2019-2020 Season

[Jon Rycek]

No.. Brannen’s first full class is the 2020 class, Micks was the 2007 class

CJB’s 2019 class is not a full class, he built in 2-3 months and did a great job. He hit the lottery with a kid who no one else wanted.

But 2020 he’s been recruiting for 6 months plus the rest of the season until the 2020 class. CJB has time to make it great, but he only has 2 spots left.


Mick’s first full class was ranked #19 in the country.


I’m not losing any battles. Mick and Brannen seemingly suck at recruiting

How can you say he sucks lmao, he’s been at it for six months and hasn’t even coached a real hame for us yet. Give it time before you whine

 

[Jon Rycek]

I honestly think Brannen. I think he gets it. He isn’t stuck in the 1990s. Obviously UCLA is a bigger draw, so he will be able to build quicker but I don’t think mick will be there long Term

Mick is gonna bring in top 5 and top 10 recruiting classes every year there. I hope we match what he does, but come on now. You have to see Micks success there coming from a mile a while. Despite all the thing you guys like to complain about, Mick IS a great coach, one of the best in college BB. His only problem was recruiting, not he is at a school that basically recruits itself he’s gonna be like Tony Bennett now, he’s gonna be able to implement his same system, but with basically all top 100 guys.

 

[Jon Rycek]

Yes, they love his act now. Let’s see how much they love it when he gets past the 1st weekend once in 15 years. How much you think they will love it? I’ll wait for your answer

It’s mind blowing how ignorant you can be because you hate Mick. If you think he’s gonna have as difficult as a time at UCLA come tournament time, I think you’re sadly mistaken. He’s going to be bringing in polished offensive players and then them in stout defenders. He will make UCLA the Virginia of the west

 

[Jon Rycek]

The only decent player we lost was brooks and he was gone before a coach was announced. Not sure how that’s the new coaches fault but whatever helps your argument.

Jenifer and Broome aren’t decent?

 

[justinhub2003]

Jenifer and Broome aren’t decent?

There are people on this board who think the mick Cronin era was this oppressive regime of shitty basketball.

These same people were party poopers after every loss but now expect every one to ooze with confidence and never complain when they clearly made following this board after a loss an extremely tiring experience.

I’m gonna do my best to not be like them. I’ve voiced my concerns on recruiting, but between the lines I want this team to win and I’ll be patient with them. I’m just happy we got Jarron back . He’s one of my favorite Bearcats ever.

 

[justinhub2003]

How can you say he sucks lmao, he’s been at it for six months and hasn’t even coached a real hame for us yet. Give it time before you whine

I’m just not impressed with his chops so far in the 2020 class. I’ll quickly change my mind if he can get Eason or Traynor. But we’re already switching gears to back up guys so it can’t be a great sign.

I mean to land a kid ranked 180 we had to use a scholarship on his brother who would the 2nd lowest rated recruit in the last 15 years or so. The lowest was Elie.

The 2020 class is crucial. Because we need star players and more importantly star bigs

 

[JoeRunner89]

Mick is gonna bring in top 5 and top 10 recruiting classes every year there. I hope we match what he does, but come on now. You have to see Micks success there coming from a mile a while. Despite all the thing you guys like to complain about, Mick IS a great coach, one of the best in college BB. His only problem was recruiting, not he is at a school that basically recruits itself he’s gonna be like Tony Bennett now, he’s gonna be able to implement his same system, but with basically all top 100 guys.

Man, exactly. I was willing to live with our tournament exits just knowing how it was going to be once the Nation got used to at least seeing UCbrand in a position to advance in the tournament yr after yr in the American conference... It's just harder to recruit at UC than UCLA and Mick was doing a pretty good job getting better talent and we were just on a level that needed and could be raised with still a young coach with a tons of experience but as a City and a university we somewhat dropped the ball seeing and accepting that. Now we have coach Brannen... Who is an unknown really. I hope he leads this team this yr I really do

 

[Jon Rycek]

There is definitely a big unknown factor with Brannen, but i already like the guy. I love that he brought midnight madness back. I like his energy. I like the players he’s brought in so far, I think Gabe is going to be very good for us as well, probably much better than his ranking suggests.

