What now?

[waterhead]

With 3 losses and two OT wins and another by a single point I don't have a lot of confidence we are going to magically turn this up to 11 and become consistent winners. But I haven't tossed in the towel yet so here are some thoughts on some things we need to happen and you can add your own if you like.

Jarron has to play like Jarron can (obviously)....we aren't making the tourney without that unless we win the conference tourney. I don't know if it's injury or attitude or system or all 3 but something has to give.

We need Sorolla to help give Vogt a break. He's not able to be as aggressive on the D side as he needs to or going after rebounds. He can't run the floor 35 minutes. Probably needs to be high 20's.

Probably time for MAW to start and hope that McNeal is just going through some tough times and can still snap out of it and give us some valuable minutes. Right now he's barely playable but I don't think he's every really played this bad.

Our TO's have to get better quick

Our 2nd half D is likely suffering from early injuries and lack of quality depth so we need some quality depth. Sorolla coming back and MAW now playing well should help but we have to hold the fort down for the time being. We need McNeal, Davenport, Diara, and/or Harvey to step up. 1 or 2 of them are going to be needed at some point in a big way I am sure.

One week of rest should help. Brannen better have a damn good message that connects with everyone if we want to salvage a good year.

 

[sedziobs]

I'm not even close to throwing in the towel yet. Jarron has been a net negative for us so far. His ORtg is 90.4, which is terrible. Even if he just becomes an average player the team will improve.

For me, the things I'd like to see happen are:

More minutes from MAW and less from McNeal
Less shooting and dribbling from Scott
Run motion through Williams and Jaevin on the wings

The conference isn't all that bad, so we will have plenty of opportunities for quality wins.

I'm actually pretty excited to get Sorolla back. From the first couple games, I thought he was a really important piece in the motion offense. Having a center who can hit a back door pass from the top of the key is something we aren't used to. I think we undervalue passing when evaluating bigs.

 

[kskenyon4]

I would agree that the tournament will not be achieved unless these two things happen:

- Jarron returns to at least close to his junior year form
- One additional player really steps up - meaning doubling their effectiveness. Be it Davenport, Diarra, Sorrolla, Harvey.

 

[TheRealMick]

I think we need two additional players to step up. Its still early in season coach has find minutes for his bench.

 

[justinhub2003]

I think you absolutely have to win the next 3

Because if not, a bulk of our tier 1 opportunities will be coming on the road in conference.

And when we get in conference, I don’t think Brannen is going to be the smarter or more experienced guy in the room when he goes up against Houston, WSU, UConn.

We have to take advantage of neutral court and home game tier 1 opportunties.

 

[TheRealMick]

I think you absolutely have to win the next 3

Because if not, a bulk of our tier 1 opportunities will be coming on the road in conference.

And when we get in conference, I don’t think Brannen is going to be the smarter or more experienced guy in the room when he goes up against Houston, WSU, UConn.

We have to take advantage of neutral court and home game tier 1 opportunties.

We need to develop and gamble on winning conference tourny. Need get davenport and harvey up to par immediately.

 

[Loser Mentality]

Is the sky falling? I just don't get it. If this squad makes the NIT, I am a proud fan.

As fans we have to be honest and stick to real facts.

1. Mick stopped recruiting long term, after Gary Clark arrived. His bags were packed and he was just waiting on the right opportunity.

2. As fans how did we cling to a crew of unproven players and expect a Conference Championship or NCAA Berth? Even the guys that left what did we have waiting in the wings, besides guys buried on the bench.

3. Brannen is working with a "Hot Head" low confidence holdovers, and new guys he recruited trying to find their way.

4. If Mick would have stayed, who would have been our shooters.....I'll wait....Who would have been the steady big man.....Vogt is a more reliable scorer than Brooks and Scott combined. That's not a good thing.

5. Check back in 2-3 years instead of living by false goals for 2019-20

 

[justinhub2003]

Is the sky falling? I just don't get it. If this squad makes the NIT, I am a proud fan.

As fans we have to be honest and stick to real facts.

1. Mick stopped recruiting long term, after Gary Clark arrived. His bags were packed and he was just waiting on the right opportunity.

