2011/2012 UC Basketball official thread

[BearcatShane]

The season starts tonight vs Mt. Saint Marrys at the Shoe. UC also has quietly put together a solid recruiting class for next year. Lets hope the Cats come together and have a good year. Lets get W number 1 tonight.

[WMR]

Is there any heat on Mick Cronin's seat right now?

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by WMR

Is there any heat on Mick Cronin's seat right now?

Mick's seat is on fire. IMO if he doesn't make the tournament this year he is gone.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by WMR

Is there any heat on Mick Cronin's seat right now?

Dead broke athletic department and absolutely no fan base left.

Basically nobody cares and the department doesn't have the financial ability to fire Mick. It's really sad and depressing.

The team on the court should be absolutely scary. The least amount of talent of any Bearcat team since the Yates era. Hopefully they lose enough to get Mick fired and they land another miracle Huggins type hire.

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by Cedric

The team on the court should be absolutely scary. The least amount of talent of any Bearcat team since the Yates era. Hopefully they lose enough to get Mick fired and they land another miracle Huggins type hire.

If you are talking about Cronin's 5 years here I might agree with the talent level being as bad as it has been in a long time. If you are talking about this years team in particular that is just hyperbole. Mick's first couple teams were much more lacking in talent. Mick might not have a player like Stephenson who can be "the guy" but he has a much better overall team than he has had since being at UC IMO. His teams have improved every year and I expect that to continue this year.

As for the game last night, the Bearcats looked as though they expected The Mount to roll over for them. They looked sloppy and uninspired for almost the whole game. I certainly hope UC can put up a better effort than that in the future.

[BearcatShane]

I like Mick's recruiting class so much next year that I truly want him to stay. I know some will say well he won't be able to coach them up but I really think it will be his best class. His seat is warm, but not on fire. It would take a 13-17 to get him canned in my opinion.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by BearcatShane

I like Mick's recruiting class so much next year that I truly want him to stay. I know some will say well he won't be able to coach them up but I really think it will be his best class. His seat is warm, but not on fire. It would take a 13-17 to get him canned in my opinion.

What do you like in particular about this class? http://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballre...28AK46rbnVO5B4

The top ranked player is #123 according to Rivals.

How could this be his best class at UC? Hell, Stephenson by himself made last year's class better than 2011.

[BearcatShane]

Originally Posted by WMR

What do you like in particular about this class? http://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballre...28AK46rbnVO5B4

The top ranked player is #123 according to Rivals.

How could this be his best class at UC? Hell, Stephenson by himself made last year's class better than 2011.

It won't be the highest rated but I gurantee you it will the the best. They have 3 top 150 playes. Stephenson was highly rated but did he truly live up to the hype. These 5 commitments will all be good solid four year players.

[BearcatShane]

Just look at ESPN's headline for there basketball recruiting page..

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...cruiting/index

[paintmered]

Glad to see UC can still nearly blow a 19 point lead.

Cats win, I guess. 69-59.

[bucksfan2]

Early season games are always interesting. You see a lot of times good teams losing to lesser competition. Teams are getting their game legs under then and trying to figure each other out. I don't put too much stock in early season games for that reason.

As for Cronin I just don't like him as a game coach. It is early in the season but he continues to think he has a deep bench. Most good teams settle on 7 players and play the rest on a as need basis. Its good to see that Thomas, Bishop, and Davis continue to think that they are 3 point shooters. Its only one game and you will see some improvement but man this could be a long season.

[Reds4Life]

I will give Cronin credit, he finally put together a solid recruiting class for next year. Hiring Darren Savino helped quite a bit with getting some of those guys.

As for the game, all his teams have looked sloopy, they never run an organized offense. It's always spray and pray, because they don't have any great shooters. His seat is pretty warm at this point, if they don't make the tournament, he could very well be gone.

[Boss-Hog]

I don't mean to pour cold water on what looks to be a pretty good recruiting class, but UC's Class of 2007 (this year's seniors) was similarly ranked pretty highly, as well, coming in. That class included Rashad Bishop, Biggie McClain, Larry Davis, Alvin Mitchell, Jason Henry (who never played at UC) and Kenny Belton. Look no further than RedsZone if you don't believe me. Rankings mean very little if those players don't develop, as was the case with this year's senior class.

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by Boss-Hog

I don't mean to pour cold water on what looks to be a pretty good recruiting class, but UC's Class of 2007 (this year's seniors) was similarly ranked pretty highly, as well, coming in. That class included Rashad Bishop, Biggie McClain, Larry Davis, Alvin Mitchell, Jason Henry (who never played at UC) and Kenny Belton. Look no further than RedsZone if you don't believe me. Rankings mean very little if those players don't develop, as was the case with this year's senior class.

Indeed, it was a highly rated class. Here's how they've turned out.

Rashad Bishop - probably the best out of the class. Underperformed at times, dismissed from the team and reinstated for this year.

Biggie McClain - a project whose development suffered from injuries. At least he's no longer a stick.

Larry Davis - a complete failure of a player. Can't score, can't guard. I don't know how he gets as minutes as he does. Yet, Cronin keeps throwing him in there to disastrous results.

Alvin Mitchell - supposedly the most talented of the recruiting class. The question with him at the time was not if he was going to be good, but for how many years could UC keep him around. He turned out to be lazy and a malcontent, and soon found himself off the team for good.

Jason Henry - never played (as you mention) although I forget why. I think Darnel Wilks took his scholarship instead of going to prep school.

Kenny Belton - chronic back injuries ended his career. He still has his scholarship due to the medical issues but is no longer with the team.

So yeah, the class has been a total flop for many reasons. There was reason to be excited about the class at the time, but sometimes kids don't pan out...sometimes all at once.

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by paintmered

Larry Davis - a complete failure of a player. Can't score, can't guard. I don't know how he gets as minutes as he does. Yet, Cronin keeps throwing him in there to disastrous results.

I don't know what happened over the off-season, but Larry Davis has gone from the quoted to an asset. I'll gladly eat my shorts for him proving everyone wrong and not mailing in his senior season.