Hofstra, NIT 3/18 2:00 pm ESPN+

[Rufus]

I wouldn't be necessarily call it negativity as much as making critical observations. Bearcat Bret quoted Dan and Terry as saying these last two games were the best the 'Cats have played all season. With a double digit lead and instructions from CWM to run as much clock as possible on each possession we still have starters bringing the ball up the court and hoisting NBA distance threes with 66% of the time clock still remaining. It's that type of inattention that cost us ball games in the past and this past season. CMW often preaches about everyone getting better everyday. I don't believe calling out these type of bone headed blunders is considered negative. I'm glad we won and get to advance but the leader of the team making these type of mistakes, at this point in the game, this late in the season is almost inconceivable but yet there it is.

[bearcatbret]

Rufus, Dan and Terry called them out on that "out of the postage zone shot" with most of the shot clock remaining. Yes, these guys do fall back into their bad habits but overall, they are playing within themselves and the system. We are going to miss Nolley and David next year.

At least they did not blow the lead like a Mick Cronin team against Nevada. UC holds lead until very end, falls to Nevada 75-73 (wlwt.com)

[swilsonsp4]

With the win, the Bearcats are #49 in KenPom. Last season, they finished #106, and in 2021, #116. This is demonstrable of excellent progress. This team is a far cry from that disaster at NKU.

It took Huggs three years to get to the Dance. It took Mick five. I'm happy where this is headed.

[Pharmfam]

With the win, the Bearcats are #49 in KenPom. Last season, they finished #106, and in 2021, #116. This is demonstrable of excellent progress. This team is a far cry from that disaster at NKU.

It took Huggs three years to get to the Dance. It took Mick five. I'm happy where this is headed.

Excellent points. We are showing marked improvement over the past few years

[Rufus]

"We are going to miss Nolley and David next year".

It is my understanding that Nolley has a year of eligibility left. So He may return. And yes we will miss DDJ and his ability to general the floor next season.

[bearcatbret]

I am not sure why many on here are so bitter towards the program. I also think those same people were against Mick. Look at some things that happened this year. North Carolina is the first preseason number one that did not make the tournament. Purdue is the second number 1 seed to fall in the first round. The system is stacked against non-power 5 programs where the power 5 were awarded nearly all of the at large bids and look at how many of them fell this weekend. The teams in the NCAA tournament are awarded mega bucks which works against the rest of the non-power 5 teams. UC is still playing and we should be happy for that. Yes, there were 4 or 5 games that we should have won. Yet, this team is still showing improvement.

Btw, we have not been competitive since Nick Van Exel. Get over yourselves.

[longtimefan]

Btw, we have not been competitive since Nick Van Exel. Get over yourselves.

The 2000 team was ranked #1 and the favorite to win it all until Kenyon got hurt.
The 2012 team was also really good, the win against FSU in the NCAA was epic. They were also the only team to beat Syracuse when Fab Melo was in the lineup.

[coach]

This is a REALLY negative group. I sometimes think it’s a bunch of Eggsavier guys. Didn’t use to be this way.

I’m not sure half the folks realize that was a road game in the other team’s gym. Lol. Give Hofstra credit the reason they kept it close in the first half was they shot the ball really well, particularly from deep. There is a reason they went in and beat Rutgers at their place and it’s because they’re a good team. All you have to do is look at the tourney right now and see there isn’t a big disparity and it’s likely as much portal related as anything. A lot of these smaller schools have veteran kids. It’s an advantage they didn’t used to enjoy. 3 coaches in 4 years and two April hires are not easy to work around. It takes time and work.

[bearcatbret]

The 2000 team was ranked #1 and the favorite to win it all until Kenyon got hurt.
The 2012 team was also really good, the win against FSU in the NCAA was epic. They were also the only team to beat Syracuse when Fab Melo was in the lineup.

Yes, Kenyon was the player of the year and the leader of the team. However, when he got hurt in the conference finals, it was all over for that team. So, in the NCAA Tournament, they were not competitive. That was the most disappointing year of my lifetime.

My point was that the negative posts make believe that UC has been on top of the world until Coach Miller took over. I am tired of the negativity and let's just get behind this team now even though it is the NIT. Many teams that have done well in the NIT have gone on to be in the NCAA the following year. Next year in the Big 12 will be the toughest in UC history and we should be solidity behind this team going into that.

[leo from jersey]

Yes, Kenyon was the player of the year and the leader of the team. However, when he got hurt in the conference finals, it was all over for that team. So, in the NCAA Tournament, they were not competitive. That was the most disappointing year of my lifetime.

My point was that the negative posts make believe that UC has been on top of the world until Coach Miller took over. I am tired of the negativity and let's just get behind this team now even though it is the NIT. Many teams that have done well in the NIT have gone on to be in the NCAA the following year. Next year in the Big 12 will be the toughest in UC history and we should be solidity behind this team going into that.

They beat UNC-Wilmington in the tourney the year Kenyon was hurt. I was disappointed, but I happened to live 10 miles away from, Wilmington, so my season was made. Plus I got to see Kenyon destroy DePaul in Chicago. I thought it was a great year. It is all perspective including how you define negativity as if you have the sole truth or even its meaning. So why don't you lead by example and not by posts about posters and not the cats. I don't bow down to forum bullies who want control and everything to please them. Personally, I thought UC was on top of the world until JB took over. I don't expect as Natty every year, but in my youth, that was normal. Go Cats-- BTW we don't know what next year will bring. As long as they show fundamentally good ball, effort, heart and not selfishness, I am with them regardless of record. I also got to see the victory over Duke while living in NC/ Those were great years, although the early 60s were hard to beat as were the Cats on the Court.

