Morman

[JasonS]

Change your philosophy as a coach all game, every game for one player? No. Change things up for stretches every now and again to play towards some of your players' strengths? Yes.

Morman is not the only one on the roster better suited in a different style of play. We as a program are not flexible enough on that imo. At the core, I think we'd rather have a guy shoot 15% and "do the right things", than give another guy a chance who might give up a few easy looks. I don't always agree with that. I think KJ is fine too overall, but go back and look at his rough stretch last year. It was beyond brutal.

We can agree to disagree. Teams have more success in college basketball when they have an identity and know who they are. That doesn't mean you can't switch between man and zone now and then but you don't adjust the identity of your team for one player. That player needs to adjust and do what needs to be done to fit with that team. If Mormon was willing to put in the effort to improve and play as a part of the team, maybe he sees more time. That said, this is taking up way too much of my time worrying about a player that isn't here anymore. I'm not losing any sleep over Mormon not being here.

 

[BearcatSpaniard513]

Change your philosophy as a coach all game, every game for one player? No. Change things up for stretches every now and again to play towards some of your players' strengths? Yes.

Morman is not the only one on the roster better suited in a different style of play. We as a program are not flexible enough on that imo. At the core, I think we'd rather have a guy shoot 15% and "do the right things", than give another guy a chance who might give up a few easy looks. I don't always agree with that. I think KJ is fine too overall, but go back and look at his rough stretch last year. It was beyond brutal.

I get what you are saying and I agree we should cater our play around the type of players we have. That does not mean a 180 degree change in philosophy. When we were missing our centers after the brawl we went with 4 guards and 1 forward and an uptempo game. We have long, athletic players and no "real" shooters. Play hard defense and let them run... If we had Kentucky's size I would say we adjust our style to feed the post.

 

[KJ's#1Supporter]

We can agree to disagree. Teams have more success in college basketball when they have an identity and know who they are. That doesn't mean you can't switch between man and zone now and then but you don't adjust the identity of your team for one player. That player needs to adjust and do what needs to be done to fit with that team. If Mormon was willing to put in the effort to improve and play as a part of the team, maybe he sees more time. That said, this is taking up way too much of my time worrying about a player that isn't here anymore. I'm not losing any sleep over Mormon not being here.

Yeah. It just sucks the way it went down. And I feel like losing a guy like him exposes our inability to work with any kind of player. I think it's hard for us to get Top 50 guys bc in a way, we eliminate ourselves right off the bat and have a smaller pool of players to begin with, with our reputation. We can get "diamond in the rough"/project types bc we still have enough of a brand just by being Cincinnati. But we are in a lower tier now imo. We can't land the best of the best bc they aren't the flawed/tweener/under the radar types, and they are essentially "above" our brand. That's why we couldn't get guys like Russell, Malik Beasley, and probably Alkins, among many others. Even though we were in on them early. When you hear Cincinnati these days, you hear nothing but "offensively challenged", "rock fight" and "first to 50". Kids with dreams of the next level have no interest in that. 40 minutes of zone in a home AAC Tulane game and scoring 49 just doesn't do it. And not getting anything out of the Lawrence, Shaq, Morman types shows how clear the priorities for the program are. And unfortunately, it isn't all that player-friendly.

 

[BearcatSpaniard513]

Morman is a talented player that I do not want to see leave. The fact that we already lost Strickland, and now maybe Morman concerns me a bit. Strickland was recruited based off potential and size. He might not be a DI player. Morman is and will make a difference where ever he ends up.

 

[JasonS]

Morman is a talented player that I do not want to see leave. The fact that we already lost Strickland, and now maybe Morman concerns me a bit. Strickland was recruited based off potential and size. He might not be a DI player. Morman is and will make a difference where ever he ends up.

The track record with this staff suggests otherwise (i.e. - Lawrence).

 

[BearcatSpaniard513]

The track record with this staff suggests otherwise (i.e. - Lawrence).

I don't follow. Lawrence transferred to another DI school because his father was sick... Are you saying Morman won't have success because Lawrence hasn't yet?

 

[AZ BEARCAT]

With three young men coming into the program you do not need the negative attitude if that was the case.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Yes any major college head coach would choose to put a player he likes in over a guy that can help him win. It's not like his job depends on winning or anything.

 

[JasonS]

I don't follow. Lawrence transferred to another DI school because his father was sick... Are you saying Morman won't have success because Lawrence hasn't yet?

As I have heard it, Lawrence transferred because he wasn't happy here. There were some issues here and he had some issues resulting in a suspension at Manhattan. I think his dad's illness was convenient to allow him to play right away and may have led to him picking Manhattan but I don't believe for a second that it was the reason from transferring from UC.

 

[Bulldog01]

Wasn't he asked to go in a game and he simply told the coach "no"? That's what you want to see in a kid? I'll pass.

The great ones trust me do it all the time. Not saying Mormon great but like Jacob said why recruit him knowing his attitude. I'm pretty sure his attitude and toughness got him scholarship from Mick. Not only that Mormon was in program last year, so who knows maybe promises were broken.

 

[JasonS]

The great ones trust me do it all the time. Not saying Mormon great but like Jacob said why recruit him knowing his attitude. I'm pretty sure his attitude and toughness got him scholarship from Mick. Not only that Mormon was in program last year, so who knows maybe promises were broken.

Name me the last great player to refuse to go in a game and directly act defiant against their coach in college hoops.

 

[Bulldog01]

We can agree to disagree. Teams have more success in college basketball when they have an identity and know who they are. That doesn't mean you can't switch between man and zone now and then but you don't adjust the identity of your team for one player. That player needs to adjust and do what needs to be done to fit with that team. If Mormon was willing to put in the effort to improve and play as a part of the team, maybe he sees more time. That said, this is taking up way too much of my time worrying about a player that isn't here anymore. I'm not losing any sleep over Mormon not being here.

