Being Flexible with the Roster

[ucswais]

One thing I've been curious about with the way our program has been handled recently is if guys are being typecast into certain roles with very little oppurtunity to grow out of them. I could easily look at our team and say...

Cash is the quick PG who penatrates and distributes
Parker is the guy who shoots 3's
Bishop is the guy who defends and takes open jumpers
Thomas is the big man with touch to hit open shots
Wilks is the athlete that causes matchup problems
SK is the guy who scores points off the bench

On and on....

I am starting to think maybe we are stunting the growth of some of the guys who stick around the program for a while. Of course, its easy to say "we need to find the next Kenyon Martin", but in reality would Kenyon Martin ever develop in our current environment? Or 4 years later, would he still just be the guy who rebounds and defends strong post players?
Last year, while Deonta was struggling he still got asked to do a lot with the ball in key spots because he was previously designated our "go-to guy".

My only point is, I hope that the program can keep its eyes open in terms of how kids are developing. We have to be open that SK may already be ready to start and lead this team. We have to be willing to consider that Cash is better used off the ball as a scorer. These are only examples. We don't know how things will play out and that is the point. Basically, we need to go with the flow and do what makes sense to help guys progress and become what they're going to become rather than continue pushing them to fill the role they were recruited to fill however many years ago.

 

[psax889906]

One thing I've been curious about with the way our program has been handled recently is if guys are being typecast into certain roles with very little oppurtunity to grow out of them. I could easily look at our team and say...

Cash is the quick PG who penatrates and distributes
Parker is the guy who shoots 3's
Bishop is the guy who defends and takes open jumpers
Thomas is the big man with touch to hit open shots
Wilks is the athlete that causes matchup problems
SK is the guy who scores points off the bench

On and on....

I am starting to think maybe we are stunting the growth of some of the guys who stick around the program for a while. Of course, its easy to say "we need to find the next Kenyon Martin", but in reality would Kenyon Martin ever develop in our current environment? Or 4 years later, would he still just be the guy who rebounds and defends strong post players?
Last year, while Deonta was struggling he still got asked to do a lot with the ball in key spots because he was previously designated our "go-to guy".

My only point is, I hope that the program can keep its eyes open in terms of how kids are developing. We have to be open that SK may already be ready to start and lead this team. We have to be willing to consider that Cash is better used off the ball as a scorer. These are only examples. We don't know how things will play out and that is the point. Basically, we need to go with the flow and do what makes sense to help guys progress and become what they're going to become rather than continue pushing them to fill the role they were recruited to fill however many years ago.

Two points I see. One is, you have to look at the context relative to how players the past four years have been recruited and used as Cronin rebuilt. I think a major point in this 2011 class has been "interchangeable parts", Cronin recruited multiple guys who can play different positions.

Secondly, I disagree about your point with Deonta, because while Warren was here Deonta was off the ball playing the 2 the entire time (where he was obviously considerably more comfortable). But when Warren left Deonta was forced to play the point. He took on a completely different role- one which was dictated by the players on Mick's roster and the rebuilding process.

 

[dp3113]

does wilks really actually cause matchup problems? he cant handle the ball, so its not like hes taking 4's off the dribble. hes more like a power forward who's shot you have to respect but who can't rebound and isn't a threat to penetrate.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Wilks creates match up problems for UC...It still amazes me that people think he should be on the court. Just because he is tall and can jump really high with a running start does not make him a good basketball player.

 

[Not Guilty]

Wilks creates match up problems for UC...It still amazes me that people think he should be on the court. Just because he is tall and can jump really high with a running start does not make him a good basketball player.

I would say that Wilks played extremely well in the Big East tournament last year. If he can play like that, I would have no issue with him getting 15 minutes a game or so.

But 3 games isn't enough to convince me.

 

[cincinnati insanity]

First off if the match up problems you talked about were true. We would win the national title. Every one is always talking about how much Uc regresses but if they did progress that much Uc would be unstoppable. Just think every year in the Big East we are in the bottom half of the conference in recruiting. Even though we are getting good players, every one else is getting super studs. Go back into the rankings last year or the year before, and take a look at the five star recruiting rankings. The 25 kids with 5 stars only about 20 of them are worth a crap. Just for example Jmison Morgan, do you think he has done better than Yancey Gates, or what about Deandre liggins for KY he was a 5 star and he just now is playing half way descent. Not every recruit is going to be better, ala Robert Whaley. Cronin does good a developing sub par talent, but sub-par big east kids will never develop into Unstoppable big east talent. Anyone could of brought john wall into there school and no matter who he went to he would of been a stud. I think Yancey and other guys have came along way, all but maybe Yancey and Cash had the potential to be special. All the other guys are practically role players that will never amount to stardom. We would all be complementing Cronin if we were playing in Conference USA with the talent hes got on the floor right now. Uc would have a chance to win the CUSA league. To sum it all up the players that he coaches are making strides some what but they were never expected to be all league talents. Uc has good players and i think this year is the year to go back to the tournament..
Darnell-cant dribble
Larry-cant shoot
Biggie- Cant barely move
rashad-dont care
You cant develop players who have no room to develop...

