Eastern Michigan 11/26 7:00 ESPN+

[leo from jersey]

I tried to stay positive and find some good. I really wanted to watch and cheer on Tyler and Frenchy. They were above disappointing. That is all I will say.

[Lobot]

My apologies for the rogue thread title mistakes. (fixed now)

I missed this one due to prior commitments. I was keeping track of the score a bit and think I first checked around 43-26 EMU with 11 minutes in the 2nd half. WTAF?!?!?! Did the team just check out for this one? I don't care about the injuries. We have enough talent and bodies to beat MAC schools even on a bad day. Was it just one of those days where nothing went right?

[London 'Cat]

CWM is a pretty good recruiter but what he does with those recruits leaves much room for error, and CWM and staff take all that room. I have seen enough of CWM coached teams. Another season of missing the NCAA tournament appears likely based on the first few games this year. I want CWM gone for certain if UC doesn't make the field this year. He also took what was supposed to be an NBA player (Abaev) and turned him into a below average shooter. Maybe part of that is on Abaev but I think most of it is the scheme UC plays under CWM. No attempt to get the ball inside to another NBA prospect (Thiam). A bunch of below average shooters running a scheme that requires solid shooters - fitting square pegs into round holes. I wish Cunningham would cut bait now and not prolong the pain of UC's fans in what is likely to be another disappointing season.

[leo from jersey]

My apologies for the rogue thread title mistakes. (fixed now)

I missed this one due to prior commitments. I was keeping track of the score a bit and think I first checked around 43-26 EMU with 11 minutes in the 2nd half. WTAF?!?!?! Did the team just check out for this one? I don't care about the injuries. We have enough talent and bodies to beat MAC schools even on a bad day. Was it just one of those days where nothing went right?

complete lack of motivation and effort. Only one person hustled or seemed to care -- Buck Harris -- This is the least physical team I have seen for the Cats. -- I grow tired of the lack of effort and just watching CWM clap while kneeling with that lost look in his eyes.

[Gmann]

We're now in Miller's 5th season and while the players have changed his development and coaching have not. Early in his tenure the players were not good enough to compete in the Big 12. They are more than capable now but he can't develop or coach them. They revert to lazy street ball on offense and don't rebound on defense because that takes no effort. He got thoroughly outcoached again last night by a mid-major guy.

I'd love to see him fired immediately just to see what any interim guy could do with this talent. But he won't be. It's a Cincinnati thing (Bengals, Bearcats, Reds) to keep coaches well past their time because of contract situations and not enough public pressure. As another OG who has seen much better sporting days it is astounding to see the level of mediocrity that is excepted in this town. PATHETIC!

[bearcatjd]

I tried to stay positive and find some good. I really wanted to watch and cheer on Tyler and Frenchy. They were above disappointing. That is all I will say.

I have never been so apathetic about UC basketball as I am this season. I for the first time booed last night. Mainly at Miller. He is a horrible coach. We run no set offense, jack up too many bad 3pointers,
we never have anyone under the basket to rebound missed shots & FT shooting is horrible again. Everyone says he is a good recruiter. NO F’in’g way. He recruits average players that can’t make baskets
against good teams. This is a bad hire. The AD needs to let him go now & start a national search for a good coach. Not one that walked on a team because his dad paid for a building on NC’s campus!
It’s time to end this nightmare & fire Miller!

[zykarious]

The issue ultimately seems like we are too reliant on players who aren't ready, that's partially due to injuries (and JJ's departure), but also just a roster construction issue. Dzellat, McKinley, Jordi, Tillery, even Abaev look like guys who will be awesome to build a team around in a year or two, but right now none of them are ready. Wes just seems incapable of finding us a good scoring wing and his solution this year of betting on an unproven freshman is looking like another fail.

We are trending towards being a bad rebounding team, we don't seem to care about rebounding, even Thiam is often just getting back on defense when the ball goes up. We've been out-rebounded in three straight games, sure Baba missing is part of the reason, but if he's the only big man willing to fight for rebounds that's still an issue.

