West Virginia 2/2 2:00 ESPN+

[kennh]

The team is just not very good. They don't pass the ball well and are sloppy. They miss too many layups. They take bad shots. Aziz does not score unless he is under the basket and wide open for layup. I think we are in for 2-3 years of a basketball desert at UC. Most of these kids will be in the transfer portal as soon as it is open.

[bearcatjd]

That was the worse performance by a UC basketball team since the Tony Yates era. No enthusiasm by players. No wholesale changes by the coach. With 2 minutes left in the game we are dribbling the ball at the top of the key & not being aggressive to score. We are regressing as a team. Wow what the heck do we do to salvage the season. 😢

[London 'Cat]

I have a hunch here. We’re dealing with something bad in the program and I don’t think the problem is Wes or John.

I hope I’m wrong

Well, if not the HC or AD, then it must be a player(s) or an Asst Coach. What is your theory?

[leeraymond]

UC basketball player development seemed to have gone backwards since last season. The team appears to not have gotten better from last year. There may be a reason why. UC has three NEW player development coaches. They either were promoted or were hired new in the summer of 2024. Also, neither one of these guys have high-major coaching experience. Two of these new coaches were with Miller at UNCG. The other guy was with Dollar at South Florida. Additionally, all of these coaches appear to be rather young in age. Go to UC's roster and check it out.

[SawyerHall68]

Without a doubt, something is seriously wrong. These players played much better last year. What I noticed is that there is no offensive plan. What plan that existed last year, if any, had turned into taking turns of individual one on one's. With all the practices that have occurred under this new coach for the last several years, it appears that an offensive system has never been developed. Even a squad of all Americans would be stymied from growth without a system. This situation is really sad.

[leeraymond]

You are not going to win by shooting this badly and only putting up 50 points. How many games is that now under 60 points? Cincinnati Falls to West Virginia - University of Cincinnati Athletics

Four games under 60. All inside the conference.

[leeraymond]

We made our late run with Simas on the bench, as soon as he came back in he gave up an easy basket and it was downhill from there.

Simas isn't the answer, he shouldn't even be a starter. Play the guys who actually tried, even if it was after WVU took their foot of the gas. Reed, Griffith, Day Day, Mitchell and Aziz and hope some other guys decide to start to care. Our offense sucks regardless of who plays anyway, so we might as well play the guys who want to defend and rebound.

Yeah. I know that Simas is not having a great season. He is also very weak on his drives to the rim. However, the team needs help at the point guard spot. Who else on the team can run the point other than Thomas and James? Playing defense would be a problem, but at 6'7" Simas would have a size advantage that may help the team get wins.

At this point, no idea is a bad one. UC has already had two four game losing streaks in a conference season that is only ten games old. UC is searching for answers right now. Maybe Simas at the point could work. It is worth a try.

[bearcatbret]

You are not going to win by shooting this badly and only putting up 50 points. How many games is that now under 60 points? Cincinnati Falls to West Virginia - University of Cincinnati Athletics

[leeraymond]

I have a hunch here. We’re dealing with something bad in the program and I don’t think the problem is Wes or John.

I hope I’m wrong

Well, if it is not Miller or Cunningham, is it a player or an assistant coach?

[djs]

I'm not worried about any of our guys hitting the portal. We kept all our guys from last year and what good did it do? I have a feeling it would be best if we cleaned house, like West Virginia did from last year to this. Announcers keep saying our problem is that we don't shoot well. While it's true that we don't shoot well, the bigger problem is that we don't get good shots. We're constantly putting up prayers, so it's logical that our shooting percentage is poor. Every game is exactly the same. I guess that makes sense on Groundhog Day.

[leeraymond]

I thought Wes was trending well last season. With Jizzle/Skillings/SL/Day-Day he had a team that played hard and seemed ready for the Big 12. It felt like those guys wanted to run it back this year and be bigger and better. But he lost two bigs from last season, and he added nobody this year that is really complementing or growing with the unit from last year. Mitchell is not really a difference maker. AB is not really a Big 12 level big man. Miller was touted as a recruiter, but this season he added nobody. That concerns me. Moving up to a conference like the Big 12 you are going to have to step up and bring in top level players because of the quality of these other programs. If Wes doesn't get some big name commits for next year, he is finished. I forsee the portal for Jizzle and wouldn't be surprised if Skillings tries it too.

Interesting post. I also think that Miller lost more from last year than what he brought in this year. From what I have been seeing this season, UC needs to bring in a pass-oriented point guard with decent size (6'3") and two big men that know how to play in the paint. If UC can find a big that can play defense on the perimeter and shoot a jump shot, that would be good. As it now stands, UC don't have nothing. At least, not enough to win.

[leo from jersey]

He also got blocked at the rim like 5 times.

totally agree with you, but who else showed any pg skill.

[zykarious]

I think we all saw when SL beat his man badly drew the rim protector and SL lobed it up for two. He was the only Cat able to do that.

He also got blocked at the rim like 5 times.

[Gypo O'Leary]

I thought Wes was trending well last season. With Jizzle/Skillings/SL/Day-Day he had a team that played hard and seemed ready for the Big 12. It felt like those guys wanted to run it back this year and be bigger and better. But he lost two bigs from last season, and he added nobody this year that is really complementing or growing with the unit from last year. Mitchell is not really a difference maker. AB is not really a Big 12 level big man. Miller was touted as a recruiter, but this season he added nobody. That concerns me. Moving up to a conference like the Big 12 you are going to have to step up and bring in top level players because of the quality of these other programs. If Wes doesn't get some big name commits for next year, he is finished. I forsee the portal for Jizzle and wouldn't be surprised if Skillings tries it too.

[longtimefan]

I have a hunch here. We’re dealing with something bad in the program and I don’t think the problem is Wes or John.

I hope I’m wrong

I hope you’re wrong too.