Questions and Answers

Bearcats Blog apologizes for the lack of Memorable Bearcats and Games posts this week. We'll get back to that next week. Today, we'll do questions and answers, starring myself.

What Big East coach picked St John's to win the Big East?

Rick Pitino did. He said he would have picked UC to win, but didn't want to put that pressure on Mick. I don't know what's happened to Rick Pitino the past year. Well, we all know what's happened to Rick Pitino in the past year, but I meant more basketball wise. Louisville never seemed to get the right mix going last season, after the disappointing loss to Michigan State in the Elite 8. The Cards have a couple of big recruiting classes coming in the next few seasons, so we'll see if Pitino still has the magic.

What Bearcats Blog first team Big East player was booted from his team?

That would be Jamine Peterson of Providence. It hasn't been said what made Keno Davis boot him off the team, but the leading scorer and rebounder won't be back. I don't know if it's going to be such a terrible thing for the Friars. Peterson earned the nickname of Greedy from the Friar faithful. Maybe that's just a cool nickname, but it also means he was a black hole once he touched the ball. Peterson didn't care as much about defense as Friar fans would have liked, but who really played defense on Providence last season? I think the answer was no one. I like watching Providence play because their brand of basketball is exciting. I would rip my hair out if I were a Providence fan though. Especially after the disaster against South Florida. Looking back on it, both the South Florida games were disasters for Providence. The first meeting saw the Friars blow a 12 point lead with 2 minutes left and a 5 point lead with 11 seconds left. They would lose in OT. In the second meeting, they gave up a 7 point lead with 5 minutes left, took a late lead, but gave up a lay up to Dominque Jones, who was fouled by Curry, who got hit with a technical. Providence probably doesn't want to see them on the schedule twice next season.

I heard from Brian Bennett that Phil Steele's list of All America teams came out. Were any Big East players on it?

Yes. On the second team were Pitt Panther stars Dion Lewis, Jonathan Baldwin and Greg Romeus, and Mountaineer Robert Sands. The fourth team featured WVU back Noel Devine and UConn LB Lawrence Wilson.

What about Steele's Big East team?

What about it? Get off Phil Steele already. No one cares.

Is there talk of the Big East getting rid of the double bye in the Big East Tournament?

Yes there is. I'm a big fan of getting rid of the double bye. It was stupid from the get go. For one, it punished every team who had to play on Tuesday. It also punished the teams who received the double bye, not counting Louisville, who won the whole thing. The first year, Pitt and UConn lost. Last season, everyone lost but West Virginia, and they almost lost their first game. They are speculating about a pure 16 team bracket, with 4 games on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, and the quarter finals starting on Thursday. That seems about fair. I think the top 4 play on Tuesday. That seems to be the most fair way to do things. I mean, if you play well enough to earn a top 4 seed in the ridiculous Big East, than I think you deserve a day off in the tournament. And if you lose, you deserve the shame an extra day.

Let's get back to Brian Bennett. Would he like to see Cincinnati in a non-conference rivalry game every year?

Glad you asked. The answer is yes. He, like every Bearcat fan and none of the spineless Buckeye fans, would love to see Cincinnati and Ohio State play every season. Ohio State would much rather play Akron and Toledo and other MAC schools before playing the other major conference team from Ohio. That's because Ohio State is scared of losing Ohio. The teams play again in 2014. I'm predicting a Cincinnati victory on this date.

Is there a New Jersey blog Big East ranking for next season? I have a need to see one. It's my crack.

Great question, and yes there is. It's right here. Thank you New Jersey Hoops Haven for putting out such a list today. I'll run down the top 5 for you if you are too lazy to click. Villanova, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virgnia, Georgetown. That's rather vanilla. They pick Cincinnati 12. Shockingly, they have DePaul in last place.

Speaking of Big East talk, is it true that you are participating in something for the East Coast Bias in the next couple of weeks? 

Yes. I'll tell you when things get posted over there and you can check them out. It's a roundtable deal, with things from Orange 44, Voodoo 5, Eye of a Panther, The Nova Blog, Pitt Blather, and lots of other email address I don't recognize. Pretty much every blog listed is involved. It should be awesome.

NBE Basketball says in their latest Big East roundup that UC might be better with this roster. Thoughts?

I agree. The person who wrote that said that it was clear that the players hated each other last season, and it would be addition by subtraction. Believe me, there are a ton of people who think that UC was better off losing one player in particular this season. I think it should help UC. I've written about it this issue myself. What, with rumors that Bishop and Lance hated each other, Bishop hating Mick (getting kicked off the team didn't help that not be true), and Vaughn and Lance playing horribly along side each other all season. I think UC has a nucleus of players that genuinely like each other. At least they follow each other on twitter.

After that seemingly awkward answer, how does Brian Bennett rank the Big East running backs?

I should link Brian at least once, so there that is. He, like everyone else with eyes, ranks Pittsburgh first, and West Virginia second. He has UC 4th, behind UConn. That seems about fair. He looks for big things from Isaiah Pead, and so do I. I'm really pumped about my boy Darrin Williams getting touches this year. I think he's going to be a home run threat on kick returns, and getting handoffs and screens.

Can we get one last reminder about UC baseball?

