I'm starting to think Bob Huggins sold his soul to the devil after all the game winning shots this season.
This is a good picture ain't it?
The pairings have been announced for the NIT tournament. UC hosts Weber State in the first round. The game will be on ESPN2 at 700 on 3/17 (Wednesday). If the 'Cats prevail they will be home against the winner of the Dayton/Illinois State matchup.
Here is the Bearcat bracket:
And here is the link to the entire article:http://mcstylin.com/nit-basketball-t...10-selections/NIT Bracket 1 (upper lefthand):
#1 Illinois vs. #8 Stony Brook
#4 Kent St. vs. #5 Tulsa
#3 Dayton vs. #6 Illinois St.
#2 Cincinnati vs. #7 Weber St.
Every time Mick Cronin loses to an A-10 team, an angel gets its wings.
The Bearcats never seem to have a clue about what they are doing on the offensive end.
7 minutes is a long time not to score. Between Stephenson, Vaughn, Gates, and Wright, you'd think they could get a decent shot off.
Speaking of which, where did Gates go last night? Admittedly, I only watched bits and pieces of the game, but he never seemed to in the game.
She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning
I was at the game last night. It was complete anguish watching an unprepared and uninspired team get dominated on its home court by a team that UC has completely dominated for the last half century.
I will be crafting a letter to Mike Thomas this evening regarding my experiences, expectations and future support as a UCATS member.
All models are wrong. Some of them are useful.
The athletic department is living on borrowed time at the moment. They can't afford to have a losing basketball program. The BCS payouts are the only thing that has kept them from a total collapse the last couple years. Being realistic, you can't keep expecting the football program to get a BCS game year after year, they have done great things but in reality it's not sustainable every season.
The more I look back, the more I dispise Nancy Zimpher. She destroyed this program, and now I'd say rebuilding it back to the level it once was is going to be nearly impossible.
The whole thing is very sad.
As a Dayton fan, my eyes popped a bit when I read Stephenson's quote about not expecting Dayton to be that athletic and aggressive. What? UD is 50 miles away and always gets up to play Big East schools. The Flyers are something like 6-2 in the last 8 vs the BE. There is hour after hour of film on UD. Everyone that watches UD knows they out work nearly every opponent, but lose because pressure causes their guards to make bad choices.
How in the world could a team be so unprepared to play a Dayton team that does the same thing every game? It's either bad coaching, bad players, or a combination of the two. The UC program of today is a laughing stock compared to what it was 5-7 years ago.
IMO, the quicker Gates and Stephenson leave the program, the better off it will be. Gates gave one of the most ridiculous efforts I have ever seen last night, and from what I see watching UC it's nothing new with him. He may have talent, but he is the kind of guy winning programs don't recruit.
Definitely felt good to see UD stomp the Bearcats. Cronin (King of excuses, Mr Every Game is Huge for the Opponent, Mr. "Are you telling me 'insert middling BE team here' wouldn't win the A10?") looked foolish and completely lost. That program needs a few bars of metaphorical C-4. Blow it up. Hire an energetic young coach like Brad Stevens, Ben Jacobsen, John Groce or a proven winner like Brad Brownell that won't makes excuses, just build a first class program that wins games the right way. The status quo gives them absolutely no chance to improve.
Last edited by guttle11; 03-23-2010 at 05:43 PM.
Re: Cashmere Wright. I just don't see it. I realize the injury may have hurt his explosiveness, but still...
I was there last night as well. UC was completely unprepared for UD's transition speed. There were several times when UD beat them down the floor AFTER MAKES.
Stephenson get hurt a couple times and guys on the bench were barely clapping for him when he got up, much less helping him off the floor or patting him on the butt or anything a good teammate might do.
It was quite startling to me to see what UD was able to do with them and how much UC looked like they were glad it was over.
Classy move by Jim Burr at the end of the game when they took Vaughn out. I don't care for Burr at all, but he got some points in my book last night.
When all is said and done more is said than done.
As much as it would have been nice for the local kid (Cronin) to resurrect this program, I don't foresee that happening. Time to pull the plug on Mick's coaching career at UC.
I've supported Mick from the start, but I also said this would be his year to prove he is the guy for UC. Simply put, he didn't. Mick has built the program back to mediocrity, but the next step was elusive. To be 100% honest, I'm not sure if the next step can be taken any time soon. UC has some nice players, but they just aren't making a very good team.
While I don't like the idea of "blowing things up," I do think that something needs to be done. UC needs to step forward, not backward. They only step forward if one of two things happen IMO. 1. Mick somehow gets the team over the hump next year. 2. UC hires a coach that would be able to keep the team largely intact. The first one seems more and more unlikely every year and the second would require a big contract for a big name or a fast rising coach, which also seems unlikely.
The sad truth is it will take a lot to get this program back to where it used to be. Zimpher and the BOD have a lot of blood on their hands right now. I'm sure they thought their legacy would be one of improving the image and academics of the University. Instead it will be one of ruining a once great program. What a catastrophe this has turned out to be. Especially considering that a lot of the problems probably had more to do with personal vendettas than anything else.
So long, Lance, we hardly knew ye. Puts a crimp in the dancing plans for next season.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson plans to enter the NBA draft.
The school said Wednesday that the Big East rookie of the year said he will hire an agent, which means he can not withdraw from the draft. It is scheduled for June 24.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...html?eref=sihp
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