Seasons not over, but a lot needs to change really quick or Wes's career at UC is done at the end of the season (for those saying fire him now, his buyout is 9.9mil before March 31 2026 and 4.6 mil after, spending 5.3mil extra to run out an interm HC for a few months would just be insane).

[Gmann]

The issue ultimately seems like we are too reliant on players who aren't ready, that's partially due to injuries (and JJ's departure), but also just a roster construction issue. Dzellat, McKinley, Jordi, Tillery, even Abaev look like guys who will be awesome to build a team around in a year or two, but right now none of them are ready. Wes just seems incapable of finding us a good scoring wing and his solution this year of betting on an unproven freshman is looking like another fail.

We are trending towards being a bad rebounding team, we don't seem to care about rebounding, even Thiam is often just getting back on defense when the ball goes up. We've been out-rebounded in three straight games, sure Baba missing is part of the reason, but if he's the only big man willing to fight for rebounds that's still an issue.

Seasons not over, but a lot needs to change really quick or Wes's career at UC is done at the end of the season (for those saying fire him now, his buyout is 9.9mil before March 31 2026 and 4.6 mil after, spending 5.3mil extra to run out an interm HC for a few months would just be insane).

As I stated above I'd like Miller fired immediately, however, seeing the particulars of his contract Z has outliined it's obvious we are stuck with him for this year. We have all suffered through challenging points in the Huggins and Cronin tenures but while they both had their issues they could coach and they would make changes and it often led to success. They were willing to get tough and not worry about being poplular. Miller is not capable of that. It's comical when he tries to talk tough because we know it's not translating down to the players. It never will.

[Cliftonite]

Seasons not over, but a lot needs to change really quick or Wes's career at UC is done at the end of the season (for those saying fire him now, his buyout is 9.9mil before March 31 2026 and 4.6 mil after, spending 5.3mil extra to run out an interm HC for a few months would just be insane).

His salary/contract is insane for what they're getting - which is almost nothing in return. I'd like to see Cunningham, Satterfield and Miller all gone next year.

[SKell82155]

The issue ultimately seems like we are too reliant on players who aren't ready, that's partially due to injuries (and JJ's departure), but also just a roster construction issue. Dzellat, McKinley, Jordi, Tillery, even Abaev look like guys who will be awesome to build a team around in a year or two, but right now none of them are ready. Wes just seems incapable of finding us a good scoring wing and his solution this year of betting on an unproven freshman is looking like another fail.

We are trending towards being a bad rebounding team, we don't seem to care about rebounding, even Thiam is often just getting back on defense when the ball goes up. We've been out-rebounded in three straight games, sure Baba missing is part of the reason, but if he's the only big man willing to fight for rebounds that's still an issue.

Seasons not over, but a lot needs to change really quick or Wes's career at UC is done at the end of the season (for those saying fire him now, his buyout is 9.9mil before March 31 2026 and 4.6 mil after, spending 5.3mil extra to run out an interm HC for a few months would just be insane).

I thought rebounding was going to be a strength lol.
In earlier games, though versus weaker opponents, it seemed they were attacking the rebounds whereas now they are not.
Realize Baba is out but Thiam & McKinley haven’t attacked.

[Rufus]

Huggins and Cronin both got athletes in here and taught them how to play basketball. Miller brings shooters in and hopes that they're shooting will get him some wins. Of all the coaches they have on staff what are any of them doing? They're certainly not teaching them basic bball. Their practices must five on five just bringing the ball down the court and shooting the first three that appears. Even Brannen taught them how to play basketball. To me the entire staff must go as no one is capable of teaching these kids basic skills beyond shooting as the shot Dr. is negligent in that area too.I thought losing to NKU would be Millers lowest point but he exceeded that here last night.

