WVU, Huggins next for UC
Cronin: Saturday is a huge game for us


AP photo
This is a UC team that has grown very comfortable in its own skin, a team that understands how to play to its strengths, is playing with confidence and has a roster full of players who have embraced their roles.

Written by
Bill Koch

At some point, the rest of the country is going to start to notice what the University of Cincinnati basketball team has been doing since its loss to Xavier on Dec. 10.

One thing’s for sure: There’s no shortage of accomplishments to talk about. You can start with the 10 wins in the Bearcats’ last 11 games. Then there are the seven straight Big East road wins dating back to last year. Or maybe the most impressive of all: Two road wins against Top 15 opponents in the space of nine days.

But if there’s a pining away for more national recognition among the unranked Bearcats, who are 15-4 overall, 5-1 and in second place in the Big East, there’s no outward sign of it.

“They should (notice), but then again we’re not really worried about what everyone else thinks,” said sophomore guard Sean Kilpatrick. “We’re only just worried about the Bearcats.”

“We’re just trying to stay focused and keep doing what we’re doing,” said senior forward Yancy Gates, “so that we can be at the top of the Big East at the end of the season. It’s still early in the Big East. A lot can go on.”

This is a UC team that has grown very comfortable in its own skin, a team that understands how to play to its strengths, is playing with confidence and has a roster full of players who have embraced their roles.

“I told our team there’s teams at the bottom of this league and the reason they’re at the bottom, in my opinion, is their unwillingness to play defense and to play team basketball,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “The teams at the top of this league, their kids have bought in. Every guy in my locker room, all they care about is getting the win. That’s the total focus of every guy in there. Guys aren’t in there counting shots and counting minutes and that’s why we’re winning.”

Wednesday night’s 70-67 victory at No. 13 Connecticut is a perfect case in point. Kilpatrick received most of the acclaim because he hit the game-winning 3-point shot with 2.5 seconds to play, but he had plenty of help,with five players scoring in double figures, including Gates, who scored 13 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Gates, who began the season as UC’s first offensive option, has happily accepted his new role as a defender and rebounder. He has become so focused on securing rebounds that at times his teammates can hear him talking to himself about the importance of rebounding. It’s a tip he picked up from former UC star Eric Hicks, who practiced with the Bearcats for a few weeks before Christmas.

“He was always telling me when you feel yourself getting into a drought, start talking to yourself,” Gates said. “People will think you’re crazy, but just start talking to yourself. It’s been working for me.”

When they go on the road, the Bearcats continue to hear taunts from opposing student sections about the fight that occurred at the end of that loss to Xavier. As it turned out, that fight - and the resulting suspensions - transformed UC into the team it is now

“It’s kind of amusing (to hear those taunts) because we’ve become a better team off of it,” Gates said. “We could have easily went the other way. It helped us come together as a team. Now when we hear it, we just kind of laugh and run back up the court.”

UC’s next test is Saturday in Morgantown against West Virginia and former UC coach Bob Huggins, followed on Monday by a home game against top-ranked and unbeaten Syracuse. The Mountaineers (14-5, 4-2) beat Marshall on Wednesay night, a develolpment that greatly pleased Cronin.

“Saturday is a huge game for us,” Cronin said. “You do not want to play Huggs after a loss. There’s a lot of things in life that you never want to do. You don’t want to have to beat West Virginia after a loss.”

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120...RONTPAGE|s

At no point, will this pass as compelling journalism....

(01-20-2012 02:13 AM)glacier_dropsy Wrote:  At no point, will this pass as compelling journalism....

I've seen a lot worse from Koch.

There are many reasons to dislike Koch. The over use of AP wires, the rewriting old paragraphs, and the ability to not find the interesting story before it happens. However, I have been seeing that he writes more, so we have that going for us.

Any press is good press? I just hope he is not using overtime.

This gave me a tingle up my leg:

“I told our team there’s teams at the bottom of this league and the reason they’re at the bottom, in my opinion, is their unwillingness to play defense and to play team basketball,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “The teams at the top of this league, their kids have bought in. Every guy in my locker room, all they care about is getting the win. That’s the total focus of every guy in there. Guys aren’t in there counting shots and counting minutes and that’s why we’re winning.”

