'10 TX PG Josh Watkins (Utah Verbal)

[dp3113]

The more I hear about Jackson the more I think he will be a great fit for this team. He will be able to give them some minutes and some depth and Gaines will atleast give them some fouls and defense next year. I think this team needs a shooter more than anything else. I think they are good enough down low. Guards win Championships in the NCAA. Duke is a perfect example. Good guards and serviceable bigs.

this year was a fluke in college basketball, the worst in terms of quality of teams in probably the last 20 years. i look at this as an aberration more than a fundamental "example" year. guards are crucial and can carry you in the tournament, but in general you need bigs to get you a title (i.e. good guard play cannot do it alone. otherwise jay wright would have a lot of rings right now).

 

[JasonS]

aj price, kevin dyson, levance fields, ashton gibbs, brandon triche, scottie reynolds, etc are not great athletes, nor are they any more athletic than parker. i dont think thats too strong of a point about parker.

Well said. I like Parker. He is strong with the ball and a good shooter. If he continues to develop, he could be a solid player for this team. His size will allow him to cause some match up problems too.

 

[bearcat jeff]

It is time to stop going after nobody's and get the players he has to be better, 2010 recruiting has been nothing short of awful (remeber 3 new players in the late period!!). With the 2011 class of to a shaky start, I think the writing is on the wall.
FWIW Davis and Behanan in the early period would give a little hope. But at this point I think Davis is an IU lean, and with Behanan you never know unless its from his mouth (too many people interrfering wth his recruitment)

There are people that believe Smith was the best player on his team or the one with the most potential. Let's not get too down because Deonte Burton, who I loved, and Josh Watkins didn't sign. This team is going to be fine.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Let's also remember that Sean Kilpatrick has to be included in the incoming class. I absolutely will not be surprised if he ends up scoring 10-12 ppg. The other players need to collectively pick up the rest of the lost scoring. Jackson will be an upgrade over Toyloy talent wise and certainly in terms of effort. There will be a loss in terms of strength initially though.

I understand the skepticism but this team will play better together and consistently harder next season. Cash and Parker will be better. Let's not forget Cash averaged over 30 pts. a game in high school. He got to the rim consistently. Another year of strength training and he is making the lay ups he missed this past season. Bishop when motivated plays very well, and he has no option but to be motivated or gone. Thomas will be better and Wilks really showed some improvement and I think he will give us more points. To be honest, it will shock me if Dixon has another season like '09-10. He is a hard worker and will put in the time to get better and recover from last season. Gates is the key. What do you get from him night in and night out? He has to come into the season understanding how important he can be with a desire to dominate downlow.

 

[TheLongHaul]

There are people that believe Smith was the best player on his team or the one with the most potential. Let's not get too down because Deonte Burton, who I loved, and Josh Watkins didn't sign. This team is going to be fine.

Whomever thought Smith was better than Teague should be banned from watching or discussing basketball.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Let's also remember that Sean Kilpatrick has to be included in the incoming class. I absolutely will not be surprised if he ends up scoring 10-12 ppg. The other players need to collectively pick up the rest of the lost scoring. Jackson will be an upgrade over Toyloy talent wise and certainly in terms of effort. There will be a loss in terms of strength initially though.

I understand the skepticism but this team will play better together and consistently harder next season. Cash and Parker will be better. Let's not forget Cash averaged over 30 pts. a game in high school. He got to the rim consistently. Another year of strength training and he is making the lay ups he missed this past season. Bishop when motivated plays very well, and he has no option but to be motivated or gone. Thomas will be better and Wilks really showed some improvement and I think he will give us more points. To be honest, it will shock me if Dixon has another season like '09-10. He is a hard worker and will put in the time to get better and recover from last season. Gates is the key. What do you get from him night in and night out? He has to come into the season understanding how important he can be with a desire to dominate downlow.

I'd be willing to bet SK doesn't score 10 ppg next year.

 

[Thegreatone]

Whomever thought Smith was better than Teague should be banned from watching or discussing basketball.

This is based off high school. People played zone and were focused on not letting teague beat them. His numbers werent all that great. Teague is the better of the two and it isnt close. But Smith was every bit as productive in many games.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I'd be willing to bet SK doesn't score 10 ppg next year.

Let's remember that, and maybe a friendly "buy you a beer" bet once the season starts.

 

[bearcat jeff]

This is based off high school. People played zone and were focused on not letting teague beat them. His numbers werent all that great. Teague is the better of the two and it isnt close. But Smith was every bit as productive in many games.

I agree Teague is better. He does not have a good outside shot, but he is the better player. Smith has talent but needs polished.

 

[TheLongHaul]

This is based off high school. People played zone and were focused on not letting teague beat them. His numbers werent all that great. Teague is the better of the two and it isnt close. But Smith was every bit as productive in many games.

