The Wes Miller Thread

[John P]

Personally, I hope he still here for another year or two. If he stays, I'm sure he'll have a base of players who are going to stay and will have something to build on. If he goes, we get complete chaos for at another 2-3 years and it's still no guarantee we'll be any better than we are right now.

[GoBearcats31]

I think I am ready

[Bearcat1996]

I think I am ready

Acceptance is the next stage. Welcome

[Rufus]

If by ready you mean to move on in a new direction? I believe I too am ready. After five years and five different rosters, with supposedly better players each year, we are still seeing the same silly mistakes, turnovers, and low level bball intelligence from players that should otherwise be displayed by players at this time of year. Twenty turnovers in a game where your tournament hopes hinge on the outcome is undisciplined and unacceptable. And to continue playing the players who commit the majority of the to's is ludicrous.

[BorisTheCat]

I know I am ready. Wished it had worked out but alas.... it did not

[longtimefan]

So, it looks like UC is contractually obligated to play in the Crown, again. The Crown starts April 1.

[zykarious]

So, it looks like UC is contractually obligated to play in the Crown, again. The Crown starts April 1.

If we have a coach, plenty of teams pulled out last year without issue because they didn't have a coach and/or enough players to field a team.

[SKell82155]

So, it looks like UC is contractually obligated to play in the Crown, again. The Crown starts April 1.

You don’t think they’ll get in the NIT ?
I won’t watch regardless- I’m so pissed.
With the recent good play by the Cats, I wondered if they had just taken a while to jell ? I began to wonder if CWM would be ok despite his coaching, especially inside 5 minutes.
But today’s epic collapse sealed it for me.
It was reminiscent of the loss vs Nevada in 2018, though that deficit was much larger.

[London 'Cat]

So, it looks like UC is contractually obligated to play in the Crown, again. The Crown starts April 1.

The BigXII conference is obligated to send the 2 highest ranked teams in the NET that don’t get an at large bid to the NCAAs to the Crown. I don’t know whether UC will be one of those teams. If they are, but have no coach nor players, I don’t think that would be enforceable.

[leo from jersey]

FIVE YEARS. They are so fundamentally inept that they can't bring the ball down the court. When they did get it down the clock was running down and the 7-2 had the ball at the 3 line. Then it dawned on WM (no longer CWM) to call a time out with less than a second left. No excuses as UCF also made the jump to the BIG 12. I have heard excuse after excuse made for WM and this team for years. They lack heart, physicality, fundamentals, selflessness, emotional maturity and court awareness. The coaching staff lacks basic coaching fundamentals. They couldn't seem to inspire heart in the team or basic skills. The players know bad coaching when they see it especially in the use of time outs. WM is a whiner and not a winner. His future is secure. He has millions coming to him and his daddy is rich. He will be leaving UC the laughing stock of basketball after that putrid, wretched unthinkable game the Cats played when they really needed a win. Goodbye BaBa and hopefully goodbye hall of Famer son too.

[Gmann]

I have been critical of CWM for some time and yesterday's collapse was just further evidence of why he's not capable of having success at this level. The coaches in this league consistently out maneveur him and he has no answers. He constantly mismanages game situations and falls apart under pressure. The team reflects that.

I think it's 50/50 whether they move on from him at this point. Frankly if they do I have no faith that Cunningham would make a good choice for his successor. Bringing in an unproven guy supposedly on the rise has very little chance of success. The other veteran coaches will likely slaughter him unless he's truly something special and is able to recruit which was Miller's only strength. I fear another bad choice will completely torpedo the whole program.

[D.A.H.]

I have been critical of CWM for some time and yesterday's collapse was just further evidence of why he's not capable of having success at this level. The coaches in this league consistently out maneveur him and he has no answers. He constantly mismanages game situations and falls apart under pressure. The team reflects that.

I think it's 50/50 whether they move on from him at this point. Frankly if they do I have no faith that Cunningham would make a good choice for his successor. Bringing in an unproven guy supposedly on the rise has very little chance of success. The other veteran coaches will likely slaughter him unless he's truly something special and is able to recruit which was Miller's only strength. I fear another bad choice will completely torpedo the whole program.

One thing that's struck me about a lot of wes's recrutis - due to intangibles / emotional issues / leadership ability / basketball iq - does wes get guys who, at first blush, seem impressive, but that other schools back off of, due to these intangibles? exhibit a - baba miller - great talent, but seems like a basket case - is he worth the risk of meltdowns? as well as he's played, has he cost uc a game or two with his antics and immaturity? sure seems like it. kerr krissa? what, eight schools in fifteen years? coincidence that uc played much better, when he dropped out of the rotation? i know that you need talent, but, if you don't have the intangibles, you're going to be where we are now, every year - pissing and moaning about what a waste of a year uc had. the program deserves better

[Gmann]

One thing that's struck me about a lot of wes's recrutis - due to intangibles / emotional issues / leadership ability / basketball iq - does wes get guys who, at first blush, seem impressive, but that other schools back off of, due to these intangibles? exhibit a - baba miller - great talent, but seems like a basket case - is he worth the risk of meltdowns? as well as he's played, has he cost uc a game or two with his antics and immaturity? sure seems like it. kerr krissa? what, eight schools in fifteen years? coincidence that uc played much better, when he dropped out of the rotation? i know that you need talent, but, if you don't have the intangibles, you're going to be where we are now, every year - pissing and moaning about what a waste of a year uc had. the program deserves better

Great observation! This team was seriously lacking in Basketball IQ and mental toughness. They were good at front running but under pressue would have brain cramps and wilt. Tillery is one that I think has more of what they needed. He was confident and fearless under pressue and I believe should have been given more time running point throughout the year. You have to have some of these type guys but largely it has to come from the coach and MIlller can't provide it.

It is interesting to hear Terry Nelson talk about what Huggins did to develop mental toughness on his teams and how he molded a bunch of wreckless individuals into a mentally strong force. They would wear teams down because they were tougher physically and mentally while often being less physically gifted. We have the complete opposite of that with Miller.

[Gypo O'Leary]

It seems pretty obvious to me that Day-Day and Jizzle are not Big 12 Quality starting guards. Nor are either of them really a point guard. Cellestine/Tillery/Harris are all better from a purely physical standpoint to match up with the big physical guards of the Big 12.

Then I come to the issues of foul shooting, Abaev's horrible looking jumper, all the offensive turnovers. That is coaching. Throughout the season from X to E.Mich to W. Va. to TCU you just see these lapses.

This was Wes Miller's best team so far. He almost had enough bigs, he had the depth for the Big 12, and he moved up to the middle of the pack. If he hadn't blown five games this season that he should have won, he'd be in the NCAAs. I don't see his teams or players improve over the course of the year. Maybe I'm spoiled because Bob Huggins was one of the greatest of all time in that regard.

Given the NIL and Kansas, Arizona, BYU, some Texas Schools, I do not have confidence that Wes Miller is ever going to be in the top quadrant of Big 12 coaches.

[London 'Cat]

Per another forum member in another thread, UC is negotiating a buyout of CWM’s contract. Just placing it in this thread as well.