Which Mick doubters are convinced?

[bearcat jeff]

When Cashmere Wright plays like he has the past few games (with the exception of UConn) this team can compete with anyone. Mick Cronin can really evaluate talent, and he offered Cash a scholarship when he had a chance at other point guards (this was mentioned in an article last week). His faith is now being rewarded. Plus Cash is just a sophmore, and we will have him for 2 more years. Things are looking up in Clifton, and we have a coach whose eyes aren't going to be on a higher profile job. If this was someone else, how soon would we be hearing that he is a candidate for a higher paying job in the ACC, etc.? One of the reasons why I have always maintained that we need to support Cronin and hope that he succeeds is that we won't have to worry about the coaching carousel in the future.

I believe when Cash scores in double figures the Bearcats are 16-3 since his arrival in Clifton. The real test for this team will come when they are down at half. They still haven't come back and won this season when facing a halftime deficit. They also have not lost when leading at the half.

 

[Not Guilty]

Again, I remember very few people that even thought this team would win more then 15-18 games. That was the range most people predicted for them. How can you not be happy and celebrate what this team and coach have accomplished? They've made me look good. I'm all happy now....

No doubt jeff. You were consistently adament throughout the offseason this team would be good. If anything, you underestimated how good they would be. This is a legitimate top 20 team. Its been a very fun season.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

First ill start by saying I was a HUGE huggins guy, loved what he brought.

With that being said, being a tough critic to the next in line was bound to happen. Watching UC go through the last few seasons was tough. For me the boiling point was last year. I truly felt that UC has a NCAA tournament team and it didnt happen.

This years team started off well, then it kinda had its hits, dealing with Yancy, a few losses. I saw this team going down the same path as the last few seasons...

It DIDNT happen, Mick got his guys to play for him... and now its time to go dancing. HELL YA!

I said all year, Mick gets NCAA hes got my full support. Selection Sunday will be a great day for us Bearcat fans. I was wrong, mick was right! Being wrong is awesome today.

 

[JasonS]

I was going back through some old threads from the beginning of the season. It's kind of funny reading them now after having watched how the season has played out. Some people thought the Big East was going to be down this year and that they would get a max of 7 teams in the tourney. Other people (myself) thought it was going to be a top 2 league but I thought the ACC was going to be really good. Whoops! I still never thought 11 would make the tourney. 7 or 8 seemed like a good number. I saw win predictions (though I couldn't seem to find the prediction thread) ranging from 18 to 23. I saw a thread titled "KenPom predicts 24-7 (11-7) for UC Bearcats." I saw people asking the question "If the Big East is down and UC's win totals are up, is it really progress?" I saw people saying it was an NCAA Tourney or bust season.

It's interesting looking back and seeing what our expectations were before the season and how much of a rollercoaster ride it is in the Big East. It is interesting that despite all the ups and downs, the one thing we all wanted was a winning record in the Big East and NCAA Tourney berth. At the end of the day, UC has delivered. Congratulations to Mick Cronin and the rest of the staff on a job well done. Congratulations to the players for doing what some feared impossible: Bringing UC Basketball back to national relevance and earning the NCAA Tourney bid.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

First ill start by saying I was a HUGE huggins guy, loved what he brought.

With that being said, being a tough critic to the next in line was bound to happen. Watching UC go through the last few seasons was tough. For me the boiling point was last year. I truly felt that UC has a NCAA tournament team and it didnt happen.

This years team started off well, then it kinda had its hits, dealing with Yancy, a few losses. I saw this team going down the same path as the last few seasons...

It DIDNT happen, Mick got his guys to play for him... and now its time to go dancing. HELL YA!

I said all year, Mick gets NCAA hes got my full support. Selection Sunday will be a great day for us Bearcat fans. I was wrong, mick was right! Being wrong is awesome today.

Being wrong has never felt so good!

 

[david aka the TYZ]

This might be the best thread I've read on here in a while. Nice to see some non-supporters giving the love now. I thought this was going to be a good year and expected us to make the tourney if we stayed healthy. I did so thinking we would be a better scoring team and running more offense and uptempo. I was wrong about how they got there, but happy that this team and Cronin will reap the rewards of their hard work. Lets be honest, this team talent-wise and hype-wise wasn't getting the love these other Big East teams got and deservedly so. Mick did a great job of getting what he could get to a team the top recruits didn't want to play for. He got this group of guys to play together and to win despite some obvious flaws. As much as they struggle to score sometimes and playing such top talent night in and night out it really is quite an accomplishment to get to 10 wins. Mick more than anybody -- this is your time to shine. Enjoy it, Cincinnati is now a tourney team and the recruits should improve as should the expectations. Man, it feels good to be a Bearcat right now!!!

