Next year's scholarship situation

[mdchick]

Jeff, while I like JJ's energy I really hope he is not a key component for the team next year. Really don't see where his game is going to take a big step this off season when it hasn't in 3 years previously. His ball skills need alot of work. He does give you a flash now and then but his inconsistencies and turnovers drive me crazy. He is also foul prone. Hope he is subbing and adding depth but not gettting major minutes. If he is being counted on for anything more than that we are in trouble.

Ya I gotta disagree with you here, everyone sees basketball player as people who can put the ball in the basket and that's it, Jackson does all the little things that help the team win, I can see him playing 30 mins per game next year, I guarantee he plays atleast 25 mins per game. He definitely needs to commit to driving into the lane and absolutely no shots over 10 feet from the basket, but he will be one of our BEST players next year, I have always loved JJ.

 

[L-T]

Jeff, while I like JJ's energy I really hope he is not a key component for the team next year. Really don't see where his game is going to take a big step this off season when it hasn't in 3 years previously. His ball skills need alot of work. He does give you a flash now and then but his inconsistencies and turnovers drive me crazy. He is also foul prone. Hope he is subbing and adding depth but not gettting major minutes. If he is being counted on for anything more than that we are in trouble.

Let's don't give up on JJ yet. I don't think he's as far away from being good as you think. This year he was pretty disappointing, but I've seen many amazing transformations in one season thru my many years supporting the program. Sometimes the light goes on, or a good start to the season gives the player renewed confidence and the momentum starts to build. He can still be very good next year....and the experience he's gained over the last three years is invaluable. I think we'll see him have a very good senior season.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

MDchick and L-T, would love for JJ to step up and be the player you guys hope he becomes. Don't see it happening. Bad ball skills,turnovers and silly fouls are things we should have seen diminish already. If he is a key ingredient we are in trouble. Kirkland, Lawrence and Rubles will get the lions share of PT at 4 and 5. JJ will see minutes but as a sub. The wings will be divided between JDIII,SK,Thomas,Sanders. It also wouldn't surprise me to see us go small with 3 of those four getting the majority of minutes. The PG will be run by the best man betwen new guys and Guyn.

 

[JasonS]

MDchick and L-T, would love for JJ to step up and be the player you guys hope he becomes. Don't see it happening. Bad ball skills,turnovers and silly fouls are things we should have seen diminish already. If he is a key ingredient we are in trouble. Kirkland, Lawrence and Rubles will get the lions share of PT at 4 and 5. JJ will see minutes but as a sub. The wings will be divided between JDIII,SK,Thomas,Sanders. It also wouldn't surprise me to see us go small with 3 of those four getting the majority of minutes. The PG will be run by the best man betwen new guys and Guyn.

First off, I think you mean Strickland. Kirkland left UC many years ago. Second, if you think Strickland will take most of the minutes at the 5 next year, you are sorely mistaken. If I am wrong, then that means he is REALLY good as a freshman and you can pencil this team in the Final Four already. I think he'll be a nice addition but there will be a learning curve. JJ will play significant minutes next year and a good majority of those will be at the 5. They have a pretty stringent program in place for JJ this offseason and as long as he puts in the effort and work on his end, I expect to see a good improvement from him next season.

 

[L-T]

First off, I think you mean Strickland. Kirkland left UC many years ago. Second, if you think Strickland will take most of the minutes at the 5 next year, you are sorely mistaken. If I am wrong, then that means he is REALLY good as a freshman and you can pencil this team in the Final Four already. I think he'll be a nice addition but there will be a learning curve. JJ will play significant minutes next year and a good majority of those will be at the 5. They have a pretty stringent program in place for JJ this offseason and as long as he puts in the effort and work on his end, I expect to see a good improvement from him next season.

