Tuesday, December 9, 2008

What you smell is . . .

Connor Barwin's football jock. Apparently so do the rest of the UC 'faithful' who have shown out in droves to support their basketball program this season. What was that at the UAB game this weekend? 6500! And that was the 'announced' attendance. Certainly it will be a little better this weekend. Also give the 'economy' story a break. It takes 35,000 to fill the football stadium, 13,000 to fill the basketball arena in Clifton. One is getting filled and the other isn't. The comment of 'fair weather' certainly comes to mind. Just win baby.

Now with all that being out there I am not going to play the 'underdog' card. Our status and ranking show that not to be true and ESPN validated that our program has been better in the 'modern' era of college basketball with their prestige rankings this summer. It was great we were both in the top 20 but we were two spots better. It remains to be seen if UC basketball will sustain success in the Big East or without Huggins. Sagarin rankings have you projected to finish 14-16 for the season. That will probably earn you another bid to the 'Crappy' Basketball Invitational which is certainly not fitting for a team in the Big East. I still fail to see the argument that the Big East will elevate the basketball program. Yancy Gates would have commited to UC if they were still in Conference USA. The W-L totals have not been better and quit crying that Sean inherited a much better situation at X than Mick did at UC. It's obvious he did. He helped build it to where it is but there are no excuses over on Victory Parkway. There seem to be plenty for failure in Clifton. Injuries are a part of the game get over it and still succeed.

Speaking of injuries coach Miller said on his radio show last night that Holloway will see time this Wednesday against Ohio. That makes me feel much better about our ball handling capabilities heading into the Crosstown game. Also it bodes well for our matchup the following Saturday against Duke. The UC game is always tough but certainly not the 'highlight of the schedule' as it once was. HOWEVER it is still important for bragging rights and we still have lots of work to do to make up ground lost in the '60's and '70's.

My official prediction is:

X: 67
UC: 62

13 comments:

Bryan said...

Your post is contained with pure idiocy, little facts and almost zero logic. Do they teach critical thinking at Xavier because you obviously missed out on that course.

Some things I will take the time to correct:

Sagarin's predictor rating (which is his most accurate rating) predicts UC will finish 17-13 on the season with a 15.2% chance that UC will finish the season with 20+ wins. 20+ wins with the schedule UC plays will almost certainly guarantee a NCAA tournament berth.

Sagarin's predictor ratings also suggests the Crosstown Shootout is a virtual toss up. Pretty sad that it wouldn't favor Xavier by more considering how bad UC is, right?????

What does Yancy Gates have to do with the Big East? That is one player. What about Cashmere Wright, Mike Williams, Alvin Mitchell or Deonta Vaughn, not to mention the unbelievable talent UC is recruiting in the future such as Adrian Payne, Marques Teague, Michael Chandler, and Chase Behanan.

But what you failed to even address was how the increased difficulty in scheduling will help prepare the Bearcats for the NCAA Tournament.

By the way, who even mentioned injuries. The only injury for the Bearcats right now is Cashmere Wright, and while the lack of a big time point guard hurts the Bearcats, no one is complaining about it.

One last thing: Mick has out-coached Miller the last two years. The fact that UC's team of Jucos and Vaughn handily beat XU two years ago and then took them to the wire last year should make any Xavier fan nervous now that there is real talent back at UC.

Deck said...

Hey Bryan I respect your opinions. In regards to recruiting it is often put forth that being in the Big East will help UC's recruiting. My point is it hasn't. Danny Fortson, Dontonio Wingfield, et al did not need UC to be in the Big East to attend school there. What they wanted was the opportunity to play top flight comp, play for a guy they respected who they thought would make them better, and go to the NCAA tournament. Also I think Chane is a wonderful talent out of Aiken but please remember the ghost of Danny McElroy. Will Chane level off the same way?

Your comment concerning Cronin 'outcoaching' Miller is laughable. Rivalry games always have the unexpected occur. We can simply compare overall and NCAA tournament records to find out who the better coach is.