That being said, I loved Mick Cronin, like all fans I wish we could have more success in the tournament. It wasn’t his fault the players couldn’t hit a shot against Nevada. That was his real chance at a run, and it didn’t work out. But like I said before, he was constantly working with projects. That’s not going to be the case at UCLA. He’s going to have multiple top 50 guys learning his defensive system, he’s going to have natural scorers playing lock down defense. I can truly see him turning them into a powerhouse. We will find out a lot more in the next few months on both.

 

[cincyguy13]

Jenifer and Broome aren’t decent?

The guy was talking Brannen losing players to transfer, not players graduating. At least know what I’m referring to before you try to correct me.

 

[cincyguy13]

I’m just not impressed with his chops so far in the 2020 class. I’ll quickly change my mind if he can get Eason or Traynor. But we’re already switching gears to back up guys so it can’t be a great sign.

I mean to land a kid ranked 180 we had to use a scholarship on his brother who would the 2nd lowest rated recruit in the last 15 years or so. The lowest was Elie.

The 2020 class is crucial. Because we need star players and more importantly star bigs

You’re not impressed with what he has done in the limited time he has been here? He has done a great job at piecing together a team with not much time. Added the other Cumberland. Got Harvey. I know you don’t give him credit for that but mick got lance. Similar situations. Feels like you want him to win a national championship before he coaches a game.

 

[cincyguy13]

It’s mind blowing how ignorant you can be because you hate Mick. If you think he’s gonna have as difficult as a time at UCLA come tournament time, I think you’re sadly mistaken. He’s going to be bringing in polished offensive players and then them in stout defenders. He will make UCLA the Virginia of the west

Said a million times. Don’t hate mick. He’s a good coach. Love what he did here, aside from the tourney. It was fun being relevant every year. But I don’t think he’s the only coach that can be successful here. I’m not going to cry that he left. People thought that we couldn’t be relevant after Huggins but we were. There are other good coaches out there. Xavier has done it for 20 years. Next man up. Something new. Exciting. Let’s give him a chance. I think he will be successful. Could be wrong but let’s give him time before calling for his head.

 

[cincyguy13]

It’s mind blowing how ignorant you can be because you hate Mick. If you think he’s gonna have as difficult as a time at UCLA come tournament time, I think you’re sadly mistaken. He’s going to be bringing in polished offensive players and then them in stout defenders. He will make UCLA the Virginia of the west

I think mick could do well at UCLA. It will be interesting to see him with a full team of Cumberlands instead of just 1-2. Could do well. Unfortunately, I think he hit a ceiling here. Let’s see if the next guy can advance the program further. I can point out things that aren’t great with mick without hating him. Stop being so sensitive.

 

[waterhead]

I’m just not impressed with his chops so far in the 2020 class. I’ll quickly change my mind if he can get Eason or Traynor. But we’re already switching gears to back up guys so it can’t be a great sign.

I mean to land a kid ranked 180 we had to use a scholarship on his brother who would the 2nd lowest rated recruit in the last 15 years or so. The lowest was Elie.

The 2020 class is crucial. Because we need star players and more importantly star bigs

I would put an empty roster spot (or two) as the worst recruits. We had 2 empty spots like 2 years in a row at one point. So even when Cronin held them over he couldn't fill them. You wouldn't take a 3rd point guard over an empty spot?? Especially one that is a gym rat who will probably work tirelessly until he is a factor in some way.

When Cronin started filling those last two spots they went to guys like Ellie and Moore.

 

[waterhead]

There are people on this board who think the mick Cronin era was this oppressive regime of shitty basketball.

These same people were party poopers after every loss but now expect every one to ooze with confidence and never complain when they clearly made following this board after a loss an extremely tiring experience.

