Cronin: Bar set too high for Gates
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted March 8, 2010 5:10 PM ET
The curious case of Yancy Gates took another interesting turn on Monday.
[Image: ucmiamigates-thumb-485x340-926.jpg]
Only, this time it wasn't due to a dominant double-double performance followed by an uninspired 20-minute letdown. Or even another game where the 6-foot-9, 260-pound sophomore goes without a defensive rebound.
The latest explanation for why Gates has not developed into the powerful force many thought he would be comes from the sophomore's own head coach.
And the comments were more unpredictable than Gates' play.
"Who says he's supposed to be a force?" Cronin responded to a question as to why Gates hasn't developed into a force inside.
From there, what began as an honest assessment of where the development of his low-post presence was at, turned into Cronin questioning whether Gates was ever as good as recruiting services and the such claimed he was supposed to be in the first place.
He even referred to Gates' "so-called potential," at one point.
"Yancy was not a dominant player at Withrow High School," Cronin said. "He averaged seven rebounds a game. Check your stats. Yancy has been a guy that is a project. He has got talent but he is a project. He continues to be one."
He may have only averaged seven rebounds a game as a four-year starter in high school at Hughes and Withrow, but his junior and senior seasons he averaged a double-double. He had 21.2 points and 10.5 rebounds a game as a senior and 19.0 points and 10.0 rebounds as a junior for the Tigers, according to the UC media guide. He was the AP Division I Player of the Year his senior season.
There were questions about his consistency in high school, but even with those, he still was a four-star recruit by Scout.com and five-star by Rivals.com. Cronin believes those services themselves have played a role Gates' mentality.
"There are a lot of guys that could be this or could be that," Cronin said. "At the end of the day, we are who we are.
"That is the problem with the whole ranking system of recruits. It is hardest on a guy like Yancy. Because other guys don't have the expectation levels because they don't have the five stars next to their name. That is the biggest problem. The star system doesn't exist like it does for a guy like Yancy or even Lance (Stephenson)."
Cronin doesn't know if those expectations were fair, that they were a source of stress and inferred they were a reason for some of Gates' issues.
He finished the regular season averaging 10.5 points and six rebounds a game. Those numbers are about the same as his freshman season were he averaged 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.
"Because of his so-called potential that people have bestowed upon him, it brings stress to his situation," Cronin said. "He has to do the best he can do and I got to live with that. My job is to make sure he is giving me his best effort and has a great attitude. That is all I can do. At times, he gives me sophomore effort. There is a different between sophomore effort and senior effort."
Often a parallel connection is attempted by fans or the media between Gates and UC legend Danny Fortson. Both were of similar body types and came highly recruited. It's one Cronin says he hears all the time.
Fortson finished as the third-leading scorer in UC history and did so in only three seasons. He went from averaging 15.1 points as a freshman to 20.1 points as a sophomore and 21.3 as a junior. The 6-7, 260-pounder moved from averaging 7.6 boards as a freshman to 9.6 as a sophomore.
Again, Cronin says those comparisons are unfair.
"I watched Danny Fortson get 60 points, repeatedly, in AAU games. I am not exaggerating. I am talking 63 against Riverside Chruch: Ron Artest, Adonal Foyle and Mark Blount, three NBA guys. I watched him get 63 on those guys. The guy scored in his sleep.
"You can work on a guy with his free throws and his footwork, but at the end of the day you can't make players somebody you are not...So, the problem with Yancy is people want him to be something he is not. He has to worry about being Yancy Gates."
The most interesting element about all of this line of thinking which claims Gates was never as good as everyone claimed he could be or that the level of expectations were set too high considering his " so-called potential," is that, well, Cronin was one of the people setting the bar that high only two years ago.
In Dan Hoard's blog in early 2008, during Gates' senior season at Withrow, Hoard quoted Cronin in reference to Gates as one of the premier talents he's seen.
Hoard set it up by asking if Cronin had ever seen anybody that big and strong.
