East Carolina 2/15 7:00 ESPN+

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

I'll just say this after having time to digest what I saw last night. Nobody on this roster should be guaranteed a spot on the team next year. Nobody. There are four games left and a conference tournament, we can find out in that span who deserves to be here next year. I'm rarely negative, but last night pushed me over the edge. This is Cincinnati Basketball, and last night nobody on the floor was worthy of that.

I think Vic is pretty much a guarantee.

[BearKatz]

I think Vic is pretty much a guarantee.

Yes, I would say Vic, Skillings and Reed would be the only locks heading into next year!

[leeraymond]

One of my high school teachers once told me, "we all make mistakes because we are human. When you make the same mistakes over and over again, that's when you are stupid". I personally hate the word "stupid". However, how can you explain a team that has had big leads in the second half of their last 6 games and end up losing 3 of those games? Also, quietly, I do not know if anyone has been paying attention, UC has lost 4 of its last 7 games. They now go into a tough stretch of three games (UCF away; Temple at home; and Memphis away). Miller has NOT yet beat Temple or Memphis in 3 attempts. UCF is 10 and 4 at home this year. Last year UC lost 8 of its last 11 games. UC has 4 regular season games left to play and has already lost 4 of its last 7. It is HIGHLY possible that UC may lose its next 3 games. I was hoping that they would get to 20 wins this year. That may not happen.

The media has projected an image of Miller as some type of coaching big-shot because he has more wins of any coach before the age of 40. Maybe John Cunningham also bought into that bull*&%$. It is NOT only about the wins, it is about how many games did he win in relationship to the number of games played. Miller has a win percentage of about 57 or 58%. Since he has been at UC, Miller has about a 57 or 58% win percentage. Since Cronin has been at UCLA, he has won about 73% of his games. Additionally, if you look at Miller's seasonal record, he has won about 18 games a year and has lost about 13. The man is only 18 and 13 a season lifetime. His record is only mediocre by Cincinnati standards. That is NOT an NCAA tournament type of record. Guess what, Miller is on track to have another 18 and maybe 13 record.

This UC team has too many players that really do not want to win by playing tough defense for 40 minutes. There were stretches in the ECU game where Nolley and Davenport just refused to go out and guard their men on the 3-point line. The ball found them where they hit the 3 for a wide open shot. I have never seen players on a UC basketball team have such indifference to playing defense. UC has a bunch of guys that only want to score and nothing else. It appears that Miller CANNOT ESTABLISH A STRONG ENOUGH DEFENSIVE CULTURE TO OFFSET THAT SCORING ONLY MINDSET. Miller allows much too much BAD play and we are all looking at the result of that bad play; 10 losses and growing.

Is there still something left to play for this season? More importantly, are the players willing to play WINNING basketball for the rest of the season? Believe it or not, UC still has chance at post-season play. It all depends on winning games going forward. Miller, his coaching staff, and Cunningham have a lot to evaluate going into the BIG 12. They need to look under every stone. Everything, including the coaching, should be HONESTLY evaluated and should be changed if it is NOT working. In closing, I really do believe what is hurting Miller's coaching is that he has never been an assistant under a FIRST-CLASS coach that knows good defensive principles. Look at Miller's background. He has nothing but low-level coaching experiences centered around small North Carolina schools in the Southern Conference. That's it. Look at Cronin, he has coaching stops with two Hall-of-Fame coaches. You can really see Miller's coaching limitations on the defensive side of the ball. During the ECU game when Felton was killing DeJulius in the 2nd half, why not put Adams-Woods on him? Adams-Woods is the taller guard. We all have seen these failures by Miller to make adjustments. I also believe that Miller badly wants to be a big-time D1 successful coach. However, the depth of coaching knowledge appears not to be there. This off-season Miller should drive down to Knoxville and talk to Rick Barnes at Tennessee about defensive basketball. Miller should fly out to LA and talk to Cronin about defensive practice methods and techniques. Miller should learn switching-man-to-man defense. Learn how to play a zone that makes sense for his players. Do something other than the very ineffective man-to-man defense. That said, I like Miller. I really do. However, his defensive coaching stinks. I have said enough. I will stop here. Good luck to Miller going forward.

