UC Basketball

[Reds4Life]

what you see in UC is a team that lacks a true point guard ready to lead on the floor. The have some nice parts but no leader at the point (Vaughn is not a PG). So what happens at crunch time? There is no one on the floor that is going to make sure the team gets a good shot. What you can blame Cronin for is not having a true PG.

Do you really want them to fire Cronin and start over again?

I am reminded of a quote from Fran Fraschilla a few years back that is one of the best ever spoken on TV. "Early in the season you win games with toughness but as the season wears on you have to win more with execution."

UC won games early in the year with their toughness and athleticism. However, their execution has not improved enough to win more games in the Big East. This is due to the lack of a PG to make sure they execute their stuff and get good looks.

Doc has stumbled into some insight.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...ieces+together

Huggins UC teams didn't have a true PG either, yet they did just fine. WVU this year, no true PG, yet they are top 10 in the country.

Further, UC does have PG, Cashmere Wright. He's done nothing all year in terms of improvement. Mick played the "no PG" card all last year when Wright redshirted for injury. He can play this year, and nothing has changed. Same ugly offense, same poor shooting, same unacceptable results.

Gates could be a beast, where is the improvement? Doesn't exist. You think he'd be out there giving half effort if he played for Jim Calhoun? I don't. If he did, he'd be on the bench in street clothes. Then you have Vaughn, who is what I call a garbage player. He shows up when they are down by 15 to pad his stats, where is the senior leadership for the team in critical situations? Every must win game they play, he does nothing but toss up 3 after 3 (and miss 90% of them), plays poor defense and can't pass. With the way he's played, he should be on the bench for all but 7-8 minutes a game, yet Cronin continues to play him.

I won't even get into the substituion patterns, they are a complete disaster that don't make sense to anybody but Cronin.

[WMR]

Do UC's struggles get you pissed at Zimpher all over again? I could certainly see that.

Especially when you look at the studs Huggy bear brings into Morgantown on a yearly basis. (And coaches them up once they get there.)

[flyer85]

Further, UC does have PG, Cashmere Wright. He's done nothing all year in terms of improvement.

Not bad but he certainly isn't ready to lead, that is why a VETERAN PG is so important. Somebody who has been through the battles before. Wright will be likely be a very good player ... by his junior year.

Gates could be a beast, where is the improvement?

The knock on Gates long before he got to UC was there he doesn't work hard (during the games or in practice). He is an awesome physical talent but he doesn't seem to want it.

Is Cronin a great coach? not at this point but he isn't a bad one. The talent level doesn't match the expectations is the biggest issue it seems.

BTW, the problem UC ran into is that you can't effectively attack a zone unless you warp it(either with ball movement or penetration). UC got tentative and there is no way to get good shots against a zone the likes of Syracuse unless you are aggressive. Syracuse may be the best team in the country and UC was right there for 32 minutes. Learning how to win those kind of games is the toughest step to take.

[WMR]

Not bad but he certainly isn't ready to lead, that is why a VETERAN PG is so important. Somebody who has been through the battles before. Wright will be likely be a very good player ... by his junior year.

The knock on Gates long before he got to UC was there he doesn't work hard (during the games or in practice). He is an awesome physical talent but he doesn't seem to want it.

Is Cronin a great coach? not at this point but he isn't a bad one. The talent level doesn't match the expectations is the biggest issue it seems.

How do you give a coach any sort of a pass when he hasn't developed a PG after 3 seasons on the job? Considering the current landscape of college basketball, there's no excuse to still be floundering around without a PG after three years as the head coach.

[flyer85]

How do you give a coach any sort of a pass when he hasn't developed a PG after 3 seasons on the job? Considering the current landscape of college basketball, there's no excuse to still be floundering around without a PG after three years on the job.

I think he has a decent one in Wright. However, not many freshman are ready to lead a young basketball team. It would be different if UC had good veteran leadership on the team but they don't. BTW, I have never liked Vaughn as a player.

[Reds4Life]

Do UC's struggles get you pissed at Zimpher all over again? I could certainly see that.

Especially when you look at the studs Huggy bear brings into Morgantown on a yearly basis. (And coaches them up once they get there.)

For me personally, yes it does. She destroyed a winning program at the worst possible time.

I think that is part of the reason attendance has been low, aside from the product on the court being subpar, many UC fans are bitter over what happened with Huggins and Zimpher.

[WMR]

I think he has a decent one in Wright. However, not many freshman are ready to lead a young basketball team. It would be different if UC had good veteran leadership on the team but they don't. BTW, I have never liked Vaughn as a player.

What do you think about his in-game coaching on a micro level? The fact that he's still using a 10 man rotation tells me he's in over his head.

[Reds4Life]

Not bad but he certainly isn't ready to lead, that is why a VETERAN PG is so important. Somebody who has been through the battles before. Wright will be likely be a very good player ... by his junior year.

The knock on Gates long before he got to UC was there he doesn't work hard (during the games or in practice). He is an awesome physical talent but he doesn't seem to want it.

Is Cronin a great coach? not at this point but he isn't a bad one. The talent level doesn't match the expectations is the biggest issue it seems.

BTW, the problem UC ran into is that you can't effectively attack a zone unless you warp it(either with ball movement or penetration). UC got tentative and there is no way to get good shots against a zone the likes of Syracuse unless you are aggressive. Syracuse may be the best team in the country and UC was right there for 32 minutes. Learning how to win those kind of games is the toughest step to take.

Doesn't match the expectations? I don't think most UC fans were expecting a national championship contender this year. The goal was simply to make the NCAA tournament. IMO, that was a realistic goal, and it won't be achieved.

[flyer85]

For me personally, yes it does. She destroyed a winning program at the worst possible time.

The problem was she didn't like him and didn't what Huggins as coach but she didn't have the guts to just fire him ... like she should have done if she didn't want him there. Instead it dragged on until August and then they hired an interim coach. It ended up destroying not one but two recruiting classes. The situation could not have been bungled any worse.

[flyer85]

What do you think about his in-game coaching on a micro level? The fact that he's still using a 10 man rotation tells me he's in over his head.

the fact that he uses 10 tells me that he realizes his team lacks the basketball skills to win with execution and his best chance to win is still with toughness and athleticism. UC has players that are athletic but have a lot of holes.

Cronin may not be perfect but be careful what you wish for.

[flyer85]

IMO, that was a realistic goal.

A lot of things had to go right and the most important was Stephenson being a stud and a real difference maker. He is a good player but hasn't played to anywhere near the level they needed him to if they wanted to be an NCAA tourney team.

[WMR]

the fact that he uses 10 tells me that he realizes his team lacks the basketball skills to win with execution and his best chance to win is still with toughness and athleticism. UC has players that are athletic but have a lot of holes.

Cronin may not be perfect but be careful what you wish for.

If those are his goals, that's fine, but those goals could just as easily be accomplished playing 7-8 guys as long as you pick the right ones.

Maybe he should bench Vaughn for a game or two?

They appear totally listless right now.

[Sea Ray]

The thing with Zimpher was all about how she did it. And after firing him in August they replaced him with Andy Kennedy. In hindsight they should have given Kennedy the job in January and continuity would have been better and Devan Downey likely would have stayed. Thus she erred twice

[Reds4Life]

If those are his goals, that's fine, but those goals could just as easily be accomplished playing 7-8 guys as long as you pick the right ones.

Maybe he should bench Vaughn for a game or two?

They appear totally listless right now.

Could bench Vaughn until senior day as far as I'm concerned. No leadership skills and constant bad decisions do nothing to help this team.

[WMR]

It would've really broken me up if Devan Downey never came to the SEC. LOL.