin Jackson moment...

After diving for and securing a loose ball for a jump situation, there was a media time out. Jackson gets up, squeezes the ball and heads to the bench. The refs had to practicallly rip it out of his hands to get him to give it up! (OK, maybe you had to be there). But, Helicopter was right, he seemed to play with fire in his belly!

Yancey had a late game, run the floor, jam off an alley-oop pass. Great to see Yancey run the floor. Now, we need to see it more often...and less 14 ft jumpers!

I really liked what I saw with Kilpatrick and Jackson...but they are freshmen! I want to be really impressed with Gates, Cash, etc.

I can see improvement! How much? Who knows! Time will tell.

[Helicopter]

My favorite Justin Jackson moment...

After diving for and securing a loose ball for a jump situation, there was a media time out. Jackson gets up, squeezes the ball and heads to the bench. The refs had to practicallly rip it out of his hands to get him to give it up! (OK, maybe you had to be there). But, Helicopter was right, he seemed to play with fire in his belly!

Yancey had a late game, run the floor, jam off an alley-oop pass. Great to see Yancey run the floor. Now, we need to see it more often...and less 14 ft jumpers!

I really liked what I saw with Kilpatrick and Jackson...but they are freshmen! I want to be really impressed with Gates, Cash, etc.

I can see improvement! How much? Who knows! Time will tell.

Maybe that was my crux. I was MORE impressed with the two freshman than the returning starters.

Again, I am not usually this critical of exhibition games but I went hoping to see a few key areas improved (as I listed above).

It is my expectation that we will see by the first real game an 8 man steady rotation and a more than vanilla offense. We have to be aware that every team we face in conference is as athletically gifted and "long". But we all know that.

I am wishing for a 20-win season.

[JDBEARCAT]

My new prediction guru....he had the game at 90-57
Congrats!

As Gomer Pyle used to say: Thank Ya, Thank Ya, Thank Ya. For once I got one right.
:)

[cincyfan81]

Few thoughts on tonight's game...

1. Highlight reel just makes me sad now. I look up at all the games I attended and how unbelievable they were with a rocking Shoe and a nationally relevant team. I wish the students could get a taste of that.

2. Justin Jackson. Yessir I found my new favorite bearcat real quick. He has got an edge to him that you have to see in person. Granted he fouled out but he went out there and played some exciting basketball and gave us the right amount of "crazy" needed to jumpstart the rest of the team.

3. Sean Kilpatrick. A very smooth, efficient scoring performance. When you are perfect from the stripe and take high percentage shots you can score a LOT of points.

4. Offensive sets. Non-existent. I know enough about basketball to know what Cronin is trying to do but he's being stubborn about it. We lack the basketball IQ on the court to run reactive offense. You must have a few set plays to create motion. If this happens again during real games it will be wholly unacceptable.

5. Press break. 6'4" 180lb white guys should not be face guarding you for 40 min in the back court. Set a back court screen once and when his ears are still ringing next time down the court he won't even turn around to bother the point.

6. Biggie. Is HUGE, and has definitely been working out but still does not look Big East calibre. Look, I hate to rip on any player but I see his impact as being minimal this year.

7. Carelton is crap. Save the coach speak. Aside from their ballhandler #23 they should have been ran out of the gym.

8. Its just exhibition. That being said, this team is leaps and bounds away from where I expect Bearcat basketball to be at. I will be more critical when we get into real games.


Just a hunch but I would guess, offensive sets werent ran for a reason. I mean why would you give a team you are playing early any film on what you want to run. This is the pefect time to work on your motion and help them develop. Mick Cronin, while I have not been his biggest supporter, is someone who worked himself to a division one basketball coach, trust me he has more sets than you know what to do with and he will use them.

[cincyfan81]

From a national perspective Mike Decourcy from last night "Yancy Gates needs to work harder to get low post position and the Cincinnati guards need to do a better job of getting him the ball."

[Thegreatone]

From a national perspective Mike Decourcy from last night "Yancy Gates needs to work harder to get low post position and the Cincinnati guards need to do a better job of getting him the ball."

Eh, maybe but it is hard when they drop 2 or 3 guys on him when he touches the ball.

[Helicopter]

Just a hunch but I would guess, offensive sets werent ran for a reason. I mean why would you give a team you are playing early any film on what you want to run. This is the pefect time to work on your motion and help them develop. Mick Cronin, while I have not been his biggest supporter, is someone who worked himself to a division one basketball coach, trust me he has more sets than you know what to do with and he will use them.

