UC vs Providence game thread

[UCalum08]

Who does though? Other teams that are right in that mix aren't setting the world on fire either... Butler, Minnesota. Creighton, New Mexico...

A bad loss doesn't ruin the season.

It hurts when you have to play a hot Pitt team who will want to crush us, a very good G'town team, and a tough Villanova team. Oh wait it doesn't stop there, then we have to play games at ND, UL, UCONN, and play UCONN again at home. I see all those games going either way, depending on what UC team shows up.

 

[JackBauer151]

They don't look like a 4 seed at all but its irrelevant at this stage.

It doesnt matter what you look like. It matters what you are. Right now they are 18-5. A lot of much bigger games ahead. It hasnt been a pretty season but they are still winning at a high clip. Their biggest loss is by 6 pts. It was a shitty game but I can never understand how some people can completely lose their shit. These games happen to every team. Win vs Pitt and tonight is a distant memory.

 

[UCalum08]

the last few min was just mistake after mistake...and it's by upper classmen not the youngsters.

3 amigos lost that game for us. 3-9 ft's from Parker, unacceptable. Watching SK dribble is scary, and watching Cash dribble for 20 seconds and not go anywhere is somewhat impressive. I didn't think you could dribble that much and not do anything.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I can't say I'm too upset because this loss doesn't surprise me at all. When a number of were complaining about the offense when they were winning, well, this is why. You simply cannot expect to win consistently when you have an offense that is this putrid.

Mick needs to figure it out. I honestly have no idea what he is trying to do with this team offensively. When they were mounting their run he calls two time outs. WTF? Why kill your momentum. Then after a timeout he is so predictable we might as well call him Bratkowski. Seriously, the only thing you can draw up is a hand off to SK outside of the 3 point line? Just no clue what he is trying to do and he better be taking more blame for this offense. No one out there looks like they know what to do because there is zero structure to the offense.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that the flopping has got to stop and it cost them a chance at the game tonight. SK didn't even come close to getting fouled. Parker flops every time he gets touched instead of going strong. That isn't the Bearcat way. Problem is Mick should have put a halt to this a long time ago and he hasn't.

This team has three veterans and none of them have been playing like it. Cash has no desire to play with any aggression until the last minutes of games. I have no idea why they bother to set a pick for him because he doesn't even attempt to use it. Ten seconds left in the game and you dribble over to the corner to hand the ball off?

I understand it was just one loss and they will make it to the tourny but these games are brutal to watch and it isn't good basketball. I don't see any way this team gets out of the first weekend in the tournament. Offenses rarely ever just start clicking.

 

[UCalum08]

It doesnt matter what you look like. It matters what you are. Right now they are 18-5. A lot of much bigger games ahead. It hasnt been a pretty season but they are still winning at a high clip. Their biggest loss is by 6 pts. It was a shitty game but I can never understand how some people can completely lose their shit. These games happen to every team. Win at Pitt and tonight is a distant memory.

Take a look at our remaining schedule...you can not feel confident in majority of those games.

 

[JackBauer151]

Its the Big East no one feels confident about any game. Its why this league is so awesome.

 

[UCalum08]

Well, I am over this game and I will be at the Pitt game for better or for worse. If anyone heard the postgame could you please share?!

 

[bearcatty]

Bad losses are bad losses. St Johns at home and now this game. Who can score on this team. Rubles, Thomas, Modj, Jackson, Sanders, David, Gaines, Guyn?

How many jumpers from the foul line do we take? I can't remeber the last one we attempted. We get the ball in the lane and dont even look for a shot.

 

[Hicks' Guns]

Really not hard to see why we lost this one:

-Poor FT shooting
-Too many turnovers
-Several dumb mistakes
-Neither SK or Cash could get open shots
-Given that SK and Cash got no open shots, somebody else needed to step up. Park tried his ass off and Shaq had a couple nice ones but they weren't enough. TRub, Mbodj, Sanders...invisible.

Listen 3-9 FTs is unacceptable but JPark was really carrying the team there for awhile and no one else was.

This was freaking ugly. It's upsetting and I have no idea why Mick didn't use our last time out after we crossed half court on that last position.

Like Long Haul said...not a surprise this was coming but the taste left is brutal. Gotta bounce back hard. Unfortunately, the schedule gets rough real quick here.

 

[BearcatMick]

Well be fine. Relax. We are 18-5.

 

[UCalum08]

Really not hard to see why we lost this one:

-Poor FT shooting
-Too many turnovers
-Several dumb mistakes
-Neither SK or Cash could get open shots
-Given that SK and Cash got no open shots, somebody else needed to step up. Park tried his ass off and Shaq had a couple nice ones but they weren't enough. TRub, Mbodj, Sanders...invisible.

Listen 3-9 FTs is unacceptable but JPark was really carrying the team there for awhile and no one else was.

This was freaking ugly. It's upsetting and I have no idea why Mick didn't use our last time out after we crossed half court on that last position.

Like Long Haul said...not a surprise this was coming but the taste left is brutal. Gotta bounce back hard. Unfortunately, the schedule gets rough real quick here.

Love and agree with everything you said here except Parker. I agree he played his arse off but when you can't finish around the rim and just draw fouls....and can't make your ft's, you are a walking turnover and that's what he was tonight. I think it bothers me so much because he is a senior guard who is hardly a 50% ft shooter. Don't get fouled if you can make your ft's.

