'12-'13 UC Basketball

[joshnky]

Originally Posted by paintmered

No.

Why not? What has he done during his tenure that is remarkable. Its not entirely his fault but UC basketball has become completely irrelevant during his tenure.

From Wikipedia:
In six seasons at Cincinnati, Cronin has amassed a 108–83 record and a Sweet 16 berth.

I know he earned a lot of credit last year but they've taken a step back this year. That's hardly the results a top 25 program should expect from their coach.

[Hillsdale87]

Originally Posted by joshnky

Will this cost Cronin his job? The guy hasn't been all that impressive and he's been given a long leash. I think just about anyone could match his record, middle of the big east and little tourney success. Has UC ever even made the big east championship game?

I'm not a UC fan, but my impression is that Mick is a good leader, but not a very good coach. His teams play hard consistently and play great defense, so he gets them to work. But he really has no clue on offense. There is absolutely no movement, and they can't get anything from their offense. Some of it is just poor shooting, but it's hard to get in a rhythm when you don't get many good looks. It's all one-on-one and three point shots. And I haven't really see anybody at UC improve offensively during his time there. Gates was solid, but a disappointment. Some of that was Yancy's fault, but a lot of that falls on Cronin. Mick doesn't really know how to get the post involved, and Yancy was rarely able to get open. If he scored, he had to do it all on his own. On another team, he would have done a lot more.

I think UC can build a solid program with Mick, but if they actually want to be consistently good, they need to find somebody else.

[nmculbreth]

Originally Posted by joshnky

Why not? What has he done during his tenure that is remarkable. Its not entirely his fault but UC basketball has become completely irrelevant during his tenure.

From Wikipedia:
In six seasons at Cincinnati, Cronin has amassed a 108–83 record and a Sweet 16 berth.

I know he earned a lot of credit last year but they've taken a step back this year. That's hardly the results a top 25 program should expect from their coach.

He'll keep his job for a number of reasons. For starters the athletic department is broke and cannot afford to pay the buy-out and what it would cost to bring in a replacement coach. Additionally given the state of the team's facilities and the murkiness of UC's conference affiliation I suspect they'd have a tough time bringing in a coach who would be an upgrade over Cronin.

For better or worse the status quo is in UC's best interest, despite a very disappointing end to the season. Cronin has a good recruiting class coming in, headlined by a legitimate blue chip prospect and given the state of things UC cannot afford to let that talent slip away. Additionally I think stability within the department is essential to UC's chances of getting out of the Big East, which is ultimately the most important thing right now.

[Reds4Life]

Originally Posted by joshnky

Why not? What has he done during his tenure that is remarkable. Its not entirely his fault but UC basketball has become completely irrelevant during his tenure.

From Wikipedia:
In six seasons at Cincinnati, Cronin has amassed a 108–83 record and a Sweet 16 berth.

I know he earned a lot of credit last year but they've taken a step back this year. That's hardly the results a top 25 program should expect from their coach.

His overall record at UC is skewed because of the rebuild. I don't think many who don't follow UC regularly really understand the catastrophic damage that was done to the program by Nancy Zimpher & Co. I am surprised its even come back as much as it has, it wasn't just dismantled, it was nuked.

[texasdave]

Originally Posted by joshnky

Will this cost Cronin his job? The guy hasn't been all that impressive and he's been given a long leash. I think just about anyone could match his record, middle of the big east and little tourney success. Has UC ever even made the big east championship game?

Last year. Lost to Louisville in the finals I believe.

[texasdave]

And if Sean Kilpatrick thinks he is NBA ready; he has another think coming. And is Justin Jackson worse as a senior than he was as a freshman? He showed no improvement in his time as a Bearcat, did he?

[Stray]

We don't have a lot of good players. When Cash was right we were one of the better teams in the country. Since hurting his knee he hasn't been the same and we're not that good anymore.

We just need better players. No pure shooters, no post presence at all, nobody that can get in the paint and finish consistently. Our best offense is to shoot a contested 3 and hit the offensive boards.

Hopefully Cash can get better before the year ends. He's had a great career and I know he's probably just gutting it out right now.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Stray

We don't have a lot of good players. When Cash was right we were one of the better teams in the country. Since hurting his knee he hasn't been the same and we're not that good anymore.

We just need better players. No pure shooters, no post presence at all, nobody that can get in the paint and finish consistently. Our best offense is to shoot a contested 3 and hit the offensive boards.

Hopefully Cash can get better before the year ends. He's had a great career and I know he's probably just gutting it out right now.

Being a fan of two frustratingly poor offensive teams gets maddening at times. I have heard many UC fans point to Cash's knee issues as the reasons as to why this team is struggling. I don't think its as cut and dry as that. As an OSU fan I would kill to have Kilpatrick on the wing and his abilities but he often gets lost in the flow of a game. The main difference I see between OSU and UC is the ball movement. Even when OSU isn't scoring they do a decent job of passing the ball. Heck a rudimentary weave at the top of the key would be more ball movement than UC often sees in a half.