 

[ready2go]

I'm highly offended I have not gotten a shout out yet...

Want to clear one thing up. I would call myself a die hard UC Basketball fan before calling myself a Cronin hater.

All that aside, keep the ball rolling Cats!

I am afraid that one beat down either from Gtown or in the BEast tourny could ruin this teams mentality because of the lack of leadership

With that being said I think if they keep winning or alteast competing this team could build more confidence and go a long way

Either way ill be hooking up my laptop at work for the NCAA FREAKING TOURNY!!! GO CATS

 

[JasonS]

I'm highly offended I have not gotten a shout out yet...

Want to clear one thing up. I would call myself a die hard UC Basketball fan before calling myself a Cronin hater.

All that aside, keep the ball rolling Cats!

I am afraid that one beat down either from Gtown or in the BEast tourny could ruin this teams mentality because of the lack of leadership
With that being said I think if they keep winning or alteast competing this team could build more confidence and go a long way

Either way ill be hooking up my laptop at work for the NCAA FREAKING TOURNY!!! GO CATS

I might have agreed with you a month or two ago but considering all they have been through and the way this team has responded, I don't worry about that at all. At this point in the season I think they know they can compete with anybody as long as they come ready to play.

 

[UCBearcats]

I went from being a huge Mick supporter to a huge Mick doubter. I wanted him fired last season and called for his head earlier this year after the SJU meltdown. Winning cures all, if the team wins games than why would anyone in their right mind want to fire the coach??

I'm not going to say that I'm 100% back on the Mick train because making the tourney is not the end goal for me. I want us to get back to where we were in the 90's and early 2000's. I want to see consistant top 25 rankings, I want to crack the top 10 and the top 5 and have a real shot at being competitive enough to win it all.

Mick deserves credit for what he's done with this roster for this season. All signs point to him having a good recruiting class for next season. He's certainly bought some more time with the performance this year. He seems to have grown in terms of his coaching style and finally seems to be letting his players have a little more control over dictating their own style of play. We noticed that starting with the L'Ville game and we've seen it in the games since.

Keep up the good work and the winning and there will be no reason for anyone to want to see Mick gone.

 

[JasonS]

I think the key word is CONSISTENCY. While all fans want consistent results, it is important to realize there has to be consistency in all aspects of the program to obtain those results. If, in another 3 years, we are still struggling to make the tourney on a regular basis, then I will agree it is time for a change. I don't see that happening, though. I think Mick will get this program where we all want it to be and when all is said and done, people will be glad that Mike Thomas was consistent with his belief in Mick and that there was constant support from the administration. If things did not go well this year and Mick was fired, we would be in another rebuilding stage and probably would have taken the program back another 2 or 3 years. Sometimes patience is the best option.

 

[cincycpaw]

I believe when Cash scores in double figures the Bearcats are 16-3 since his arrival in Clifton. The real test for this team will come when they are down at half. They still haven't come back and won this season when facing a halftime deficit. They also have not lost when leading at the half.

BCjeff...you told me during the offseason that this team would be better than last years. You were right on the overall outcome. However, many thought the team would be better offensively after losing Lance and Vaughn and I don't think that is the case at all. The team is winning because of defense. So, they found a way to win with their deficiencies being minimized.

Really a great job up to this point.

 

[JasonS]

BCjeff...you told me during the offseason that this team would be better than last years. You were right on the overall outcome. However, many thought the team would be better offensively after losing Lance and Vaughn and I don't think that is the case at all. The team is winning because of defense. So, they found a way to win with their deficiencies being minimized.

Really a great job up to this point.

This is tough to quantify because the numbers definitely back up what you are saying. If you watch the offense this year compared to last year, there is no question that there is better ball movement and they are getting better looks this year. They are not consistently knocking those shots down, though. The problem is the best deep shooter is gone (vaughn) and the only person who can create shots like Lance is SK but he is not as good getting separation for a pull up jumper as Lance was. He is just as good getting to the rim though.