I’m gonna do my best to not be like them. I’ve voiced my concerns on recruiting, but between the lines I want this team to win and I’ll be patient with them. I’m just happy we got Jarron back . He’s one of my favorite Bearcats ever.

Actually most of the "party pooper" Cronin hating trolls were phased out. There were still critics of course but not the worst of the worst. This site went through a cleansing period. It was far worse with Cronin trolls 2-3 years ago.

 

[waterhead]

Mick is gonna bring in top 5 and top 10 recruiting classes every year there. I hope we match what he does, but come on now. You have to see Micks success there coming from a mile a while. Despite all the thing you guys like to complain about, Mick IS a great coach, one of the best in college BB. His only problem was recruiting, not he is at a school that basically recruits itself he’s gonna be like Tony Bennett now, he’s gonna be able to implement his same system, but with basically all top 100 guys.

I mostly agree with what you are saying. What Cronin can do with the best talent is obviously going to have a higher ceiling than what he could do at UC. But what good is that for us here (at UC) if we knew we had peaked our ceiling under that coach and it wasn't going to get better?

Why not see if another coach can move the needle. If our best is just to reach the tourney...we can do that with other coaches. Maybe not with the same regularity...but it can be done. So the coaching change is just to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle while we sacrifice some comfort of the known vs the unknown. The unknown is always a bit scarier but it's also a lot more exciting usually.

 

[waterhead]

The guy was talking Brannen losing players to transfer, not players graduating. At least know what I’m referring to before you try to correct me.

This is what happens when people just come in looking for things to argue about. Sometimes they will miss the points being made.

 

[cincrulz11]

Some guys in the media out there are pretty high on us.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...019-20-and-an-interesting-fact-on-every-team/



https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...shot-at-the-ncaa-tournament-title-into-tiers/



nice to read some think we could be pretty good this year.


actually i guess the some is 1 guy, but hey, 1 guy likes us.

 

[justinhub2003]

I would put an empty roster spot (or two) as the worst recruits. We had 2 empty spots like 2 years in a row at one point. So even when Cronin held them over he couldn't fill them. You wouldn't take a 3rd point guard over an empty spot?? Especially one that is a gym rat who will probably work tirelessly until he is a factor in some way.

When Cronin started filling those last two spots they went to guys like Ellie and Moore.

While I’m mostly done arguing dumb shit, this is a horrible take.

Locking your self in with a guy ranked in the 400’s for 4 years in a position where we don’t don’t need depth could hamper you from landing a guy you need.

Also if mason ends up not playing and gets pissed off, so we lose both brothers to transfer?

I’ve read some quote about recruiting that goes something like “missing a recruit won’t kill you, but landing the wrong one will”

But either way. I’m moving on. I’m ready for the season

 

[justinhub2003]

Grimes got a waiver for Houston.

They are my pick to win the league

 

[skyblade]

I mostly agree with what you are saying. What Cronin can do with the best talent is obviously going to have a higher ceiling than what he could do at UC. But what good is that for us here (at UC) if we knew we had peaked our ceiling under that coach and it wasn't going to get better?

Why not see if another coach can move the needle. If our best is just to reach the tourney...we can do that with other coaches. Maybe not with the same regularity...but it can be done. So the coaching change is just to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle while we sacrifice some comfort of the known vs the unknown. The unknown is always a bit scarier but it's also a lot more exciting usually.

I think that is the main thing that divides fans. If you think the NCAA tournament is the most important measure of success (and not random), than Cronin wasn't cutting it and had peaked. If you see the NCAA tournament as randomness (and UC is unlucky) and the regular season as the main measure of success, then Cronin was/is one of the best coaches in the nation and hadn't peaked.

The former group sees the risk of changing coaches as worth the reward and hopes to catch lightning in a bottle. The latter thinks it will be very hard to match/exceed the success that Cronin had - you can't win in the tournament if you can't make it.

So far, Brannen hasn't moved the needle in recruiting. So he is going to have to do more with the same level of recruits that Cronin had. It's possible, but it's going to take a lightning in a bottle type coach to pull it off. Hopefully Brannen is that coach.