First off, Yancy and Dion were terrific for this program and I hope both play professionally....

Returning 3/5 starters:
G Cashmere Wright
G Sean Kilpatrick
G Jaquan Parker

Bench:
F/C Kelvin Gaines
F Octavius Ellis
F Justin Jackson
F Cheik Mbodj
G Jeremiah Davis III
G Gee-lawn Guyn
G/F Shaq Thomas
G/F Jermaine Sanders

Bring in:
F Titus Rubles
F/C Chris Obekpa?


thoughts for next year? It'll help me get over this one.

Thomas will be a difference maker next year. No doubt in my mind. Not many 6'7 wings you will find with his athleticism and ball handling ability.

You're missing Gaines

(03-22-2012 11:32 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  You're missing Gaines

good catch, I was doing that off memory.

My hopes are that Jackson goes to a big man camp or works out with someone to really improve his offensive skills and reduce his foul issues. He along with Thomas will be the keys to the team.

We'll have enough depth at F without any stars. Parker can move back to G. 3 things I'll be looking for:
1. Who scores in the paint?
2. Can Thomas or SK be a star?
3. Which SO Guard will step up to be the heir apparent?

Guyn and Davis need to be able to run the offense

There are a lot of slashers on the roster so need to be able to keep lanes open for them

Would be nice if Jackson developed some post moves to go with his improving face up game. A big with a drop step would be nice to see.

A different kind of team next year. See a long, athletic team that can beat people off the bounce and run them out of the gym. Excited at the prospect, but at the end of the day it's a long way to November. Hope Obekpa comes our way and then I really like our chances to do more amazing things.

Looking at tonight's loss, and without looking at the boxscore/stat sheet.........the defense is solid. They need a couple of guys who can hit 3's somewhat consistently. And they could seriously use some rebounding. Rebounding seemed to kill us tonight with all the second and third chances o$U got. JJ needs to rebound ALOT BETTER. And whoever else takes Yancy's place. We need to limit second chances for the other team. It was out of control tonight.

One big thing from this year is that Mick now has some credibility with the team. He can say that he got UC to a sweet sixteen and that might help him with winning new players over. I think if he can get players to buy in to the system and they play as a team, they can be light years ahead of most of the competition.

Realy liked Jackson this year. I hope he can develop his offensive game a bit this summer. He will be a starter next year.

(03-23-2012 05:17 AM)Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:  One big thing from this year is that Mick now has some credibility with the team. He can say that he got UC to a sweet sixteen and that might help him with winning new players over.

Great observation. Even this year, especially early on, you had to question if UC's players had respect for Cronin, but by the end of the season they were singing his praises.

(03-22-2012 11:39 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  We'll have enough depth at F without any stars. Parker can move back to G. 3 things I'll be looking for:
1. Who scores in the paint?
2. Can Thomas or SK be a star?
3. Which SO Guard will step up to be the heir apparent?

IMO, Parker showed he can play the 4 creating a big mismatch at times. I hope he stays there in certain lineups.

(03-23-2012 05:44 AM)TheJimmy Wrote:  

(03-22-2012 11:39 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  We'll have enough depth at F without any stars. Parker can move back to G. 3 things I'll be looking for:
1. Who scores in the paint?
2. Can Thomas or SK be a star?
3. Which SO Guard will step up to be the heir apparent?

IMO, Parker showed he can play the 4 creating a big mismatch at times. I hope he stays there in certain lineups.

and Jimmy they certainly did act the right way.

I actually think the team will look a bit different next season with Shaquille Thomas and a more athletic low post. That's not a slam on Yancy. But he was more of a banger. I think the low post play next season will be much, much different. Not saying better. Just saying different kind of look because the options are super-athletic guys.

Gonna have Thomas and Parker slashing to the basket alot. Hopefully SK and Ca$h can start hitting the outside shot consistently.

