What's it going to take?

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UCBearcats

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Everyone who reads my posts knows that I'm not a big supporter of Mick Cronin, I think he's an average coach at best. Regardless of what I think and debating the merits of his coaching ability back and forth I pose a different question......What's it going to take for us to elevate UC sports back to a level where we can realistically compete for championships?

Mick Cronin most likely isn't going to get fired as UC's coach and Tommy T most likely isn't going anywhere as football coach. Our administration and a large chunk of our fans seem to be okay with mediocrity. We just got the football renovation and the 5/3rd renovation is coming. In the 10 years Mick has been here we play 60% of our home games to a mostly empty arena but that doesn't seem to matter. As much as we all like to complain we have a pretty solid foundation with our fan base. There are lot of fans, myself included, who will attend games and support athletics no matter what the results. If you want to appeal to the masses you've got to win and win at the highest level. UC Football did it for a stretch and the people came like never before. Mick has yet to galvanize the entire fan base in his 10 years here and I don't see that changing any time soon.

UC Sports as a whole seem to be circling the drain right now. Football is regressing, Basketball is flat (while our entire roster is regressing) and we're stuck in the AAC with no foreseeable way out.

Assuming that nothing changes, we keep the same AD and head coaches we have today, what needs to happen to get us back to a level where we can compete for championships, sell tickets at a high level and pressure the Power 5 into having no choice but to take us in next time there's an expansion?
 
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UCBearcats said:
Everyone who reads my posts knows that I'm not a big supporter of Mick Cronin, I think he's an average coach at best. Regardless of what I think and debating the merits of his coaching ability back and forth I pose a different question......What's it going to take for us to elevate UC sports back to a level where we can realistically compete for championships?

Mick Cronin most likely isn't going to get fired as UC's coach and Tommy T most likely isn't going anywhere as football coach. Our administration and a large chunk of our fans seem to be okay with mediocrity. We just got the football renovation and the 5/3rd renovation is coming. In the 10 years Mick has been here we play 60% of our home games to a mostly empty arena but that doesn't seem to matter. As much as we all like to complain we have a pretty solid foundation with our fan base. There are lot of fans, myself included, who will attend games and support athletics no matter what the results. If you want to appeal to the masses you've got to win and win at the highest level. UC Football did it for a stretch and the people came like never before. Mick has yet to galvanize the entire fan base in his 10 years here and I don't see that changing any time soon.

UC Sports as a whole seem to be circling the drain right now. Football is regressing, Basketball is flat (while our entire roster is regressing) and we're stuck in the AAC with no foreseeable way out.

Assuming that nothing changes, we keep the same AD and head coaches we have today, what needs to happen to get us back to a level where we can compete for championships, sell tickets at a high level and pressure the Power 5 into having no choice but to take us in next time there's an expansion?
Click to expand...

It takes a dynamic coach to come in and change the culture....period! None of us knew who Bob Huggins was. He was a very good low to mid major coach who was unknown nationally. He comes in to that first press conference and announces that his goal was to win championships and hang banners. I remember just chuckling at his bravado and laughing at his foolishness. After all, he was talking about a program that had been swirling in the toilet bowl for 10 years. Then, he knocks off Big 10 power Minnesota in his first game, and takes us to the Final 4 in his 3rd year. Simply amazing, and the program was off and running. We won a lot of championships, but unfortunately the big one avoided Huggs for a variety of reasons. The right coach can come in here and easily elevate this storied program, and it can be someone as unknown as Huggs, or Shaka Smart, or Brad Stevens were, or it can be a great assistant at a top program now, or even an established coach. They're all out there waiting for a great opportunity to arise. The #10 highest paid coach in college basketball makes less than $3 Million. Our program pays $2.2 to $2.3 Million, so we're not very far from being as high as #10 in head coaching salary. That kind of money will attract a lot of interest, and our tradition will certainly attract the interest. It's the only way, outside of just pure luck turning things around.
 
This is UC best team in 10 yrs... once they figure it out they will be fine and a very tough out in the tourney...

This team is 3 posessions away from being a top 10 team. It's crazy the things that have gone wrong.

As for the team. More deberry. More evans. Less ellis and less shaq. Also, Gary needs to touch the ball 80 percent of the offesnive posessions. He needs to be the focal point. Surrounded by shooters such as Cobb and troy.

As for the program. The renovations are key. A big 12 big. And a deep tourney run.
 
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Did Shaq graduate and transfer? I didn't see him in game or actively supporting teammates on bench.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
This is UC best team in 10 yrs... once they figure it out they will be fine and a very tough out in the tourney...

This team is 3 posessions away from being a top 10 team. It's crazy the things that have gone wrong.

As for the team. More deberry. More evans. Less ellis and less shaq. Also, Gary needs to touch the ball 80 percent of the offesnive posessions. He needs to be the focal point. Surrounded by shooters such as Cobb and troy.

As for the program. The renovations are key. A big 12 big. And a deep tourney run.
Click to expand...

I agree that renovations are key but all renovations are is just a band aid. We saw the city build two new pro stadiums and it didn't lead to sell outs. Nippert renovations lead to higher football attendance last season but does anyone realistically think that we're going to have great attendance next season if we go 7-6 again? A renovated 5/3rd will no doubt lead to a season of increased ticket sales and long term generate more revenue with upgraded and more costly luxury boxes but it's not a permanent fix. If you open a new arena to a team that is outside of the Top 25 looking in and scratching just to get into the NCAA's people aren't going to come for long.
 
This team is 3 possessions away from being talked ab as a phenomenal season. Looking at a 2 to 3 seed.

Haven't finished... if we learn to, look out.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
This team is 3 possessions away from being talked ab as a phenomenal season. Looking at a 2 to 3 seed.