Agreed Jason. I don't look for Strickland to be a huge factor. I hope he is, but I don't expect it. He just didn't have enough playing time in high school to suddenly come in and be an immediate impact player in college. We have to trust Mick to work some magic on JJ and make him the kind of player we thought we were going to see this year. I love the motor on this guy, but the skills need to develop.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Jason and L_T, if you are expecting big Minutes out of JJ as well as productive minutes we are in trouble. Would love to see him elevate his game but I have 3 years of watching that says that ain't happening. He is a role player who gives you good energy but often times he negates his good play with a bad play. This after three years in the program and the worst part is he has gotten playing time in all three years. Should have seen some improvement. Thanks for correcting me Jason. Strickland will need to hit the ground running. Don't want to overburden him but he will need to produce or at least develope and learn for the following year.. Asking a lot of a freshmen but I don't hold out much hope for next years squad. No proven PG and no post player except freshmen. Next year will be a learning year. Hope I'm wrong but I don't think so.

 

[JasonS]

Jason and L_T, if you are expecting big Minutes out of JJ as well as productive minutes we are in trouble. Would love to see him elevate his game but I have 3 years of watching that says that ain't happening. He is a role player who gives you good energy but often times he negates his good play with a bad play. This after three years in the program and the worst part is he has gotten playing time in all three years. Should have seen some improvement. Thanks for correcting me Jason. Strickland will need to hit the ground running. Don't want to overburden him but he will need to produce or at least develope and learn for the following year.. Asking a lot of a freshmen but I don't hold out much hope for next years squad. No proven PG and no post player except freshmen. Next year will be a learning year. Hope I'm wrong but I don't think so.

We have vastly different views of next year's team.

 

[Bearcat22]

Jason and L_T, if you are expecting big Minutes out of JJ as well as productive minutes we are in trouble. Would love to see him elevate his game but I have 3 years of watching that says that ain't happening. He is a role player who gives you good energy but often times he negates his good play with a bad play. This after three years in the program and the worst part is he has gotten playing time in all three years. Should have seen some improvement. Thanks for correcting me Jason. Strickland will need to hit the ground running. Don't want to overburden him but he will need to produce or at least develope and learn for the following year.. Asking a lot of a freshmen but I don't hold out much hope for next years squad. No proven PG and no post player except freshmen. Next year will be a learning year. Hope I'm wrong but I don't think so.

I think you make a really good point. A potential gauge for next year is the amount we depend on JJ. It's going well if he's an off the bench role player and could be a struggle if he's counted on for heavy minutes and production.

 

[All we do is Guyn]

Went to the year end banquet tonight at Montgomery Inn, was very good. Cronin talked about every player on the team and took shots at many of them, including saying JDIII's hair looked like his daughter's bike helmet, and that Cheikh was always in foul trouble b/c players blew by JJ and SK.

Said SK is staying, that SK values a college degree, loves Cincy and wants to be a role model for his daughter. SK will be captain next year

Said JJ is on the Eric Hicks plan. He wants to get him to 230, he is currently at 215, up 8 lb's from season's end. He also wants a bball transformation like Kenyon had from his Jr. to Sr. year. No social life for JJ. All work this offseason.

Sanders was runner up for most improved player, SK won

Big Dave going to contribute next year. Didn't have any coaching at Mtn. State at all, making strides on court and weight room

Titus told MC today that he wants to have a big Sr. year. Motivated to work hard

Gaines has graduated in 3 yrs and having surgery on his shoulder Friday. Mick mentioned how every player would help us next year except for Gaines. That coupled with the above mentioned make me think he may not be back.

Finally someone posts something actually relevant to the thread but everyone is too busy arguing about the technicalities of weight gain. I'm probably the youngest poster here and I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of babies arguing for the sake of arguing most of the time.

Anyways, everything is pointing at the fact that Gaines will leave. I'm glad it's someone that got their degree at least. Which means JJ will play the 5 sometimes, which shouldn't surprise anyone since he played there in the post season.

/thread

 

[L-T]

Finally someone posts something actually relevant to the thread but everyone is too busy arguing about the technicalities of weight gain. I'm probably the youngest poster here and I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of babies arguing for the sake of arguing most of the time.

Anyways, everything is pointing at the fact that Gaines will leave. I'm glad it's someone that got their degree at least. Which means JJ will play the 5 sometimes, which shouldn't surprise anyone since he played there in the post season.

/thread

Ouch....is this a personal attack on multiple posters...including at least one moderator? Possible banning for this attack? J/K J/K I agree, the 20 lbs. of muscle issue seemed to take on a life of its own. Hopefully, that issue is dead....with absolutely no resolution. It ended in a stalemate!

