2016-2017 Season

[jacobkdoyle]

To bring the conversation back to this season...I'm not sure why some fans think the regular season is more or less meaningless. It's 31 games! The overwhelming majority of the games we play, no matter how far we go. We don't have to go back to Huggins days to remember what it's like to go crazy over our team for months *during the actual season*. SK's SR year was magical. We had a 15 game winning streak, went 15-3 in conference, had 2 exhilarating games with Louisville, had an All-American, made it into the Top 10, and stayed ranked all year. And bc of that, we got a good seed as a reward. But am I really supposed to believe that none of that mattered at all bc we lost in the 1st round of the tournament? That did suck, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, we still got to enjoy a hell of a ride for month after month. To me, that's what being a fan is all about.

If this year's team has multiple All-Confrrence performers, spends the entire season in the Top 25, and wins the conference...no single game can undo that. We are absolutely playing for something evetytime we take the floor. I don't understand the mentality that none of it matters until the NCAA Tournament. I mean winning a game or 2 or more would be great, but if it's all that matters, then as someone said the other day...Why even bother? Realistically, we probably aren't going to make the Final 4 or better. Only a couple teams can even claim to hope for that. But we can still have a memorable season by having big moments, memorable wins, plays, and players throughout the 5 month grind.

 

[2bearcatdad]

To bring the conversation back to this season...I'm not sure why some fans think the regular season is more or less meaningless. It's 31 games! The overwhelming majority of the games we play, no matter how far we go. We don't have to go back to Huggins days to remember what it's like to go crazy over our team for months *during the actual season*. SK's SR year was magical. We had a 15 game winning streak, went 15-3 in conference, had 2 exhilarating games with Louisville, had an All-American, made it into the Top 10, and stayed ranked all year. And bc of that, we got a good seed as a reward. But am I really supposed to believe that none of that mattered at all bc we lost in the 1st round of the tournament? That did suck, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, we still got to enjoy a hell of a ride for month after month. To me, that's what being a fan is all about.

If this year's team has multiple All-Confrrence performers, spends the entire season in the Top 25, and wins the conference...no single game can undo that. We are absolutely playing for something evetytime we take the floor. I don't understand the mentality that none of it matters until the NCAA Tournament. I mean winning a game or 2 or more would be great, but if it's all that matters, then as someone said the other day...Why even bother? Realistically, we probably aren't going to make the Final 4 or better. Only a couple teams can even claim to hope for that. But we can still have a memorable season by having big moments, memorable wins, plays, and players throughout the 5 month grind.

I completely agree...it all counts.

All of the angst over the state of the program can be eliminated with a solid season - both regular and post. We're all pulling for the same thing. I think we're close, but only time will tell.

I'm anxious for the basketball season, but right now I can't see past this Thursday night!

Go Cats!

 

[justinhub2003]

To bring the conversation back to this season...I'm not sure why some fans think the regular season is more or less meaningless. It's 31 games! The overwhelming majority of the games we play, no matter how far we go. We don't have to go back to Huggins days to remember what it's like to go crazy over our team for months *during the actual season*. SK's SR year was magical. We had a 15 game winning streak, went 15-3 in conference, had 2 exhilarating games with Louisville, had an All-American, made it into the Top 10, and stayed ranked all year. And bc of that, we got a good seed as a reward. But am I really supposed to believe that none of that mattered at all bc we lost in the 1st round of the tournament? That did suck, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, we still got to enjoy a hell of a ride for month after month. To me, that's what being a fan is all about.

If this year's team has multiple All-Confrrence performers, spends the entire season in the Top 25, and wins the conference...no single game can undo that. We are absolutely playing for something evetytime we take the floor. I don't understand the mentality that none of it matters until the NCAA Tournament. I mean winning a game or 2 or more would be great, but if it's all that matters, then as someone said the other day...Why even bother? Realistically, we probably aren't going to make the Final 4 or better. Only a couple teams can even claim to hope for that. But we can still have a memorable season by having big moments, memorable wins, plays, and players throughout the 5 month grind.

I personally think a good regular is hugely important. Generally if your good in the regular season, Your truly good and was bad for one game. If Your ok all season and then great in the post season (Syracuse maybe?) i think it says more about your luck and you playing well at the right time than it does you being a greet team in general.


I personally just get frustrated with some fans hating Cronin simply for the fact that he is not BoB Huggins (not saying You're one of them). What I mean about upward trend, is that if I plotted Cronin's season total wins on a chart, I'd see a steady incline and followed by a bit of a plateau in the last few years. Does Cronin need to get over his plateau and continue the movement? Yes. But Im also not willing to give up just yet when we could eliminate all the obstacles with a new arena and potentially new conference. He deserves to work with what guys like Chris Mack have been given.