I think UC's problems are two fold. Once is their poor offense. I was watching a game a couple of weeks ago where Mick was going nuts when UC gave up an easy basket. The problem was it was a direct result of a poor offensive possession that resulted in a turnover and a transition basket. And the second part is poor movement. UC has become a dribble drive offense without any movement. Kilpatrick often stands on the wing and doesn't move. They have little inside game to speak of which hurts even more. You can stick Kilpatrick and Moodj on the same side of the court because Moodj just isn't good.

More than anything else UC needs to play at a fast pace. Playing a team like ND at ND is a difficult task, especially if you fall behind early. ND is similar to Wisconsin that they will slow down the pace and make you guard for 35 seconds. If they are making their shots they are a difficult team to beat especially when you are offensively challenged.

[Stray]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Being a fan of two frustratingly poor offensive teams gets maddening at times. I have heard many UC fans point to Cash's knee issues as the reasons as to why this team is struggling. I don't think its as cut and dry as that. As an OSU fan I would kill to have Kilpatrick on the wing and his abilities but he often gets lost in the flow of a game. The main difference I see between OSU and UC is the ball movement. Even when OSU isn't scoring they do a decent job of passing the ball. Heck a rudimentary weave at the top of the key would be more ball movement than UC often sees in a half.

I think UC's problems are two fold. Once is their poor offense. I was watching a game a couple of weeks ago where Mick was going nuts when UC gave up an easy basket. The problem was it was a direct result of a poor offensive possession that resulted in a turnover and a transition basket. And the second part is poor movement. UC has become a dribble drive offense without any movement. Kilpatrick often stands on the wing and doesn't move. They have little inside game to speak of which hurts even more. You can stick Kilpatrick and Moodj on the same side of the court because Moodj just isn't good.

More than anything else UC needs to play at a fast pace. Playing a team like ND at ND is a difficult task, especially if you fall behind early. ND is similar to Wisconsin that they will slow down the pace and make you guard for 35 seconds. If they are making their shots they are a difficult team to beat especially when you are offensively challenged.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying here. I don't think Mick has a great offensive system, I just think a lot of our problems are because we have a roster full of players who can't make shots.

If we have a lineup with Cash-SK-Rubles-Jackson-Mbodj we are so easy to guard. The only two capable of scoring are our guards. No threat in the paint at all, and Rubles does a lot of good things, but not much on the offensive end.

That's why I feel like we will go as far as Cash and Parker can take us. They're the only two that can make teams guard us somewhat honest. Right now even if we run good offense against a zone what kind of good results can we expect? Rubles in the middle? He can't hit that jumper, he's not great at finishing in the paint, and he's not a great passer. We can't pound a zone inside because none of our bigs can make shots. And who can break it down off of the dribble other than SK? The way our team is built we almost have to hit outside shots to win games...we don't have the ability to do anything else.

And yea I definitely agree our best chance is to speed the game up which makes ND a total nightmare matchup for us, they dictate pace better than anyone. We'll never run offense like North Carolina under Mick, but I think with more talent we can score enough to win games.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Stray

I agree with a lot of what you're saying here. I don't think Mick has a great offensive system, I just think a lot of our problems are because we have a roster full of players who can't make shots.

If we have a lineup with Cash-SK-Rubles-Jackson-Mbodj we are so easy to guard. The only two capable of scoring are our guards. No threat in the paint at all, and Rubles does a lot of good things, but not much on the offensive end.

That's why I feel like we will go as far as Cash and Parker can take us. They're the only two that can make teams guard us somewhat honest. Right now even if we run good offense against a zone what kind of good results can we expect? Rubles in the middle? He can't hit that jumper, he's not great at finishing in the paint, and he's not a great passer. We can't pound a zone inside because none of our bigs can make shots. And who can break it down off of the dribble other than SK? The way our team is built we almost have to hit outside shots to win games...we don't have the ability to do anything else.

And yea I definitely agree our best chance is to speed the game up which makes ND a total nightmare matchup for us, they dictate pace better than anyone. We'll never run offense like North Carolina under Mick, but I think with more talent we can score enough to win games.

Against a zone I would go with Cash-SK-Parker-Rubles-Jackson. Put Parker at the free throw line and then work the ball. Parker should be able to make the FT jumper which would make the zone collapse making room for Rubles and Jackson around the block and Cash/SK around the arc. Rubles/Jackson/Parker should be able to guard a team's 3-4-5 unless the other team possess a dominant C. Are there any dominant C's in the game? Withey? Plumlee?

Problem is Mick is so focused on defense that he often loses focus of what the team really needs. IMO if UC gets into the tournament they can do some damage. If they find themselves matched up against a ND or Wisconsin they they are in trouble. But for the most part if they can get themselves into a free flowing game they have the ability to beat any team.

[joshnky]

The Louisville game should be interesting then. It sounds like cincy wants to avoid playing a half court game but the way to beat Louisville is protect the ball and make them run their half court offense.

See: Notre dame, villanova and Georgetown

[dougdirt]

Where do we play basketball and football at next year?

[Boston Red]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Where do we play basketball and football at next year?

The yet to be named conference f/k/a the Big East.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Boston Red

The yet to be named conference f/k/a the Big East.

Who will even be left in that league?

[Boston Red]

UConn
Cincinnati
Louisville
Rutgers
South Florida
Houston
USF
SMU
UCF
Temple