2016-2017 Season

[Bearcat_NTS]

His signatures are the best things i've seen on this board in awhile, well, beside that moment where i really belived Cronin was packing his shit up.

It was like someone let all the air out of the balloon. Funny how I was actually somewhat excited for next season until he pulled that stunt...now reality has set in. Don't know if I can sit and watch a season knowing we're going to probably be a 6 or 7 seed and lose to UConn in the conference tournament and lose in the first round of the NCAA's...that is sadly Mick Cronin basketball...

 

[rogerOH]

I really like this years team. Prediction- Co AAC champs-4 seed and at least 2 wins in the NCAA'S.

 

[waterhead]

One of the big problem with any fan board (or political campaigns) is the overuse of hyperbole and rhetoric. I can literally come into this board and hear the following two types (which are ironically exact opposites).


"You can't say anything bad about Cronin in here because if you do EVERYONE will blast you for it because they are all happy with mediocrity"

"I hate coming in here because all you here are mick bashers and everything is his fault only"


How can both of these be true?


How can you expect to have a reasonable discussion with that type of fan? You can't really. You just have to let them sound off and then try and find a more reasonable fan to have a meaningful conversation with about the team or the upcoming season.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

There is two camps on this board. One group finds every excuse to blame someone or something other than Mick(arena, conference, fan support, administration support, etc) and the other side believes that as the HC it's Mick's responsibility. Personally I wasn't so anti-Cronin until he almost left and we saw how pathetic some UC fans were and how people truly believed we could do no better than him. That is what really aggrevated me.

 

[#BearcatNation]

There is two camps on this board. One group finds every excuse to blame someone or something other than Mick(arena, conference, fan support, administration support, etc) and the other side believes that as the HC it's Mick's responsibility. Personally I wasn't so anti-Cronin until he almost left and we saw how pathetic some UC fans were and how people truly believed we could do no better than him. That is what really aggrevated me.

This is ridiculous, and false. I've stated quite a few things that irk me about Mick's teams, yet I still for the most part like him. You can be okay with a coach, without loving everything about him. What camp does that put me in? Like I said in an earlier post, everything doesn't have to be so black and white...

 

[L-T]

There is two camps on this board. One group finds every excuse to blame someone or something other than Mick(arena, conference, fan support, administration support, etc) and the other side believes that as the HC it's Mick's responsibility. Personally I wasn't so anti-Cronin until he almost left and we saw how pathetic some UC fans were and how people truly believed we could do no better than him. That is what really aggrevated me.

You left out budget and facilities.

 

[waterhead]

There is two camps on this board. One group finds every excuse to blame someone or something other than Mick(arena, conference, fan support, administration support, etc) and the other side believes that as the HC it's Mick's responsibility. Personally I wasn't so anti-Cronin until he almost left and we saw how pathetic some UC fans were and how people truly believed we could do no better than him. That is what really aggrevated me.

I think there are three camps. The extreme right and left camps...and then the rational fans who have the ability to look at it from both sides.

I was on the Cronin side of the fence until last year and until he raises the bar will be moving further and further away. My excuses ran out last year when I thought we had perhaps his best cast of players. But this year I will be hoping the light comes on just like every year. Every year it doesn't happen...it becomes more apparent we should try something else. That doesn't even mean I think he has done a bad job...in fact I think it's been admirable to good. I am in the camp of wanting more for the program than just being content with good.

 

[waterhead]

I think there are three camps. The extreme right and left camps...and then the rational fans who have the ability to look at it from both sides.

I was on the Cronin side of the fence until last year and until he raises the bar will be moving further and further away. My excuses ran out last year when I thought we had perhaps his best cast of players. But this year I will be hoping the light comes on just like every year. Every year it doesn't happen...it becomes more apparent we should try something else. That doesn't even mean I think he has done a bad job...in fact I think it's been admirable to good. I am in the camp of wanting more for the program than just being content with good.

I would honestly grade the job Cronin has done here as a B. We went from a disaster to being relevant and going to the dance consistently.

Unfortunately it is looking more and more like a B might be his ceiling.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

You left out budget and facilities.

And "landscape".

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I would honestly grade the job Cronin has done here as a B. We went from a disaster to being relevant and going to the dance consistently.

Unfortunately it is looking more and more like a B might be his ceiling.

That's fair. I think I would have had him at an A after the 2012 season. After last season, I'd have him at a C, maybe C+.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

You left out budget and facilities.

Hard to keep up with all the excuses made on his behalf, though that's what I meant with arena and administration support. It's sad to think our recruiting peers are now schools like Stephen F Austin and LIU Brooklyn but the new arena is going to fix everything...right? LOL.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

That's fair. I think I would have had him at an A after the 2012 season. After last season, I'd have him at a C, maybe C+.

He's gets an A as long as UC makes the tournament because no one else could accomplish that here...