 

[L-T]

I personally think a good regular is hugely important. Generally if your good in the regular season, Your truly good and was bad for one game. If Your ok all season and then great in the post season (Syracuse maybe?) i think it says more about your luck and you playing well at the right time than it does you being a greet team in general.


I personally just get frustrated with some fans hating Cronin simply for the fact that he is not BoB Huggins (not saying You're one of them). What I mean about upward trend, is that if I plotted Cronin's season total wins on a chart, I'd see a steady incline and followed by a bit of a plateau in the last few years. Does Cronin need to get over his plateau and continue the movement? Yes. But Im also not willing to give up just yet when we could eliminate all the obstacles with a new arena and potentially new conference. He deserves to work with what guys like Chris Mack have been given.

After the Sweet 16, Cronin has lost in the 1st game of the NCAA 3 of 4 years. The only pretty good team of those 4 years was SK's team and he let freaking Harvard end their season in the 1st game of the NCAA. He has lost to X 4 straight years. His recruiting has been pathetic. He has had numerous transfers and can't seem to fill more than about 10 scholarships in any season. That my friend is a "Decline" in performance and not even remotely close to where Huggs was in his last 5 years in which every team was ranked, we had 3 league championships and 2 tournament championships, a #1 seed plus a 4,5, 7 and 8 seed. The arena is not an obstacle. His coaching is the obstacle. His coaching is why fans don't fill that arena. When we had a great program, fans flocked to that crappy arena. Even in Huggs last season when he was in turmoil, 11,900 fans a game sat in that crappy arena. Cronin had his best attendance ever last year....9,600 a game. That's weak and that is on him.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

After the Sweet 16, Cronin has lost in the 1st game of the NCAA 3 of 4 years. The only pretty good team of those 4 years was SK's team and he let freaking Harvard end their season in the 1st game of the NCAA. He has lost to X 4 straight years. His recruiting has been pathetic. He has had numerous transfers and can't seem to fill more than about 10 scholarships in any season. That my friend is a "Decline" in performance and not even remotely close to where Huggs was in his last 5 years in which every team was ranked, we had 3 league championships and 2 tournament championships, a #1 seed plus a 4,5, 7 and 8 seed. The arena is not an obstacle. His coaching is the obstacle. His coaching is why fans don't fill that arena. When we had a great program, fans flocked to that crappy arena. Even in Huggs last season when he was in turmoil, 11,900 fans a game sat in that crappy arena. Cronin had his best attendance ever last year....9,600 a game. That's weak and that is on him.

L-T wasn't attendance declining in Bob's last years as well? I know he was still pulling them in at a higher rate then Mick but I do believe the numbers were trending down. Bob also was not competing in the Big East. The flip side to that is without Bob we probably never would have been invited to the Big East. While Bob recused our program from the dark days he also helped get us in the spot we are in now. In fairness if your unhappy with our program you may want to direct some anger at the guy who's behavior got us here. Mick inherited a dumpster fire and has got us back to respectability. Does it match Bob's performance. No! In some ways I look at that as a positive. On court Performance Mick has a ways to go before he matches Huggins. As mentioned before you are certainly entitled to your opinion on what your level of satisfaction is. Me personally,I am happy with our program. Not saying I don't want a few more wins but overall I'm good.

 

[L-T]

L-T wasn't attendance declining in Bob's last years as well? I know he was still pulling them in at a higher rate then Mick but I do believe the numbers were trending down. Bob also was not competing in the Big East. The flip side to that is without Bob we probably never would have been invited to the Big East. While Bob recused our program from the dark days he also helped get us in the spot we are in now. In fairness if your unhappy with our program you may want to direct some anger at the guy who's behavior got us here. Mick inherited a dumpster fire and has got us back to respectability. Does it match Bob's performance. No! In some ways I look at that as a positive. On court Performance Mick has a ways to go before he matches Huggins. As mentioned before you are certainly entitled to your opinion on what your level of satisfaction is. Me personally,I am happy with our program. Not saying I don't want a few more wins but overall I'm good.

Waite, I can't believe we're still talking about this silly subject, and for the record, it wasn't me who brought it up. But, when people make these preposterous statements, you just have to respond. In Huggs last 5 seasons, we averaged 12,251 fans a game. In the five seasons before that, we averaged 12,608 per game. Huggs last season, when all the turmoil was going on, was only 11,304 per game (I quoted an incorrect number in my post above). Take away that one season and they averaged around 12,500 for the previous 4 seasons. So, generally speaking, no, attendance wasn't declining until that final season when all the negativity was swirling.

