CSNbbs

Doc: I never understood why Cronin got blasted so much
The Morning Line
Paul Daugherty , pdaugherty@enquirer.com Published 10:09 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2017 | Updated 1 hour ago

A semi-uneventful weekend, Mobsters. Or at least nothing surprising.

Mick Cronin has won 300 times. The kid who got a job breaking down tape for Bob Huggins and learned under Huggins and Pitino the flawed Jedi Master has made his own mark. Good for him.

Those who became impatient with his UC rebuild – or simply disliked him for some reason from jump – might want to reflect. He took an impossible situation and remade it into a consistent 20-win, tournament-invited team. He hasn’t yet made a Final Four or entirely escaped the impossibly long shadow of Huggs (I don’t know who could) but Cronin has put Bearcats basketball back into the national photo. Which will be entirely helpful should UC ever get a next shot at a power conference.

If Fickell can do what Mick has, maybe UC gets the invite when the quasi-am sports universe evolves into one, gigantic 16-teams/four conferences megadeathstar. Which it will.

And you can be semi-certain (or at least as certain as certain can be when it comes to college coaches and their job issues) that Cronin will not leave here at least until his daughter Sammi is into college. She’s 9 now (I think), so it could be awhile.

After more than a decade here, Mick has all but silenced the critics. (Heaven help him if UC has one down year.) I was never sure why he got blasted so much in the first place, even as I did some of the blasting. Local guy. West Side local guy, which makes him local local. Successful. Players not in trouble.

It’s a hobby here more than anything, ripping current coaches and screaming for new ones. The only place that doesn’t happen is Xavier, where coaches never get fired.

Above and beyond coaching, Mick’s a good dad, making sure his child of divorce feels entirely loved and secure. Coaching college basketball can be all consuming. Mick gets perspective, Sammi gets doted on. What’s not to love?

Back in the freewheeling, no pay wall, no Facebook days, we had a Mobster who called himself WLMNMW. We Love Mick No Matter What. The dude didn’t have enough downer words for Cronin. If he’s still reading, I’d like to offer him This Space for a 1,000-word mea culpa.

Fat chance.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/b.../98150160/

Mick's sole sin was that he wasn't Bob. That and some fans are idiots.

(02-20-2017 03:11 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Mick's sole sin was that he wasn't Bob. That and some fans are idiots.

The former equals the latter.

(02-20-2017 03:11 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Mick's sole sin was that he wasn't Bob. That and some fans are idiots.

The biggest ones I always heard was that he left for Louisville the enemy. Supposedly it would have been alright had he left for almost any other school to fine tune his trade. Who cares, get the best education you can get.

Only knock on Mick is the lack of a deep run in the tournament. Could change this year, and if it does, look out. The floodgates could open.

(02-20-2017 03:11 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Mick's sole sin was that he wasn't Bob. That and some fans are idiots.

Micks sole sin right now is the perception that he has peaked. Nothing Mick has done over the past 6 years has led alot of people to believe his is still on an upward trajectory. Recruiting is roughly the same. Performance in the regular season is the same. And most importantly, his tourney success is about the same .... 6-10 seed with maybe a a win or two. Mick needs an NCAA tourney run to drive away the naysayers.

If anyone remembers Don, he didn't like Mick because Mick is too short to be a real coach.

People have been over the Huggins thing forever. The only time it seems to ever come up is with the local media wanting to rehash. I'm a Cronin supporter, but I don't think the Cronin blasting is that widespread and I do agree with Nachoman that most of it is people thinking the program hasn't gotten back to the consistent top 15 type program we saw for a decade and a half prior.

(02-20-2017 03:56 PM)QSECOFR Wrote: [ -> ]If anyone remembers Don, he didn't like Mick because Mick is too short to be a real coach.

Old Don called him Sippin' Mick because he was always drinking from a water bottle. Old Don's opinion was there was no other Bob, so no one could coach here.

Soon as job was open I wanted mick. He's done a tremendous job keeping uc basketball relevant. Only issues I have with him is he let football become more popular than basketball and doesn't recruit Cincinnati.

Yep. Mick was my guy from the start too. Truely a home town, home grown coach. I liked him when he recruited for Huggins.

The funny thing about PDoc's article is that, over the years, he has brought up Huggins far more than anyone on this board. Now that the Bearcats are 24-3 and ranked in the Top 15, PDoc comes out of the rat hole to praise Mick after going all passive/aggressive on him for years.

Stay classy, PDoc!

I still want to find the 2 fuqheads who unfurled the large Fire Mick banner in the mid court seats against Pitt when we had a 5 star local recruit in attendance for his second visit.

They deserved to be beaten senseless with a 15 inch rubber ***** ala Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

(02-20-2017 03:32 PM)BigDawg Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-20-2017 03:11 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Mick's sole sin was that he wasn't Bob. That and some fans are idiots.

The biggest ones I always heard was that he left for Louisville the enemy. Supposedly it would have been alright had he left for almost any other school to fine tune his trade. Who cares, get the best education you can get.

And we all know what a SCUMBAG RICK P is!

Huggs had a Final 4, 2 Elite 8's, 2 Sweet 16's.

Mick has one Sweet Sixteen.

These are the facts and they are indisputable.

Sour puss.

At least you still post. Most of the clowns slinked off to KSU sites.

Funny timing indeed. If we get bounced in the first round again we'll see if Doc doesn't change his tone.

(02-20-2017 06:47 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Sour puss.

At least you still post. Most of the clowns slinked off to KSU sites.

For one year, yes

(02-20-2017 06:44 PM)doss2 Wrote: [ -> ]Huggs had a Final 4, 2 Elite 8's, 2 Sweet 16's.

Mick has one Sweet Sixteen.

These are the facts and they are indisputable.

You forgot to mention the DWI's and early round exits of Huggs too.

Haters will always be haters. That's indisputable.