[Rufus]

I just put together some random thoughts. You know, we have a tendency to lay all of this on CWM and as the head coach it ultimately should. But there are assistant coaches, others who are present that are assigned to teaching, grooming, and developing these young men to get to the next level, ( if that is their goal as it is the majority of time) to be their immediate vocation in life.
So are all of these coaches negligent or derelict in their duties? Are they not in CMW ear? Or the players ear? Out of all the coaching experience on that bench no one knows how to play defense or make in game adjustments? Why is it that this lack of urgency or non- chalant attitude is so prevalent on the entire team. Is it a generational thing? Is it the pampered AAU syndrome? Or is it the perfect storm in that it is the fault of both the staff and the players. Cronin would recruit athletes and make basketball players out of them, shying away from the "blue chippers" for whatever reason. And the offense sometimes suffered. Where as now CWM is surrounded by scorers so to speak or AAU products noted for the most part as shooters but can't make basketball players out of them. I don't know what the problem is but these past two teams are the hardest to watch in the fifty plus years that I've been following UC basketball. One of the things that I would observe was how each player developed year after year, how you could actually watch game by game as they gained confidence and got better in their basketball knowledge. Watching these guys continually make the same mistakes over and over, game by game is certainly screaming that was is presently taking place is not working. I was never more shocked,. or upset as when this team could only muster 11 second half points against a NKU team. But to blow a 16 point lead against a 12-12 ECU team with 6 minutes and change on the clock is just unfathomable and definitely unacceptable. And what's worse is you could see it coming and unfolding from a mile away right before your eyes and not one thing was done to keep it from coming.

[longtimefan]

I'll say once more. This is not on the coach, or at least all of it isn't. Coach came here with Brannen holdovers and then had to scour the transfer portal for guys who were available at the last minute. Brannen should have been fired the day the season ended, dragging it out gave CWM a very late start on the transfer portal. The Nolley get in the portal was huge, and he has been the best player on the team, though he takes a lot of blame ( some deserved, but not all) on here and elsewhere. CWM brought in Reed and Skillings, and those guys will be stars here; next year Griffith and James and you can see the start of what we'll be. The man deserves time to implement his vision. As to comments above about his coaching record, he's never been at a place where basketball is taken seriously as it is here. His last team at UNCG was really good.

I also believe that the lack of bodies has led to too many minutes and fatigue at the end of games; we've seen this. Phinisee and Newman are our best defenders, and if healthy they surely would have been on the floor at the end of the ECU game, add Vik into that and we would have won easily.

There are still guys here, however, playing a lot of minutes, who would not be at this level without the turmoil of 2 coaching changes in a short time. While I've never advocated running guys off, there are guys here who have already played four years, who are not Big XII level players. That's all I'll say.

[richard k.]

[QUOTE

There are still guys here, however, playing a lot of minutes, who would not be at this level without the turmoil of 2 coaching changes in a short time. While I've never advocated running guys off, there are guys here who have already played four years, who are not Big XII level players. That's all I'll say.[/QUOTE]

Aside from DDJ, Nolley, &^ Vik, who else on this squad makes a current Big 12 roster, much less starts?

[John P]

I'll say once more. This is not on the coach, or at least all of it isn't. Coach came here with Brannen holdovers and then had to scour the transfer portal for guys who were available at the last minute. Brannen should have been fired the day the season ended, dragging it out gave CWM a very late start on the transfer portal. The Nolley get in the portal was huge, and he has been the best player on the team, though he takes a lot of blame ( some deserved, but not all) on here and elsewhere. CWM brought in Reed and Skillings, and those guys will be stars here; next year Griffith and James and you can see the start of what we'll be. The man deserves time to implement his vision. As to comments above about his coaching record, he's never been at a place where basketball is taken seriously as it is here. His last team at UNCG was really good.

I also believe that the lack of bodies has led to too many minutes and fatigue at the end of games; we've seen this. Phinisee and Newman are our best defenders, and if healthy they surely would have been on the floor at the end of the ECU game, add Vik into that and we would have won easily.

There are still guys here, however, playing a lot of minutes, who would not be at this level without the turmoil of 2 coaching changes in a short time. While I've never advocated running guys off, there are guys here who have already played four years, who are not Big XII level players. That's all I'll say.

Well said and my thoughts exactly

[leo from jersey]

Well said and my thoughts exactly

I think if Hensley, Skillings and Reed had developed then there would not have been as much fatigue.I also believe that Anthony was as good as some of the ECU bench players. So you would have had 4 more bodies.

[Bearcat93]

Why does Anthony not play, if we need some depth?

[leo from jersey]

Why does Anthony not play, if we need some depth?

