I am taking a stress test Wednesday. I should just tell them to put the monitors on me during a UC game that should tell them all they need to know about my old ticker.

(02-24-2013 04:13 PM)Mark Wolfram Wrote:  I am taking a stress test Wednesday. I should just tell them to put the monitors on me during a UC game that should tell them all they need to know about my old ticker.

Not much fun today Mark.

(02-24-2013 03:53 PM)bearcat54 Wrote:  if UC has to play ND in the big east tourney, maybe Mick can get Obama to make Mike Brey sit out Connaughton, Cooley and Knight. Then maybe we have a better chance.

WHAT DOES IT MATTER??? The SUBS for those guys outplayed us!!

It is beyond amazing how much this team has regressed since last year. Simply unbelievable.

They're all too close to it now. When a team begins to show signs of weakness today's coaches have a tendency to over-coach. I believe that's what's happening now. They're slow, deliberate and completely tentative on offense. It's not fun to watch so imagine what it's like to play that way.

Mick made a good move today by sitting Cash more and playing Shaq more. What he really needs to do is completely shelve Mbodj and go all guards and forwards, especially if we can't even get rebounding from the center spot. Sling it around, shoot at will and not worry about the consequences. HOW MUCH WORSE CAN IT BE? Would the shooting percentages be any worse if they just abandoned a set offense and free-wheeled it? Would they have any more difficulty making simple passes and layups?

I'm sick of watching our guys make a move to the hoop then stop unexpectedly, allow the defense to wall them off, and have to make a desperate pass back out to the perimeter. ND's big men aren't exactly fleet of foot (I'll say it - they're fat, slow, and white), yet UC's offense made them look like they were all over the court. Let Shaq and Guyn play more minutes without fear of reprisal for making the same mistakes Mick lets our Seniors get away with time and time again.

Bad news, folks - Kentucky now has a better W-L record, and better RPI. The same UK who's tournament chances have been debated ad nauseum for the better part of a month.

This team is squarely on the bubble and headed in the wrong direction. At this rate, it will be a relief if they don't make it.

Normally around this point in the season I am ready to see some new blood and just ready to put the season in the rear view mirror to make way for baseball. My buddies were telling me earlier this season that this team was different; deeper, better defensively and most of all better shooters.
Major meltdown for Mick and the boys, very disappointing as it is, I'm sure, for them.

One more thing: Mick spent all summer and early fall talking about how the team was going to be up-tempo. At what point did he decide to completely abandon the style that he spent half a year implementing? He can bullsh^t all he wants about how tough Big East defenses are, but the fact is that this offense is too slow, deliberate, and devoid of creativity to be anything other than coaching. Personnel plays a key, sure - but it's not like he didn't know what he had to work with.

I'm firmly in Mick's camp but also agree with others on this thread that question a) the big man coaching or lack thereof; and b) the lack of freedom Mick allows this team offensively.

Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne were talented guys coming out of high school, but I worked a few of their games early in the season and they were beyond horrible. Did a game of theirs in Lincoln last week and their entire games had changed - the footwork, the shot selection, the post-passing, the aggressiveness. Spoke with a few folks and they talked about how Izzo and his staff are great at "coaching up" players. Can we say the same about our guys?

This isn't the first February/March meltdown either. There seems to be a trend.

What were Mick's comments after the game?

(02-24-2013 04:29 PM)beck Wrote:  Normally around this point in the season I am ready to see some new blood ...

Glad to see Shaq get in for an extended time.

(02-24-2013 04:33 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne were talented guys coming out of high school, but I worked a few of their games early in the season and they were beyond horrible. Did a game of theirs in Lincoln last week and their entire games had changed - the footwork, the shot selection, the post-passing, the aggressiveness. Spoke with a few folks and they talked about how Izzo and his staff are great at "coaching up" players. Can we say the same about our guys?

I can't think of 1 player in 6 years that left UC a better basketball player than when they came in. I just realized that. Great point.

(02-24-2013 04:36 PM)ToddGack Wrote:  What were Mick's comments after the game?

5 position is horrible, can't make shots and how bad refs were today. Also, more importantly, Mo and Dan split the half point.lol

(02-24-2013 04:43 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 04:33 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne were talented guys coming out of high school, but I worked a few of their games early in the season and they were beyond horrible. Did a game of theirs in Lincoln last week and their entire games had changed - the footwork, the shot selection, the post-passing, the aggressiveness. Spoke with a few folks and they talked about how Izzo and his staff are great at "coaching up" players. Can we say the same about our guys?

I can't think of 1 player in 6 years that left UC a better basketball player than when they came in. I just realized that. Great point.

JaQuon Parker...and he's about the only one on this team worth anything right now

I have officially given up on this team...not expecting anything rest of this year

(02-24-2013 04:46 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 04:36 PM)ToddGack Wrote:  What were Mick's comments after the game?

5 position is horrible, can't make shots and how bad refs were today. Also, more importantly, Mo and Dan split the half point.lol

Who recruited those stiffs?

(02-24-2013 04:43 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 04:33 PM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne were talented guys coming out of high school, but I worked a few of their games early in the season and they were beyond horrible. Did a game of theirs in Lincoln last week and their entire games had changed - the footwork, the shot selection, the post-passing, the aggressiveness. Spoke with a few folks and they talked about how Izzo and his staff are great at "coaching up" players. Can we say the same about our guys?

I can't think of 1 player in 6 years that left UC a better basketball player than when they came in. I just realized that. Great point.

I thought Rashad Bishop improved. Beyond Rashad no one else I can point to.

Cash improved, Parker improved, SK improved. I think it is harsh to say no one improved. Cash is a shell of his pre-injury form when he would have been All Big East. You cannot lose your best player and still be the same.

Rashaad Bishop, SEAN FREAKING KILPATRICK, Jaquan Parker, Cash Wright, Dion Dixon, Larry Davis all improved under Mick's tenure. Hell, even Lance played better in the Big East tournament than during the regular season. The problem isn't developing players its the fact that Mick is too stubborn to get them to play an offense that works for them. Whenever the guards are aggressive we play awesome but the second they stop going to the hoop the whole team stops flowing.

(02-24-2013 05:55 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  Rashaad Bishop, SEAN FREAKING KILPATRICK, Jaquan Parker, Cash Wright, Dion Dixon, Larry Davis all improved under Mick's tenure. Hell, even Lance played better in the Big East tournament than during the regular season. The problem isn't developing players its the fact that Mick is too stubborn to get them to play an offense that works for them. Whenever the guards are aggressive we play awesome but the second they stop going to the hoop the whole team stops flowing.

I think Mick is making a fundamental mistake in recruiting the 4-5 positions by recruiting athletes and trying to turn them into ball players. He needs to be going after more strong power forward types like JMax. Basketball teams don't need centers to be effective anymore and he's got 3 scholarships wrapped up in guys who will never be decent offensive players.

(02-24-2013 05:55 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  Rashaad Bishop, SEAN FREAKING KILPATRICK, Jaquan Parker, Cash Wright, Dion Dixon, Larry Davis all improved under Mick's tenure. Hell, even Lance played better in the Big East tournament than during the regular season. The problem isn't developing players its the fact that Mick is too stubborn to get them to play an offense that works for them. Whenever the guards are aggressive we play awesome but the second they stop going to the hoop the whole team stops flowing.

I watched VCU yesterday. Awful in the first half. Awesome in the second half. Shaka made great adjustments at the half, changing up what they were doing on offense and their D was absolutely shutdown. I've never seen traps sprung so quickly. Does Shaka have more talent? Or does he know better how to utilize it?