Oklahoma 3/5 8:00 ESPN+

[leo from jersey]

Or, bring in a few guys who can make threes. We thought CJ was that guy, but his injury problems continued and he didn’t help. JJ is 35% on threes this year, as a freshman. That number will go up.

My friend do you not think that recruiting one dimensional players who shoot, but play defense with their hands and not their feet, can't dribble with their head up thus not seeing the court resulting in not passing to the open man or a wild pass has caused this team to be close, but no cigar.

[bearcatrunner]

For the record I am not a Huggins fan. I was at school during those years and it was winning at a cost to the Universities image. I prefer college athletes and I really liked Mick for that and I really like Wes as well. I've not heard of a single issue with any of his players and I couldn't be happier about that.

My thought with Wes is that I think he is a great young coach and I don't want him to leave. He does so many things right, that as fans we don't tend to focus on. However, I think many would agree we need to get less predictable with defenses and I believe Wes could use a mentor on the staff as I think he is still growing into being the complete coach he could be.

[red_n_black_attack]

Originally posted by red_n_black_attack View Post
I hope you're kidding about bringing in Huggins? Wes has hired former head coaches as assistants, and needs to bring in others who are looking to become HC. The great coaches have a big coaching tree because they were smart enough to bring in the brightest and best assistants. I don't believe Huggs would take a "consultant" role or defer to Wes if there are disagreements with Wes having final say. Huggs would be too disruptive to be of real assistance.

Huggins has been gone 20 years, and he turns 71 before next season. We need to move on.

Exactly my point, plus the ego

[leeraymond]

For the record I am not a Huggins fan. I was at school during those years and it was winning at a cost to the Universities image. I prefer college athletes and I really liked Mick for that and I really like Wes as well. I've not heard of a single issue with any of his players and I couldn't be happier about that.

My thought with Wes is that I think he is a great young coach and I don't want him to leave. He does so many things right, that as fans we don't tend to focus on. However, I think many would agree we need to get less predictable with defenses and I believe Wes could use a mentor on the staff as I think he is still growing into being the complete coach he could be.

Wes Miller should be given a chance. I believe that all coaches deserve a chance not unless something catastrophic has gone wrong (Brannen Case). With that said, If Miller is such a great young coach, he is doing a good job of pretending not to be a great coach. He has a 24-29 conference record at UC and he only wins 58% of all of his games. Miller has been UPSET at least twice every year he has been at UC. His defenses have given up 70 points a game in conference play every year he has been the UC coach. His defenses are not getting better, in terms of points allowed.

Miller has been associated with college basketball as a coach now for roughly 20 years. I heard him say that with my own ears. He has been a head coach for 13 years. That is a long time. We should NOT be talking about Miller getting mentors. He has been around long enough where he should be mentoring younger coaches.

Being honest and truthful, I am not sure if Miller is a championship coach at the high major D-1 level. He won a few championships in the SOUTHERN CONFERENCE. The Southern Conference is a low level mid-major conference. The question I now ask is why did it take Miller 6 years to really start winning in the Southern Conference? Cronin won the OVC Tournament and took Murray State to the NCAA's his very first year in the conference. Cronin won the regular season championship and the tournament championship again in his third year. I like Miller. I really do. I am just not sure if he is a championship coach.

[bearcatrunner]

I'm a fan that you can always learn something new and if you are not learning then you are getting passed. I don't care how old you are, you can still be mentored and you can still mentor others. Always be humble and aways strive to learn. Wes is one of the youngest coaches in the country. Saban worked for Belichick as a defensive coordinator and yet Belichick was still learning things from Saban even after winning 4 Superbowl's.

Imagine if we had a coach who knew offense and defense. With Mick it was always why can't he coach offense and same for Huggins. I've seen a lot of progress this year and still have a lot of faith and hope in Wes. He just needs to figure out things on defense and hold the players accountable for mental errors and increase their basketball IQ.

I love that Wes gets his players to play hard and they don't give up. They don't fight with each other or the coach. We are so close to big success I can taste it. Hugg's would have to humble himself to work with Wes but he could teach him many great things. Again I'm not saying it has to be Huggs, he is just one of the best defensive coaches I have ever seen. Maybe that knowledge is in Terry's head as well and if so he would be the perfect person to help out.

[leeraymond]

I'm a fan that you can always learn something new and if you are not learning then you are getting passed. I don't care how old you are, you can still be mentored and you can still mentor others. Always be humble and aways strive to learn. Wes is one of the youngest coaches in the country. Saban worked for Belichick as a defensive coordinator and yet Belichick was still learning things from Saban even after winning 4 Superbowl's.

Imagine if we had a coach who knew offense and defense. With Mick it was always why can't he coach offense and same for Huggins. I've seen a lot of progress this year and still have a lot of faith and hope in Wes. He just needs to figure out things on defense and hold the players accountable for mental errors and increase their basketball IQ.