This weekend, UC plays host to Georgetown. The Bearcats need to win to guarantee they make the Big East tournament. Georgetown kinda sucks, 5 Big East wins, but spoilers are everywhere. Show up and root the Bearcats onward and upward.

Memorable Bearcats: DeJuan Gossett

UPDATED WITH DAYNE FUMBLE QUESTION

This was originally going to be a companion piece to the Wisconsin Memorable Games piece, but the answers of the questions that I asked were so good, that they deserve a stand alone post. Since this was a person that I was a big fan of, this was even easier to make it's own post. The first Memorable Bearcat is DeJuan Gossett.

The picture is of DeJuan doing what he did best while at Cincinnati, tackle. When you look at the list of tackles made in a UC career, you'll see his name. In 1999, Gossett had 82 solo tackles. That's good for 9th place all time. In total tackles, he ranks 9th all time in UC history with 327. He's second all time at UC with 222 solo tackles. He was a tackling machine. He was also a free saftey, which makes his accomplishments that much better. Oh, and he did all of that after blowing out his knee his freshman year. He part of a killer secondary. Blue Adams patrolled the same secondary, and he's UC's leader in interceptions. Shawn Ferguson also was a DB back then. He's 6th on UC's all time interception yards list, and first in INTS for TDS with 3. That's probably all because of DeJuan. I'm not the only one who was a big fan of #22. The Conference USA coaches, or whoever voted for All-Team C-USA, voted him second team Conference USA in 1999 and 2000. DeJuan was assigned by the Giants to NFL Europe in 2002. He blew out his knee for the second time, unfortunately, and that ended his playing days. But, that doesn't change the facts that DeJuan Gossett was a great Bearcat. He's a great guy for answering my questions. Let's get on to his answers.

Bearcats Blog:  What was the team's mindset going into the (Wisconsin) game?

DeJuan Gossett: The teams mind set going into that game was pretty loose.  We had just lost a game to Troy State that we thought we should have won minus a couple of big plays.  We may not have had the talent that you see now in all positions but we were kinda mean in certain phases...Our defense flew around and hit in all position so we werent really scared of the running attack or anything  or the speedy reciever.  Our coaches on defense were so good that they instilled in us that we could beat anyone and we kinda carried that swagger.  We knew that Robert Cooper would run well and as long as Deontay controlled the game and we didnt have turnovers we would have a shot.  We didnt get on TV a lot back in those days so that was a big lift also...guys had parents watching for the first time....and the stadium had a good size crowd...It was probably like a bowl game for us after playing in front of 10,000 the week before. 

BB: Tinker Keck has an awesome name. What were you thinking when he had the punt hit his face and Wisconsin recovered?

DG: Yeah..that name has done him well.  When that play happened it was pretty deflating in that we had just had a big stop and it changed momentum but we had made plays all day so we were pretty confident that we could atleast hold them to a field goal.  Its definitely a tough thing that late in the game heading to the gatorade to have to turn around and bow your neck again. 

BB: How good a player was Ron Dayne? Was he the best back you played against in college?

DG: Ron Dayne was good and had surprisingly quick feet to go with his size.  I think the thing that helped him as well was the size of that offensive line...They were huge and he was compact so you couldnt really see him and then all of a sudden you have this big bowling bowl rumbling down the field.  The plan definitely wasnt to give him that many yards but we kept him out of the end zone just enough.  I left that game with respect for him for sure but though that he was a little overrated ...but if they would have won that could have been different.  The best back I played against had to be Edgerrin James the year before.  He isnt as big as Dayne but it took serious gang tackling to get this guy down.  He would twist and spin and had a low base where you took a lot of the impact as the tackler. 

BB: You were guarding Nick Davis on the final play weren't you? Do you remember what you were thinking when the pass went over his head?

DG: I wasnt one on one but we had a bracket coverage where I pretty much had the inside routes with a corner covering the quick stuff and the outside routes.  It was pretty stressful because I had broke on a play I think two plays earlier where I would have had the Int but Isaac Thomas got a hand on it in the air.  Anytime a team that good has a couple chances anything can happen.  We knew they were going to him and we had him covered well....I saw the ball come out pretty high so I was nervous that I had left too much room in the back of the end zone while cutting off the qb's angle for a pass.  When it was overthrown I was kinda in shock for awhile and then there was just mayhem.  That was the first time that I had seen the stadium like that ever and Im glad that it was just a precursor for what the guys are doing now.  I dont think I stopped smiling for atleast 2 days but then it was time to focus for Ohio State.

BB: You were pretty awesome while at UC. You have the 9th best solo tackling season of all time, are 9th all time in tackles, and 2nd in solo tackles, and 2 time 2nd team CUSA. What are a handful of your best memories while at Cincinnati? 

DG: My best memory was being able to play again....Two days before the Conference USA inaugural game I tore my ACL, MCL, PCL, and both meniscus in my left knee.  I was going to start at Nickel back that game as a true freshman with some great players....Sam Garnes, Artrell Hawkins, Chris Hewitt.  I was devastated and the prognosis wasn't good...they said I would be lucky to walk without a limp and that I would be able to play again.  God, Pat Graman, and Mick Marotti had a different thought and I was able to start all 4 years which gave me an opportunity to produce some of those numbers.

