Sad State of Bearcat Basketball

[leo from jersey]

He, and others had that quality that can't be taught and that is "drive". The thing that you have inside you that you refuse to lose, you refuse to be beaten by your opponent and love to force your will upon him. Not to mention a sense of owing someone something, for example a coach who saw something enough in you to want to offer you a scholly, and the need to be the very best in order to achieve a goal that 90% of people don't get. Today all they want is to get paid now.
Oh to have the mindset of an Oscar Robinson, or a Michael Jordan, or a Larry Byrd who none were going to denied their opportunity.

Rufus -- I used to post quotes in our gym -- some still there -- By the squat machine I had these from Larry Bird -- The kids had to read them while exercising --

“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” –

“First master the fundamentals.” –

“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

My favorite right in the kids faces: “I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me.”

“Practice habits were crucial to my development in basketball. You’ve got to have them down before you can even think about playing.

“There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing, but most people just don’t understand that.

“You can make all the excuses you want, but if you’re not mentally tough and you’re not prepared to play every night, you’re not going to win.

“There is nothing better than being out there when the game is on the line

these were great:

“You can make all the excuses you want, but if you’re not mentally tough and you’re not prepared to play every night, you’re not going to win.

“I hate to lose more than I like to win.

They worked well as I saw hard work and desire get fruit. The biggest lesson : “It makes me sick when I see a guy just stare at a loose ball and watch it go out of bounds.”

[Rufus]

Leo I been watching some vids of Larry Byrd lately and they are eye opening. I can appreciate a small Midwest hayseed coming to big city to sell his bball wares, bound and determined to allow no one take his plans away. We don't see that attitude in today's kids ( lol we are both old farts) they feel they are owed everything.

[JBB]

Jerrod Calhoun, Head Basketball Coach, Utah State University. Calhoun was an assistant under Huggins at UC (Video Coordinator or something like that) and West Virginia (Director of Basketball Operations and Assistant Basketball Coach). Utah State is currently 12-1 and 3-0 in the conference (Mountain West). Calhoun is in his second year at USU. He went 26-8 last year (his 1st year) and made the NCAA Tournament.

Calhoun has a previous assistant coaching stop at Walsh after he left UC (Huggins was a head coach there. However, Huggins and Calhoun were not there during the same time period). In addition to Utah State, Calhoun has head coaching experience at Fairmont State. Fairmont State is a D II school. Calhoun made it to a D II National Championship game and lost. Calhoun also has head coaching experience at Youngstown State.

Calhoun is a UC graduate. Cincinnati should seriously consider this guy as the head basketball coach if it finds itself looking for a coach at the end of this season. He understands the strong tradition of UC basketball. This guy will not be in the market long when schools start looking for new coaches. UC may have to spend some money to buy his contract from USU (assuming he is still under contract) along with paying Miller the remainder of what is agreed that is left on his contract.

I have seen Utah State play this season. This guy is a good coach.

Calhoun may the right guy. All I’m saying is look at what Rick Pitino has done at St Johns. I think Huggins can still coach and with him cleaning up his act,he could give us 5 good years.
Let’s be real, we have gone thru Brannen and now 5 years of Miller. This program was once respected as one of the best in basketball.
Now we are what 8-6? We don’t scare any of our opponents

[bearcatbret]

I read a story about Larry B. a while back. It said that he never lived like a star but very humble and saved his money. He still lives in his house from French Lick. I have no idea if that is true but it is nice to think that sports stars can still be that way.

[Bearcat1996]

Jerrod Calhoun, Head Basketball Coach, Utah State University. Calhoun was an assistant under Huggins at UC (Video Coordinator or something like that) and West Virginia (Director of Basketball Operations and Assistant Basketball Coach). Utah State is currently 12-1 and 3-0 in the conference (Mountain West). Calhoun is in his second year at USU. He went 26-8 last year (his 1st year) and made the NCAA Tournament.

Calhoun has a previous assistant coaching stop at Walsh after he left UC (Huggins was a head coach there. However, Huggins and Calhoun were not there during the same time period). In addition to Utah State, Calhoun has head coaching experience at Fairmont State. Fairmont State is a D II school. Calhoun made it to a D II National Championship game and lost. Calhoun also has head coaching experience at Youngstown State.

Calhoun is a UC graduate. Cincinnati should seriously consider this guy as the head basketball coach if it finds itself looking for a coach at the end of this season. He understands the strong tradition of UC basketball. This guy will not be in the market long when schools start looking for new coaches. UC may have to spend some money to buy his contract from USU (assuming he is still under contract) along with paying Miller the remainder of what is agreed that is left on his contract.