 

[L-T]

That's fair. I think I would have had him at an A after the 2012 season. After last season, I'd have him at a C, maybe C+.

When you look at how far the bar has dropped in almost every aspect of our program...performance, fan interest and perception, lack of championships, recruiting, attendance, letting X kick sand in our faces, low seeds, early exits in the NCAA, loss of national recognition, etc., etc., etc., I don't know how you can give him even a "C". He certainly got us out of the dungeon we were in 10 years ago. That was an admirable job. Where he's taken us since, is nowhere near special. My grade is dropping thru the Cs and fast approaching a D+. He peaked at the sweet 16 and has been in decline ever since.

We certainly will have a great season again under him. The law of averages says so. But, I think we've all seen what the long term picture will look like if Cronin stays here much longer. If you're happy with that picture, I don't know what to say. It's an ugly picture for me and just about every other Bearcat fan I've spoken with.....except this group on this forum.

 

[L-T]

He's gets an A as long as UC makes the tournament because no one else could accomplish that here...

Yeah, and if he gets 8 more consecutive years to the tournament, he'll match the coach we fired before him.

 

[L-T]

It all comes back to "RECRUITING"! Mick dug us out of the dungeon and got us back to the NCAA in his 5th season. With all the positivity and buzz from that, he landed the stellar recruiting class of Kelvin Gaines and Justin Jackson. The following year, with a veteran roster, he ascends even higher and takes us to the Sweet 16. Even I was jumping on the bandwagon at that point and would have given him a 6-year grade of "B" or maybe even a "B+". He followed his sweet 16 achievement with an "AMAZING" recruiting haul of......Titus Rubles??? Then, the following season we win our first 12 and ascend to #8 in the nation, come home on a huge high and lay an egg against New Mexico at home, go on and finish 9th in the BE and get knocked out of the NCAA in the 1st round by a Missouri Valley team. He then lands another stellar recruiting class...3 head cases who end up transferring, plus Caupain and Johnson. Those three horrible recruiting classes laid the foundation for these last three years of mediocrity. Our roster is always 2 or 3 short of the minimum. We're always saving those cherished scholarships for that big haul that seems to never come. And then the short roster ends up biting us every year. Recruiting is the basis for my grade of this coach, period, end of story.

 

[Madman81]

there is some phenomenal commitment and consistency here. good show.

 

[waterhead]

That's fair. I think I would have had him at an A after the 2012 season. After last season, I'd have him at a C, maybe C+.

I can't really argue with this either. When I think a grade of C I am thinking any average coach in the country could come in and produce similar results. I'm not sure that is the case but maybe it is IDK. I'm inclined to think he is a little better than average.

However he certainly doesn't seem to be on the level of excellent thus far and that is what I would want our coach to be. If an average coach can get us to the same level then we don't need to be paying a high salary to get that.

That being said I hope we avoid injury this year because I think we have some very good talent in at least 4 of the 5 starting spots. If Cumberland is as advertised...we will have a great starting 5. The coach had something to do with that. He is also responsible for what happens if we have depth issues.

 

[L-T]

I can't really argue with this either. When I think a grade of C I am thinking any average coach in the country could come in and produce similar results. I'm not sure that is the case but maybe it is IDK. I'm inclined to think he is a little better than average.

However he certainly doesn't seem to be on the level of excellent thus far and that is what I would want our coach to be. If an average coach can get us to the same level then we don't need to be paying a high salary to get that.

That being said I hope we avoid injury this year because I think we have some very good talent in at least 4 of the 5 starting spots. If Cumberland is as advertised...we will have a great starting 5. The coach had something to do with that. He is also responsible for what happens if we have depth issues.

I think I would actually say that he is an excellent coach of lesser talented players. 6 straight years to the NCAA with the talent that he has recruited is pretty damn good.

 

[justinhub2003]

ESPN ranked the least stable coaching jobs in the AAC to most stable.
From least to most stable:
Jeff Lebo ECU
Orlando Antigua South florida
Mike Dunleavy Sr Tulane
Fran Dunphy Temple
Tim Jankovich SMU
Frank Haith Tulsa
Kelvin Sampson Houston
Mick Cronin UC
Tubby Smith Memphis
Johnny Dawkins UCF
Kevin Ollie UCONN

2 out of the 4 people ahead of Cronin are 1st year coaches with long term deals so it makes since they are more stable.

Here is the write up on Cronin:

Mick Cronin:
There was that offseason flirtation with UNLV, but Cronin opted to stay with the Bearcats -- a program that he has led to the NCAA tournament in six consecutive seasons. Cincinnati has averaged 24.3 wins over that span, and the 44-year-old just received an extension that will take him through 2023. Sure, there is the possibility that Cronin could be plucked for a bigger gig, such as Louisville, but there aren't all that many programs that would be able to lure him.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Louisville fans would burn down the city if they had to settle for Mick Cronin. UNLV is more his range...