Strickland, guyn, Mormon all left team this year alone. Have to let certain guys fight through their problems without discipline all the time. Players are going to pout and feel unwanted all the time it's human nature. Coaches get paid millions to deal with those problems. Hell Mick pouts, crys and complain more than most coaches so he should really understand.

 

[Bulldog01]

Name me the last great player to refuse to go in a game and directly act defiant against their coach in college hoops.

If you try play certain players in blowout games last couple minutes their not going. You think Yancy, lance, Clark, cash wouldn't be offended entering game with walkons?

 

[JasonS]

Strickland, guyn, Mormon all left team this year alone. Have to let certain guys fight through their problems without discipline all the time. Players are going to pout and feel unwanted all the time it's human nature. Coaches get paid millions to deal with those problems. Hell Mick pouts, crys and complain more than most coaches so he should really understand.

Wow, you really don't get it. You can't let any player affect the team. Period. If a kid isn't happy with his PT, suck it up, work harder and earn it. If they can't do that, then transfer. Mick makes players earn what they get. Most college coaches do. Some can handle it. Some can't. You have to earn what you get in the real world. College kids should be learning the same to prepare them for life after college.

 

[Bulldog01]

Yeah. It just sucks the way it went down. And I feel like losing a guy like him exposes our inability to work with any kind of player. I think it's hard for us to get Top 50 guys bc in a way, we eliminate ourselves right off the bat and have a smaller pool of players to begin with, with our reputation. We can get "diamond in the rough"/project types bc we still have enough of a brand just by being Cincinnati. But we are in a lower tier now imo. We can't land the best of the best bc they aren't the flawed/tweener/under the radar types, and they are essentially "above" our brand. That's why we couldn't get guys like Russell, Malik Beasley, and probably Alkins, among many others. Even though we were in on them early. When you hear Cincinnati these days, you hear nothing but "offensively challenged", "rock fight" and "first to 50". Kids with dreams of the next level have no interest in that. 40 minutes of zone in a home AAC Tulane game and scoring 49 just doesn't do it. And not getting anything out of the Lawrence, Shaq, Morman types shows how clear the priorities for the program are. And unfortunately, it isn't all that player-friendly.

Beasley would've came if Mormon scholarship was open during his recruitment. So basically we lost Mormon and Beasley. It's time to start filling end of bench up with locals

 

[JasonS]

If you try play certain players in blowout games last couple minutes their not going. You think Yancy, lance, Clark, cash wouldn't be offended entering game with walkons?

If they are, cut them from the team. Walk-ons bust their rear end, day in, day out with no guarantee of EVER seeing the court. If anyone should have the respect of their teammates, it's the walk-ons. If that offends a player, as you suggest, then I don't want them here anyway.

Coaches aren't getting paid to be babysitters. Man up and put the work in. If you can't do that, get out.

 

[JasonS]

Beasley would've came if Mormon scholarship was open during his recruitment. So basically we lost Mormon and Beasley. It's time to start filling end of bench up with locals

Show me something proving that to be true. Your track record here with your "guarantees" and "trust me's" leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Bulldog01]

Wow, you really don't get it. You can't let any player affect the team. Period. If a kid isn't happy with his PT, suck it up, work harder and earn it. If they can't do that, then transfer. Mick makes players earn what they get. Most college coaches do. Some can handle it. Some can't. You have to earn what you get in the real world. College kids should be learning the same to prepare them for life after college.

How you know they had problems with minutes? Guyn left team hurt didn't he? What the hell did Cobb, kj, Sanders, Shaq earn? They all by default were given minutes. Strickland was told basically he's go redshirt again, why waste his and our team for year with him? Mormon has more potential than every player on team outside of Clark. He ALWAYS hustled harder than any player on court and played solid D. You limit his minutes because he shoots the ball with 22secs on clock and you want it to be 2secs?No player on our team average 10 that's EMBARRASSING!!! WE need all the talent we can get NOBODY should have guaranteed spot in line uP. Teams winning championships with players not even going to class and we're suspending guys for pouting?

 

[KJ's#1Supporter]

Wow, you really don't get it. You can't let any player affect the team. Period. If a kid isn't happy with his PT, suck it up, work harder and earn it. If they can't do that, then transfer. Mick makes players earn what they get. Most college coaches do. Some can handle it. Some can't. You have to earn what you get in the real world. College kids should be learning the same to prepare them for life after college.

My issue goes back to the flexibility thing. Mick makes players "earn it" on his terms. Regardless of what the player is capable of, he MUST meet strict defensive standards to get on the floor. I would get frustrated too if the guy in front of me was doing what KJ did for a lot of the year. I get what you're saying in general, but given the fact that we've lost Strickland, Guyn Morman, Moore, Lawrence and JD3 recently, I'm not as willing to just automatically side with the coaching staff. It just seems like our recruiting hasn't been syncing up with style of play. We say we're recruiting better offensive players, but it just so happens that the 6 guys having trouble are more offensive minded/free lancing type players. So maybe we're making an effort to bring those guys in, but we don't seem willing to play through their kind of mistakes. So I say, either don't recruit the player in the first place and stop kidding yourself, or learn to adapt as a coach and learn how to let guys that can give you buckets play through different types of lapses.

 

[Bulldog01]

Show me something proving that to be true. Your track record here with your "guarantees" and "trust me's" leave a lot to be desired.

Show where he wouldn't came here. He went to a team with basically same exact style we play and he was always higher with us. Beasley really liked us and didnt want to play local