2011/2012 UC Basketball official thread

[Cedric]

And we layed another egg.

This team really annoys me sometimes, tonight is one of those times. They reverted back to the typical Cronin game plan, jack up tons of 3's. Did you see the consecutive air balls from Thomas and Dixon within 5 seconds of each other from behind the arch? They attempted 29 threes in this game. 29, and they made 8.

Oh, and nice to see Bishop with another wonderful productive night, going 1-9.

UC is just very average this year. They can't score against any well coached, disciplined defense.

They should be 4-5 in the Big East and I know "should" doesn't mean much but that St Johns game was a joke win.

[Orenda]

UC is just very average this year. They can't score against any well coached, disciplined defense.

They should be 4-5 in the Big East and I know "should" doesn't mean much but that St Johns game was a joke win.

yeah they are just going to be an inconsistent team offensively. I don't know what it is about balance, ball movement, movement without the ball, and floor spacing that Cronin doesn't like but I guess he has his reasons. It seems like a large percentage of the time their offense just consists of making a ball screen, throwing it around a little and then someone trying to make a play. I know defense and rebounding is Cronin's mo, but they are way too easy to guard at times.

[Boston Red]

I thought Gates was finally coming into his own and was past doing silly things to get himself suspended. Guess not.

[Roy Tucker]

http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/2011...eals-the-show/

Cronin: In him they should be disappointed in him. You watch all this stuff with college basketball today, this guy with twitter, this guy with that, it’s gotten lost that it should be a privilege to play for Jamie Dixon at Pittsburgh or to get to play at Cincinnati the home of Oscar Robertson and that you should take that and make the most of it. There’s too much in college basketball too many kids think they’re doing everybody a favor by being around. What they don’t realize but what you learn is if you don’t wanna be around somebody else will take your spot. Just like myself you know…Bob Knight got fired okay…Bob Huggins got fired you know everybody’s replaceable doesn’t matter how good you are player coach it’s a privilege and an honor to be a part of what we’re a part of and you need to have that attitude. It’s become what can you do for me instead of what can you do for the program? And I’m honored to be here and be a part of the program and there’s just too much of that and it teaches the wrong lessons to young people because the world doesn’t revolve around us and we all know that, you know it’s hard enough to find a job out there and I believe as the son of a high school coach my players are gonna be taught to have the right attitude, learn how to be a good person, the world doesn’t revolve around you and I believe in those things and I’m always gonna believe in those things as long as I’m honored enough and privileged enough to be the coach at the University of Cincinnati. My players are gonna be taught that and they’re gonna live up to that and their gonna have that attitude and if they don’t then they don’t get to be a part of our team. But that’s what I believe it’s about and there’s just so much deterioration of players and disrespect of their players and of their coaches. I don’t believe the squeaky wheel should get the oil. What bothers me is the story shouldn’t be about Yancy Gates or whoever missed a game for Pitt, the story should be about the kids who do the right things, that’s who the story should be about. That’s my problem with all that stuff.

[paintmered]

Cronin: Nope I’m worried about the guys that are here I love the guys that are here. We don’t have a lot of team rules, play hard, have a great attitude, be a good guy, it’s not that hard to be a Bearcat. You either do it that way or you don’t play for us. Doesn’t matter who you are, does not matter who you are, you’re gonna play hard, you’re gonna be coachable and you’re gonna have a good attitude.

Q: Which one of the basic Bearcat rules did he violate?

Cronin: Probably all three, in my opinion.

Ouch. Is there any doubt that Gates has broken the first rule over his entire career?

[Cyclone792]

Other than the Big East and/or NCAA Tourney, this is pretty much the worst time for Gates to act up and get himself suspended by not adhering to team rules.

UC did everything they could by taking care of their non-conference foes, albeit a weak crop, and they're sitting at 5-5 in the Big East with no bad losses and a decent road win at St. John's. Their overall SOS has climbed up to 93rd, and their overall RPI now puts them in the top 40.