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Went to the year end banquet tonight at Montgomery Inn, was very good. Cronin talked about every player on the team and took shots at many of them, including saying JDIII's hair looked like his daughter's bike helmet, and that Cheikh was always in foul trouble b/c players blew by JJ and SK.

Said SK is staying, that SK values a college degree, loves Cincy and wants to be a role model for his daughter. SK will be captain next year

Said JJ is on the Eric Hicks plan. He wants to get him to 230, he is currently at 215, up 8 lb's from season's end. He also wants a bball transformation like Kenyon had from his Jr. to Sr. year. No social life for JJ. All work this offseason.

Sanders was runner up for most improved player, SK won

Big Dave going to contribute next year. Didn't have any coaching at Mtn. State at all, making strides on court and weight room

Titus told MC today that he wants to have a big Sr. year. Motivated to work hard

Gaines has graduated in 3 yrs and having surgery on his shoulder Friday. Mick mentioned how every player would help us next year except for Gaines. That coupled with the above mentioned make me think he may not be back.

Thanks for the recap Patrick. I didn't know that Gaines already graduated in just three years. First, that is quite an accomplishment...especially as an athlete. Second, it would likely mean that he can move on with his degree and use the graduate rule to get 2 years of immediate eligibility at a school at a slightly lower level (like C-USA or MAC). Makes more sense for him to move on, than Dave who would have just 1 year left.

I am excited to see the improvement Rubles makes, I think he is the most natural gifted player on the team. I keep waiting for Jackson to get better and it just isn't happening. I thought he would make a big leap from FR to SO year, and then from SO to JR but it never happened. I feel like he just needs to avoid foul trouble and he will be a positive contributor, after his freshman year I thought he'd be a 12 and 8 type of player...at this point I'll just take positive contributions.

 

[mdchick]

I guess it's just agree to disagree, I really see Jackson being a big contributor for our team, He and Rubles will be nice to have down low together, they might not be the biggest, But I would have to think they will be the FASTER POWER FORWARD/CENTER combo IN THE NCAA. They can get away with playing the 4/5 when Shaq and Lawrence play the 3 which will be for most of the game, so to me that is the only possible combination at the 4/5.

1.Anyone
2.SK
3.Shaq/Lawrence
4.Rubles
5.JJ

Shaq and Lawrence will also get time at the 4 because shaq already got time at the 4 this year and Lawrence I just know will get time at the 4

 

[L-T]

I think you make a really good point. A potential gauge for next year is the amount we depend on JJ. It's going well if he's an off the bench role player and could be a struggle if he's counted on for heavy minutes and production.

lol....completely disagree. It will be going well if our 3-year seasoned veteren develops and plays to the potential that his size and athleticiam dictates. If he's an off the bench role player, then we'd be depending possibly on an unrated freshman with very little high school experience, which to me says we're playing for the future and sacrificing next season.

This program cannot afford a worst season next year than we had this year. The decision that Mick has on these scholarships and who he wants to pin the team's fortunes on is a critical one. If I were him, I'd be doing every thing I could to get my senior-to-be ready to produce big.

 

[mdchick]

lol....completely disagree. It will be going well if our 3-year seasoned veteren develops and plays to the potential that his size and athleticiam dictates. If he's an off the bench role player, then we'd be depending possibly on an unrated freshman with very little high school experience, which to me says we're playing for the future and sacrificing next season.

This program cannot afford a worst season next year than we had this year. The decision that Mick has on these scholarships and who he wants to pin the team's fortunes on is a critical one. If I were him, I'd be doing every thing I could to get my senior-to-be ready to produce big.

100% agree

 

[Bearcat22]

lol....completely disagree. It will be going well if our 3-year seasoned veteren develops and plays to the potential that his size and athleticiam dictates. If he's an off the bench role player, then we'd be depending possibly on an unrated freshman with very little high school experience, which to me says we're playing for the future and sacrificing next season.

This program cannot afford a worst season next year than we had this year. The decision that Mick has on these scholarships and who he wants to pin the team's fortunes on is a critical one. If I were him, I'd be doing every thing I could to get my senior-to-be ready to produce big.