[bearcatbret]

Men's Hoops Falls to Eastern Michigan - University of Cincinnati Athletics - Official Athletics Website
Some really bad stats.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Huggins and Cronin both got athletes in here and taught them how to play basketball. Miller brings shooters in and hopes that they're shooting will get him some wins. Of all the coaches they have on staff what are any of them doing? They're certainly not teaching them basic bball. Their practices must five on five just bringing the ball down the court and shooting the first three that appears. Even Brannen taught them how to play basketball. To me the entire staff must go as no one is capable of teaching these kids basic skills beyond shooting as the shot Dr. is negligent in that area too.I thought losing to NKU would be Millers lowest point but he exceeded that here last night.

You know Rufus, I was wondering the same thing. UC brought in 3 new basketball personnel with NBA backgrounds. Do these NBA people ever go over film with Miller or attend practices to help Miller put a decent product on the floor? With all of these NBA guys on the staff, it would seem that the team would be better than last year or, at least, look like a capable team. None of that appear to be the case.

Those NBA guys on the staff better hurry and help Miller figure this "I do not know how to win" thing out fast.

These NBA guys should remember one thing, If Miller is let go, they will probably also be forced out as well. The school probably will not keep them. UC's coaches and advisors need to figure something out fast. The clock is ticking.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Should we really be that surprised with this upset loss to EMU?

Miller has been upset at least once every season that he has been at UC. 1) His first year, Monmouth and South Florida upset UC at home. There were a couple road upsets as well. This was a COVID season. 2) Miller's second year, NKU upset UC in a horrible display of offense (against a zone) in the second half. 3) Miller's third year, Oklahoma State upset UC at home late in the season. 4) Miller's fourth year, Kansas State blew out a ranked (#14) UC team. This was UC's first conference game. UC also was upset by Oklahoma State on the road. This loss was the 3rd consecutive loss to end the season. 5) Last night, Eastern Michigan upset UC.

Believe it or not, I looked at the schedule this season and tried to figure out where the upset loss will come from. I did not pick EMU for the upset. I thought that maybe it would have been Dayton.

One more thought, once the cupcakes are accounted for on the schedule (Tarleton State, Alabama State, and Lipscomb), where will the wins come from? Looking at the BIG XII schedule, who can UC beat? If Baba Miller is in the lineup, for most of the BIG XII, I will give UC a 50-50 chance. If Miller is hurt or his scoring is not there, UC will be in trouble.

So there it is. We will see how this thing plays itself out.

[Rufus]

With the attitude obtained with Millers players there is no such thing as cupcake opponents. How do you explain the energy UC came out against Louisville compared to the energy they displayed last night. It's almost eerie that this team always plays at the same tempo that the opponent plays. Teams of the past were given the moniker of thugs because they imposed their will on opponents. On cupcake opponents, past UC teams were like piranhas on newly dropped fish head, opponents couldn't breath, couldn't bring the ball up, couldn't pass, or couldn't see to pass because they were swarmed, got so confused the enemy didn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. It seems to me that Miller game plans to not lose rather than playing to blow people out. Just imagine how fast these players on the roster would play if we had a coach that actually knew how to teach to rebound and initiate a fast break. One last thing, Miller is wasting his time trying to bring in / recruit point guards / floor leaders when he #1 don't know how to develope them, #2 don't use them to coordinate offensive plays, and #3 when everyone on the floor brings the ball up to shoot their three point shot. As I said in a post of NJIT Millers teams are the most generic, lacksidaisical, unenergetic, and boring teams to try to sit and watch that I have ever seen in my almost seven decades of watching basketball. As much as I love watching UC bball, when YouTube lost ESPN, I told myself that I would not pay the $29.95 a month so as to watch them. I was prepared to not watch the conference schedule in its entirety and am seriously considering doing it anyway even though YouTube and ESPN have agreed to terms. I might stick it out until after the X debacle to see what happens but I'm not holding my breath.