I had the opportunity to play with great coaches....Rex Ryan, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Rick Smith, Greg Hudson, etc...Just learning and seeing the passion that those guys had for the game was special. 

I was kinda the first local guy to pick UC and I took pride and had hoped to make it a special place where others would do the same.  We started building that slowly...we had good years when I was there my Freshman year....going to the first bowl in like 50+ years thanks to Huggins and the basketball team.  and then my senior year even though we lost to Marshall.....We didnt do everything that I had hoped but I thought that we were in a good direction and its just a honor to have played at UC....there is nothing like having the opportunity to represent your hometown community and I know that coach Coombs and the staff will continue to build through Cincinnati and allow others to experience the same. 

BB:  I can't believe I didn't ask you about the Dayne fumble. If you don't mind real quick, do you remember what you were doing as that play unfolded? Was that the moment you knew you guys would win?

DG:  The fumble was crazy.....At the time I lived with Bobby Fuller and Jeff Burrows.  Bobby caused it and Jeff recovered it so it was awesome all around. 

The play started and I remember being close to the line of scrimmage...I think Dayne cut it inside and I thought he had a touchdown for sure.  Would have killed us after being ahead and playing well to have that turnover lead to the touchdown.  I see Bobby go to hit him and honestly I didnt think he was going to win that battle...then boom...the ball is loose...it was like a inhaler to a asthma victim because we would have been out of breaths or atleast in a bad spot.  When Jeff jumped on that ball I had a feeling that this might be our day.  The year before we had so many breaks go the other so it was refreshing...we just couldn't do any wrong. 

I need to get that game on video.  Do you have it?


Thank you for the opportunity.  It was good to relive some great Bearcat moments.  I appreciate the exposure that you are giving to the program. 

No DeJuan Gossett, thank you. Thank you for not only answering my questions so vividly, but thanks for being a great Bearcat and a better guy. 

I know I didn't ask him about the Dayne fumble. I stupidly didn't include it when I asked the other questions. I shot him an email asking about it, and if he answers, I'll update this with that. It's updated. If you have a video of the game, shoot an email or comment here, or on twitter. Or, twitter to to DeJuan Gossett himself. 

Questions and Answers

So much has been going down with Cincinnati athletics that it's time to bust out some questions and answers. Is this just a lazy writing device so that I can throw up a post on this Thursday? Maybe. Let's jump into it.

Where does UC stand without Lance Stephenson and Deonta Vaughn?
Great question. I have no idea who is the 'man' on next season's Bearcats. Obviously the answer is Yancy Gates, wait put down the shotgun you just put in your mouth. Yancy is the best player coming back. Sean Kilpatrick was redshirted for this reason. The Bearcats are going to need progress from Cash, My best buddy Dion Dixon and Jaquan Parker. They also need Larry Davis to snap out of whatever funk he was in last season. I don't know if his dog died, his girlfriend and him had a rocky relationship where they fought all season, made up before his good games, and broke up before every other game, if he sucked in school or what. He has a nice shot, last year excluded, and I think he can bounce back.

What recruits does UC have coming in so far?
They have power forward, Rivals 140, and ESPN Top 100, Justin Jackson coming. They also have center Kelvin Gaines. They played together at Arlington County Day School in Florida. Jackson was the 24th rated PF, while Gaines was 17 at center. According to the ESPN recruiting site, 4 power forwards are considering Cincinnati. Apparently, Marquis Teague has dropped Cincinnati off his list. I think his list is now Louisville, Indiana and Purdue, but I could be wrong.

What player do you think is going to step up next season?
I think it's going to be Jaquan Parker. If it were me running the team, my lineup would be Gates, Thomas, Kilpatrick, Parker and Cash. Maybe Jackson, maybe Bishop (if he returns). I think UC should definitely try to run more next season. Kilpatrick is a scorer, Cash can create, Parker can spot up, Ibby can run the floor. Darnell Wilks is promising. Yancy Gates is going to have to dedicate himself this offseason. He's going to have to be a monster next year. If not, put him on the bench and start Jackson with Thomas.

Do you agree with Anthony Buford that Yancy Gates should go?
Anthony didn't say it like that. The interview is here. He basically said what I just said, that Gates needs to be a monster or he should be on the bench. He also said Rashad Bishop was second to go, which he didn't elaborate on, but obviously I agree with. Anthony knows a hell of a lot more than me, even if he sounds like a moron on commentary, sorry AB, you suck. Wear it. I still like you though. Buford was a good player, and if he thinks someone is jaking and a coach killer, then by all means he should call them out. Why he did in that interview and doesn't do it on air, I don't know.

Is there anything better than rumors about how teams fell apart?
I assume you mean this rumor. Apparently, the rumor going around Flip-flip-Flipadelphia is that Corey Fisher knocked up Scottie Reynolds' girlfriend, and that's why they were suspended and that's why their season fell apart. I don't believe it, but it's fun stuff to speculate about I guess.

Mike Rosario is leaving Rutgers, now Fred Hill looks like he's going. Thoughts?
First off, Fred Hill is an idiot. If you don't know, he unleashed a profanity laced tirade at a Pitt-Rutgers baseball game after a close play at first base. Pitt's AD took offense, and now Hill could be fired as early as today. Moron. As for Rosario, it's interesting he's thinking about transferring instead of going pro. He put up nearly 17 last year. He must know he wouldn't get drafted, and has no plans to play in Europe or Russia or the Dominican right now. Good for him continuing his education. Come to Cincinnati Mike.