Not many teams that return 3 starters (Wright, Kilpatrick, Jackson) and their 6th man (Parker). While appreciate what Dixon brought to the program, I actually feel Parker will be an upgrade at SG.

I also feel this team will be unusually deep next year - Wright/Guyn, Parker/Davis III, SK/Thomas/Sanders, Jackson/Thomas, Take your pick right now.........This team will be able to go 9 or 10 deep if Mick so chooses.

You could argue this team returns 4 starters (substitute Parker for Dixon), and based on some opinions, had their best player coming off a redshirt year. Who replaces Yancy is the greatest mystery of all.........well, atleast next to who is making the chocolate at Willy Wonka's factory. But I digress.

I hate going out on a limb, but I think this team by the end of next season has a chance to be something really special if they can fill Yancy's shoes adequately.

i'm pretty excited for next year too, but i'll dampen the mood by saying that replacing yancy's defense and rebounding will be tough as ever...

we didn't rebound great last night; imagine that game w/o yancy down low at all?

i'm hoping thomas can do big things, but we won't be able to replace yancy next year. i'll go out on a limb and say we'll have a similar season to this year; hard to predict tournament success, but i hope we make it

I'm excited to see Thomas and Ellis next year. It we land Obepka we will have a stable full of athletic forwards that can get after it. Thomas, Ellis, Jackson, Obepka, and Rubles all fit that mold from what I've read. Should be fun.

i like what we have coming back but i also cringe at our 4/5 positions. For all his criticisms, Yancy was a big body who learned out to rebound towards the end of his SR. year. it's effort, technique and footwork to get position. JJ has one of those qualities. Mbodj needs to get better at all three. Gaines and Ellis are Incompletes. The reality is we are going to take a significant step backwards on rebounding. All these athletic bigs bring size and length but when they transition to college, where they are playing guys who understand how to use their footwork and size to get better position and move you off the block, from HS, where by virtue of their length and athleticism alone they were able to get 15 rebounds, it's a HUGE learning curve. Think about JJ's best rebounding games. A number of them were tipped out to him or were loose rebounds that ricocheted off of the rim at an odd angle. Other times were the spectacular, but rare, Air JJ rebound where he has 5 yard running start before he rises for a mid-air snatch and grab. The only time he has great position is on FTs where it's preordained. This has to be a huge offseason for all our bigs and backups. They need a Jaquon like awakening. if not, we are going to be in trouble.

While the center position could scare me with the lack of bulk, there are not a lot of great centers left in college basketball. More teams seem to have the slow plodding center or a more athletic one that is not as bulky. Guys like Sullinger and Gates are hard to come by, so you can get by with athletic. Thomas at the 4 should really help as well with his size. They just really need to work on positioning and having a nose for the ball. I do worry about rebounding, but I think offensively next years team could be very good and defensively I also expect them to be very good again and can see them forcing more steals and scoring more in transition. Really think next year could be special, especially if we can get Obepka (Or Oriakhi).

We'll have to make up for it in TOs. One of the things Mick said this season was that our height may hinder us some in rebounding but they made up for it in TOs so the number of possessions in terms of second chances on the offensive end was not affected since we were forcing 15 plus TOs. We need to press and play aggressive man to man to balance out the rebounding margin. in that regard, the athleticism and length will probably be a big plus.

(03-23-2012 05:17 AM)Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:  One big thing from this year is that Mick now has some credibility with the team. He can say that he got UC to a sweet sixteen and that might help him with winning new players over. I think if he can get players to buy in to the system and they play as a team, they can be light years ahead of most of the competition.

Realy liked Jackson this year. I hope he can develop his offensive game a bit this summer. He will be a starter next year.

Cronin is growing in the job. He does have good game plans, but great/better coaches have more ability to time the adjustments and sets on the fly. Frequently handicapped by his personnel, this years
success should aide recruiting, and that will make him look even smarter.

Don't get me wrong, this was a great year, far beyond expectations.