new conf bright side

[bearcat jeff]

Once again you're missing the point... I DIDN"T BRING UP DUKE, KY, SYRACUSE BUT here is a fact since you think it took Duke forever to build their program, when Coach K took over at Duke in 80 they went to the national championship in 85 and only missed the tournament once in the last 29 years.

That's because Coach K is a rare coach. There are special coaches and there are special schools. Coach K is a special coach who has made Duke special. It took John Wooden 16 years to win a national title after UCLA hired him.

 

[CPAW29]

That's because Coach K is a rare coach. There are special coaches and there are special schools. Coach K is a special coach who has made Duke special. It took John Wooden 16 years to win a national title after UCLA hired him.

i still think I comes down to fan support and loyalty. those great programs have great fans. uc needs that again and I believe it can get there

 

[Bcatfollower]

i still think I comes down to fan support and loyalty. those great programs have great fans. uc needs that again and I believe it can get there[/QUO


I agree totally.

 

[bearcat1]

That's because Coach K is a rare coach. There are special coaches and there are special schools. Coach K is a special coach who has made Duke special. It took John Wooden 16 years to win a national title after UCLA hired him.

Duke was in the national championship game 2 years before Coach K took over. He did not start with nothing, or at a school with no basketball tradition.

 

[fauxBearcatMick]

We have a rare Coach, I sleep next to his cardboard cutout every night while wearing my UC snuggie. Anybody want one, your friends will all be jealous when we win the National Championship for 5 straight years. The Mayans screwed up my championship prediction for this year, but watch out, next year, we will be back to winning championships. Not 1, not 2, not 3.........

 

[Btown Bearcat]

i still think I comes down to fan support and loyalty. those great programs have great fans. uc needs that again and I believe it can get there

you aint lyin our fans since huggs left have been terrible i hate to say it but its true look at this year for example were cruising along fine wright gets injured and were never the same and instead of people being realistic they want to blame cronin even tho he righted the ship and took us back to ncaa. maybe im overreacting but i dont think so there is so much negativity around the program its crazy. everyone talks about the offense woes but if anyone has not noticed every fan base in the country for the most part thinks there coach cant coach offense. its almost like people want uc and cronin to fail these days so they can say i told ya so. would you rather go back to bein a top 5 team who cant get in sweet 16 as a 1 or 2 seed year after year ill pass

 

[bearcat jeff]

Duke was in the national championship game 2 years before Coach K took over. He did not start with nothing, or at a school with no basketball tradition.

Doesn't take away from the point. He is a rare leader, coach.

 

[bearcat1]

Doesn't take away from the point. He is a rare leader, coach.

Really. He has the most wins ever in Divison 1. Way to go out on a limb.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Really. He has the most wins ever in Divison 1. Way to go out on a limb.

Sometimes it just is what it is. I hate Duke and UK even more, but I respect sustained elite success in any arena.

 

[bearcat1]

Sometimes it just is what it is. I hate Duke and UK even more, but I respect sustained elite success in any arena.

The point of my initial post wasn't to belittle your point, but to point out that Duke was special before Coach K got there. They lost to UK in the NCAA finals in 1978. He came in in 1980. They weren't some unknown program that he made special. He has elevated them to the top of college basketball, and is undobtedly a rare coach, in the same stratosphere as John Wooden. But if you want to talk about someone who made a school special by sheer will, you have to point to Jim Calhoun. UConn was nothing before he got there.

 

[bearcat jeff]

The point of my initial post wasn't to belittle your point, but to point out that Duke was special before Coach K got there. They lost to UK in the NCAA finals in 1978. He came in in 1980. They weren't some unknown program that he made special. He has elevated them to the top of college basketball, and is undobtedly a rare coach, in the same stratosphere as John Wooden. But if you want to talk about someone who made a school special by sheer will, you have to point to Jim Calhoun. UConn was nothing before he got there.

I agree, whether you agree with his methods or classroom success, nobody can argue that he didn't make UConn an elite basketball program.

 

[UCBearcats]

I really have a problem with this thread. This isn't an attack on anyone personally but I just hate the way this thread comes across. Like somehow we'll be better off playing in a lesser conference because now we'll be able to compete better. It's such a losers mentality and it makes me sad that certain segments of our fan base have allowed themselves to become so "Bengalized" for lack of a better term.