Who are the new coaches in the Big East?
Well, you really haven't been paying attention. Seton Hall hired Kevin Willard, formerly a Louisville assistant who helped recruit the Final Four team in 05 with Mick Cronin, and coached Iona. St John's hired former UCLA coach and ESPN talking head Steve Lavin. Rutgers is rumored to be after another ESPN talking head, Fran Fraschilla.

What awesome UC player asked you when Lance Stephenson turned pro, but you didn't check twitter to answer him in a timely manner?
Your boy Reuben Johnson. Sorry for not answering faster Reuben.

Lastly, we are going to close things out with an awesome thing. Former Bearcat legend Kenyon Martin had an April Fool's Day prank pulled on him. JR Smith's driver filled K Mart's car with buttered popcorn. Kenyon didn't take this lightly. Despite the lips tattoo, he unleashed his rage on his teammates. The audio, courtesy of TMZ, is here.

Questions and Answers: Starring Causal Hoya

For the second time today, we here at Bearcats Blog bring you a guest. This time, it's with the great Georgetown blog, and global phenomenon, Casual Hoya. Their site is one I hit up every day, and I think that you should as well. Will you see that type of ringing endorsement later on in the Know Your Opponent post? Yes. As tends to be the thing with most of these questions, I answered some on their great site. Sleeping with the enemy is a much cooler name than questions and answers. I wish I wasn't lame in titling things. If there were a slew of Cincinnati blogs, this one would be called something like UCincinBearcatBlog or something weird like that. Enough of this. Let's get on to the interview shall we? We shall. The font is different for some reason. I just copied it from G Mail, don't judge too harshly.

The Big East was stunned with the news of Austin Freeman's diabetes. Has Georgetown announced any news about a possible return?

I think everyone was stunned.  There hasn’t been any official announcement out of the school, but our guess based on our crack research of diabetes is that Freeman could probably give it a go Saturday, but may sit out so that docs can monitor his various bodily functions to get him on a proper treatment plan so he’ll be good to go for the Big East Tournament.   Clearly the first priority is making sure he’s healthy, and then the basketball stuff will figure itself out. That being said, if he doesn’t play the Hoyas are screwed.  That much is undeniable.

What's gone wrong for the Hoyas as they've lost 4 of 5?

This is a flawed team but the one thing that has stood out in recent years when they’ve had similar skids is the lack of a player who can get a score when needed. In contrast to the Jeff Green teams (where Green could put the ball on the floor to get a shot), the best players in recent years have been big guys, such as Hibbert and Monroe, and each of them need to get the ball in the post to really be effective (Hibbert’s shot against UConn aside). Wright and Freeman have shown flashes where they can score in bunches but the team usually hits a lull and falls into a long stretch without a bucket. Couple that with a more deliberate offense and once they get down, it’s difficult to dig back out.

 Of course, losing breeds losing, and to this point (and it’s pretty late in the season), there isn’t a true leader on the team. Both Monroe and Freeman have moments of dominance but each seems to be pretty quiet and unassuming on the court. Wright also dominates at times but like many of us in the stands, I think the team believes he’s often gunning for himself rather than for them.

Greg Monroe is great. Would you like to tell the readers how special he is?

I’m glad you think Monroe is great, I haven’t been convinced.  Monroe’s clearly a special talent, but he can use another year in school to develop his body in the weight room and needs to improve his ability to score with his right hand.   He can certainly dominate games against less physical opponents, but put a beast on him and he becomes a bit timid. Monroe came to Georgetown with a lot of hype as the #1 high school recruit in the country.  Other #1 recruits out of high school included Lebron James, Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant, and Derrick Rose.  Monroe is nowhere near at that level right now.  Could he be?  Perhaps. 

There is a traitor list on your site. How big an issue are the people who buy season tickets and flip them?

A huge momma issue.  Look, we are a small, Catholic school playing in an NBA arena in a major commuter city.  As much as we would like the Hoyas to be the main attraction in DC, they are not and will never be.  The Terps get more press coverage than Georgetown in the local media.  The only thing we have going for us is the lower bowl of the Verizon Center, which is supposed to be a safe-haven for Hoya fans.  Tickets to the lower bowl are mostly sold as season packages to Georgetown students, alums and fans.  But there have been certain games this year where even the lower bowl wasn't gray, against Cuse it was 50% orange.  Fans are selling their tickets to other teams' fans.  I hope that most of them do not realize what they are doing, but there needs to be a better solution for getting Georgetown tickets in the hands of Georgetown fans.  That is how the traitor list was born, it is really just a brutal reminder that you should be accountable for distributing your tickets responsibly.  Georgetown also has a problem with scalpers buying season ticket packages and putting everything on StubHub - the traitor list helps identify repeat offenders or problem sections. We are working on more "positive" ideas with Georgetown organizations as well but for those fans that show up every game only to be out-cheered by opposing fans with better seats, a solution cannot come quickly enough

What do you see happening with Georgetown if Pittsburgh leaves and the league disbands?