After 3 years of zero offensive sets Mick no longer has that benefit of the doubt. I will harp on that issue over and over and over until I see differently.

[Carin's Dad]

Two observations just from the box score. (And one game is not a good predictor)

1) 3 pt shooting was still awful, but as a percentage of shots they took fewer threes than they averaged last year (33% of shots last year were 3's, 24% last night). I guess this indicates smarter players?, or just not having Lance and Deonta who cranked up most of the 3's last year.

2) FT% was up nicely 73% vs 64% average last year. The all-division I average last year was 69%. Plus, we got a higher percentage of our scoring from FT (33%) than we averaged last year (18%).

That's way too much number crunching for one exhibition game, but suffice it to say there are signs we showed improvement on two of our problem areas from last year SO FAR.

Two more weeks of practice and one more "play" game before it counts. A promising start.

[cincycpaw]

Wish I could have been there to see it.

From what I've read, I have high hopes for SK and Dixon. And hopefully the intensity of Jackson rubs off on some other guys.

It's only an exhibition against a team that UC should beat solidly all the time, so it's tough to see much from this performance.

Looking forward to seeing what those 3 guys bring all year, though I suspect that Dixon and SK will have far more impact on games than Jackson due to playing time.

[righthook]

After 3 years of zero offensive sets Mick no longer has that benefit of the doubt. I will harp on that issue over and over and over until I see differently.

That's something that has always aggrevated me too. Cronin runs no real offensive sets until a few games into the season, then it takes a couple of games to get comfortable with them. The early season always looks like they're still playing in the summer league. Could understand it at first when he had so many new players, but with veterans now you would think they would try to establish these things early.

[Thewhiteboy]

This 2010 group stll does not have a solid rebounder, Yet.

[Thegreatone]

This 2010 group stll does not have a solid rebounder, Yet.

Disagree. Dion Dixon is a superb rebounder at the 2. Justin Jackson will be tough on the boards as well.

[Tom Alverson]

Wish I could have been there to see it.

.


You can see it any time as the recording is available here:

http://www.gobearcats.com/allaccess/?media=205598

[cincycpaw]

You can see it any time as the recording is available here:

http://www.gobearcats.com/allaccess/?media=205598

Yeah, thanks. But nothing beat being at the Shoe for each and every game. :)

[BearcatAlum1]

This 2010 group stll does not have a solid rebounder, Yet.

Parker is a GREAT rebounder for a guard. I'd bet $ that he leads all BE guards in rebounds per minute played.

Can anyone think of another guard that will do that?

Does anyone remember the game in the BET last year when Park grabbed 3-4 offensive rebounds in one possession (or consecutive possessions?)?

I agree with the above poster that Dion Dixon is a good rebounder too.

Shi*, I'll go here: Dixon and Parker make the best rebounding guard tandem in the BE.

[ralph1950]

My impression is the team will have a difficult time competing in the Big East this season. The prediction for 12th by the coaches is justified by what I saw. Will Gaines be eligible?

[thomasmaster]

I agree in the thought that the Cats will struggle with rebounding. Gates has not shown the drive to play hard the whole game and we cannot rely on guards to lead our team in rebounds. Hope I am wrong!

[Lobot]

My impression is the team will have a difficult time competing in the Big East this season. The prediction for 12th by the coaches is justified by what I saw. Will Gaines be eligible?

Gaines has been cleared to my knowledge.

[Mr. Bearcat]

The team I saw last night will be far better than 12th place in the Big East. There are some awesome new pieces to the puzzle this year with Kilpatrick and Jackson. Gates looks vastly improved. We got rid of two guys who shot what....a combined 15% from 3 pt. last year? More discipline in not launching stupid 3s, combined with better passing and unselfishness, will make us far more efficient on the offensive end. Free throw shooting will be greatly improved in my opinion. We may not have one "great" rebounder, but we will rebound well by committee. We have a lot of pretty good rebounders and as BA1 said, our guards are awesome rebounders. I could go on with more positives, but I have made my point.

Anyone who wants to downplay this team based on the 3 games in Canada and last night's performance, needs to just keep their opinion to themselves because there is no basis for negativity yet. Mick needs our positive energy to get this team over the hump. Until there is reason to be negative, lets latch onto this exciting new team and ride these guys right to March Madness. I'm looking forward to Tuesday already!

[dp3113]

My impression is the team will have a difficult time competing in the Big East this season. The prediction for 12th by the coaches is justified by what I saw. Will Gaines be eligible?