2. As fans how did we cling to a crew of unproven players and expect a Conference Championship or NCAA Berth? Even the guys that left what did we have waiting in the wings, besides guys buried on the bench.

3. Brannen is working with a "Hot Head" low confidence holdovers, and new guys he recruited trying to find their way.

4. If Mick would have stayed, who would have been our shooters.....I'll wait....Who would have been the steady big man.....Vogt is a more reliable scorer than Brooks and Scott combined. That's not a good thing.

5. Check back in 2-3 years instead of living by false goals for 2019-20

Mick was using his normal formula of one high level player per class.
He got Jacob Evans
He got Jarron
He got Keith Williams (who is the star of this team at the moment)
He got a 4 star pg in Logan Johnson
He got Samari Curtis who was a 4 star by some scouts


If he doesn’t leave: the only likely departure Is fredericks

Logan might have stayed, hard to say. He left for personal reasons but I’m a sure new coach didn’t help

So your talking about a lineup of:
Logan
Jarron
Keith
Tre
Nysier

With Diarra, Trevor, Curtis, Jaevin Cumberland, & Ellie

And yes I included Jaevin because the talks of him coming to cincinnati to play with Jarron literally had nothing to do with John Brannen. Brendal mentioned the smoke surrounding Jaevin coming long before mick left on the skinny podcast.

That above team makes the tourney and is In the top 25 all year.


So with that said, if that above team Is a tourney team and Is top 25, and what your saying is true that mick just gave up on getting players, then it instead validates him as a very high level coach to squeeze that kinda result out of the scrubs he recruited since Gary Clark.


Stop implying that mick left the cupboard bare. How many new coaches around the country got to say they returned their top 3 leading scorers?

Mick inherited a young shitty team at UCLA and they still lost their top 3 scorers, Aaron mckie lost his leading scorer., Travis Steele lost blueitt and macula,

CJB was given an incredible start to his tenure with Keith and Jarron and Tre. He literally has his prototypical player that he wants in Keith Williams and he didn’t even have to recruit him.



Like I get it, the sky isn’t falling yet. But it has taken the fun and excitement away from the basketball program a little bit.

But its also hard for me to hear you out on micks recruiting being an after thought, when in the early signing period we have 3 guys signed but only 1 has a few high major offers.

 

[justinhub2003]

I mean this team now only has 5 players left from Mick's tenure and we're going to blame the slow start on Mick? Only 4 of those guys play this year.

Brannen inherited a nearly full roster, and gutted it. And added his own guys. The team is made up of 7 guys that he signed and brought in.


And we're blaming Mick's recruiting?

This is his team through and through. Mick on the other hand didn't force a single guy out and is coaching 12 guys he literally never recruited or met until he was the coach. This is not the same thing brannen has.


There is plenty of time to turn this around. But it doesn't mean that we should feel peachy about the way the season has started and it certainly doesn't mean we should feel confident about the future.

Brannen is still searching for his first career top 50 win. I know I'lll feel a whole hell of a lot better if we beat Tennessee. I feel better about the resume, the future and the morale of the team. But its not wrong of fans to be a in a show me first attitude.

 

[Loser Mentality]

Mick was using his normal formula of one high level player per class.
He got Jacob Evans
He got Jarron
He got Keith Williams (who is the star of this team at the moment)
He got a 4 star pg in Logan Johnson
He got Samari Curtis who was a 4 star by some scouts


If he doesn’t leave: the only likely departure Is fredericks

Logan might have stayed, hard to say. He left for personal reasons but I’m a sure new coach didn’t help

So your talking about a lineup of:
Logan
Jarron
Keith
Tre
Nysier

With Diarra, Trevor, Curtis, Jaevin Cumberland, & Ellie

And yes I included Jaevin because the talks of him coming to cincinnati to play with Jarron literally had nothing to do with John Brannen. Brendal mentioned the smoke surrounding Jaevin coming long before mick left on the skinny podcast.

That above team makes the tourney and is In the top 25 all year.


So with that said, if that above team Is a tourney team and Is top 25, and what your saying is true that mick just gave up on getting players, then it instead validates him as a very high level coach to squeeze that kinda result out of the scrubs he recruited since Gary Clark.


Stop implying that mick left the cupboard bare. How many new coaches around the country got to say they returned their top 3 leading scorers?

