WVU pregame and predictions

[Bearcat04]

The difference between 6-3 and 5-4 at this point in the conference is HUGE. At 6-3 it was going to take the biggest collapse yet to miss the tournament. Now they have backed themselves into a corner yet again.

If they could only manage a 5-4 record against an easier front half of the schedule, it is going to be very difficult to duplicate that in the back half with five road games and no easy games left at home.

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

This was a frustrating game. I don't know why everyone assumed a win out of this one. The way this team plays offense we can't assume anything in the Big East. This team has absolutely no clue how to run a half court offense. When Cash is off the floor they are even worse. Unfortunately the refs took us out of this game midway through the first half and dug us a hole we couldn't get out of. I hate blaming refs, but that first half was miserable. They put WV on the line what seemed like every possession for about four minutes. We had three or four off the ball fouls called, not to mention the two T's. With that said they had every opportunity to win that game in the second half and just fell apart. There were a few consecutive possessions where Gates, Thomas and Bishop stood within a few feet of each other and turned the ball over every time. How do three upper classmen not know how to space themselves out on offense? That was an embarrassing display.

 

[ralph1950]

When you do not make shots you look bad. The good news is the Bearcats are 18-4.

 

[nparker1]

Frustrating game obviously, but I experienced something at the game. As the bearcats are down at half, losing to WVU and the refs, and as the second half was winding down; i was waiting for the bearcats to make their run. I was sure that these kids were going to come back and win the game. Even if they didnt win the game, I knew that this team was going to fight. It has been a seemingly long time since i had this feeling/expectation for this basketball program. This was a big game. Every BEast game is a big game, but it is just one game. This program is still headed in the right direction.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

When you do not make shots you look bad. The good news is the Bearcats are 18-4.

Mick may be the only coach who doesn't get calls at home. Huggins put him in his place.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Blame it on Mick, fouls, whatever you want. Gates, Wilks, Thomas, Jackson, McClain gave you a combined 9 points and 11 rebounds in 78 combined minutes. There's your game. Our bigs have to show up in big game. Wilks, McClain, Jackson = no pts. 1 rebound. If your bigs don't do anything it makes it very difficult for your perimeter guys.

 

[bearcat jeff]

The difference between 6-3 and 5-4 at this point in the conference is HUGE. At 6-3 it was going to take the biggest collapse yet to miss the tournament. Now they have backed themselves into a corner yet again.

If they could only manage a 5-4 record against an easier front half of the schedule, it is going to be very difficult to duplicate that in the back half with five road games and no easy games left at home.

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

The sky isn't falling guys. It's 1 game. Look across the BEast it happened all day. SYracuse just lost their 4th straight. Hang in there with this team. Remember where most of you thought they'd be and you'd say they've overachieved to this point. Don't give up on them.

 

[ready2go]

Blame it on Mick, fouls, whatever you want. Gates, Wilks, Thomas, Jackson, McClain gave you a combined 9 points and 11 rebounds in 78 combined minutes. There's your game. Our bigs have to show up in big game. Wilks, McClain, Jackson = no pts. 1 rebound. If your bigs don't do anything it makes it very difficult for your perimeter guys.

No surprise.

Your bigs went: Wilks, 0-1; McClain 0-0; Jackson 0-0; Thomas 1-4 (0-2 on 3's); Gates 3-7 (0-1 on 3's). They are not getting enough touches NEAR THE BASKET. Plain and simple

They can't pass the ball to themselves. Shooting 29 3's is not going to win you many games. And its hard for the bigs to get rebounds on long 3 point attempts.

Mick Cronins half court sets simply suck. Last year it was Vaughn and LS for the offense sputtering. This year its....

 

[ralph1950]

No surprise.

Your bigs went: Wilks, 0-1; McClain 0-0; Jackson 0-0; Thomas 1-4 (0-2 on 3's); Gates 3-7 (0-1 on 3's). They are not getting enough touches NEAR THE BASKET. Plain and simple

They can't pass the ball to themselves. Shooting 29 3's is not going to win you many games. And its hard for the bigs to get rebounds on long 3 point attempts.

Mick Cronins half court sets simply suck. Last year it was Vaughn and LS for the offense sputtering. This year its....

The first meeting between the two, Mick beat Huggins 62-39.

 

[bearcat jeff]

No surprise.

Your bigs went: Wilks, 0-1; McClain 0-0; Jackson 0-0; Thomas 1-4 (0-2 on 3's); Gates 3-7 (0-1 on 3's). They are not getting enough touches NEAR THE BASKET. Plain and simple

They can't pass the ball to themselves. Shooting 29 3's is not going to win you many games. And its hard for the bigs to get rebounds on long 3 point attempts.

Mick Cronins half court sets simply suck. Last year it was Vaughn and LS for the offense sputtering. This year its....

