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***Official UC Basketball Thread***


Khatmandude

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[quote name='#22' post='628597' date='Jan 30 2008, 11:14 PM']2 Questions:
1.) How much of the low shooting % was just a cold night for WVU, and how much of it was UC's Defense?
2.) Did Huggins manage to stay classy?[/quote]

1 - 30% couldn't hit open shots / 70% UC defense. The D was switching and carrying out their defensive and rebounding assignments like I've not seen in a LONG time from any team, not just the Bearcats. On the boards, they had 5 guys boxing out every time and WV was thoroughly dominated as a result. Cronin had a talk with Sikes a couple of days ago and it seems to be paying off as Marcus had 12 boards last night. There were some shots WV should have hit but in a game like that, those shots have more pressure on them as they were few and far between so I can understand them missing.

2 - Huggins and Mick chatted before the game and shared smiles and laughs....good to see that after the "bad blood" after Mick left for Louisville. The only thing unclassy about Huggins was that God awful suit and shoes he had on. I will always like Huggins for what he did for UC basketball, effectively bringing it out of the dark ages. He's a damn good coach and will win at WV......hell, he's 15-6 or 15-5 this year with a couple of good wins and RPI in the 40's. That's not bad for a first year, especially with his demands he puts on teams on the defensive end. Also, Bielein didn't leave him with any good players. Joe Alexander or Ruoff could be if they had a better supporting cast. Nichols seems like he could be good but lacks any athletecism.

Anyways, good win for UC and that's 5 wins in the BEast compared to only 2 last year.....nice job of rebuilding and a year ahead of schedule.
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From Greg Hoard, who's been covering UC since 1996.........

[quote]I've been broadcasting UC basketball games on radio or TV since November of 1996. For you trivia buffs, my first broadcast was the infamous Crosstown Shootout that ended on Lenny Brown's game-winning shot for Xavier. I'm quite the good luck charm aren't I?

Over the past decade, I've had the good fortune of describing the exploits of Kenyon Martin, Steve Logan, Danny Fortson, Ruben Patterson, Jason Maxiell, Eric Hicks, and many others.


And I've never seen anyone in a Cincinnati uniform that looks quite like Yancy Gates.

I had the opportunity to watch the future Bearcat in person last Friday with Coach Cronin and Chuck Machock. Gates scored 20 points as his Withrow Tigers beat Aiken 80-62.

The first thing that comes to mind is a phrase that I used to reserve for Wily Mo Pena. Gates is a "genetic freak."

Yancy is a legit 6'9", 260 pounds without serious weight training. He's an inch taller than Fortson and far more athletic. He's two inches taller than Maxiell and nearly as explosive.

My radio partner Chuck spent 30 years in high school and college coaching and is in his 16th year as a broadcaster. The studs he's seen when they were in high school include Jerry Lucas, Magic Johnson, Adrian Dantley, LeBron James, and Clark Kellogg (who Chuck signed as an Ohio State assistant). While he's not ready to rank Gates among the best he's ever seen, he did come away impressed.

"For an entering freshman, his physical size and muscular build are outstanding," Chuck said. "But his greatest attribute isn't size and strength; it's his hands and feet. He catches everything near him and moves his feet more like a kid who's 6'4" or 6'5". If he works hard, he has the potential to be a great player."

"That's the unusual part," Coach Cronin told me. "A lot of guys have size and strength, but they don't have quick feet, agility, and great hands. Yancy's blessed to have those attributes - he could play tight end in the NFL. Put him on a scale right now and I'd say he's between 260 and 270 pounds. Weight training is going to keep him around 260 but make him much stronger, drop his body fat, change his body composition, and make him even more explosive and athletic than he already is. It's going to be very important for him to be able to commit himself right away in the off-season to make sure he's ready to roll by November."

Gates will primarily play power forward at UC, and if you've grown frustrated by the number of layups missed by the current crop of Bearcat big men, that shouldn't be a problem for Yancy.

"For the fans who wish that some of our guys would just drop-step and dunk it, Yancy is a guy that can do that," Cronin said. "He's finishing everything within shouting distance of the basket. He doesn't need to be all alone to dunk it either - he'll dunk it over everybody. Mike Williams is a finisher as well, so we'll be much more athletic on the interior. They play above the rim."

At the high school level, Yancy doesn't have to exert maximum effort to dominate. He's averaging about 11 rebounds a game, but if he made that his focus he could probably grab twice as many.

"He's never had to be the hardest-playing guy on the floor to dominate," Cronin said. "That will be a challenge for him. He'll have to step up his level of intensity. It's just like the freshman we have now. It's not of matter of if they play hard, it's playing hard all of the time. Yancy is a competitive kid, that's one thing I know about him. He's got a lot of pride in how good he is and the kind of player he's going to be. That pride will drive him and that's going to make it easy for me to push him. He wants to be a guy who fulfills his potential."

Has Cronin ever signed anybody that big and strong?

"No and it's not even close," Mick said with a laugh. "He's the most talented big guy that I've ever recruited. For a coach it's exciting because he's got everything that you can't teach. Everything that Yancy needs are things that can be taught."[/quote]

[url="http://gobearcats.cstv.com/ot/dan-hoard-column.html"]http://gobearcats.cstv.com/ot/dan-hoard-column.html[/url]
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[quote name='whodey32' post='630227' date='Feb 5 2008, 09:48 AM']Gates sounds like a monster! it would be nice have him and a developed biggie mclain on the court at the same time.[/quote]

Reminds me of a bigger Dontonio Wingfield. I hope his head is on straighter than Don's was.
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[quote name='whodey32' post='630227' date='Feb 5 2008, 12:18 PM']Gates sounds like a monster! it would be nice have him and a developed biggie mclain on the court at the same time.[/quote]

Dont forget about Mike Williams. UC could go real big with McClain, Gates and Williams as the C, PF and SF. I don't expect to see that lineup much though as the SF needs to bring more scoring punch than Williams can provide (especially from the outside) but I wouldn't be surprised to see the 3 in the lineup together at times.
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Deonta Vaughn had close to his worst game ever up until overtime, then he took over and showed why he will be an All American IMO by the time he's a senior.