Mick inherited a young shitty team at UCLA and they still lost their top 3 scorers, Aaron mckie lost his leading scorer., Travis Steele lost blueitt and macula,

CJB was given an incredible start to his tenure with Keith and Jarron and Tre. He literally has his prototypical player that he wants in Keith Williams and he didn’t even have to recruit him.



Like I get it, the sky isn’t falling yet. But it has taken the fun and excitement away from the basketball program a little bit.

But its also hard for me to hear you out on micks recruiting being an after thought, when in the early signing period we have 3 guys signed but only 1 has a few high major offers.

No offense but really? Logan, Curtis were unproven players. Jaevin would not be here. 1 shooter that was Cumberland and there was no guarantee he was coming back. No damn bench, bunch of never played players besides Ellie..get me a rebound lol.

Mick knew it, that's why he bolted, he didn't have enough players to throw under the bus for the upcoming season. But that's okay, we are starting somewhat fresh, so the growing pains are natural.

It's the Reds, Bengals, and UC Football losing to Memphis twice that keeps us down, because we could rely on UC Hoops until the NCAA tourney. Not this year. And FC bombed somewhat.

 

[sedziobs]

It's the Reds, Bengals, and UC Football losing to Memphis twice that keeps us down, because we could rely on UC Hoops until the NCAA tourney. Not this year. And FC bombed somewhat.

You guys are missing out on Bearcats volleyball. Their comeback upset win over Pitt to reach the sweet sixteen was really exciting. They have one of the best hitters in history.

 

[justinhub2003]

No offense but really? Logan, Curtis were unproven players. Jaevin would not be here. 1 shooter that was Cumberland and there was no guarantee he was coming back. No damn bench, bunch of never played players besides Ellie..get me a rebound lol.

Mick knew it, that's why he bolted, he didn't have enough players to throw under the bus for the upcoming season. But that's okay, we are starting somewhat fresh, so the growing pains are natural.

It's the Reds, Bengals, and UC Football losing to Memphis twice that keeps us down, because we could rely on UC Hoops until the NCAA tourney. Not this year. And FC bombed somewhat.

We were in preseason top 25's dude. If you think Mick left because he was scared of the challenges of a new season and a roster that only lost 2 players..... Uhhhh taking the UCLA job means you have belief in your self.


He bolted because his relationship was about as bad as it could be with his boss.

I mean you realize that last years team overachieved. We weren't supposed to be good. We had just lost Kyle, Jacob and Gary clark. But we took that team, led by a 5'11 PG that everyone hated for 3 years, and turned it around for a pretty damn good season.


And go back and listen to The Skinny podcast, it was in the season still and Chad brings up that... UC could add another Cumberland.


Add in that, Jaevin only committed here once he knew his cousin was returning. If Jarron leaves, Jaevin is likely at Michigan.



So you really think that Mick left because he thought he was going to miss the tourney with this years team? Yikes. Thats a bad take man. We have 9 years of evidence to show he did more with way less than this.

 

[Loser Mentality]

We were in preseason top 25's dude. If you think Mick left because he was scared of the challenges of a new season and a roster that only lost 2 players..... Uhhhh taking the UCLA job means you have belief in your self.


He bolted because his relationship was about as bad as it could be with his boss.

I mean you realize that last years team overachieved. We weren't supposed to be good. We had just lost Kyle, Jacob and Gary clark. But we took that team, led by a 5'11 PG that everyone hated for 3 years, and turned it around for a pretty damn good season.


And go back and listen to The Skinny podcast, it was in the season still and Chad brings up that... UC could add another Cumberland.


Add in that, Jaevin only committed here once he knew his cousin was returning. If Jarron leaves, Jaevin is likely at Michigan.



So you really think that Mick left because he thought he was going to miss the tourney with this years team? Yikes. Thats a bad take man. We have 9 years of evidence to show he did more with way less than this.

I'm not saying that. His relationship with his boss trickled down to recruiting, when it comes to replacing 4 year players like Gary. Losing Broome and Jenifer left a hole as well. PreSeason rankings are cute, but that's it. Cincinnati will always be the "What If" team. The AAC is getting better and better recruits to combat what UC once had. We are reloading with a new cast and outlook which is fresh. I can never take away what Mick accomplished, but he always could have done more when Recruiting was once his claim to fame. Never Forget.