I have seen Utah State play this season. This guy is a good coach.

I would throw Calhoun into the mix. Ties to UC is important to me (and many others). Player development has been non-existent for many years and I think this a very underrated trait. What is known about Calhoun's philosophy? Engagement with media and alumni is also very important. Basically, a Huggs younger clone would make my day. Every game was fun to watch, win or lose.

[bearcatlifer]

I don't think the University wants anything to do with Huggs. Remember ,Jeff Wyler is still a booster. But I loved his post game interviews. He would piss and moan to Chuck Machock no matter whether we won or lost.

[BearKatz]

The University needs to be on the phone tomorrow with Rick Pitino's Agent, asking what will it take to have him coaching UC next season.

I want a PROVEN winner who knows how to get the job done! Not and up and coming coach who might workout.

This season is over! Wes Miller is way over his head as UC Basketball Coach!

[BearKatz]

And looking at the remaining schedule, one possible win!

[red_n_black_attack]

The University needs to be on the phone tomorrow with Rick Pitino's Agent, asking what will it take to have him coaching UC next season.

I want a PROVEN winner who knows how to get the job done! Not and up and coming coach who might workout.

This season is over! Wes Miller is way over his head as UC Basketball Coach!

We'd all like that. How are we going to afford such a coach?

[bearcatlifer]

Travis Kelce as our new director of NIL and his fiancee as our new Sugar Mama!

[hipal88]

Where is Corey Evans accountability in all this? This team is not well constructed. Shon is basically unplayable. Did he not see that at all or was he just steamrolled.

[BearKatz]

We'd all like that. How are we going to afford such a coach?

Pitino is making roughly $3.3M a year. Wes is making roughly $2.95M and increases year by year from what I have read.

We should be able to afford Pitino easily,

[BearKatz]

Bearcat93 posted this on the West Virgina thread last night:

The extension upped Miller’s average annual salary from $1.31 million under the original contract to an average annual salary of $2.95 million.

Miller’s remaining contract: $13M
2025: $3.1M
2026: $3.2M
2027: $3.3M**
2028: $3.4M**
**Extension years

My question to you guys? WHY would the University give me an Extension when he has proved absolutely nothing to this point? No Conference Championship, No NCAA Tournament Birth. Who's bright idea was this?

[Gmann]

Bearcat93 posted this on the West Virgina thread last night:

The extension upped Miller’s average annual salary from $1.31 million under the original contract to an average annual salary of $2.95 million.

Miller’s remaining contract: $13M
2025: $3.1M
2026: $3.2M
2027: $3.3M**
2028: $3.4M**
**Extension years

My question to you guys? WHY would the University give me an Extension when he has proved absolutely nothing to this point? No Conference Championship, No NCAA Tournament Birth. Who's bright idea was this?

Exactly! John Cunningham I suppose authored the extension. If you can't afford to eat an extended contract don't extend a coach who has accomplished absolutely nothing. I still contend the roster is good enough to compete and win at a decent clip in this league. You can see them do so for stretches in nearly all their games against very good teams. The problem is they can't sustain anything especially on offense. It's all on Miller. He may be the worst end of game coach I've ever seeen. As many have noted he was hired in over his head and we are all suffering. This situation is only going to deteriorate as the season wears on and the program is going to be severely damaged because of it.

And finally Miller is going to extract generational wealth for his stint here. He would not have to work another day in his life if he chose not to do so. So I feel much more sorry for us than I do for him.

[BearKatz]

Exactly! John Cunningham I suppose authored the extension. If you can't afford to eat an extended contract don't extend a coach who has accomplished absolutely nothing. I still contend the roster is good enough to compete and win at a decent clip in this league. You can see them do so for stretches in nearly all their games against very good teams. The problem is they can't sustain anything especially on offense. It's all on Miller. He may be the worst end of game coach I've ever seeen. As many have noted he was hired in over his head and we are all suffering. This situation is only going to deteriorate as the season wears on and the program is going to be severely damaged because of it.

And finally Miller is going to extract generational wealth for his stint here. He would not have to work another day in his life if he chose not to do so. So I feel much more sorry for us than I do for him.

This team is talented enough to finish in the upper half of the league and secure a NCAA Tourney Bid!

The problem is Wes Miller! He continues to be outcoached in every close game in the 2nd half. Wes lets his team fold under pressure with 3-5mins left in every close game. Wes is a very good recruiter, but not good under pressure. We're in the Big 12, this Univeristy deserves a HIGH LEVEL COACH to take this team to the next level.

I would love to see the over/under on how many players will return next year. Look for another mass exodus at the end of the season.