I think that if we lose a football school, especially one as important to Big East football as Pitt, the Big East will disband.  At the end of the day, as much as I hate it, football decides what happens in college athletics; it is where all the money is.  The Big 10, Big 12 and ACC will swallow the other seven football schools, leaving Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul and Notre Dame to fend for themselves.  Notre Dame will be forced to join a conference after NBC drops them and the remaining schools bring on St. Joe's, Xavier, and Dayton to form a basketball-only conference.  They get no TV exposure, lose all recruits and are forced to take part in an experimental underwater basketball league run by Vince McMahon.

Only one thing I said above is unlikely, and sadly it has to do with ND.

The last 2 Georgetown home wins were attended by President Obama and Joe Biden for Duke, and Nancy Pelosi for Villanova. Are any more cabinet members attending the game Saturday?

Not sure about the cabinet, but the guy who installed my California closets will be there.   If you’d like I can get you an autograph. (Ed Note: YES)

Bill Kock, er Koch, really asked for money to answer questions for your site? Feel free to rip him some here.

Ahh yeah, that happened. We thought he was joking initially, and we offered him a sweet casual headband, which he declined. Apparently he hasn't realized that the old newspaper model is dead and that our blog will be around a lot longer than his job. Was that too much? Well here's some compensation for you, Koch. (Insert a picture of a middle finger).

What do you see going down Saturday? Final score prediction?

Big game for both teams, no doubt. I’d expect a pretty strong home court for Gtown that will power them to victory – particularly with a turbulent week as Freeman received some awful news – Gtown by 8: 72-64.

Finally, what the hell is a Hoya?

A Hoya is what’s going to kick your ass on Saturday. 

Yeah, I walked right into that one. Thanks a thousand times to our friends at Casual Hoya. They do a great job, and we wish them a ton of luck after Saturday, and if we meet them in the Big East Tournament. 

Questions and Answers: Starring the voice of the Bearcats Dan Hoard

With the season wrapping up, I thought it would be cool to see if we could find out what the voice of the Bearcats Dan Hoard had to say about the season. Surprisingly, Mr Hoard thought it was a great idea as well and answered a few of my questions. As part of the agreement to get him to do this, I have to say that Mr Hoard is very handsome, incredibly talented and despite what it seems, not bald. That was a joke, he answered them without a qualifier. I can't believe it either! Anyway, let's see Dan Hoard's answers to my questions.

Everyone has noticed that Deonta Vaughn has struggled with his shot and has maybe deferred too much to the other guards. Do you think it's more the game plans of other teams, or was he did play was well as he possibly could have 2 years ago?

 

Vaughn's drop-off is a huge mystery to me.  But when you look as his career, he only had a high shooting percentage as a sophomore -- maybe he just had a great year.  Also, the 3-point line was moved back by a foot after that season, so that was probably a factor.  He also played with a solid point guard in his first two seasons in Jamual Warren who looked to get him shots and that hasn't been the case for the last two years.

The Bearcats have stumbled lately losing 7 of 10, do you think that they just aren't there from a talent standpoint yet? Or is it a case of them not knowing how to win close games?

 

They have a glaring weakness from a talent standpoint -- they don't have good shooters.  Some of the close games that they lost were blown at the free throw line.  While UC's offense needs more movement (ball and player) in my opinion, the single most valuable skill in basketball is putting the ball in the basket and UC needs more guys that can do it (plus improvement from the players that are already on the roster). 

Lance Stephenson has gotten back into form as of late, what do you think his ceiling is? 

 

He's a great ball-handler and passer for his size and plays with great intensity.  But he needs to become a much better shooter to have a significant NBA career.  The good news is that he knows it and will work at it.  For a guy who has received all of the hype that Lance has received, he seems very realistic about his strengths and weaknesses.

Chuck Machock, as we all know, is pretty awesome. Your twitter background is a picture of him getting tossed in the Gonzaga game. How crazy a moment was that?

 

It was embarrassing for Chuck and UC at the time, but we've had a ton of fun with it since.  I have two claims to fame:  A character was named for me in The Simpsons (http://danhoard.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/05/my_claim_to_fame.html) and I'm the play-by-play guy who's partner got kicked out of an NCAA Tournament game.  By the way, Chuck will be looking to extend his streak of NOT getting kicked out to 223 games at Georgetown. 

Have you had the chance to meet with Butch Jones? Do you think he's as good a hire as I do? I think he's very good. 

 

I've talked to Coach Jones on several occasions and spent about an hour in his office last week.  He's got huge shoes to fill, but I'm very optimistic.  The players that I've talked to really like him -- despite the fact that they're working harder than ever.  And the fact that UC held on to Kerry Coombs was huge -- not only in recruiting but in helping the new staff learn everything they need to know about Cincinnati.

100,000,000 thanks to Dan Hoard for taking time to do this. He is a very nice man. In fact, here's a Dan Hoard story. When I worked at UC as an usher, there was a football game and basketball exhibition on the same day. My job was to check id badges at some point where I couldn't see either game. Needless to say, it was incredibly boring, and I kept walking far away to watch the football game. Suddenly, an awesome moment happened. Dan Hoard came walking down from the basketball game. He chatted with me a couple minutes about the team, and maybe the football team. I think he said something and then I followed him as far as I could go. I think he asked me the football score, I don't remember. All I do remember, is that is was awesome. I'm sure that conversation like 9 years ago is what made Mr Dan Hoard agree to answer my questions. Even though I asked him through the Bearcats Blog twitter. Don't ruin the moment. Thanks Dan Hoard. 

