Game Day!!!

[TheLongHaul]

Shaq came out balling like I predicted and Mick sat him entire game after his hot start. Rubles and Guyn aren't starters on great college team. KJ should've been getting minutes same for Lawrence. We were beaten from start to finish. Mick quit trying mimick other teams and coaches so much, he tried his hardest to make this the SK show(like kemba) senior season. This flat out disappointing. Whoever says we did good this year don't bleed WINNING!!!

That is what always happens with Shaq. Mick's substitution patterns have driven me insane dating back to when Lance Stephenson was here. People want to know why this team peaked a while ago? Because Mick's refusal to develop the young talent and insistence on sticking with upper classmen players that simply don't have the talent but understand defense assignments a little better, i.e. Sanders and Guyn.

 

[Juliepitzer]

Heartbreaking loss. Nevertheless, no one expected us to be in the tourney from the get go so I still found the season a success. My problem is Cronin's recruiting process. Does he check to make sure these kid's can make a layup before he brings them to Clifton? That is something you cannot coach and should be a "red flag" early on. Still, fun season. Go Cats!

 

[Bulldog01]

Did u see the missed layups or no?

I've seen missed lay ups for 8yrs now. Like I mentioned make it MANDATORY that players go for dunk around rim. They literally had NOBODY to guard us in paint and we play soft all game. Shaq was hitting his shots why he get benched? How did Guyn see court at all? JJ and SK were playing lousy D why not bench them or yell at them like you do Shaq and Sanders?

 

[bearcat jeff]

Heartbreaking loss. Nevertheless, no one expected us to be in the tourney from the get go so I still found the season a success. My problem is Cronin's recruiting process. Does he check to make sure these kid's can make a layup before he brings them to Clifton? That is something you cannot coach and should be a "red flag" early on. Still, fun season. Go Cats!

Best response on the board to the loss. Thanks Julie.

 

[bearcatbacker82]

honestly this feels like the old days with Bob Huggins we have a good team that can't play up to the level they're supposed to win it matters most

. at the very least the freshman that got playing time when it was critical will be on this team next year

I was very surprised by how bad Jackson played in the first half those are shots he missed last year

 

[Bearcat22]

Good season Bearcats. 27 wins most in over a decade. We'll cheer you on next season. Good luck Sean, JJ, Titus and Dave. Thanks for a season that exceeded our expectations.

Good perspective. Sad to see the season end this way but am very excited for the future. Have great recruits coming. Depth is on the way in the low post. JL will go back to playing his natural position. TC could very well be the starting point guard. KJ is going to be a really good player. I'm excited to see what Morman has to offer. Now's not the time to turn on the team and the coach (venting immediately after a loss is excusable) otherwise we'd just be acting like xavier fans, and those people are intolerable.

 

[bearcat jeff]

That is what always happens with Shaq. Mick's substitution patterns have driven me insane dating back to when Lance Stephenson was here. People want to know why this team peaked a while ago? Because Mick's refusal to develop the young talent and insistence on sticking with upper classmen players that simply don't have the talent but understand defense assignments a little better, i.e. Sanders and Guyn.

This I agree with. After the Temple game the freshmen stopped getting minutes and I felt that was a mistake but the team was in battle after battle and fighting for a league championship. So I don't know, damned if you do damned if you don't. But guys this isn't going to turn into a trash the coach thread considering the season the team had overall.

 

[CanadianBearcat]

I was very surprised by how bad Jackson played in the first half those are shots he missed last year

It wasnt just the first half, he was terrible around the rim in the second half to.

 

[Bcatfollower]

We turned out to be what everyone said we were...

Just can't see micks fascination with guyn...the guy simply cannot play, and that's offense or defense.

What a disappointment.... perhaps we shouldn't recruit bigs that can't make ANY shots withing 2 feet of the rim....what a joke.

Let Shaq play a whole game! Play Johnson more minutes! WTF

 

[TheLongHaul]

Mick a have better success if he didn't out think himself every year and redshirt players. Morman, Shaq, Sk would been key to their teams as true freshman. Morman and Davis could've really helped. Guyn looks like he's smartest book Guy in team. He needs graduate early and transfer to eastern Kentucky.

Morman had initial trouble qualifying and then broke his ankle. Shaq was ineligible due to his school. Nothing Mick could have done on that and I don't think that is the problem. The problem is 1) not recruiting good enough players - the 2011 class is killing them, and 2) not focusing enough on offense. Their point total in games they've lost this year is embarrassing.