And lastly the injury comment is a back and forth between me and Dave. First it was Williams and then this year Wright which is unfortunate but should not serve as an excuse for failure.

Thanks for checking us out and I would say the crosstown shootout is toss up every year, wouldn't you?

Bryan said...

The Crosstown shootout is not a toss up each year in terms of quality of the teams playing each other, which is what Sagarin measures. For example, the UC teams the past two years were two of the worst UC teams assembled in the last 20 years, whereas UC almost always had the better team in the 90's and early 2000s.

The results are a different story, but that is a completely separate issue.

Your friend Dave was absolutely correct about Mike Williams last year. If Xavier was forced (or in UC's case volunteered) to take the the death penalty, then lost one of its two best players on a team that was filled with either freshman or jucos nobody else wanted, they would all have a legitimate reason to complain.

Its laughable the Xavier fans suggest that what happened at UC when Huggins left wasn't a major blow that isnt still affecting the to this day. Your posts suggest you are one of those and simply, you are clueless.

Comparing Miller and Cronin's records at this stage is pointless given Cronin has coached either at Murray St or the UC team he inherited with 1 scholarship player and 0 incoming recruits the March before he took over. The fact of the matter is, Cronin still got a team that only won 11 games to beat Xavier by 10. That team consisted of jucos that weren't recruited by any major university, Cedric McGowan, and miraculously Deonta Vaughn.

Now that UC actually has real talent (and that talent is just starting to arrive), things will most certainly go back to how they used to be in this city pre-2005 when UC owned the town.

Deck said...

Bryan,

Wow glad to see we still have some 'heat' in this town for this rivalry. Just checking: did you own the town in '96 and '99? Yeah not so much. How about '04? Did you have the national POY in '03? Give me a break. All UC owned pre 2005 was a bad reputation.

And I see you are Mick's #1 fan. He has talent, now is the time to win. What was the excuse for losing to Bowling Green and Belmont in the Peggy Cronin Classic last year? Was the talent deficit that great? If he is such a great coach why didn't he have an insurance policy for Cash this season? What will the excuse be next year? Vaughn and Wright only get one season together? And if your talking talent next year Sean Kilpatrick is a three star rivals recruit that selected St. John's last year. St. John's? What have they done lately?

Bryan said...

Continue to bad mouth Mick, that works for me. It just makes X and Miller look even worse for the performance they have put up against his teams the last two years.

And continue to beat the drum about Cash while I continue listen to how scared X fans are to play without Holloway for any real length of time since he is your only decent point guard. You realize he wouldn't even be at X if it weren't for Sampson's violations. Miller sure had a great plan there, doesn't he (or more accurately got lucky).

And just so we are clear, UC was pursuing Bobby Maze amongst others last year and lost out, but it isn't the end of the world because there is enough talent on the roster now. Mike Williams was a different story that you don't seem to be able to grasp the significance of...

And try to make fun of UC's recruiting, but they have out-recruited Xavier the last two years under Mick and will continue to do so (Gates and Behanan, both of whom Xavier wanted only prove this point).

And UC has most definitely owned this city prior to 2005. Despite the losses when we were number 1 (by the way, when has Xavier been ranked that high even for a week, let alone most of the season), UC was the featured program in town, the program nearly everyone cared about. Three elite 8s, a final four (something Xavier has never experienced) and 7 top 10 finishes in the final poll of the season (after the tournament) only go to show UC's superiority.

In fact, your desire to try and bash UC (mostly without merit) shows just how envious you are for attention, something Xavier does not get enough of in Cincinnati because of the major program in town. We are just beginning to get back to those days. It will only be sweeter in the future.

Deck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deck said...

Bryan,

To be clear (and civil) let me just say that Gates and Benahan are great prospects and I tip my hat to Mick and staff for landing them. Further I think if anybody can return UC to pride it would be Mick. He understands the city, what the team means to it's fans, and so forth. Also the injury to Cash Wright is very, very unfortunate to him and to the team. I truly hope he recovers to full strength and ability.