Questions and Answers

There are many topics swirling around Cincinnati sports, and the best way to sort them out? Questions. The best way to sort out the questions? Answers. Yes, we've reached the point where it's questions and answers time. Unless you want to read a 43,000 word post about Mick Cronin's comments on why Yancy Gates didn't play at the end of the game Sunday.

Why didn't Yancy Gates play at the end of the game on Sunday?
If you listen to Mick, it's because he says that Marquette was exposing Gates and, to a lesser extent, Steve Toyloy. If you listen to Marquette head coach Buzz Williams, that was not the case. If you read Marquette blogs, like Cracked Sidewalks, they were happy that #34 took a seat on the pine. If you read any UC blog or message board, they are furious about this. As we should be. Every coach worth their salary goes offense for defense in those situations. It's no different than if Yancy was playing with 4 fouls. Yet, Mick was happy running pretty much a man down on offense. Ibrahima Thomas is good and getting better, but he only had 5 points at the end of regulation. He wasn't playing that well. Dion Dixon and Cashmere Wright went offense for defense down the stretch. It's baffling to me.

Is Deonta Vaughn the alpha dog of this team?
I'm going to surprise everyone, no. I don't think this team has an alpha dog. I think it could have been Lance Stephenson, but he lost whatever mojo he had after the first Connecticut game. Maybe he let the game winning points and praise get to his head. He's been pretty not good lately. I would like to see him get more minutes, but he's not doing much with the minutes he's had ever since he came back from injury. Besides the Notre Dame game, he played well then. Yancy Gates could be the alpha dog, but it doesn't seem like he wants to be. When he wants the ball and plays hard, he's nearly unstoppable. But, his play comes off as nonchalant at times. I'm not saying he's not trying, but it looks like he doesn't care much if he gets touches or runs back on d. Having said all that, it SHOULD be Deonta Vaughn's team, and the fact it's not has really hurt the Bearcats. We have needed a leader to step up since the let's say UAB game, but none has. I don't know what happened to Deonta. The past 3 years of Vaughn put this version to shame. I don't know if he wanted to get drafted so he started playing more point guard and distributing, or whether he and Lance Stephenson hate each other and can't play together. Deonta had his big alpha dog moment of the season Sunday, and I guarantee sophomore Deonta nails that 3.

What undersung player does UC need to be more consistent every game?
Rashad Bishop. In a way, Bishop signifies this team. He'll play great, not show up, play solid, play bad, and play ok. He played really well on Sunday against Marquette, he no showed Louisville, played solid against Providence, played badly against South Florida, and ok against UConn in Hartford. Rashad is the most improved Bearcat this season. In the games he hasn't shot well, he's rebounded well. I would like to see his assists take the uptick they did last year though. He seems more confident in his shot. He needs to work on the 3 ball still, and getting the 2% back up to the 60s where it was last year.

Are the guards coming off the bench finally back to playing like we know they can?
I really hope that Larry Davis, and Dion Dixon, who is my best friend, have started going out there and just played. Both played pretty significant minutes until Big East play started. Larry even started a few games. Both get their minutes yanked around, but I think Davis is rounding into form. After a horrible shooting slump, he's hit 8-17 from 3 the past 3 games he's played minutes in. Dixon has rebounded well in his time, but he needs to work on his jumper this summer. He shot 25% from 3 last year, and is at only 30% this year. He shot really well against Marquette, but I think that taking too many 3s is what gets him bench time. He can play d and be a pest, so we need him playing hard and well. I think that both are ready to step in again. Especially if Lance Stephenson has checked out.

What does the Big East tournament bracket look like right now?
Per our friends at Friar Blog.

Can we stop talking about basketball now?
Sure football fan.

Are any UC athletes on the twitter?
There are a few. On the Bearcats Blog twitter account, I have a list where you can see them all. It's quite fancy. My twitter is @ucbearcatsblog.

Any truth on Cincinnati playing at Tennessee in 2011?

Yes, that's absolutely true. It's just a one time deal with UC playing in Knoxville, but it's a good thing. I just found this out like 3 days ago, so I'm hoping you were all in the same boat as me. 

When is the Spring Game?

April 24. I've been promised that this is a different team than previously. I'm interested to see how the running back situation plays out. I really like Isaiah Pead, and I think Darrin Williams can be a stud. He's pretty fast, and I think he could be a gamebreaker. 

Where do draft analysts think Mardy Gilyard is going in the draft?

From everything I've seen, Mardy is being projected as a second round pick. People are worried about his weight, 185. Mardy has all the skills and drive, and I think if he has a good combine, starts Saturday, he could be a late first rounder. Maybe that's overly optimistic, but I believe in Mardy Gilyard.

What about Tony Pike?

Tony has been ranked as the 4th or 5th best QB in the draft. He has also been told to bulk up by the analysts. Whatever the dude's name on the NFL Network said he has Pike in the 4th round. Mike Mayock's his name. He is normally pretty right, and he's not Todd McShay, so you can believe him. 