They don't post up strong!!!!!!!!!! You have to make yourself available down low to get the ball. Have you played basketball? You can't get pushed 6-8 feet from the basket, and get pushed under the basket on rebounds. I agree 29 3's are way too many, but a lot of that is a by product of the bigs inability to post strong down low. WVU had 15 offensive boards on 26 missed shots. Unacceptable!!! Cincinnati had 16 in 39 missed shots. WVU outscored UC by 6 in second chance points and by 4 in bench points. Remove Sean's 7 points and UC had 3 bench points for the game. Kilicli had 8 pts. and 7 reb. off the bench for them. Jackson, Wilks, McClain had zero pts. and 1 rebound for UC. Kevin Jones had as many offensive boards as Yancy had defensive boards. he had the same amount of offensive boards as Gates and Thomas combined. There are going to be games you don't shoot well. You still have to play defense and rebound. Jackson fouled out in 12 minutes.

I do agree with the halfcourt set statement. Spacing is horrific. It's hard to drive when your bigs are cluttered within 5 feet of each other. That's why you see so many jump shots. There's no room to drive. That I will lay at Cronin's feet. The assistants scout the opponent. Mick puts the game plan together for how UC will attack them.

 

[ready2go]

They don't post up strong!!!!!!!!!! You have to make yourself available down low to get the ball. Have you played basketball? You can't get pushed 6-8 feet from the basket, and get pushed under the basket on rebounds. I agree 29 3's are way too many, but a lot of that is a by product of the bigs inability to post strong down low. WVU had 15 offensive boards on 26 missed shots. Unacceptable!!! Cincinnati had 16 in 39 missed shots. WVU outscored UC by 6 in second chance points and by 4 in bench points. Remove Sean's 7 points and UC had 3 bench points for the game. Kilicli had 8 pts. and 7 reb. off the bench for them. Jackson, Wilks, McClain had zero pts. and 1 rebound for UC. Kevin Jones had as many offensive boards as Yancy had defensive boards. he had the same amount of offensive boards as Gates and Thomas combined. There are going to be games you don't shoot well. You still have to play defense and rebound. Jackson fouled out in 12 minutes.

I do agree with the halfcourt set statement. Spacing is horrific. It's hard to drive when your bigs are cluttered within 5 feet of each other. That's why you see so many jump shots. There's no room to drive. That I will lay at Cronin's feet. The assistants scout the opponent. Mick puts the game plan together for how UC will attack them.

I'd be in the guard catagory. All I'm saying is how can they be productive when they don't get touches. Posting up strong is BS when all the guards do is look to shoot the 3's. Penetrate and dish! Wilks, Jackson and Thomas combined weigh about 200lbs. No crap they cant post up strong. Find ways to get them the ball. They can all run, so how about the transition game we saw against the soft OOCS. Or how about dribble drive by the guards and dish it off to our "bigs" close to the hoop where they can be effective

 

[bearcat jeff]

I'd be in the guard catagory. All I'm saying is how can they be productive when they don't get touches. Posting up strong is BS when all the guards do is look to shoot the 3's. Penetrate and dish! Wilks, Jackson and Thomas combined weigh about 200lbs. No crap they cant post up strong. Find ways to get them the ball. They can all run, so how about the transition game we saw against the soft OOCS. Or how about dribble drive by the guards and dish it off to our "bigs" close to the hoop where they can be effective

I agree with what you're saying for the most part. When Cash is out the offense really struggles. But you just throw out the fact that our bigs are soft!! It doesn't matter where they get the ball. JJ is effective when he gets the ball in space and drives. Yes, size and strength plays into it. But so does an Attitude. None of our bigs have that "I want the ball! That rebound is mine!" meantallity every game. Gates has shown flashes. Jackson has shown flashes. Biggie has even shown a spark, but they totally disappear for games and that my friend is Attitude!! It shows in their rebounding or that lack thereof, and it is a direct correlation to their losses. It is an attitude and an effort you bring every night. I will not get outrebounded and I will play tough in the post.

 

[ready2go]

I agree with what you're saying for the most part. When Cash is out the offense really struggles. But you just throw out the fact that our bigs are soft!! It doesn't matter where they get the ball. JJ is effective when he gets the ball in space and drives. Yes, size and strength plays into it. But so does an Attitude. None of our bigs have that "I want the ball! That rebound is mine!" meantallity every game. Gates has shown flashes. Jackson has shown flashes. Biggie has even shown a spark, but they totally disappear for games and that my friend is Attitude!! It shows in their rebounding or that lack thereof, and it is a direct correlation to their losses. It is an attitude and an effort you bring every night. I will not get outrebounded and I will play tough in the post.

We agree with eachother. No question. I think Mick needs to adapt to his personel a little better though. As much as I want to bench 400 lbs, thats not going to happen. As much as we'd like to see Thomas and Wilks post up and actually make a drop step to the hoop and finish, thats not going to happen either. So Mick needs to find ways to get these players involved and be effective. Its obvious the half court set now isnt working

 

[bearcat jeff]

We agree with eachother. No question. I think Mick needs to adapt to his personel a little better though. As much as I want to bench 400 lbs, thats not going to happen. As much as we'd like to see Thomas and Wilks post up and actually make a drop step to the hoop and finish, thats not going to happen either. So Mick needs to find ways to get these players involved and be effective. Its obvious the half court set now isnt working

I'm on record saying that this team should be in constant attack mode. If you're going to play as deep in the bench as Mick, it is wasted by a halfcourt defense or offense. If you are going to run halfcourt sets you need to shorten your bench and play to your strengths in those areas. UC tries too often to match up to the other team instead of making the opponent adjust to them.