Haven't finished... if we learn to, look out.
Click to expand...

The other teams are continuing to work on finishing better too. If you're behind a car driving 70 mph, and you're driving 70 mph, you'll never overtake him. The guy in front looks in the mirror and says, "This guy is on my ass. I better speed up." If he's driving a Porshe, and you're driving a Focus, his potential to speed up and improve is far greater than yours. You may improve and figure it out, but if he starts with more talent than you, and keeps working as hard as you, you're still not going to catch him. If you're driving the Porshe and he's driving the Focus, you might figure things out and pass him by. In watching these games, even though we got close, I never felt like we were driving the Porshe.
 
This team consistently panics down the stretch of games. IMO it is up to your coach to USE TIMEOUTS WISELY to calm down your players and get key baskets in key situations. Like for instance when you are down 1, have a timeout with 20 seconds left and force a layup with 15secs (or whatever it was). You have to use your timeout there and take the last shot. That was one of the most disappointing losses of the year so far, we gave that one away. Saying that i do think this is the most talented team cronin has had but i also think this is the dumbest.
 
I don't think it's our most talented team. It's just the one that's best at offense.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
Less shaq more evans. What else do you want to see?

I think deberry deserves more minutes than ellis
Click to expand...

Those 2 usually work themselves out. Whichever one isn't in foul trouble gets the minutes regardless of starter. I wouldn't mind the switch anyway though just to see how Ellis reacts.
 
UCBearcats said:
Everyone who reads my posts knows that I'm not a big supporter of Mick Cronin, I think he's an average coach at best. Regardless of what I think and debating the merits of his coaching ability back and forth I pose a different question......What's it going to take for us to elevate UC sports back to a level where we can realistically compete for championships?

Mick Cronin most likely isn't going to get fired as UC's coach and Tommy T most likely isn't going anywhere as football coach. Our administration and a large chunk of our fans seem to be okay with mediocrity. We just got the football renovation and the 5/3rd renovation is coming. In the 10 years Mick has been here we play 60% of our home games to a mostly empty arena but that doesn't seem to matter. As much as we all like to complain we have a pretty solid foundation with our fan base. There are lot of fans, myself included, who will attend games and support athletics no matter what the results. If you want to appeal to the masses you've got to win and win at the highest level. UC Football did it for a stretch and the people came like never before. Mick has yet to galvanize the entire fan base in his 10 years here and I don't see that changing any time soon.

UC Sports as a whole seem to be circling the drain right now. Football is regressing, Basketball is flat (while our entire roster is regressing) and we're stuck in the AAC with no foreseeable way out.

Assuming that nothing changes, we keep the same AD and head coaches we have today, what needs to happen to get us back to a level where we can compete for championships, sell tickets at a high level and pressure the Power 5 into having no choice but to take us in next time there's an expansion?
Click to expand...

Don't care too much about football. For basketball, we need to start recruiting and landing DYNAMIC guards. It's time to step up our efforts and actually go all in on top recruits. Sure we won't land all of them, but it's sad to see that Mick has essentially given up on those types of recruits. I do give him a lot of credit for landing Cumberland.

In 2017 we need to land a top PG. Tired of settling for underrated guys and/or JUCO's.

This kid is from VA and apparently has a great relationship with JaQuan Parker. I'd love to see us get more involved. Really good athlete that dunks with ease and is barely 6'2'' (I know Bulldog will love that).
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klY4LPFTqv8[/ame]
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
Don't care too much about football. For basketball, we need to start recruiting and landing DYNAMIC guards. It's time to step up our efforts and actually go all in on top recruits. Sure we won't land all of them, but it's sad to see that Mick has essentially given up on those types of recruits. I do give him a lot of credit for landing Cumberland.

In 2017 we need to land a top PG. Tired of settling for underrated guys and/or JUCO's.

This kid is from VA and apparently has a great relationship with JaQuan Parker. I'd love to see us get more involved. Really good athlete that dunks with ease and is barely 6'2'' (I know Bulldog will love that).
Click to expand...

Stepping up recruiting would certainly help. It's pretty hard for anyone to argue at this point that we can do better on that front.

Someone brought up earlier if Mick's assistants ever question him. I think there HAS to be a shakeup on this staff before next season. We need better assistants, better X's and O's guys and Mick needs to seek their advice and not use them only as a sounding board for his frustrations.

I doubt we're going to get our fan base to call for Mick's head but maybe enough people can push for some sort of change that helps move us forward in the right direction.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
This is UC best team in 10 yrs... once they figure it out they will be fine and a very tough out in the tourney...

This team is 3 posessions away from being a top 10 team. It's crazy the things that have gone wrong.

As for the team. More deberry. More evans. Less ellis and less shaq. Also, Gary needs to touch the ball 80 percent of the offesnive posessions. He needs to be the focal point. Surrounded by shooters such as Cobb and troy.

As for the program. The renovations are key. A big 12 big. And a deep tourney run.
Click to expand...

So UC best team can't beat a team who only had 6 players last night? Embarrassing doesn't even come close to how i feel about the program right now.

Mick threw almost every player he had at them last night and still couldnt stop SMU. Who again, had only 6 players!!!

Can you people really not see the problem? The only thing this coach and team can figure out is how to lose ball game after ball game.
 
Bro nts, when last time one of our non bigs got a dunk? Shaq got one if lob last game but before that I couldn't tell you. I don't think none of our current guards has more than 2 on season. This is the least athletic team Mick has probably ever had. Our guards couldn't go around anybody last night and when they did couldn't elevate in paint to get off shot
 
None of our guys probably outside of jenifer and Evans would've cracked smu top 7 last night
 

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