Threads like this are exactly the reason why people like me have such an issue with the job mediocre Mick is doing.

 

[Bcatfollower]

I really have a problem with this thread. This isn't an attack on anyone personally but I just hate the way this thread comes across. Like somehow we'll be better off playing in a lesser conference because now we'll be able to compete better. It's such a losers mentality and it makes me sad that certain segments of our fan base have allowed themselves to become so "Bengalized" for lack of a better term.

Threads like this are exactly the reason why people like me have such an issue with the job mediocre Mick is doing.

I dont necessarily agree about micks performance, i think he is a good coach. I see your point about the conference but this thread is about the fact that there is nothing we can do about it, so what are the good adpects. We have a small budget, small badly designed facilities, and a non dedicated fanbase... Most people other than us on this board probably think we are in the conference we belong in. Can we still compete and be good at b ball? I think so, football is another story. But the last time a non power conference team won the ncaa was 1990...

 

[bearcat jeff]

I really have a problem with this thread. This isn't an attack on anyone personally but I just hate the way this thread comes across. Like somehow we'll be better off playing in a lesser conference because now we'll be able to compete better. It's such a losers mentality and it makes me sad that certain segments of our fan base have allowed themselves to become so "Bengalized" for lack of a better term.

Threads like this are exactly the reason why people like me have such an issue with the job mediocre Mick is doing.

Well I disagree about your last sentence. I think 3 straight NCAA appearances, with a Sweet 16 and BEast tournament final appearance, is better than mediocre. Not great, but not average I think. He has averaged just short of 25 wins over the past 3 seasons. I was very disappointed in this season and think Mick owns it. It wasn't his best coaching job since his arrival in Cincinnati imo. But his overall work post rebuild has been better than a C.

The thread is called "new conf bright side" so the intent of the poster who started it was to do just that. Find good things in a bad situation. I haven't heard one person on here say it wouldn't be better to leave if opportunity calls. It is what we have so let's embrace it and move forward.

 

[CaptDale]

Well I disagree about your last sentence. I think 3 straight NCAA appearances, with a Sweet 16 and BEast tournament final appearance, is better than mediocre. Not great, but not average I think. He has averaged just short of 25 wins over the past 3 seasons. I was very disappointed in this season and think Mick owns it. It wasn't his best coaching job since his arrival in Cincinnati imo. But his overall work post rebuild has been better than a C.

The thread is called "new conf bright side" so the intent of the poster who started it was to do just that. Find good things in a bad situation. I haven't heard one person on here say it wouldn't be better to leave if opportunity calls. It is what we have so let's embrace it and move forward.

Jeff, you constantly cite these grandiose win numbers. You have to discount the preseason patsies when you discuss wins. Cronin's old HS teams would beat most of those (save Presbyterian). How do you lose to Presbyterian? I know you're going to say everybody plays teams like that, but I'm not talking about them. All I'm talking about is inflation. What have we done post early season walkovers? A much more realistic picture of performance. I don't think making the NCAA is as big a deal as you make it. Sweet 16 - yes. So, since we're sitting out, go FGSU - gotta root for somebody

 

[Bearcat22]

I really have a problem with this thread. This isn't an attack on anyone personally but I just hate the way this thread comes across. Like somehow we'll be better off playing in a lesser conference because now we'll be able to compete better. It's such a losers mentality and it makes me sad that certain segments of our fan base have allowed themselves to become so "Bengalized" for lack of a better term.

Threads like this are exactly the reason why people like me have such an issue with the job mediocre Mick is doing.

I see your point. My perspective is that this new conference is clearly not my first choice as a home for the Cats. I would much rather be in the ACC or Big 12. That being stated, for at least next season and who knows how many more, it's our home. This conference presents some potential positives like renewing a rivalry with Memphis, continuing the growth of a new rivalry with UCONN, one more go around with Louisville, and playing a good opponent in Temple.

Yes, the bottom half leaves a lot to be desired but maybe that leads to more court time for the younger players to aid in their development. Does that sell season tickets and energize a fan base? Probably not, but we need to make the best of this situation. The institution has a challenge ahead of them engaging a fan base that sees our current predicament as a downgrade. I hope they are up to the challenge. Our (the fans) participation also will be judged when UC is evaluated for a new conference home.

