Will UC have multiple go-to players this season?
Bill Koch, bkoch@enquirer.com 4:54 p.m. EDT October 27, 2014
The Bearcats have the potential to have multiple players who can fill go-to roles in close games this year, making it more difficult for defenses to identify and guard just one.
UC guard Kevin Johnson is one of four players that coach Mick Cronin, left, say will be a big factor at the end of close games. (Photo: Enquirer file)
One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2014-15 University of Cincinnati basketball season will be watching how coach Mick Cronin sorts out the roles on a team that he believes is deep and talented, although inexperienced.
The process unfolds every day in practice, even if nothing will truly be settled until the Bearcats begin to play regular-season games on Nov. 14.
In the meantime, the competition makes for more spirited practices.
"We don't really have a hierarchy on our team where it's obvious that certain guys are going to play and other guys aren't going to play," Cronin said. "The thing that makes our practices great is that right now all of our scholarship players are good enough to play."
But as Cronin pointed out, even the most competitive practices don't provide an accurate indication of how well a team will perform when the games start to count.
"This team is not going to be what it can be until we get in those situations," Cronin said. "You've got to get in those games together and go through tough times together. As a coach, I understand that. But I think these guys think they're going to win the national championship. It's good to be young."
UC will play the first of its two exhibition games next Monday night against Bellarmine. Normally exhibition games don't attract many fans and this one probably won't either, but it will be interesting to see not only how the seven newcomers perform against outside competition but to see how Cronin mixes and matches his players.
Unlike the last few years when Sean Kilpatrick was the clear option when the game was on the line, his team has no player who has earned that distinction. The good news from Cronin's standpoint is that the Bearcats have the potential to have more than one player who can fill that role, making it more difficult for the defense.
"If you can have two or three, you're in much better shape," Cronin said. "Hopefully that bears out. The other thing is that late in the game we have some guys that are excellent free throw shooters – Farad (Cobb), Kevin Johnson, Troy (Caupain), and Ge (Guyn) has worked really hard to become that guy as well. All four of those guys are going to ice the game away at the end of the game."
Cronin has promised that this team will be totally different from last year's because of its size up front and its depth at the guard position. Soon it will be time to find out just how different it is – and if different also means that it's better than his recent teams that have gone to the NCAA Tournament.
"We've had to make some changes strategically to accentuate our strengths," Cronin said, "not just our size but our depth, with our ball pressure and the things we can do with our guards because we truly are going to play seven perimeter players."
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../18023397/