Also, keep in mind, those Huggs attendance numbers were people who were being forced to purchase football season tickets in order to be able to purchase basketball season tickets. They could do that to fans because of the demand for tickets was so high. Today, nobody is required to purchase football tickets in order to buy basketball. And, on top of that, the ticket prices in a big part of the arena have been slashed to bargain basement prices, and we have these mini-plans, etc. in order to get fans to come to games. When you consider all that, and see that we can still only draw 9,000 fans after 10 years (versus 12,500....many of whom were also buying football tickets), that is abysmal.

You are correct, Mick has the program back to respectability. But, this program is far better than just being respectful. If I had any idea that our leaders were happy with respectability and were not seeking to be an elite program, then I'd give my tickets up in a heartbeat. But, we are spending money like drunken sailors on our facilities, and we are paying Top 20 money to our coaches. That tells me we are seeking something better than just respectability. They are giving a long leash to Cronin and I sure hope it pays off. This may be the season where it does. We'll see.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Waite, I can't believe we're still talking about this silly subject, and for the record, it wasn't me who brought it up. But, when people make these preposterous statements, you just have to respond. In Huggs last 5 seasons, we averaged 12,251 fans a game. In the five seasons before that, we averaged 12,608 per game. Huggs last season, when all the turmoil was going on, was only 11,304 per game (I quoted an incorrect number in my post above). Take away that one season and they averaged around 12,500 for the previous 4 seasons. So, generally speaking, no, attendance wasn't declining until that final season when all the negativity was swirling.

Also, keep in mind, those Huggs attendance numbers were people who were being forced to purchase football season tickets in order to be able to purchase basketball season tickets. They could do that to fans because of the demand for tickets was so high. Today, nobody is required to purchase football tickets in order to buy basketball. And, on top of that, the ticket prices in a big part of the arena have been slashed to bargain basement prices, and we have these mini-plans, etc. in order to get fans to come to games. When you consider all that, and see that we can still only draw 9,000 fans after 10 years (versus 12,500....many of whom were also buying football tickets), that is abysmal.

You are correct, Mick has the program back to respectability. But, this program is far better than just being respectful. If I had any idea that our leaders were happy with respectability and were not seeking to be an elite program, then I'd give my tickets up in a heartbeat. But, we are spending money like drunken sailors on our facilities, and we are paying Top 20 money to our coaches. That tells me we are seeking something better than just respectability. They are giving a long leash to Cronin and I sure hope it pays off. This may be the season where it does. We'll see.

Your right I don't think many have considered back in those days the popularity of the football program was in the toilet and to get season basketball seats you had to purchase season football tickets. Dantonio and Kelley helped turn that around a bit. In honesty in my years outside the city I never considered UC a football school. It was all about basketball. That's why I am so cautious about replacing Mick. You and I are probably two of the only people posting who have any firsthand memories of the Jucker days and what it was like between him and Huggins. I hope your right and he does put together a good year.

 

[spinal070508]

i'll say 22-10 for the year. 12-6 in conference. Cronin's teams never seem to play great on the road.

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Loss
Duke/Penn St Penn St/Win
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Loss
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Loss
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Loss
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Loss
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Loss
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

 

[GarradJ21]

i'll say 22-10 for the year. 12-6 in conference. Cronin's teams never seem to play great on the road.

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Loss
Duke/Penn St Penn St/Win
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Loss
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Loss
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Loss
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Loss
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Loss
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

That is the most pathetic prediction I have ever seen. You basically gave us no big wins except Temple and SMU at home. I mean say what you want about Cronin but we have never had this type of outcome. At least give us one big win or two and then random loss to Tulsa or something. What a joke. Don't even watch them this year if you have this little faith or this negative outlook on them. Pathetic

 

[jacobkdoyle]

That is the most pathetic prediction I have ever seen. You basically gave us no big wins except Temple and SMU at home. I mean say what you want about Cronin but we have never had this type of outcome. At least give us one big win or two and then random loss to Tulsa or something. What a joke. Don't even watch them this year if you have this little faith or this negative outlook on them. Pathetic

Lol. He wasn't making YOUR predictions. He was making HIS predictions.

 

[#BearcatNation]

Lol. He wasn't making YOUR predictions. He was making HIS predictions.

Even though his reaction was rather intense, he's allowed to have an opinion on his predictions.

I also think a sub-.500 road record is a bit pessimistic, especially in this conference. No way do we lose every big game.

