Early season observation

[leo from jersey]

Lobot, I'm not suggesting Wes should be fired this season... But if this trend continues, and we're not seeing improvement, how long before AD has seen enough?

Wes deserves one more year, and I'll guess will see what this team looks like after MAW & Davenport are gone. I know someone in another post suggested that MAW & Davenport could come back next year? Not sure if they are eligible or not, but I would be livid if this staff let them come back.

There may be pressure for the local hero to come back.

[BearKatz]

There may be pressure for the local hero to come back.

Who is the local hero you are referring to?

[London 'Cat]

Who is the local hero you are referring to?

I’m assuming he means JD?

[BearKatz]

There may be pressure for the local hero to come back.

If Davenport or MAW are on this team next year, I'll pop a blood vessel!

[longtimefan]

I’ll just say this. It took Kelvin Sampson four years to get Houston into the NCAA Tournament. I think Wes Miller needs some time to transition to his own guys, and that will take at least one more recruiting class. I’m very pleased with his recruits so far. We’ll be fine.

[SawyerHall68]

Points to consider on team progress after the CSU game:

1. Very good - In the Chaminade game playing against man-man defense they looked the best I've seen over the last 3 years. Pick and rolls, passing quickly, moving into opening not standing around, and finding the open man including the open 3's. Even against a lower division team. Poise,with smart decisions being made. Apparently they were being coached a strong offense against a man to man defense in the preseason practices and they executed it. There is some indication of hope here in the future.

2. Very Poor - The team has failed to have developed an offense against the zone. This is again UC's Achilles heal as has been in the past years. They cannot handle the zone, even against the lower level division teams. It appears very little preseason coaching & practice to this point.

3. Very Good - The full court press looked very well designed, well coached, and we'll executed. Could be used periodically as a quick momentum changer.

4. Very Poor - Toughness in the paint; that is, positioning, boxing out, rebounding, and holding ball possession.

It is ashame that all these rudimentary aspects of the game are not already ingrain in these players when they were in High School.

[leo from jersey]

Points to consider on team progress after the CSU game:

1. Very good - In the Chaminade game playing against man-man defense they looked the best I've seen over the last 3 years. Pick and rolls, passing quickly, moving into opening not standing around, and finding the open man including the open 3's. Even against a lower division team. Poise,with smart decisions being made. Apparently they were being coached a strong offense against a man to man defense in the preseason practices and they executed it. There is some indication of hope here in the future.

2. Very Poor - The team has failed to have developed an offense against the zone. This is again UC's Achilles heal as has been in the past years. They cannot handle the zone, even against the lower level division teams. It appears very little preseason coaching & practice to this point.

3. Very Good - The full court press looked very well designed, well coached, and we'll executed. Could be used periodically as a quick momentum changer.

4. Very Poor - Toughness in the paint; that is, positioning, boxing out, rebounding, and holding ball possession.

It is ashame that all these rudimentary aspects of the game are not already ingrain in these players when they were in High School.

#4 you think - kids want to go to the 3 line, clap their hands and expect the ball - On defense they step 4 or feet away from the basket and watch the ball fall. Few anticipate from where the ball hits the goal and so they don't get in position or box out. They watch and so they need to be watching from the bench - Lost words in BB - "Put a body on 'em". I did so like Curtis Bostic.

[RedDog]

#4 you think - kids want to go to the 3 line, clap their hands and expect the ball - On defense they step 4 or feet away from the basket and watch the ball fall. Few anticipate from where the ball hits the goal and so they don't get in position or box out. They watch and so they need to be watching from the bench - Lost words in BB - "Put a body on 'em". I did so like Curtis Bostic.

And adding to what Leo said, what your seeing is the AAU effect. These kids travel the country as 15-17 year olds with emphasis only on their offensive prowess. They are told they are great and rarely taught fundamentals. They become the top 150 rated player pool that colleges drool over. Once they arrive on campus, you realize the deficiencies they have in areas alluded to. Its a little late to teach them how to play defense at that point.
The one benefit we had from Cronin recruiting lower rated guys was just the opposite effect. They didn't move up because they had limited offensive games. They were forced to play fierce, defend and rebound if they wanted to go to college. They became Bearcat warriors who couldn't shoot straight.
Somewhere in the middle is the rare balance player who is a great college player. Maybe not an NBA player but great in his own right who wins consistently in college. A couple of those guys, mixed in with some AAU types, and you have a pretty good team.
The shame of it is, college is nothing but an NBA feeder system and has lost sight of what made it different, better, and more appealing to the passionate fan. It is painful to watch games where teams lack fundamentals and rely on great shooting nights to win.