 

[bearcat4life]

its very disappointing to see it take a 13 point deficit with 8 mins to go to finally see the guys finally start to play with just a little sense of urgency. if we play like we did in the last 8 minutes for 40 minutes, we beat them by 20. I HATE when Cronin gets mad at wright and mbodj for turning it over when it is completely his fault that we cant run an offense. he called timeout, then we didn't even get a shot up the next possession. Cronin's subs also don't make sense to me. sanders shaq should play a lot more than sanders but he doesn't. two positives from the game would be shaq giving us a spark we needed and parker really being the glue guy that he is by playing with the ankle and grabbing 10 boards. I know he didn't make his free throws, but I will never question his effort or desire to win. everytime we needed a stop in the last 3 minutes we couldn't get it, and when we did, we allowed an offensive rebound (mbodj). also, sk needs to make the 4 foot leaner to tie the game. he made a great move, but needs to finish. shaq would've really really really played well if he could have made that last little layup to tie it. I don't know why Cronin does not call timeout after we get that rebound with 10 secs to go. the only two people that looked and played like they wanted to be there every second they were in was shaq and parker. bummer to see us hold cotton to 9 pts, but let batts score 25. if we want a top 4 seed in the BE and NCAA tourney, pitt is a must win. hopefully, this is a lesson learned for us, but it shouldn't have taken all these piss poor starts to wake us up.

 

[Scheids21]

The sky is falling ... on to the next one. No doubt this game was brutal. Most people predicted us winning 23-25 games in the regular season. Why are people panicking that we are on pace for what we expected? This has never been a top 5 team. Accept them for what they are and have always been. I expect them to end up a 4 or 5 seed (just as we thought before the season). Relax...yes this team struggles to score and therefore is prone to upsets; however, their defense will keep them in every game. This team will be a brutal out in the tournament because of that. I know this game was horrible, but this team is still in a good position so quit tearing them down when they struggle or you can't celebrate when they succeed.

 

[bearcat4life]

its going to suck when we are a 5 and draw north Carolina/Kentucky first round

 

[UCalum08]

its going to suck when we are a 5 and draw north Carolina/Kentucky first round

UC will get what they deserve.

 

[TheLongHaul]

The sky is falling ... on to the next one. No doubt this game was brutal. Most people predicted us winning 23-25 games in the regular season. Why are people panicking that we are on pace for what we expected? This has never been a top 5 team. Accept them for what they are and have always been. I expect them to end up a 4 or 5 seed (just as we thought before the season). Relax...yes this team struggles to score and therefore is prone to upsets; however, their defense will keep them in every game. This team will be a brutal out in the tournament because of that. I know this game was horrible, but this team is still in a good position so quit tearing them down when they struggle or you can't celebrate when they succeed.

On pace for what who expected? I have to admit I didn't expect them to be great this year but I did expect Cash and SK to be much better. That being said I'm pretty sure I can go back and see tons of people here saying this team has final four potential and is the least respected team in the country. I don't think this team has final four potential. As for the respect, you don't get it when you lose to teams like Providence and SJU. Need to earn it. I'd probably say this is where I expected them record wise but I really thought, even though I was extremely skeptical, that this offense would be better. Really isn't any excuse that it's not.

 

[bearcat4life]

I would like to give props for Mick and some of the other players such as Parker for faking me out in the pre game interviews they did yesterday. They said they were focused and paying attention to small details that will win them games. What a joke. Parker 3-9 free throws can go eff himself. Mick's teams constantly play to their competition. The 3 "leaders" on this team let everyone down tonight.

you cannot possibly say parker let us down tonight. he had 12 pts and 10, count them, 10 rebounds, 4 offensive. he is guy that gets everything and then some out of his talent. works his ass off and he is by far the toughest guy on the team. sk and wright are the ones with the most talent, so you should place the blame on them for not giving it everything they had. I know parkers free throw shooting was horrific, but so was wrights defense on cotton, and sk's 3 pt shooting and turnover at the end. the only reason we had a chance to win that game was parker and shaq

 

[ervins84]

Love and agree with everything you said here except Parker. I agree he played his arse off but when you can't finish around the rim and just draw fouls....and can't make yourour ft's, you are a walking turnover and that's what he was tonight. I think it bothers me so much because he is a senior guard who is hardly a 50% ft shooter. Don't get fouled if you can make your ft's.

Parker was the only reason they weren't down 23 when UC went on their run. The guy had 10 rebounds, including who knows how many that were offensive rebounds. He also had 12 points on 4/7 shooting from the floor. I'll gladly take that production from our 3rd scorer even if it includes a 3-9 ft game.

And stop with the hyperbole about their seeding. Pending on finish, they could go anywhere from a 2 seed to a 10 seed. Most likely they'll probably be right around a 4,5 or 6 seed.

The biggest concern with this team right now isn't the offense. Someone said it earlier itt, but the biggest worry is whether Cash is actually healthy. I don't think he had a game all year with an Offensive Rating below 100 before the injury, and tonight was his 3rd out of 4 below 100 post injury.

 

[UCalum08]

you cannot possibly say parker let us down tonight. he had 12 pts and 10, count them, 10 rebounds, 4 offensive. he is guy that gets everything and then some out of his talent. works his ass off and he is by far the toughest guy on the team. sk and wright are the ones with the most talent, so you should place the blame on them for not giving it everything they had. I know parkers free throw shooting was horrific, but so was wrights defense on cotton, and sk's 3 pt shooting and turnover at the end. the only reason we had a chance to win that game was parker and shaq

I agree but I will not give a senior guard who went 3-9 from ft's a pass because he hustled the way he is suppose to when he steps on the court. But I will admit the play of cash and sk is very disappointing. It stings anyway you look at it.

 

[bearcat4life]

Who does though? Other teams that are right in that mix aren't setting the world on fire either... Butler, Minnesota. Creighton, New Mexico...

A bad loss doesn't ruin the season.

that's true that one bad loss does not ruin a season, but this is not the first time we have played like this. it is a constant struggle every game for us to score more than 60, specifically, more than 25 in the 1st half. if we continue to start and finish halves the way we do, we will be one and done in the tourney.