"No and it's not even close," said Cronin, who has recruited eight NBA draft picks to college basketball and had six of his recruiting classes ranked in the Top 10 by national publications. "He's the most talented big guy that I've ever recruited. For a coach it's exciting because he's got everything that you can't teach. Everything that Yancy needs are things that can be taught."
How things have changed.
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Full transcript of Cronin conversation about Yancy Gates
Director's Cut: Cronin on Gates
By Paul Dehner Jr. on March 8, 2010 5:21 PM
I tried to stuff as much of what Cronin said about Yancy Gates and his untapped "so-called potential" into the feature story on the site, but there are other intersting elements and context that go with it I think are worth a read, which includes Cronin taking a jab at the career of Melvin Levett out of left field.
Here is the full transcript of all that was said and was buoyed in a question and answer with Channel 5's George Vogel in the final six minutes of Monday's media sessions with Mick Cronin:
George: Yancy, people feel like he hasn't blossomed at all, hasn't gotten much better, hasn't become the force people expect him to be because of his..
MC: I don't know how fair that is. Who says he's supposed to be a force?
GV: I think he could be when I look at him...
MC: You been doing sports long enough to know there are a lot of guys that could be this or could be that. You know the challenge is to get them to where they are. At the end of the day, we are who we are. We have to try to get better every day. You look and say this guy, Edgar Sosa, could have been the best point guard in the Big East. Edgar Sosa, just tried to get better every year and has had a good senior year. That is the problem with the whole ranking system of recruits. It is hardest on a guy like Yancy. Because other guys don't have the expectation levels because they don't have the firve stars next to their name. That is the biggest problem. The star system doesn't exist like it does for a guy lke Yancy or even lance.
Lance, I don't know what is going to happen. My guess, Lance has a pretty good chance to be Freshman of the ear in the Big East. But you talk to certain people and it is what is wrong with Lance? It is because of expectation levels.
Yancy was not a dominant player at Withrow High School. He averaged seven rebounds a game. Check your stats.Yancy has been a guy that is a project. He has got talent but he is a project. He continues to be one. He is well aware of that. He challenges himself. Can you try to get him to continue to get better? That is part of the process.
GV: You feel you can?
MC: I don't have the magic wand. All you can do, coaching a guy is one thing. You can't make somebody something you are not. You can try to hep them, develop them, footwork, things of that nature, but there is only so much you can do at a certain point in time. You can work on a guy with his free throws and teach his footwork, but at the end of the day you can't make players somebody you are not. Let's just be honest about it. Danny Fortson is Danny Fortson. I hear people say, Yancy is not Danny Fortson. I watched Danny Fortson get 60 points, repeatedly, in AAU games. I am not exaggerating. I am talking 63 against Riverside Chruch: Ron Artest, Adonal Foyle and Mark Blount, three NBA guys. I watched him get 63 on those guys. The guy scored in his sleep.
So, the problem with Yancy is people want him to be something he is not. He has to worry about being Yancy Gates. Again, the stress again. He has to worry about being the best guy Yancy Gates can be and make sure he is giving the best effort.
GV: You are satisfied with that effort? I am saying across the board, you didn't see a drop off in the second half at Georgetown?
MC: When you can't score, George, when you go on a run of missing eight straight free throws and can't put the ball in the basket at Georgetwon and they are on fire in the second half of the game, you can talk about effort all you want, effort don't get the ball in the basket. You got to get the ball in the basket. That is a different story. Playing hard, practice habits, committment off the floor, diet, training, they are all learned skills guys go through.
You can go back through annals of college basketball players, you can pick Bearcats. Did Melvin Levett reach his potential? He was a five-star guy. Did this guy? Did that guy? As a coach, you do everything you can to reach their potential. Yancy is better with his practice habits. He is better with a lot of things. Is he where I want him to be? No. Is he where he wants himself to be? No. So, but it is not a magic wand you can wave.
Because of his so-called potential that people have bestowed upon him, it brings stress to his situation. He has to do the best he can do and I got to live with that. My job is to make sure he is giving me his best effort and has a great attttude. That is all I can do. At times, he gives me sophomore effort. There is a difference between sophomore effort and senior effort.
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