Good win, one more and we're eligible for the BEast tournament........I am really impressed with Mick's coaching abilities lately. Mix that with his recruiting abilities and we've got a damn good coach who believes he's landed his "dream job". Good situation for UC and Mick.
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[quote name='Jason' post='631267' date='Feb 10 2008, 02:22 PM']After watching last night's game, I think it's time Anthony McClain should start over Adam H.[/quote]

Yeah Adam H has lost all confidence he had........sad.

McClain's bone spurs in his foot won't allow him to start or even play significant more minutes than he's currently playing......also sad. I can't wait till the offseason when he can get healthy and come back next year with Mike Williams and Yancey Gates playing next to him.

Also I hear that Cashmere Wright is going to be a surprising player next year and will play significant minutes as a Freshman.
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[quote name='IKOTA' post='631736' date='Feb 12 2008, 01:55 PM']Yeah Adam H has lost all confidence he had........sad.

McClain's bone spurs in his foot won't allow him to start or even play significant more minutes than he's currently playing......also sad. I can't wait till the offseason when he can get healthy and come back next year with Mike Williams and Yancey Gates playing next to him.

Also I hear that Cashmere Wright is going to be a surprising player next year and will play significant minutes as a Freshman.[/quote]

He's the PG, correct? I think he will have to, Warren is a senior, isn't he?
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[quote name='Jason' post='631746' date='Feb 12 2008, 04:51 PM']He's the PG, correct? I think he will have to, Warren is a senior, isn't he?[/quote]

He is the PG yes and Warren is a senior yes, but that doesn't automatically mean any Freshman would get significant playing time. You can have Vaughn at PG or Larry Davis at PG and bring the Freshman along slowly but the coaches talk about him like he's ready to fill in immediately. Hell, even Bishop can run point from the SF position.
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[quote name='Jason' post='631267' date='Feb 10 2008, 11:52 AM']After watching last night's game, I think it's time Anthony McClain should start over Adam H.[/quote]


did you see the marquette game? he was throwing up bricks every time down the floor. The sick thing is, they just kept feeding him the ball. At one point he missed 8 shots in a row.
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[quote name='whodey24k' post='631812' date='Feb 12 2008, 05:29 PM']did you see the marquette game? he was throwing up bricks every time down the floor. The sick thing is, they just kept feeding him the ball. At one point he missed 8 shots in a row.[/quote]

No, I did not. Are you referring to Adam or Anthony? I did see the X game, and Adam missed more layups than a blind man should.
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[quote name='IKOTA' post='632119' date='Feb 13 2008, 11:05 PM']Demolished St. John's tonight, who had won 3 straight. Good game for Williamson and Larry Davis who is becoming my favorite player to watch besides Vaughn.[/quote]

Where has THIS Williamson been all season???
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[quote name='Jason' post='632152' date='Feb 14 2008, 09:47 AM']Where has THIS Williamson been all season???[/quote]

Well Mick talked with him a week ago and told him he's got about 10 or so games left in his college career and to leave it all on the floor. Looks like he took that message to heart.

Mick had a similar talk with Sikes before the WV game and Sikes responded with his best game as a Bearcat.

UC should be able to end regular season play at 9-7 in the BEast or better if they can upset GTown or Pitt.........neither are likely though, both on the road.
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[quote name='IKOTA' post='632119' date='Feb 13 2008, 11:05 PM']Demolished St. John's tonight, who had won 3 straight. Good game for Williamson and Larry Davis who is becoming my favorite player to watch besides Vaughn.[/quote]


i was at the game, williamson was a beast. St.Johns gets most of there points inside the paint, and the cats did a great job keeping them outside.
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[quote name='whodey24k' post='632750' date='Feb 16 2008, 02:14 PM']i was at the game, williamson was a beast. St.Johns gets most of there points inside the paint, and the cats did a great job keeping them outside.[/quote]

I was there too, most of the game anyways...........I sit behind the UC bench and laugh everytime Mick gets pissed.........because he's a funny little leprechaun when he's mad.

South Florida should have beat UCONN yesterday so Wed's game will be tougher than you'd think by looking at the records. You going to that one?
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[quote name='IKOTA' post='632973' date='Feb 17 2008, 04:23 PM']I was there too, most of the game anyways...........I sit behind the UC bench and laugh everytime Mick gets pissed.........because he's a funny little leprechaun when he's mad.

South Florida should have beat UCONN yesterday so Wed's game will be tougher than you'd think by looking at the records. You going to that one?[/quote]

USF isn't a group of scrubs that's for sure, though the noon game in Florida had a little to do with it I think. They out-rebounded and out-blocked us, and they're obviously playing with confidence.
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[quote name='IKOTA' post='634246' date='Feb 20 2008, 11:06 PM']Wow, close game tonight...........UC now 8-5 in the BEast and over .500 at 13-12......won 3 in a row BEast games.[/quote]

They got lucky last night. Although that should have been a charge.
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