And now comes precisely the time when UC needs to land a string of Big East wins and put themselves in position where they're firmly ahead of the bubble. The next four games has the 'cats at DePaul, then home against St. John's and Louisville, then back on the road at Providence. If they can get their act together and play well, those are really four games that they need to win to cement their status as a tourney team.

Additionally, they need to give themselves a cushion because their last four games (home and home with Georgetown, home against UConn and at Marquette) could be brutal.

Yancy Gates, meanwhile, needs to get his act together right now and do what he needs to do to get himself back on the squad. If that doesn't happen, though, I can see things starting to crumble real quickly.

[Sea Ray]

Gates is making the trip to Chicago and he does sound contrite as he admits he screwed up:

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/uc/2011/...dled-it-wrong/

Mick has not announced that he'll play at DePaul but I would say that this won't be an extended suspension. He's already practicing with the team

[paintmered]

I doubt Gates starts tonight but will see action. Gates and Cronin need each other if they want to keep their jobs moving forward.

I hope this is a proverbial wake-up call to Yancy. Motivation was always the question with him, even when he was in high school. It's held him back at UC thus far.

[reds1869]

The end of game sequence was just terribly executed by the cats. Why in the world would you not just toss the ball out to half court, and why would you allow such a relatively clean look for the Depaul shooter on the final shot?

[Boss-Hog]

The end of game sequence was just terribly executed by the cats. Why in the world would you not just toss the ball out to half court, and why would you allow such a relatively clean look for the Depaul shooter on the final shot?

That was as ugly a second half defensively as you'll ever see a UC team play. They played pretty well offensively all game (except Gates, who was absolutely brutal on both ends of the ball) but played probably their worst defensive game of the year. Couple that with the usual poor free throw shooting and some unbelievably bone-headed plays, like the out of bounds play you mentioned being just one of them, and they were very, very close to giving away a game they absolutely couldn't afford to lose.

All that being said, this time of year, I'll take any win we can get.

[bucksfan2]

The end of game sequence was just terribly executed by the cats. Why in the world would you not just toss the ball out to half court, and why would you allow such a relatively clean look for the Depaul shooter on the final shot?

It is actually a smart idea just executed like a bunch of 3rd graders. Ironic that Rashad Bishop was the trigger man on that one !??!?!?!?!?!

What makes sense with the play is you still can catch and shoot with .4 seconds. The home run pass makes sense because a shot will not be attempted, especially if its a half court of 3/4 court because you need to catch, get your balance, and shoot. If a Bearcat got his hand on the ball the game was over. But the execution was poor, the ball should have not made it past half court (and their should have been a security valve back deeper as well).

What I would have done, especially if there was a man guarding the ball, is run the man inside the 3 point line then hand him the ball. There wouldn't be enough time to get behind the arc. But then again Rashad Bishop was the trigger man so who knows what would have happened.

[Sea Ray]

The end of game sequence was just terribly executed by the cats. Why in the world would you not just toss the ball out to half court, and why would you allow such a relatively clean look for the Depaul shooter on the final shot?

I'd sure like to know how that happened myself. That's the only possible way they could have lost that game with .4s left. I was pissed

[Sea Ray]

What I would have done, especially if there was a man guarding the ball, is run the man inside the 3 point line then hand him the ball. There wouldn't be enough time to get behind the arc. But then again Rashad Bishop was the trigger man so who knows what would have happened.

Excellent strategy. Too bad Mick couldn't think of that

[dabvu2498]

Not really a UC fan, But I do root for all the loacl teams in conference play, and today was one of the 1st games I've gotten to sit down and watch. Boy, was that frustrating.

They played brilliantly in coming back, but then just didn't quite have enough winning plays left in the tank. And then that lane violation was bone-crushing.

They may end up winning a game or two they shouldn't and making the tourney, but if they don't, today is the day to remember as a big part of the reason why they didn't.

[Cedric]

Yancy Gates is like Demarcus Cousins without any talent.

Did anyone see him basically refuse to enter the game and then yell with a teammate? Pure chaos at that point.