This made me laugh:

Cronin said. “You do not want to play Huggs after a loss. There’s a lot of things in life that you never want to do. You don’t want to have to beat West Virginia after a loss.”

(01-20-2012 10:21 AM)Murph29 Wrote:  This gave me a tingle up my leg:

“I told our team there’s teams at the bottom of this league and the reason they’re at the bottom, in my opinion, is their unwillingness to play defense and to play team basketball,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “The teams at the top of this league, their kids have bought in. Every guy in my locker room, all they care about is getting the win. That’s the total focus of every guy in there. Guys aren’t in there counting shots and counting minutes and that’s why we’re winning.”

This made me laugh:

Cronin said. “You do not want to play Huggs after a loss. There’s a lot of things in life that you never want to do. You don’t want to have to beat West Virginia after a loss.”

You can see Cronin getting better as he goes along. Sometimes people forget coaches are still learning as well.

He had a quote the other day about how his team now EXPECTS to beat EVERY team they play, and thats huge. These guys have been playing tough for the full 40.

(01-20-2012 10:21 AM)Murph29 Wrote:  This gave me a tingle up my leg:

“I told our team there’s teams at the bottom of this league and the reason they’re at the bottom, in my opinion, is their unwillingness to play defense and to play team basketball,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “The teams at the top of this league, their kids have bought in. Every guy in my locker room, all they care about is getting the win. That’s the total focus of every guy in there. Guys aren’t in there counting shots and counting minutes and that’s why we’re winning.”

This made me laugh:

Cronin said. “You do not want to play Huggs after a loss. There’s a lot of things in life that you never want to do. You don’t want to have to beat West Virginia after a loss.”

We saw that firsthand last year. WVU lost to UL by 1 three days before they came here and won by 11.

(01-20-2012 11:31 AM)WarningSigns Wrote:  

(01-20-2012 10:21 AM)Murph29 Wrote:  This gave me a tingle up my leg:

“I told our team there’s teams at the bottom of this league and the reason they’re at the bottom, in my opinion, is their unwillingness to play defense and to play team basketball,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “The teams at the top of this league, their kids have bought in. Every guy in my locker room, all they care about is getting the win. That’s the total focus of every guy in there. Guys aren’t in there counting shots and counting minutes and that’s why we’re winning.”

This made me laugh:

Cronin said. “You do not want to play Huggs after a loss. There’s a lot of things in life that you never want to do. You don’t want to have to beat West Virginia after a loss.”

You can see Cronin getting better as he goes along. Sometimes people forget coaches are still learning as well.

He had a quote the other day about how his team now EXPECTS to beat EVERY team they play, and thats huge. These guys have been playing tough for the full 40.

Agree 100%. Since he got this job relatively young and in a conference with hall of fame coaches, it was going to take a while for him to grow into the job just like a Frosh who come in and take a few years to develop. Its no different for coaches or other professionals. I'm sure he's improved as a coach as he's rebuilt over the last few years.

This is the best UC team in a long long time imo

It's kind of funny. But Xavier and UC had a game and a fight. Xavier picked the fight and lost it. But they won the game...

Since that game and fight, UC has played very well. Xavier, on the other hand, hasn't. They lost 5 of their next 6 games after losing that fight - I mean, winning that game - against UC. The suspensions really hurt Xavier, while it helped Cronin find a winning formula. That's ironic, wouldn't you say?

(01-21-2012 09:38 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's kind of funny. But Xavier and UC had a game and a fight. Xavier picked the fight and lost it. But they won the game...

Since that game and fight, UC has played very well. Xavier, on the other hand, hasn't. They lost 5 of their next 6 games after losing that fight - I mean, winning that game - against UC. The suspensions really hurt Xavier, while it helped Cronin find a winning formula. That's ironic, wouldn't you say?

yeah, but it just shows that God is on our side more than Xavier's, until they quit irritating him with the F*** UC' chants and the drunken kids wearing Pope outfits. Yeah, he's on our Side more than theirs. We will be glad to keep him too.