UC Notes

This edition of UC notes are not just notes, but they also come with further elaboration by yours truly. Does this mean that I couldn't think of anything great to write about today? No, and how dare you for suggesting it. I have plenty to talk about thank you very much. Today just feels like a note day, as we all try to make it through the day and into the weekend.

A bit of housekeeping, Know Your Opponent: Marquette Golden Eagles edition, is going up tomorrow afternoon at some point. It will definitely be up Sunday morning for all of you to check out before the biggest game of the season. Marquette dropped a tough one to Pitt last night, and they are looking to regroup. I don't really know how this game is going to play out, but I really hope that UC can get this one. DePaul isn't going to cut it for a nice win this late in the year.

That brings me to this thought. Fans, students, other people, please show up for the game Sunday. UC averages less fans than freaking DePaul. That is unheard of when UC actually has a good team. The crowd was there against Syracuse, and the guys really need the support on Sunday. We all know that the South Florida game was a gallon of suck, and that's why we as UC fans need to rally. We can either go down the road of idiotically wanting the team to lose every game so Mick can be fired, or we can go down the road where we fill 5/3 the last few home games and give UC an advantage as they try to win out. That was a really long sentence. People used to hate coming into the Shoe, and that's what we need to bring back. Don't go all Kentucky fan now.

A couple people have written about Deonta Vaughn's slumping, and I really wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Deonta has only had 1 game this over shooting over 70% (Pitt), and that doubles as his only game over 60% on the season. He's currently riding a stretch where he hasn't broken 40% in 6 games. He had a streak like that last season. But last year, he got to the line 0 times, 11 times making 8, 8 times making 7, 0 times, and 22 times, making 19 against UConn. Deonta has lost his ability to take over games. To me, he seems too complacent to let  Lance take over, or let Cashmere Wright take over. It's really odd seeing the Alpha dog for the last few years take a back seat to others. Deonta took over the USF game wayyyyy too late, and one would have to think that the #5 of years past would have taken over in the middle of the second half. I hope the switch flipped at the end of that game, because we need Deonta to play well.

The Bearcats made an offer to 5* running back Jameel Poteat. Poteat has offers from USC and Florida and will soon get them from everyone. I know absolutely nothing about Jameel, but I'm sure that he's good in high school. It's really refreshing to see Cincinnati take a stab at a big time national prospect.

Andy Staples put TE Ben Guidugli on his 2* All Star team over at a SI. I don't really have a thought on this, but I found it nice to see that a Bearcat was honored here.

Shout out to Cincinnati swimmer Josh Schneider who tied an NCAA mark by hitting 19.08 in the 50 free. Josh also kicked more ass when he won the next race with a 19.10. Could he be an Olympian? I don't know, but he can swim really fast. If Josh does become an Olympian and wins a medal, he is now obligated to come to Bearcats Blog HQ, and stage an Olympic style ceremony in which I get to wear his medal. That sounds like a plan to me.

Bill Koch  wrote a story about Yancy Gates needing to be more consistent. It's a good story blah, blah, blah, but one that should have been written about 2 weeks ago. We have 5 games left, Yancy needs to be a monster. His averages are similar to last year, 10, 6.4 as a frosh, 10.6, 6.1 this year. I think a lot of that has to do with 2 things.

1. He doesn't play hard every game. He knows it, Mick knows it, you know it, I know it. It's too late in the season for this behavior. Especially when you no show crucial road games.
2. We run no half court plays for him. Yancy and Ibrahima Thomas get 75% of their shots off offensive rebounds. Same with Toyloy. That's one of the maddening things about Mick Cronin. We have a big man who can dominate. We have guards who can take over. Yet, our halfcourt offense is standing around. Run some plays man. There is a third thing. 
3. Our guards never look inside, and I'm pretty sure they don't know how to throw an entry pass. That's on the guards, and that's on Mick and the coaches as well. Again, too late in the year for this shit that should have been done in October. 

Finally, Andy Katz has an interview with Mick. There is bubble talk and all that nonsense. I suggest watching it.

And with that, we are done. Be on the look out for the Marquette preview, and maybe some other things. Thanks for the link Bearcats Lair, you are all very handsome and nice. Thanks very much for reading, especially those of you in Iceland.