Doesn't matter. If you watched them play and said Smith was better or had more potential than you probably don't know too much about potential. Teague is a very rare player, top 1-2 in his class and probably would be top 5 in the class of 2010. Smith may have potential but Teague's is through the roof.

Let's remember that, and maybe a friendly "buy you a beer" bet once the season starts.

Sure thing. I hope I'm buying the beer, I just don't think it will happen.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Personally never seen either play in person. Potential is a funny thing to rate. People see it differently. Potential could mean 4 years from now, or it could mean a "potentially" better immediate impact. I just know what I've read and some video. Teague seems like the real deal.

I have seen Kilpatrick play prior to coming to UC. I do believe he will be 1 or 2 in scoring. I do think he will average double figures. I also know, not just from reading a blog, that he was a monster in practice against a pretty good first string defense. How that translates to game time we will see. I choose to look thru the eyes of optimism while some choose the doom and gloom approach. The kid is going to be good.

 

[dp3113]

Personally never seen either play in person. Potential is a funny thing to rate. People see it differently. Potential could mean 4 years from now, or it could mean a "potentially" better immediate impact. I just know what I've read and some video. Teague seems like the real deal.

I have seen Kilpatrick play prior to coming to UC. I do believe he will be 1 or 2 in scoring. I do think he will average double figures. I also know, not just from reading a blog, that he was a monster in practice against a pretty good first string defense. How that translates to game time we will see. I choose to look thru the eyes of optimism while some choose the doom and gloom approach. The kid is going to be good.

i agree about kilpatrick

 

[cincinnati insanity]

Hello fellas im back from vacation and thought i would be coming back to a verbal from someone but i think its a good thing that we wait to use it next year unless selby decommits. I also have seen kilpatrick play and am very impressed he kind of reminds me of jeremy hazell of seton hall the ony knock on him is his athleticism it is just average. That being said he has a good chance to be a double digit scorer because he will be leaned heavily upon to manufacture points. I thought in 08 he was destined to be a top 50 player in the nation but his grades were very bad. He played on a very talented team with many division 1 players and was an outstanding scorer. He manages to score points all over the court. HERES HOPING HE AVERAGES 20 OUT OF THE GATE!!!!!11

 

[TheLongHaul]

Personally never seen either play in person. Potential is a funny thing to rate. People see it differently. Potential could mean 4 years from now, or it could mean a "potentially" better immediate impact. I just know what I've read and some video. Teague seems like the real deal.

I have seen Kilpatrick play prior to coming to UC. I do believe he will be 1 or 2 in scoring. I do think he will average double figures. I also know, not just from reading a blog, that he was a monster in practice against a pretty good first string defense. How that translates to game time we will see. I choose to look thru the eyes of optimism while some choose the doom and gloom approach. The kid is going to be good.

I'm not being negative, just more realistic. I think SK will be a good player over time. He may even be a good player next year as a RS Freshman, but I don't think he will average double figures his freshman season. Lance wasn't much over double figures and he was the best recruit UC has had in a long time. And I'm sure he is good in practice, everyone who can't play is good in practice. Mike Williams was tearing up practice when he sat out. Vincent Banks would have been the best player on the court had he been able to play. It seems the players that can't play always seem to be the best practice players. Either way, I hope I'm wrong and SK blows up for 20 ppg, I just don't expect too much out of him next year.

 

[Not Guilty]

Here is another perspective from someone close to the program on a different message board. The main topic has to do with why Marquis Teague would want to come to UC, but a lot of it focuses on the state of the program:

There are numerous reasons for Teague to come to UC. Mick has both strenghths and weaknessess. I think too much attention has been paid to his weaknesses. Nearly every coach in D1 share some of the weaknesses that MC has.

Both Marquis and his father have respect for MC. They know that nationally, Mick's reputation is that he has an excellent knowldege of the game and is a good recruiter. They are of course aware that MC and the Cats have not lived up to the expectations fans have for UC basketball. However, this is partially due to the fact that rebuilding on the fly in the Big East required MC to gamble on "athletes" rather than polished basketball players with jumpshots and good basketball iqs.

Bob Knight was recently asked why a Northern Iowa team could beat 5* laden Kansas or why UNC didnt make tournament despite 7 MCD AA's. Knight responded that in todays college basketball the less recruited players often work harder at programs like Butler and UNI. Consequently over their career they develop and become siginicantly better players than when they entered college.

The hyped recruits like JMison Morgan of UCLA have been told their whole lives they are the best. They havent developed the work ethic and thus often do not live up to thier lofty rankings. Very, very few coaches are able to consistenly get their players to play as hard as they can year after year. One of those coaches was Bob Huggins. Unfortuanatly hes not here anymore. We have to deal with who have.