I think we're looking at this from different angles and most likely our view of Jackson's ceiling is different. Nothing thus far has shown he's going to play to that potential you referenced. It's been mentioned already that his off-season work ethic has been a concern. Am I crazy in having doubts he'll be much more improved? If he's our best low post option than I think it will be a difficult season. If Strickland comes in and shows the offensive skill that has been suggested that he has (Mick told him he's coming here to score) than I could see him getting big minutes. I want the best guy for the team to play and would be worried if Jackson represents that. I like his intensity but see him more as a first or second guy off the bench backing up the 4 or 5. Strickland's challenge will be adjusting to college defense. I really think by the end of the year he will be the starter.

You mentioned that Mick should be doing everything he can to get Jackson ready for next year. There also needs to be some personal accountablity and Jackson needs to be doing everything he can to get himself ready.

It's a good debate and reasonable minds can differ.

 

[mdchick]

Jackson is going to contribute and start and play the majority of the 5 its just a fact.

However I can see our offense next year everyone being timid to score because they think they need to give SK the ball, saw it a lot this year with rubles, JJ, Sanders, all of those kids who look for SK to score instead of look to score themselves make our offense worse, if anything JJ just needs to be more confident offensively and attack the basket and not look to pass so much, because he is a liability when he isn't looking to score offensively(I agree with all of you there) but it's his senior year and he should be confident so I see him at least 9 PPG this year.

 

[L-T]

I think we're looking at this from different angles and most likely our view of Jackson's ceiling is different. Nothing thus far has shown he's going to play to that potential you referenced. It's been mentioned already that his off-season work ethic has been a concern. Am I crazy in having doubts he'll be much more improved? If he's our best low post option than I think it will be a difficult season. If Strickland comes in and shows the offensive skill that has been suggested that he has (Mick told him he's coming here to score) than I could see him getting big minutes. I want the best guy for the team to play and would be worried if Jackson represents that. I like his intensity but see him more as a first or second guy off the bench backing up the 4 or 5. Strickland's challenge will be adjusting to college defense. I really think by the end of the year he will be the starter.

You mentioned that Mick should be doing everything he can to get Jackson ready for next year. There also needs to be some personal accountablity and Jackson needs to be doing everything he can to get himself ready.

It's a good debate and reasonable minds can differ.

Absolutely! I just feel experience is golden. When you have it, that is always your best option. Until JJ proves he can't do it, he's the man. Strickland is a bonus. If he contributes...great! But, let's get all we can out of JJ, because we've seen flashes of brilliance mixed in with huge inconsistency. Plus, I expect another down year offensively, and defense will be critical once again. We know JJ is dependable and potentially amazing defensively....especially as a shot blocker.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

lol....completely disagree. It will be going well if our 3-year seasoned veteren develops and plays to the potential that his size and athleticiam dictates. If he's an off the bench role player, then we'd be depending possibly on an unrated freshman with very little high school experience, which to me says we're playing for the future and sacrificing next season.

This program cannot afford a worst season next year than we had this year. The decision that Mick has on these scholarships and who he wants to pin the team's fortunes on is a critical one. If I were him, I'd be doing every thing I could to get my senior-to-be ready to produce big.

mick isn't a miracle worker. JJ is not now or ever will be a big contributor. Expecting otherwise with what he has shown to this point is not practical.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Absolutely! I just feel experience is golden. When you have it, that is always your best option. Until JJ proves he can't do it, he's the man. Strickland is a bonus. If he contributes...great! But, let's get all we can out of JJ, because we've seen flashes of brilliance mixed in with huge inconsistency. Plus, I expect another down year offensively, and defense will be critical once again. We know JJ is dependable and potentially amazing defensively....especially as a shot blocker.

Just what has JJ proven??? JJ is not a low post defender.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Absolutely! I just feel experience is golden. When you have it, that is always your best option. Until JJ proves he can't do it, he's the man. Strickland is a bonus. If he contributes...great! But, let's get all we can out of JJ, because we've seen flashes of brilliance mixed in with huge inconsistency. Plus, I expect another down year offensively, and defense will be critical once again. We know JJ is dependable and potentially amazing defensively....especially as a shot blocker.

never hurts to have physical ability and natural talent to go along with experience. What has JJ done with his 3 years of experience?