Who is the coolest Bearcat football player?

That's a tough one. On one hand, I lean towards Travis Kelce because he once retweeted me. On the other, Reuben Johnson's nickname is Daddy. Plus, Reuben Johnson follows me on twitter, and that makes him the coolest Bearcat of this time, and currently, of all time. 

Questions and Answers: Starring AstroBull from Voodoo 5

(All female USF fans are this)

With a pivotal game with South Florida on the docket for later tonight, AstroBull and I thought it would be great to swap some questions about the teams. AstroBull writes the excellent Voodoo5, which has been fun to read with USF playing well. Sure enough, I answered some of his questions right here. He asked some great questions. Here are my amazing questions to him, with his even more amazing answers.


BearcatsBlog: Dominique Jones seems to have slowed down lately. Has he hit the wall, had a slump, getting tired? 


AstroBull: I think its teams figuring what what we can't do, which is the inability of shooting the ball from deep. Teams are collapsing on defense when we drive to the basket, forcing a pass out to Anthony Crater or Mike Mercer to shoot, but they can't do it consistently. Gilchrist coming back will scare some teams out of this as he is our best shooter, but teams are going to be content on making everyone but Jones beat them on a nightly basis. 


BB: Gus Gilchrist recently returned from injury. How did he look against Marquette? What can we expect from him?


AB:Coach Heath said that Gus was going at about 80% on Saturday, and it showed a little bit. He looked pretty good on the offensive end, but was a little slow defensively trying to guard the quicker forwards of Marquettte. He will probably get 20-25 minutes like he did on Saturday, and he should do a better job defensively against Toyloy and Gates. Offensively he just needs to hit the open shot when it gets to him and things will be all good.


BB:South Florida has dropped a couple on the road after their 4 game win streak. Do you think they have enough in the tank to finish the season strong?


AB: God I hope so. Having Gilchrist will be huge down the stretch, but I think the biggest thing is having 4 of the final 6 games at home. Even one of our away games is DePaul, so its a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way. Connecticut at home to end the season will be a big one if both teams are still alive for a NCAA bid.


BB: Besides Jones, who should we look out for in the game?


AB: I think you have to keep an eye on Gilchrist. He will make Gates or Toyloy play away from the basket, which should hopefully free up the lane for Jones or Mercer. At 6'11 he has the best shot on the team, including Jones. If the bigs play off of him a little when he is at the top of the key, he will make them pay all night long. The magic
number for him will be 15 points. If he get to 15 then I think the Bulls will win this one.

BB: How much fun has this season been after years of struggling?

AB: Words can not describe how happy I am for the basketball team. I've been following the team since 2003, and to finally see the team even in consideration for an NCAA bid has been huge. Seeing the big donor seats three-quarters empty for games was embarrassing. Student turnout was horrendous, as I could walk into the student section seconds before tip off and get a first row seat. People are finally starting to talk about the basketball team for the first time in ages. That alone makes this season a success. If an NCAA big comes out of it that is awesome, but even a trip to the NIT gets the ball rolling for next season.

100 thanks to AstroBull for answering my questions, and for giving such great answers. I'm pulling for South Florida to win the rest of the their games after we (hopefully) destroy them tonight. Visit Voodoo 5, it's great, and I'll be linking to it later in the Know Your Opponent preview, so click on it lots of times.

Questions and Answers

UC doesn't tip off until Saturday, and in the meantime, I'll answer all the burning questions about UC and other things. Mainly UC things since this is a Cincinnati Bearcats blog. Maybe THE Cincinnati blog. After all, former Cincinnati great DeJuan Gossett follows us on twitter. DeJuan is 9th in tackles in UC history, and 2nd in solo tackles. He has incredible taste in who to follow on twitter. What does this have to do with questions? Shut up jerk, we're getting to that right now.

What are the odds that Cincinnati goes to the NCAA tournament?

Look, it's only February. We have many more games left in the regular season, and the Big East tournament. Anything can happen in New York City. I'm at the point where I'm getting a little tired of the negativity. Instead of looking at the schedule and counting the losses, we are going to look one game at a time. We need to chill.

You have said that Mick Cronin has had the pressure start to build under him. Does he make it through the off season if UC doesn't play in the Big Dance?

I'm going to say yes. UC would have to finish .500 or worse for there to be any justifiable reason for Mick to go. He came to UC with nothing. He has built UC to a contender for the tournament. Some of the fan expectations are a little too high, because there was nothing here 4 years ago. That said, Mick hasn't won a single game in March, including a disgusting loss against DePaul in the Big East tournament. The offense is absolutely awful. It needs to be changed next season. Hell, it needs to be changed tomorrow. Some people are questioning UC's conditioning. But, I think if UC is close to the tournament and end up in the NIT, he deserves to come back.

Speaking of leaving, what are the chances Lance Stephenson hangs around next year?

I think Born Ready is 70-30 to coming back. His jump shot has been horrible, especially from 3. That type of thing is going to keep him a little low on draft boards. Lance passes really well, and has started vacuuming up rebounds. The big problem lately has been Lance not getting himself involved in the offense all 40 minutes. He disappeared against Louisville, and he disappeared yesterday. We need 33 to be the player we know he is the whole game.