 

[bearcat jeff]

honestly this feels like the old days with Bob Huggins we have a good team that can't play up to the level they're supposed to win it matters most

. at the very least the freshman that got playing time when it was critical will be on this team next year

I was very surprised by how bad Jackson played in the first half those are shots he missed last year

What people are missing is this team overachieved all year. This isn't like the Huggins teams that we're often loaded with talent. The freshmen and incoming players provide a nice future. I for one am looking forward to it.

 

[TheLongHaul]

This I agree with. After the Temple game the freshmen stopped getting minutes and I felt that was a mistake but the team was in battle after battle and fighting for a league championship. So I don't know, damned if you do damned if you don't. But guys this isn't going to turn into a trash the coach thread considering the season the team had overall.

I'm not here to trash the coach. I think the season overall was somewhat a success. But I definitely think he should be held accountable when he deserves it and this is one of those times. Scoring 57 points against Harvard is inexcusable.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I'm not here to trash the coach. I think the season overall was somewhat a success. But I definitely think he should be held accountable when he deserves it and this is one of those times. Scoring 57 points against Harvard is inexcusable.

Well he didn't miss the lay ups LongHaul. He didn't double clutch easy shots when he could of dunked. He didn't commit 4 straight turnovers when it was a 3 point game, get a charge and throw the ball away the last time UC had the ball.

 

[Bulldog01]

This I agree with. After the Temple game the freshmen stopped getting minutes and I felt that was a mistake but the team was in battle after battle and fighting for a league championship. So I don't know, damned if you do damned if you don't. But guys this isn't going to turn into a trash the coach thread considering the season the team had overall.

Your happy with loss and season considering we were ranked most of year and had POY, COY, and DPY in pretty good league? I watch game for championships not 1st rd losses. Not to.mention we struggled against UCF and lost against UConn. Every average coach in America knows you can't play Guyn Sanders Rubles and JJ at same time. He worked his seniors too much this year, all of them showed fatigue in past 2wks.

 

[Juliepitzer]

Well he didn't miss the lay ups LongHaul. He didn't double clutch easy shots when he could of dunked.

Coach Cronin cannot make shots for his players, but he is responsible for recruiting players who are incapable of making layups. So that, IMO, is on him. As my husband said, he recruits track and field stars instead of basketball players. I do like the freshman coming in but can they make layups?

 

[TheLongHaul]

Well he didn't miss the lay ups LongHaul. He didn't double clutch easy shots when he could of dunked.

Nope, but those two have been missing layups all year and it hasn't improved as the season has gone on. Rubles never learned to take the ball strong to the hoop. That is coachable. UC, although they missed layups, had very few wide open looks, and that is a trend under Cronin. I cannot remember a team having to work so hard to get a decent look.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Your happy with loss and season considering we were ranked most of year and had POY, COY, and DPY in pretty good league? I watch game for championships not 1st rd losses. Not to.mention we struggled against UCF and lost against UConn. Every average coach in America knows you can't play Guyn Sanders Rubles and JJ at same time. He worked his seniors too much this year, all of them showed fatigue in past 2wks.

Bulldog they weren't going to win a national title and if you thought that you were deluded. Yes I think with no true post players and what they had this was a good season. And Julie, recruiting is a two way street. Mick recruits other players but they have to want to play here. If you can't get the best players you get guys you can compete with. People think you pick these guys off a shelf. It doesn't work that way.

 

[Bulldog01]

Well he didn't miss the lay ups LongHaul. He didn't double clutch easy shots when he could of dunked. He didn't commit 4 straight turnovers when it was a 3 point game, get a charge and throw the ball away the last time UC had the ball.

I'll give Mick a pass if this was our first time seeing this but come in be real our teams have been horrible around rim for 8yrs now. Start getting players that wanna dunk it every chance they get. Our players were fatigued pass 2wks and that's on coach. Shaq was hitting why wasn't he playing?

 

[AeroCat]

I agree for the most part, but I think Rubles progressed pretty well while he was here. On the other hand Mick seems to refuse to bring in a pure point guard to run the offense, recruit a pure shooter in any form, or just simply setup ANY form of half court offense.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Nope, but those two have been missing layups all year and it hasn't improved as the season has gone on. Rubles never learned to take the ball strong to the hoop. That is coachable. UC, although they missed layups, had very few wide open looks, and that is a trend under Cronin. I cannot remember a team having to work so hard to get a decent look.

Who would you have played for both JJ and TRub? I told you all the Strickland loss was huge for this team.