Defensively, this team is much better. Vaughn was never a great defender and Lance picked his moments to play defense. This team is committed to defense and it shows.

 

[ralph1950]

I knew from the day Mick was hired Mike Thomas had made the best possible choice. Mick is a Bearcat, Mick bleeds red and black, UC is Mick's dream job. Mick did quite well at Murray State, but for a last second steal by James White to tie the game and send it to overtime Murray would have beat UC when AK was coach. Mick has done himself proud and returned UC to the NCAA tourney. I feel even bigger and better is in the future for UC basketball with Mick leading the way.

 

[anbuc88]

I knew from the day Mick was hired Mike Thomas had made the best possible choice. Mick is a Bearcat, Mick bleeds red and black, UC is Mick's dream job. Mick did quite well at Murray State, but for a last second steal by James White to tie the game and send it to overtime Murray would have beat UC when AK was coach. Mick has done himself proud and returned UC to the NCAA tourney. I feel even bigger and better is in the future for UC basketball with Mick leading the way.

Agree 100%. Welcome back.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I knew from the day Mick was hired Mike Thomas had made the best possible choice. Mick is a Bearcat, Mick bleeds red and black, UC is Mick's dream job. Mick did quite well at Murray State, but for a last second steal by James White to tie the game and send it to overtime Murray would have beat UC when AK was coach. Mick has done himself proud and returned UC to the NCAA tourney. I feel even bigger and better is in the future for UC basketball with Mick leading the way.

Well said and welcome back. I think the point in bold says the most. To get out of the hole we were in we needed somone committed to us and who would stick it out through rough years. Other, maybe up-and-coming coaches might have been in it for the short term while keeping their eyes out for the next job and thus not have given the situation the full attention and work it required.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

I knew from the day Mick was hired Mike Thomas had made the best possible choice. Mick is a Bearcat, Mick bleeds red and black, UC is Mick's dream job. Mick did quite well at Murray State, but for a last second steal by James White to tie the game and send it to overtime Murray would have beat UC when AK was coach. Mick has done himself proud and returned UC to the NCAA tourney. I feel even bigger and better is in the future for UC basketball with Mick leading the way.

How was your vacation?

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I knew from the day Mick was hired Mike Thomas had made the best possible choice. Mick is a Bearcat, Mick bleeds red and black, UC is Mick's dream job. Mick did quite well at Murray State, but for a last second steal by James White to tie the game and send it to overtime Murray would have beat UC when AK was coach. Mick has done himself proud and returned UC to the NCAA tourney. I feel even bigger and better is in the future for UC basketball with Mick leading the way.

Ralph is back!!!!!!

 

[bearcat jeff]

Took this off Lance's blog. It shows just what this team has accomplished in terms of historical top 25 rpi wins:

By my count the 5 wins is the most Top 25 RPI wins in the regular season for UC since '01-'02 (5)......and ties for their most in at least the last 18 years going back to the '93-94 season.
They have more Top 25 RPI wins this season than the previous four years combined (4)

Most regular season Top 25 RPI wins for UCsince 1993-'94
5: '10-'11....8 Georgetown (2x), 20 Louisville, 22 St John's, 23 Xavier
5: '01-'02....9 Mississippi St, 14 Xavier, 23 Marquette (2x), 24 Wake Forest
4: '98-'99....1 Duke, 19 Charlotte, 22 Louisville (2x)
3: '93-'94.....4 UMass, 18 Marquette (2x)

http://www.homer247.com/pages/lancesBlog.html

 

[bearcat jeff]

BCjeff...you told me during the offseason that this team would be better than last years. You were right on the overall outcome. However, many thought the team would be better offensively after losing Lance and Vaughn and I don't think that is the case at all. The team is winning because of defense. So, they found a way to win with their deficiencies being minimized.

Really a great job up to this point.

Does it really matter why they are better? They are a better team! End results are the only thing that matters. 24-7/11-7 and they have dancing shoes on, Oh how sweet it is!!

 

[ready2go]

Does it really matter why they are better? They are a better team! End results are the only thing that matters. 24-7/11-7 and they have dancing shoes on, Oh how sweet it is!!

I dont think cincypaw is complaining. We are all excited to finally watch the Cats in the tourny. But, Micks excuses for the lack of offense fell on the players the last couple of years. Well its different players now so what gives..

Should prob start this thread after the season because bjeff is right. How sweet it is!!!!

Oh and Go Commandos