I love that Wes gets his players to play hard and they don't give up. They don't fight with each other or the coach. We are so close to big success I can taste it. Hugg's would have to humble himself to work with Wes but he could teach him many great things. Again I'm not saying it has to be Huggs, he is just one of the best defensive coaches I have ever seen. Maybe that knowledge is in Terry's head as well and if so he would be the perfect person to help out.

I agree with you and you are correct concerning coaches, or anybody, learning new things and new approaches regardless of their level of achievement. I am not sure if I agree with you about the progress made this year. We have actually gone backwards this year in terms of conference play. UC was a much better conference team last year. I know that there is a big difference between the AAC and the BIG 12. As a coach, you adapt, make adjustments, and coach to win games. That has NOT happened a lot this conference season. Also, UC is a much worse scoring team this year compared to last year. Defensively, UC has given up 70 points a game for the last three years. Now the offense has problems. Additionally, Miller is 24-29 in conference play over his 3 years at UC.

These are the types of problems that may constantly plague Miller's UC teams. You talk about mentoring. Mentoring takes coaches who are trying to learn new things from more established coaches. From my perspective, Miller has NOT changed his way of coaching since he has been at UC. What new ideas and approaches has he learned? I do not know. I go by what I see and the team's record. This year's team looked like his other UC teams. The end result is another season without an NCAA birth.

Everyone wants Miller to win and I want Miller to win as well. I just do not know if he can win in the BIG 12.

[longtimefan]

We forget quickly. CWM took over a team with JDIII as the top scorer. JD is averaging 5.2ppg at Arkansas this year. There is absolutely zero doubt that this team is far superior to what he inherited when he walked in the door. This team would be sitting at 23-24 wins right now in the AAC and be headed for the tournament. Instead we’ve lost so many close games this year, but to elite teams for the most part. The team he took over wouldn’t have a single win in this Big 12, and get routinely blown out by 30 or more. I have my gripes too, some times the substitutions leave me scratching my head so much I can put off the barber for two weeks. But on the whole, the team is better, adding three top 100 recruits next year, and the trajectory is up.

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

I agree with you and you are correct concerning coaches, or anybody, learning new things and new approaches regardless of their level of achievement. I am not sure if I agree with you about the progress made this year. We have actually gone backwards this year in terms of conference play. UC was a much better conference team last year. I know that there is a big difference between the AAC and the BIG 12. As a coach, you adapt, make adjustments, and coach to win games. That has NOT happened a lot this conference season. Also, UC is a much worse scoring team this year compared to last year. Defensively, UC has given up 70 points a game for the last three years. Now the offense has problems. Additionally, Miller is 24-29 in conference play over his 3 years at UC.

These are the types of problems that may constantly plague Miller's UC teams. You talk about mentoring. Mentoring takes coaches who are trying to learn new things from more established coaches. From my perspective, Miller has NOT changed his way of coaching since he has been at UC. What new ideas and approaches has he learned? I do not know. I go by what I see and the team's record. This year's team looked like his other UC teams. The end result is another season without an NCAA birth.

Everyone wants Miller to win and I want Miller to win as well. I just do not know if he can win in the BIG 12.

Last year's team had experienced and talented guards....Nolley and Dejulius.

[sedz]

This team would be sitting at 23-24 wins right now in the AAC and be headed for the tournament. Instead we’ve lost so many close games this year, but to elite teams for the most part.

We also lost to teams ranked #104 and #127 on Torvik. There are 6 teams in the AAC that are better than both of them. We're barely a top 50 team, so it's not like the AAC would be a cakewalk for us.

[leo from jersey]

We also lost to teams ranked #104 and #127 on Torvik. There are 6 teams in the AAC that are better than both of them. We're barely a top 50 team, so it's not like the AAC would be a cakewalk for us.

would the cats have gotten JJ, DAYDay, Aziz, SL and CJ if they were still in the aac. I doubt if all of them would have come except to play in the Big 12

[sedz]

would the cats have gotten JJ, DAYDay, Aziz, SL and CJ if they were still in the aac. I doubt if all of them would have come except to play in the Big 12

longtimefan said this team.

"We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees." - Jason Kidd

[leo from jersey]

longtimefan said this team.

"We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees." - Jason Kidd

that team would have not been in the AAC . Now if we had the 76 Hoosiers we would have been in. Undefeated too. You play with who you got and not who you wish.

[longtimefan]

I should know better than to say anything positive here. But I stand by it. I’ll be there Saturday early as always, cheering them on until I lose my voice.

[Geaux Juan]

longtimefan said this team.

Leo makes a good point that you are missing or dismissing - THIS team wouldn't exist in the AAC because a good number of players we have now wouldn't have come to UC to play in the AAC.

What good does it do to say THIS team would be good in the AAC?

[leeraymond]

Last year's team had experienced and talented guards....Nolley and Dejulius.

Don't forget about Lakhin. Lakhin played a major role on that team last year as well. I hear you Oldtimer. You are right about DeJulius and Nolley. Last year's team was a very aggressive scoring team. Imagine if UC had that scoring this year. That is why it is so confusing to see Lakhin on the bench when he scored in double figures last year. For some reason Lakhin went backwards this year.