[Rufus]

quote, " I'm not sure why you would bring up changing coaches at this point. Wes is not going to pull a Yates and go 3-25 this season or probably any other season. I'm pretty confident that things will work them themselves out via HS recruiting"



I don't believe I have suggested a coaching change. If I have or insinuated as such, it was totally inadvertant. I actually like CWM. I just don't understand his rotation. It has no coordination or reasoning in how it's being employed. Phinesee and Kalu each have minutes insufficient to see if they are better fits than ViK or MAW. Even when the game last played was getting out of hand Kalu was only in there briefly, Phinesee did get some extended PT and ViK / MAW both were reverting to their old ways. I guess my real issue is that to the NKU's Miami's and Xavier, to play UC is like thier Superbowl. They get an extra rush or satisfaction beating the big man in the city and the UC players choke in these game more times than not. And then to be so non-chalant and lack any sense of urgency when the game was getting out of reach and scoring just eleven points was hard to watch. I guess I'm too emotionally invested

[Lobot]

quote, " I'm not sure why you would bring up changing coaches at this point. Wes is not going to pull a Yates and go 3-25 this season or probably any other season. I'm pretty confident that things will work them themselves out via HS recruiting"



I don't believe I have suggested a coaching change. If I have or insinuated as such, it was totally inadvertant. I actually like CWM. I just don't understand his rotation. It has no coordination or reasoning in how it's being employed. Phinesee and Kalu each have minutes insufficient to see if they are better fits than ViK or MAW. Even when the game last played was getting out of hand Kalu was only in there briefly, Phinesee did get some extended PT and ViK / MAW both were reverting to their old ways. I guess my real issue is that to the NKU's Miami's and Xavier, to play UC is like thier Superbowl. They get an extra rush or satisfaction beating the big man in the city and the UC players choke in these game more times than not. And then to be so non-chalant and lack any sense of urgency when the game was getting out of reach and scoring just eleven points was hard to watch. I guess I'm too emotionally invested

Going back to last season, the rotations were based matchups and analytics by Mike Roberts. Obviously Wes has veto but Mike is the one watching the numbers.

If this is still the case, we have no useful stats on at least 3 guys to analyze. Ezikpe, Phinisee and Nolley obviously have stats but maybe they don't translate over due to system differences.

In any case I don't need the numbers to tell you that DDJ struggles against taller on ball defenders.

[JohnFrancis]

I hope Xavier doesn't make it 4 in a row next month, but realistically I just hope 'Cats keep it close and look respectable. X playing Indiana tough tonight thus far.

[SKell82155]

Watching X, their bigs may go for 50 themselves.
Afraid it’s gonna be another beat down & I sure
am getting tired of that.

[leo from jersey]

Watching X, their bigs may go for 50 themselves.
Afraid it’s gonna be another beat down & I sure
am getting tired of that.

The thing with all the transfers is that they don't FEEL the rivalry. The only local on UC melts in big games and also in small ones (NKU). My fear is that the days of the "Big Rivalries" are close to dying out especially with UCs inability to make a showing against X. At least Michigan won against tOSU once in a while.

[JBB]

What really bothers me is 11 points in second half. Either we quit playing or incompetence on coach and staff. I remember Hugs pulling 5 players and ripping their *** for such fog. Yes it’s embarrassing, but this falls in the coaches
where is the greatness and pride in being a Bearcat?

[leo from jersey]

What really bothers me is 11 points in second half. Either we quit playing or incompetence on coach and staff. I remember Hugs pulling 5 players and ripping their *** for such fog. Yes it’s embarrassing, but this falls in the coaches
where is the greatness and pride in being a Bearcat?

I will tell you where it has gone Twitter accounts, easy transfers, NIL money, the new AAU mindset of super stars and all the new electronic media clamoring for their quotes and interviews