[Bearcat1996]

Of course there will be negativity from time to time. We are all diehard fans and can spot shortcomings of our team in real time. That said, I agree with Corporateballa, the negativity surrounding the program is palpable. I'll admit, I am perpetuating that with my posts. Its good to be called out from time to time!

We have no choice but to back this CWM and this team 100%. Just like we did with Huggs and Mick. That's the only way to will this program back to the big dance. Winning the NIT would be a great start.

[leo from jersey]

Of course there will be negativity from time to time. We are all diehard fans and can spot shortcomings of our team in real time. That said, I agree with Corporateballa, the negativity surrounding the program is palpable. I'll admit, I am perpetuating that with my posts. Its good to be called out from time to time!

We have no choice but to back this CWM and this team 100%. Just like we did with Huggs and Mick. That's the only way to will this program back to the big dance. Winning the NIT would be a great start.

I wish we would talk about the Cats and not the posters. Misplaced frustration at best, seeking of power and control or following the leader at worse. Now let us talk of the cats please. I think ODY has really developed. I think teams have figured out how to defend Skillings. Where is Reed? Will he and Hensley be gone? Even CWM sat a player down due to needing to go inside instead of jacking up 3s. He basically said that in the newspaper. I think that was constructive criticism. The only way to go to the big dance is by fundamentally sound unselfish hustle by the cats and good in game coaching adjustments as we saw yesterday. This NIT has been a joy to watch and the Cats needed this-- as did us fans

[Greg7173]

I don't think it is negativity as much as frustration. With Huggs and Mick we were used to teams that were well coached in fundamentals, had a game plan and always gave 100%. The teams of the past few years, not so much. They are woefully inconsistent and can be tough to watch. True they had a well played win against Hofstra but we are 35 games into the season. With this team giving that kind of effort earlier in the season, we may have been playing in the NCAA, not NIT. Just IMHO........

[leo from jersey]

I don't think it is negativity as much as frustration. With Huggs and Mick we were used to teams that were well coached in fundamentals, had a game plan and always gave 100%. The teams of the past few years, not so much. They are woefully inconsistent and can be tough to watch. True they had a well played win against Hofstra but we are 35 games into the season. With this team giving that kind of effort earlier in the season, we may have been playing in the NCAA, not NIT. Just IMHO........

Have you seen a change in the way CWM is coaching. Has someone gotten his ear (Roy Williams after watching , A former Bearcat?//) I think he was going towards real thin ice, but I have seen a change. That is where it starts and I, look forward to competing in the BIG12. heck it isn't as though we never have played Houston. It is just a hard game one right after another. Let us see what the portal brings in as well as the twin towers improving.

[Longtime Lurker]

I can agree that the team has been frustrating to watch at times. I'd still argue that there is some selective memory going on here for us to believe that those previous teams were always well coached in fundamentals/gave 100%/have a game plan etc. Our offense has been haphazard and dependient on hero ball for much of that time (under a variety of coaches). Just to cherry-pick, I can well remember the frustration of watching us try to smash Damon Flint into a point position that he just wasn't suited to, screaming at the TV every game for Octavius' guaranteed 1.5 travels for shuffling his feet per game, and, much as we would love to forget, NCAA tourney debacles such as Harvard, (shudder) Nevada (and I'm still bitter about Iowa State and the non-call on the obvious foul on Darnell Burton at the end of that game-but just like the non-TO call for Memphis this weekend, the team should have never been in that position against an inferior opponent).

I'd also say there is a bit of homerism here in terms of how "elite" we all think this job and place is. I grew up on the campus, am a graduate, and will always bleed red and black-but this is not Duke/Kansas/UNC/UK etc. Frankly, I'm fine with that-I actually like the fact that we haven't had a cavalcade of one and dones, that we get the chance to see players develop and graduate, and that the expectation is not "national championship game appearance or the season is a failure". I have way more affinitiy for guys like darnell burton, jaquon parker, trevon scott, gary clark, etc etc etc who stuck around and built themselves and the program up-as great as players like Lance, Dontonio (although dear god those two made me question my sanity as a fan with their decision making), Dermarr, Kenny Satt, etc were, I don't really have the same affection for them as I have had for some of the hard working role players (I loved watching someone like Tarrance Gibson scrap on defense for the two years he was here, for instance, and well remember the tourney game where he got to go off for 27 points). Anyhow, long digression aside, my point here is that as much as we would like to think that we should be able to hire and recruit like some of those so-called "elite" programs, we can't. This is a great program, city and school, with a history of tremendous success-but, having lived many places over the year, the national perception has been closer to lump us (in Huggs' later years and Mick) as being like Arizona, Virginia, Purdue etc-great regular season teams, high expectations going into the tourney, and smart money to go out in round 1 or 2. Couple that with the debacle of the Brannen years (not laying ALL the blame at his feet, but to go through 3 coaches in 4 years would be rough anywhere), and the expectation that CWM could convince high-ranked transfers and recruits to come here and turn the place around in year 1 or 2 was probably misplaced.

While I share the frustration about this team at times, they have shown clear signs of improvement year to year (and month to month). To other's points, I think voicing concerns about game planning, schemes, recruiting principles, etc is all fair game (if frequently overblown and written as if we were all successful D1 coaches)-the coaches are professionals and getting paid good money to do their job and take the questions. I wish we could get away from personal attacks on players (describing people as "trash", questioning their dedication, etc). Yes, they signed up for it too-but these are still young men who signed up to represent our school and are putting in astronomical time and effort. It doesn't feel fair to be slamming them as people. It's a fine line, I will readily grant.