 

[nparker1]

Wilks has looked awful so far this year. However, last year in the final stretch, Wilks was performing at his full potential.When he handles the ball, his mind is moving faster than his reactions and gets too excited, thus dribbling the ball of his foot or throwing a bad pass. I have always thought Wilks' problem is not lack of talent or ability, but a mental condition. If you watch his mannerisms and his body language, I think he is a classic ADHD kid. His athleticism does create matchup issues for opponents. He is also very effective in the press due to his quickness. So far he has not shown it, but he is one of the better 3pt shooters on this team. As a UC fan, I really hope Wilks can get his head straight, focus, and reach his true potential.
Go Bearcats!

 

[TheLongHaul]

Wilks wasn't even that good last year in the BET. He was decent and that was the best he has ever played in his 3+ years here. If you go back and watch the games you will see that on defense he was completely out matched and gave up a ton of easy baskets. He did happen to make a couple shots and grabbed a few offensive rebounds but if you want to compete in the Big East you need way more than that from your SF. He is a terrible passer, a bad ball handler, makes bad decisions, has slow feet on defense and is too weak to guard the post. Does anyone disagree with that? How can someone with those issues be a SF on a top big east team?

ps - By all accounts Wilks is a very good person. I'm not trying to rip the kid. Just talking about his basketball skills (which are way way better than mine).

 

[bearcat jeff]

Darnell plays hard and is a great kid but he's going to get minutes. I can see playing him in certain situations and because of the thin frontline, but I agree that if I were coach, and I'm sure there's a reason I'm not, I would only play him at the 4 and I'd play SK at the 2 and Dixon at the 2-3 giving them both starters minutes.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

He is a terrible passer, a bad ball handler, makes bad decisions, has slow feet on defense and is too weak to guard the post

uh oh!!!! that was our starter last game! lmao... You could prolly throw in AVERAGE shooter.

 

[thebeast]

lets just put it out there the first class that mick didn't have a couple years to get together is just not big east caliber. but davis and wilks absolutely hustle and when you dont have talent that is the next best thing to do

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Wilks is good in defending the press and horrible at defending man-to-man. He can provide a spark on offense, especially in transition. But lets be honest, to set up a press, you have to be efficient on offense and make baskets and we haven't been able to use our press much. And our transition opportunities are few and far between, especially when a defender like Wilks is on the floor and letting his opponent around him for easy baskets. A good offense will find the weakness in the defense. That why we struggled vs. IPFW yesterday. They played smart and used the whole shot-clock to pass the ball until they found an open shooter. If people were wondering why Jackson came out of yesteray's game so quick and didn't get back in for a while, he stepped off his player and that guy went around him for an easy lay-up. Freshman mistake, fine. But Wilks has done plenty of this in his tenure here.

Wilks can serve a purpose for us. He needs to come off the bench to provide energy and athleticism. Put a guy like him out on the floor when maybe your opponent is getting tired and set up your press and he will help create some turnovers. He also can provide some offense, but not in a half-court set-up. We really need to figure out how to control the tempo of the game and utilize the uptempo style Cronin has recruited all these guys to play. That starts with Cash, but honestly the rest of the team has to be on the same page as him or he's the only one moving quick and he looks out of control (which I've noticed plenty of criticism of him on this site for that).There were plenty of times the offense looked stagnant yesterday. Players got so used to playing Vaughn's pace and not moving on offense they are lapsing into that. When Cash and Kilpatrick are out there they are always moving. Dixon usually is too. I'll even say Davis does, but... When Cash and Thomas got in foul trouble yesterday and we were playing Bishop and Wilks and Davis more minutes our offense just looked bad.

Another thing, too, I love Jackson's energy and he was the unsung hero yesterday because they got to within four and Cronin put Jackson in there and he helped create two or three straight turnovers with his help defense and quickness and length and we scored some easy buckets to stop the bleeding. BUT, on offense we were playing four on five because you have to avoid giving him the ball. He obviously will improve, but for the time being when he is on the floor, expect the offense to struggle.

 

[TheLongHaul]

aw man...not again...Wilks SUCKS at the press. He sucks. I hate to keep harping on it but people keep mentioning that he is good at these things. He's got long arms and can jump. That doesn't make you good in a press. His footwork is god awful. Every single ball handler just dribbles right passed him or he fouls them because he is too slow.

 

[JasonS]

aw man...not again...Wilks SUCKS at the press. He sucks. I hate to keep harping on it but people keep mentioning that he is good at these things. He's got long arms and can jump. That doesn't make you good in a press. His footwork is god awful. Every single ball handler just dribbles right passed him or he fouls them because he is too slow.

I would tend to agree with this.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

aw man...not again...Wilks SUCKS at the press. He sucks. I hate to keep harping on it but people keep mentioning that he is good at these things. He's got long arms and can jump. That doesn't make you good in a press. His footwork is god awful. Every single ball handler just dribbles right passed him or he fouls them because he is too slow.

He's good in the press because he's quick and long and can jump and grab errant passes. I'll agree he's not good at trapping or defending on the ball in the press. But when the press is effective and you are forcing long passes I like Wilks ability to steal the ball. Let Cash defend the ball, someone else help to trap and you have three other guys to jump lanes. Wilks is good at that.

 

[psax889906]

The press looked better tonight than it has all season. I think a large part of that was because UC was actually making shots on offense which allowed them to set it up.