What's up with Deonta Vaughn? 

Nothing, he's chillin. But really. It's interesting that you asked that, because coming tomorrow, we are going to break down what's up with Deonta Vaughn. It's your lucky day.

Are any Bearcats going to the NFL combine?

Yes. Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard were invited, and you can watch them run, and catch and throw on the NFL Network in a couple weeks. I know I won't.

Are the Bearcats going to be on ESPN next football season?

At least once. The Bearcats are traveling to North Carolina State on Thursday, September 13 for a nationally televised showdown. In the last 4 seasons, UC hasn't lost on ESPN Thursday night. UC beat USF twice, and Oregon State once. Hopefully they are on more national games this season. They do play Oklahoma, so that will be on ABC or something.

It's Rivalry Week on the 4 letter, what do you think the best Big East rivalry is?

You have your Syracuse-Georgetown, Syracuse-UConn, your West Virginia-Pittsburgh, Seton Hall-Rutgers, Marquette-DePaul I guess, Louisville-Cincinnati, but I'm going to say South Florida-St John's. When I think of great Big East basketball, I think of those 2.

Be honest.

Syracuse v. Connecticut is my choice.

Back to football. How awesome is Zach Collaros going to be? 

Very awesome. Butch Jones has tons of weapons coming back on offense, with Vidal Hazelton, Collaros, Isaiah Pead, DJ Woods, Armon Binns, and what have you. The Brian Kelly Machine should roll on, but as the Butch Jones Awesome Squad. Yeah, I had nothing there, but from now on, the offense is going to be called the BJAS.

What do you think about Brian Kelly being named the Ohio football coach of the year?

Yawn, that's what I care. Why are these awards still going on? It's February. Even baseball doesn't stretch his award season as much as some of these football awards. Let's wrap this award stuff up in December, or after the national title game guys. Come on.

Was this very successful?

Hell yes it was.

Tomorrow we break down Deonta Vaughn and his up and down senior season. Thanks for reading.

Questions and Answers: Starring Brian from Orange 44

With the #3 ranked Syracuse Orange making the trip to 5/3 Arena to play the Bearcats tomorrow, Brian at Orange 44 and I thought it would be a great idea to ask each other some questions about the teams. I answered Brian's questions on his amazingly amazing blog right here.

(Pictured: Not Brian, although this is the average Syracuse fan. I kid Orange fans)

Bearcats Blog: Besides my pick for BE Player of the Year Wesley Johnson, who should we look out for on Syracuse?

 

Orange44: Lately you have to watch out for Kris Joseph. He has been sensational off the bench for Syracuse, including earning a career high 23 points against Providence on Tuesday. He, much like Johnson, can dunk the ball hard, and has the moves to take someone on the baseline. If Cincinnati fails to take him seriously, Joseph will get some easy buckets in the paint for the Orange.

BB: How does this SU team stack up to recent years?

 

O44: I hate to compare, especially this early in the season, but this team is the best team since the 2003 National Champion Syracuse team. They have inside and outside play, a bona fide star in Wes Johnson, good guards, and players that can score off the bench. The real improvement from last season has been on defense. With longer and bigger players in the famous 2-3 Zone, Syracuse is leading the league in steals and holding opponents to 64.6ppg. This, my friends, is a team that could go the distance.

BB: What type of team does Syracuse struggle with?

 

Teams that like to slow the pace of the game and play a half court offense. If teams take most of the time on the shot clock per possession and manage to score, this obviously helps limit Syracuse's possessions and could cause Syracuse to get out of their run-and-gun type of offense. We saw this kind of team at DePaul and Syracuse was down 18 points in the first half before coming back to win. Syracuse is brilliant in transition, so if you force Syracuse to take the ball out every time by scoring, you can limit a lot of easy buckets for the Orange. Additionally, any good three point shooting team has a chance against a team that plays the zone, but that hasn't seemed to help any teams this year so far.

BB: Are you going to take a chainsaw the the next analyst who brings up the LeMoyne game?

 

O44: Haha it's a formula that any analyst uses to call a game. They have to bring that up for some reason. The game didn't count, and frankly I didn't much care when it happened. If anything, I was happy for LeMoyne. Boeheim never takes scrimmages seriously in that he uses various defenses and plays and lineups he rarely tries in actual games. Can we all agree to just move on, seeing as Syracuse is well passed it?

BB: Follow up: Has that game made you worried of facing a lower seed come March Madness? I know it was an exhibition game, but has it planted some little seeds of doubt?

 

O44: None. Like I said earlier, Syracuse was playing defenses and schemes that they would never try in an actual game at this point. If Syracuse plays determined and uses it's strengths like they have been so far this season, lower seeds might give them a game, but I think it will be a big time team that eventually puts Syracuse to rest. Of course this is all premature talk. I'd just like to get out of the regular season first.

Thanks to Brian at Orange44 for the great answers. Just so you know, I asked the last question because I know that some people are going to have Syracuse going down early in March because of that. Especially the people who want a 16 to beat a 1, which Syracuse potentially is. Enough inside baseball, whatever that means, the Know Your Opponent will be up tonight, and if it's not, it will be up in the AM.