Gaines has been out with a dislocated shoulder for weeks now.

[Major ----de Coverley]

The team I saw last night will be far better than 12th place in the Big East. There are some awesome new pieces to the puzzle this year with Kilpatrick and Jackson. Gates looks vastly improved. We got rid of two guys who shot what....a combined 15% from 3 pt. last year? More discipline in not launching stupid 3s, combined with better passing and unselfishness, will make us far more efficient on the offensive end. Free throw shooting will be greatly improved in my opinion. We may not have one "great" rebounder, but we will rebound well by committee. We have a lot of pretty good rebounders and as BA1 said, our guards are awesome rebounders. I could go on with more positives, but I have made my point.

Anyone who wants to downplay this team based on the 3 games in Canada and last night's performance, needs to just keep their opinion to themselves because there is no basis for negativity yet. Mick needs our positive energy to get this team over the hump. Until there is reason to be negative, lets latch onto this exciting new team and ride these guys right to March Madness. I'm looking forward to Tuesday already!

I agree with longtimer. It will however be interesting to see who reverts to their old tune when the first sign of adversity strikes. hmmmmmm.

[davecattitude1]

I agree with longtimer. It will however be interesting to see who reverts to their old tune when the first sign of adversity strikes. hmmmmmm.

Even if Mr. Breacat is Longtimer, who cares? Longtimer seemed to be a great fan of the program and usually posted the truth and I enjoyed reading his thoughts….and he never attacked other people on here. If he was banned, which I didn't know, that is ridiculous. Do you have a man-crush on him or something? He seems to be the only thing you want to post about. Do you have any thoughts on our basketball program? We would appreciate some posts about something other than Longtimer out of you. Didn't the moderators ask everyone to stop with the Longtimer stuff?

[BearcatAlum1]

Mr. Bearcat is NOT Longtimer.

Longtimer and I have had very "heated" discussions in the past.......and Mr. Bearcat ("Longtimer" ????) just referenced me in his post.

The "Longtimer" that I know would never reference his sworn enemy (me).

[anbuc88]

Mr. Bearcat is NOT Longtimer.

Longtimer and I have had very "heated" discussions in the past.......and Mr. Bearcat ("Longtimer" ????) just referenced me in his post.

The "Longtimer" that I know would never reference his sworn enemy (me).

So there is another poster who has 6 seats at midcourt, has been going to Bearcat games for years, and feels the need to occasionally defend our previous coach. Or another poster who feels the need to sarcastically comment about how Cronin must have inherited the worst situation in the history of college basketball. If you had been banned and returned under another another name, would you post exactly the same as you did before? Every now and then, however, your true colors would show. Mr. Bearcat has also be conspicuously silent when he has been called out as being Longtimer. Why do you think that this is the case? For some, this site appears to be drug and they need to come back under an alias to feed their addiction. There is an old saying, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it must be a duck. (Feel free to substitute Longtimer for 'a duck'). There is no way any of us can truly prove that this is the case, but for some of us who have been on this site for years, the circumstatial evidence is very strong.

This thread also makes me think I have entered the Bizzaro world. Ralph1950, who is as staunch a supporter of all things UC and especially Mick Cronin, is pessimistic about this year. This is likely so that he can defend Mick if the season goes south, and say the expectations were low anyway. Then, you have Mr. Bearcat, AKA you know who, who is uber optimistic about Mick and the Cats, likely so that if the season goes south, he can feel free to criticise, and then point to the fact that he was firmly behind the Cats early in the season. And then if anyone disputes this, to go back and read his early season posts. This is the same thing Longtimer did last year. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

[ucat4]

Even if Mr. Breacat is Longtimer, who cares? Longtimer seemed to be a great fan of the program and usually posted the truth and I enjoyed reading his thoughts….and he never attacked other people on here. If he was banned, which I didn't know, that is ridiculous. Do you have a man-crush on him or something? He seems to be the only thing you want to post about. Do you have any thoughts on our basketball program? We would appreciate some posts about something other than Longtimer out of you. Didn't the moderators ask everyone to stop with the Longtimer stuff?

Post of the day! I can't believe this is even being debated! Who cares?!?! Some people have waaaay too much time on their hands.

[psax889906]

I wonder if they'll redshirt Gaines because of his injury. Anyone have insight on this?

[JDBEARCAT]

Yeah, thanks. But nothing beats being at the Shoe for each and every game. :)

i agree. I plan on being at every game except maybe the New Year's eve
game. I may have other plans that evening.
I thoroughly enjoy being at the games. It's something to do & look forward
to & I just love college bb& the 'Cats.