As a fan, I'm happy but not thrilled with the job Mick has done with this team. He did a great job cleaning up a mess he didn't create and brought us back to a tournament regular. The team plays hard nosed defense that gives opponents trouble. He has faults with either implementing an offense or getting players to follow it. It's also annoying to see players not skilled on fundamentals. I worry about his ability to teach in that regard. The counter argument is that he's made the most out of players with a limited ceiling...I don't know if that is true or not. What I do know is that by all measures he has a top 25 recruiting class coming in with more skill players than he's had before.

I feel like I'll have a better handle on his ability to elevate this program to the level we want it to be in the next couple of seasons if he produce improved play with better incoming players and if he can follow up 2013's recruiting class with another top 25 and so forth leading to deep tournament runs. We should get to the point where the Cats are considered a final four / champion threat each year...think of Michigan State, every year nobody would be suprised if they ended up in the final four. The excited to be there phase has ended. Mick deserves the chance to build upon what he's done but it's not an open ended propostion.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Jeff, you constantly cite these grandiose win numbers. You have to discount the preseason patsies when you discuss wins. Cronin's old HS teams would beat most of those (save Presbyterian). How do you lose to Presbyterian? I know you're going to say everybody plays teams like that, but I'm not talking about them. All I'm talking about is inflation. What have we done post early season walkovers? A much more realistic picture of performance. I don't think making the NCAA is as big a deal as you make it. Sweet 16 - yes. So, since we're sitting out, go FGSU - gotta root for somebody

You can't discount those wins anymore than you can discount them for every other team that plays them. Do you also not consider a loss to a ranked team? That'd be fair too wouldn't it? That argument is just silly. I have said for years Mick Cronin gets more respect nationally than he does locally. It's a fact. You can decide for your self if you agree, but people within the profession and around college basketball think Mick has done a great job and that he doesn't get enough credit.

 

[Bearcat04]

You can't discount those wins anymore than you can discount them for every other team that plays them. Do you also not consider a loss to a ranked team? That'd be fair too wouldn't it? That argument is just silly. I have said for years Mick Cronin gets more respect nationally than he does locally. It's a fact. You can decide for your self if you agree, but people within the profession and around college basketball think Mick has done a great job and that he doesn't get enough credit.

Absolutely. That's because nationally they don't have an inflated view of the program. They get that we don't have the best basketball facilities, a giant budget like the top schools in the BE, and most importantly that we had to completely start over in the nation's toughest conference. We have fans that actually scoff at a Sweet 16 appearance, despite accomplishing that only once in the 16 years prior. Yes, last year's team matched the collective tournament success from 1997-2011. There's no guarantee the program would ever even get back to that point and nationally that is recognized. Just look at Wake Forest's program since Skip's untimely passing. If only the program was half as good as some fans think it is. You'd think Mick put a halt to an impressive streak of Final 4 appearances with some of the reactions.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Absolutely. That's because nationally they don't have an inflated view of the program. They get that we don't have the best basketball facilities, a giant budget like the top schools in the BE, and most importantly that we had to completely start over. We have fans that actually scoff at a Sweet 16 appearance, despite accomplishing that only once in the 16 years prior. Yes, last year's team matched the collective tournament success from 1997-2011. There's no guarantee the program would ever even get back to that point and nationally that is recognized. Just look at Wake Forest's program since Skip's untimely passing. If only the program was half as good as some fans think it is. You'd think Mick put a halt to an impressive streak of Final 4 appearances with some of the reactions.

People nationally don't have a clue what facilities UC has (which are pretty darn good) or what budget UC has....That said their class next year looks pretty good so hopefully UC/Cronin can build off of it.

 

[Bearcat04]

People nationally don't have a clue what facilities UC has (which are pretty darn good) or what budget UC has....That said their class next year looks pretty good so hopefully UC/Cronin can build off of it.

By nationally I mean people that cover college basketball, not just fans of the sport. They definitely know this information because you never hear UC even mentioned as one of the better jobs in the profession. 5/3 doesn't even compare to the NBA arenas that a lot of our competition calls home.