 

[justinhub2003]

i'll say 22-10 for the year. 12-6 in conference. Cronin's teams never seem to play great on the road.

Ha your entitled to your prediction but we did beat Uconn, VCU, George Washington and Nebraska away from home.

mine would look something like this:

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Win
Duke Loss
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Win
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Win
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Win
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Win
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Win
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

26-5 (if I counted the wins right)

 

[DSquare]

Ncaa bball attendance is down overall from the glory days. The proliferation of tv networks and outlets is likely going to drive down the average attendance figures to 4 digit numbers for many,many schools. A 10k arena with benny's is going to be the new norm. The exception will likely be cornfield states.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Ha your entitled to your prediction but we did beat Uconn, VCU, George Washington and Nebraska away from home.

mine would look something like this:

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Win
Duke Loss
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Win
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Win
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Win
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Win
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Win
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

26-5 (if I counted the wins right)

The 22-2 stretch after Iowa State seems tough to get on board with for me. That's why this exercise is so hard...not sure which games in there I'd pinpoint as for sure losses, I just gotta believe some are in there.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Even though his reaction was rather intense, he's allowed to have an opinion on his predictions.

I also think a sub-.500 road record is a bit pessimistic, especially in this conference. No way do we lose every big game.

Haha the don't even bother watching stuff really makes me smh.

 

[Bearcatboy]

Ha your entitled to your prediction but we did beat Uconn, VCU, George Washington and Nebraska away from home.

mine would look something like this:

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Win
Duke Loss
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Win
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Win
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Win
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Win
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Win
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

26-5 (if I counted the wins right)

Switch houston and butler add 2 more losses and you spot on IMO

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Hey guys with all the Sh#T going on in the world is it really that big of a issue to digress to name calling and such on a sports blog. This is supposed to be enjoyable. Lighten up. You both seem to have good insight and we need that kind of post on the site to make it enjoyable.

 

[GarradJ21]

Hey guys with all the Sh#T going on in the world is it really that big of a issue to digress to name calling and such on a sports blog. This is supposed to be enjoyable. Lighten up. You both seem to have good insight and we need that kind of post on the site to make it enjoyable.

You're right...would suck to lose all the games we are all looking forward to but oh well. one is entitled to an opinion so my apologies to spinal. I cant go into thinking any game is a loss besides maybe duke.

I will tell you I watched the Bengals game with Gary Clark we have a really good mutual friend. Can't tell you all what he said I dont want to be that guy but a lot of positives coming from that guy and he really is a very nice well,mannered dude

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

You're right...would suck to lose all the games we are all looking forward to but oh well. one is entitled to an opinion so my apologies to spinal. Only game I can't go into thinking any game is a loss besides maybe duke.

I will tell you I watched the Bengals game with Gary Clark we have a really good mutual friend. Can't tell you all what he said I dont want to be that guy but a lot of positives coming from that guy and he really is a very nice well,mannered dude

Love hearing that our student athletes know how to handle themselves off the court as well as on it. Also great to hear Gary is upbeat about upcoming season. Thanks for your imput.

 

[L-T]

Ha your entitled to your prediction but we did beat Uconn, VCU, George Washington and Nebraska away from home.

mine would look something like this:

vs Bellarmine Win
vs Brown Win
vs Albany Win
vs Rhode Island Win
Duke Loss
vs Samford Win
vs Lipscomb Win
at Iowa State Loss
vs Bowling Green Win
at Butler Win
vs Texas Southern Win
vs Fairleigh Dickinson Win
vs Marshall Win
at Temple Win
vs Tulane Win
at Houston Loss
vs SMU Win
at ECU Win
vs Temple Win
at Tulane Win
vs Xavier Win
vs USF Win
at Tulsa Win
vs Uconn Win
vs UCF Win
at SMU Loss
at USF Win
vs Tulsa Win
vs Memphis Win
at UCF Win
vs Houston Win
at Uconn Loss

26-5 (if I counted the wins right)

This record is along the lines of where I was thinking as well. You all know I am not a Cronin fan, but I am a fan of this particular team....for no particular reason. It's a gut feel for me. I think Washington's impact will be big. Caupain, Clark, and Evans should be really good. And, I'm going out on the limb with my main man (you're hearing it here first) Justin Jenifer as the unsung hero and the surprise piece to this puzzle. I died a horrible death on here last year as his #1 cheerleader and I'm not giving up the ship just yet. If we go 26-5, we should earn a higher seed that will give us a better chance of that elusive March run. Fingers are crossed! Go Cats!