But . . .

I have never heard of a coach being 'outcoached' in a game he won? How could he? He won.

Also . . .

Huggs has left the building. All that glory of the past (and Xavier losses) went with him to Manhattan, KS and Morgantown, WV.

Finally. . .

We get plenty of attention. Ask Kevin Parrom, Jordan Latham, and JD Weatherspoon who we are.

Dave said...

Wow. You guys are really going at it. I love what the Crosstown brings out in us diehard fans. On both sides. Bryan you make some very good points that believe me I have made time and time again to Deck. I will say this though. If UC owned the 90's(and they did) then XU owns the current decade with 5 wins to UC's 3.

As for the Better coach between Miller and Cronin only time will tell. If your judging based on performance to date Miller has the edge. If we're talking recruiting I'd say its a push. Cronin however is here fr the long haul and I'm not so sure you could say that about Miller. That Pittsburgh job will open up someday and thats when Miller will get his chance to coach in a big time league.

Deck said...

For the record:

If 'owning' a decade means going 6-4 then your right. If you squeeze in 89-90 game it goes to 6-5 but whatever. If we take it up to this year from 89-90 it is a 10-9 record in X's favor. So surely we can all see the 'rivalry' is alive and well. Unlike the '60's and '70's.

See you clowns Saturday. I feel a beat down coming to Clifton.

Deck said...

One more thing Dave: nice slap with the Miller comment. Who makes more money? Why would a coach in the A10 make more than a coach in the Big East? I wouldn't be so sure about Cronin being anywhere for the long haul. If he has a losing record this year and next and no arses in the seats he will be headed back to Ricky P. Miller will be here for a very, very long time. It shows you know very little about the Jamie Dixon and Pittsburgh situation. He reupped for gobs of money and in is in a situation (Pitt) where they are overjoyed about the success the program has had. Does Cronin have the same security? You see Sean actually played for Pitt (all time assists leader for the glorious Big East by the way) whereas Cronin sniffed the dirty towels at UC. The attraction to coach his alma mater is not as strong as you think. I would say when he does leave it will be for an upper tier ACC job (NC State, ect). I guess Marquette isn't big time either because he flat out told them no this past off season. But anyway you know how to fire a guy up and wait when we win. The venom will be brutal.

Bryan said...

Just for clarity's sake, owning this city meant much more than just the game played between the two teams each year. UC had significantly more success by virtually every imaginable measure during Huggins tenure.

Deck, I also like how you defended the idea of Miller leaving for Pittsburgh and then immediately threw out the idea of him leaving for an ACC school. The life of a mid-major (that should go over well).....

Deck said...

Bryan,

I love the back and forth. Let me just say we are 'practical' on Victory Parkway and understand things do not last forever coaching wise. The buyout on Sean's contract would leave us in a nice position to land the next coach. Whether that be Fran McCaffery from Siena, Chris Lowery at Southern Illinois, or Andy Kennedy at Ole Miss (wouldn't that be a stick in the eye) it doesn't matter who the coach is. The expectations for the PROGRAM would stay the same. Can you say the same in Clifton? See I truly believe the success UC enjoyed in the '90's (btw we are almost to the 'teens') can be traced to one man.

Also I guess UC football would be mid major because it looks like Kelly will be headed for greener pastures as well. Is that true? Is Marquette mid major because Tom Crean left them willingly? I struggle with the whole mid major concept. Davidson sure didn't look anything less than a top 25 team in last year's tournament run and in their win last night against the Big East. So keep coming back with that tired line.

Just win baby.

Bryan said...

UC's football team certainly used to be a mid-major. Being in a MAJOR conference is changing that though and they are building their reputation....

Chris Mack will be the next HC at Xavier...

All this stuff about UC's success being attributed to one man is because the coaches we hire don't leave the program every 5 or so years. If you had any foresight, you could see with the recruiting and big wins already at UC under Cronin, that he is more than on his way to bringing a high level of success back to UC...