[UcatsRick]

So,how many of you guys have coached a D-1 basketball team?After rebuilding from nothing?
In the Big East?
While making sure all your players remain academicially eligible?
Following a highly successful, well-liked coach fired under dubious circumstances?
Just checking.

[psax889906]

So,how many of you guys have coached a D-1 basketball team?After rebuilding from nothing?
In the Big East?
While making sure all your players remain academicially eligible?
Following a highly successful, well-liked coach fired under dubious circumstances?
Just checking.

Oh ****... you just went there. Now watch the thread explode... :D

[MDW79]

So,how many of you guys have coached a D-1 basketball team?After rebuilding from nothing?
In the Big East?
While making sure all your players remain academicially eligible?
Following a highly successful, well-liked coach fired under dubious circumstances?
Just checking.

Where did this come from? I don't remember reading anything overly negative in this thread.

[BearcatAlum1]

So,how many of you guys have coached a D-1 basketball team?After rebuilding from nothing?
In the Big East?
While making sure all your players remain academicially eligible?
Following a highly successful, well-liked coach fired under dubious circumstances?
Just checking.

Me.

25 freaking characters!

[CincyEngGrad02]

Me.

25 freaking characters!

I knew it, you are MC! :)

[levydl]

I wonder if they'll redshirt Gaines because of his injury. Anyone have insight on this?

They already have, what, 6 new spots for next year (Thomas, Davis, Bishop, Biggie, Wilks graduate, plus Lance's spot which was not filled this year) with 4 guys committed so far? Assuming they will fill the two other scholarships, I doubt they would redshirt Gaines to make it a 7 man freshman class - that's more than half the team (one or both of the open scholarships could go to JUCO guys, I guess, but it'd still be 7 first year guys). And they're already short a player by not filling Lances spot, so I don't think they'd go with just 11 scholarship players this year.

[Thewhiteboy]

My impression is the team will have a difficult time competing in the Big East this season. The prediction for 12th by the coaches is justified by what I saw. Will Gaines be eligible?

This 2010 group stll does not have a solid rebounder, Yet.

[psax889906]

They already have, what, 6 new spots for next year (Thomas, Davis, Bishop, Biggie, Wilks graduate, plus Lance's spot which was not filled this year) with 4 guys committed so far? Assuming they will fill the two other scholarships, I doubt they would redshirt Gaines to make it a 7 man freshman class - that's more than half the team (one or both of the open scholarships could go to JUCO guys, I guess, but it'd still be 7 first year guys). And they're already short a player by not filling Lances spot, so I don't think they'd go with just 11 scholarship players this year.

Class unbalance or not, he is a project, everyone has said so... he severely injured his shoulder... I think redshirt or not he won't see more than a combined 50 minutes on the floor this year.

[subflea]

He is likely going to be back by the first real game.

I doubt if he is redshirted. We are going to need to get him some game experience this year since our front court next year could be very thin.

[Mr. Bearcat]

They already have, what, 6 new spots for next year (Thomas, Davis, Bishop, Biggie, Wilks graduate, plus Lance's spot which was not filled this year) with 4 guys committed so far? Assuming they will fill the two other scholarships, I doubt they would redshirt Gaines to make it a 7 man freshman class - that's more than half the team (one or both of the open scholarships could go to JUCO guys, I guess, but it'd still be 7 first year guys). And they're already short a player by not filling Lances spot, so I don't think they'd go with just 11 scholarship players this year.

I completely agree. I think Gaines needs to play this year to gain some experience. I'm not sure how much time he will get once the Big East starts, but we play a lot of patsies early and he could get some decent playing time and lets see how he develops. We will need him big time next year and if Yancy leaves...oh sh!t!! He will need to produce immediately. If I were Mick, I think he really needs to look at Juco big men to finish out this year's recruiting...or at least one juco to balance out the classes.

[Bearcat POE]

I went to the game and enjoyed it. Although they won by 32, I feel they were not as dominant as everyone wanted them to because coach Cronin was flirting with the line ups. Example Dixon, L. Davis and Kilpatrick on the floor together.

I was grateful that some guy came up to me and a group of friends and gave us floor seats across from the UC bench. A whole new experience beaning able to hear plays, player communication etc. Came away impressed with the work of Dixon, J. Jackson and Cronin being positive with the guys. Often to me last year he wasn't congratulatory to the players when they came off the court. That day he congratulated them all