That is a good question. I doubt if he would have been overmatched at ECU.

[leeraymond]

I'll say once more. This is not on the coach, or at least all of it isn't. Coach came here with Brannen holdovers and then had to scour the transfer portal for guys who were available at the last minute. Brannen should have been fired the day the season ended, dragging it out gave CWM a very late start on the transfer portal. The Nolley get in the portal was huge, and he has been the best player on the team, though he takes a lot of blame ( some deserved, but not all) on here and elsewhere. CWM brought in Reed and Skillings, and those guys will be stars here; next year Griffith and James and you can see the start of what we'll be. The man deserves time to implement his vision. As to comments above about his coaching record, he's never been at a place where basketball is taken seriously as it is here. His last team at UNCG was really good.

I also believe that the lack of bodies has led to too many minutes and fatigue at the end of games; we've seen this. Phinisee and Newman are our best defenders, and if healthy they surely would have been on the floor at the end of the ECU game, add Vik into that and we would have won easily.

There are still guys here, however, playing a lot of minutes, who would not be at this level without the turmoil of 2 coaching changes in a short time. While I've never advocated running guys off, there are guys here who have already played four years, who are not Big XII level players. That's all I'll say.

I am in agreement that some key players are hurt (Newman and Lakhin). Missing key players will always affect the level of play. That said, at the NBA level, it is all about the players. At the NCAA level, it is mostly about the coaching. Bob Huggins only had 6 players (the point guard was from the football team) when he started at UC. Guess what, UC made the NIT that year. Think about that for a second; 6 players. What about the year Cronin went to the Sweet 16? He only had 7 players that he played (Gates, Dixon, Wright, Kilpatrick, Parker and Jackson and Sanders as back-ups). You cannot tell me that a good coach cannot win with a limited roster. However, the coach MUST know how to coach and have a system in place the works for his players. That is where Miller does not have it. We will probably have some of these same discussions next year. If Miller cannot handle teams like ECU and Temple, what do you think is going to happen when UC plays Baylor, Kansas, Texas, Iowa State, Houston, Kansas State (by the way, they have a FIRST-YEAR coach that is going to make the NCAAs. He has never been a head coach before), TCU, and etc? Even West Virginia, as a bottom feeder will probably beat UC. If Miller does not get some coaching help with the defense, it does not matter what type of talent that he brings in, the losses will pile up just like they have done for two years. You are correct in that Miller had 5 good years at UNCG. However, if you look at the defensive numbers of those teams, they were quite mediocre (UNCG gave up about 66 to about 70 points a game during those 5 years). UC is now giving up 69 points a game in the AAC. That's not good enough for BIG 12 play.

In closing, it does not take long to determine if someone can really coach or not. All you have to do is watch the games. That usually will tell you everything you want to know. I like Miller. He appears to have a great relationship with his players. However, he has to be their coach not their friend. Also, he has the learn to hold his players accountable. That is the part I do not see. I once again agree with you. No matter what we feel as fans, Miller has to be given a fair chance to fully implement his system. However, with every additional year that Miller does NOT make it to the post-season, the drum will beat louder.

[longtimefan]

Depth makes players accountable.

[leo from jersey]

Depth makes players accountable.

you might be on to something

[bearcat1518]

I'll say once more. This is not on the coach, or at least all of it isn't. Coach came here with Brannen holdovers and then had to scour the transfer portal for guys who were available at the last minute.

Stop blaming Brannen. Xavier is starting 4 portal transfers and is a top 15 team.

Brannen didn’t cause the losing to ECU. East Carolina!!!!

This is 100% on the coach. And even with Jizzle and Rayvon, it will be worse next year. Will you still be blaming Brannen next year when the rebounding and defense is even worse??

[longtimefan]

Brannen was a bad hire, and even though Bohn’s hands were kind of tied (Thanks UCLA for interviewing 20 guys before settling for Cronin) not sure he put great effort into the hire. Bohn had one foot out the door when he brought Brannen in. Because of the late hire Brannen had little chance to land quality players that first year. When he turned his back on his team after that last Houston game, another 40+ point loss, it seemed it was over; the whole team entered the transfer portal the next day. UC again had to turn late to a coach, and another year of no recruits, and hitting the transfer portal, late again, for the leftovers after the better transfers were already committed elsewhere. The ‘22 and ‘23 recruiting classes are better than any two year window from Mick Cronin, I’m going to be patient. This team will look drastically different next season.