 

[waterhead]

This thread was supposed to be about what THIS team THIS year and RIGHT now can do to change the course a little bit!! How can we improve and get this ship headed in a better direction?

It's not about Cronin vs brannen again. Good grief

 

[cincrulz11]

This thread was supposed to be about what THIS team THIS year and RIGHT now can do to change the course a little bit!!

Jarron gets healthy.



/thread

 

[Loser Mentality]

This thread was supposed to be about what THIS team THIS year and RIGHT now can do to change the course a little bit!! How can we improve and get this ship headed in a better direction?

It's not about Cronin vs brannen again. Good grief

LOL! Okay what's up with Zach Harvey? Is he Freshman Year Keith Williams 2.0? Get that young man on the floor. With the scoring droughts we go through, from what I've seen, he can get to the FT line. Is he still hurt?

That bench needs to average 30 pts a game period.

 

[cincrulz11]

LOL! Okay what's up with Zach Harvey? Is he Freshman Year Keith Williams 2.0? Get that young man on the floor. With the scoring droughts we go through, from what I've seen, he can get to the FT line. Is he still hurt?

That bench needs to average 30 pts a game period.

i think not playing for around a year, and then he was still wearing a protective boot when they weren't playing games and he's just rusty and not in form.


he's also pressing when he's out there. you can see he wants to impress but for freshman less is more a lot of the time. play within your game and let it come naturally. he's not doing that.

 

[justinhub2003]

This thread was supposed to be about what THIS team THIS year and RIGHT now can do to change the course a little bit!! How can we improve and get this ship headed in a better direction?

It's not about Cronin vs brannen again. Good grief

The ONLY reason the past was brought up was because it was used as an excuse.

I don’t want to talk about last years team either. But thought it was silly to blame our issues on micks recruiting when Keith willians is our leading scorer and Tre Scott our leading rebounder.

 

[justinhub2003]

I think we should give a shot at letting Jaevin, Jarron, Keith Tre and Vogt start.

Let MAW & McNeal come off the bench.

That said, if we do see Harvey continue to not get minutes, I would be concerned about him transferring. Brannen seems to always have roster turnover. So to me, it’s a delicate situation that hopefully Harvey sees the light at the end of the tunnel with a ton of playing time coming open:

 

[itsamemario]

Mick was using his normal formula of one high level player per class.
He got Jacob Evans
He got Jarron
He got Keith Williams (who is the star of this team at the moment)
He got a 4 star pg in Logan Johnson
He got Samari Curtis who was a 4 star by some scouts


If he doesn’t leave: the only likely departure Is fredericks

Logan might have stayed, hard to say. He left for personal reasons but I’m a sure new coach didn’t help

So your talking about a lineup of:
Logan
Jarron
Keith
Tre
Nysier

With Diarra, Trevor, Curtis, Jaevin Cumberland, & Ellie

And yes I included Jaevin because the talks of him coming to cincinnati to play with Jarron literally had nothing to do with John Brannen. Brendal mentioned the smoke surrounding Jaevin coming long before mick left on the skinny podcast.

That above team makes the tourney and is In the top 25 all year.


So with that said, if that above team Is a tourney team and Is top 25, and what your saying is true that mick just gave up on getting players, then it instead validates him as a very high level coach to squeeze that kinda result out of the scrubs he recruited since Gary Clark.


Stop implying that mick left the cupboard bare. How many new coaches around the country got to say they returned their top 3 leading scorers?

Mick inherited a young shitty team at UCLA and they still lost their top 3 scorers, Aaron mckie lost his leading scorer., Travis Steele lost blueitt and macula,

CJB was given an incredible start to his tenure with Keith and Jarron and Tre. He literally has his prototypical player that he wants in Keith Williams and he didn’t even have to recruit him.



Like I get it, the sky isn’t falling yet. But it has taken the fun and excitement away from the basketball program a little bit.

But its also hard for me to hear you out on micks recruiting being an after thought, when in the early signing period we have 3 guys signed but only 1 has a few high major offers.

0.00000 % chance Jaevin came here with Mick here. Never would have happened. Never ever ever ever ever