Who we have is still a good basketball coach. Mick went 69-24 at Murray St, made NCAA tourn twice, finishing 2nd in conf first two years, and 1st in his last year. He didnt simply forget how to coach. However, Mick has made mistakes. I think he is finally figuring out that he really needs to recruit not just Big East athletes, but put Big East quality athletes who can also shoot and have a good basketball IQ. If Roy Williams and Rick Barnes can have trouble motivatiing thier teams to play, then surely its not a sign of disaster that Mick has had some trouble with that. Now that Mick is truly recruiting his type of player, I think we will see improvement. The young core of this team is hungry and has a great attitude and work ethic.

Finally, there are compelling reasons that have made Marquis seriously think about picking UC over UL and UK. Both Pitino and Calipari ache for a second chance to prove that they can hack it in the coaching ranks of NBA. It irritates Pitino to no end that some believe he failed in NBA with Celtics. In UKs case, there is considerable chatter among NY basketball ciricles that World Wide Wes is positioning things so that Calipari will become Nets new HC and Lebron will come to play for Brooklyn Nets, partially owned of course by LBJs good friend Jay-Z.

UC is Micks dream jobs. Hes a Cincinnatian through and through. Hes been a Bearcat his whole life. He will continue to work tirelessly so that UC succeeds. I think Marquis is interested in playing for 2011 Bearcats team that will have a great core around him. Mick will be able to implement the fast-paced offense he loves. Marquis will be able to showcase his talent in the premier basketball league in the nation and consequently have a chance to be selected as a high NBA draft pick

 

[Not Guilty]

I'm not being negative, just more realistic. I think SK will be a good player over time. He may even be a good player next year as a RS Freshman, but I don't think he will average double figures his freshman season. Lance wasn't much over double figures and he was the best recruit UC has had in a long time. And I'm sure he is good in practice, everyone who can't play is good in practice. Mike Williams was tearing up practice when he sat out. Vincent Banks would have been the best player on the court had he been able to play. It seems the players that can't play always seem to be the best practice players. Either way, I hope I'm wrong and SK blows up for 20 ppg, I just don't expect too much out of him next year.

That was before Mike got hurt and lost a lot of athleticism. And he was still a very important player for UC in his only year.

 

[TheLongHaul]

That was before Mike got hurt and lost a lot of athleticism. And he was still a very important player for UC in his only year.

You missed the point. I know Mike was a good player and got hurt, but he was never going to be the player that came in and tore it up like some said he was.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

That was before Mike got hurt and lost a lot of athleticism. And he was still a very important player for UC in his only year.

You missed the point. I know Mike was a good player and got hurt, but he was never going to be the player that came in and tore it up like some said he was.

I know this is off topic and we don't want to rehash last year, but I think Mike Williams would have made us a completely better team last year had he gotten that extra year of eligibility.

 

[cincinnati insanity]

LS in highschool was a phenom and on the rucker courts he was a phenom, he was stronger physically than any other player on the court and was second to none at taking the ball to the basket, on the other hand no one ever knew that he couldnt shoot to save his life. You can get away with taking the ball to the rim on every posession in highschool but no way in college. Its impossible to be a stud when you cant shoot. Kinda of like Yancey Gates Who is physically gifted but lacks the motor these players are the players everyone wants but once they come to your school and you find out that they are human and have flaws now your responsible for not developing players. I hate to say it but LS is a coach killer he cant shoot period.... Even though he was a great ball player he couldnt shoot!!!! And if you cant shoot and your supposed to be a 1 and done stud it makes the coach look like a dud when you dont have the greatest season in the world but Hell the kid couldnt shoot!!!!!

 

[david aka the TYZ]

LS in highschool was a phenom and on the rucker courts he was a phenom, he was stronger physically than any other player on the court and was second to none at taking the ball to the basket, on the other hand no one ever knew that he couldnt shoot to save his life. You can get away with taking the ball to the rim on every posession in highschool but no way in college. Its impossible to be a stud when you cant shoot. Kinda of like Yancey Gates Who is physically gifted but lacks the motor these players are the players everyone wants but once they come to your school and you find out that they are human and have flaws now your responsible for not developing players. I hate to say it but LS is a coach killer he cant shoot period.... Even though he was a great ball player he couldnt shoot!!!! And if you cant shoot and your supposed to be a 1 and done stud it makes the coach look like a dud when you dont have the greatest season in the world but Hell the kid couldnt shoot!!!!!

I can agree to that to some extent. There were points I was yelling at Cronin to take him out because he kept throwing up bricks and wouldn't quit shooting. I think what sucks the most is there was no one to put in when he or Vaughn or whoever struggled. The whole team struggled. You had to ride out the storm.