June 16, 2009

 

(10:40 a.m.): I sat down with Mick Cronin in early April, and while we discussed the end of last season and what he could expect for next year – as detailed in this blog post – we also got off track a bit.

I asked him about what I perceived as fan negativity with the state of the basketball program. Mick didn’t really address that, probably because he didn’t feel that he needed to answer those types of questions. He said he was more focused on the fans who are with the team – the 6,000 or so that entered Fifth Third Arena for games – than those who wanted to bash him and his players.

It’s perfectly understandable, and when he said that the Mick-bashers were a vast, but vocal, minority, it made sense. If you go by message boards and e-mails, the will of the people says that Mick should have been fired last season after the Bearcats had such a horrendous end to the year. But Mick comes into contact with dozens of more UC basketball fans than I do on a daily basis. For the most part, he said, those people were supportive. Those people wanted to see him stay as the Bearcats coach and to succeed there.

“What you have to understand is to take a step back objectively,” Mick said in April. “The last eight days (of the season) obviously were devastating for our team. We focused on us. We appreciate support, but for our team, a group of guys that overcame not having their point guard all year and going through this whole Big East experience together, to have a chance and come out with almost a 20-win season and an NCAA tournament bid was because of their effort and them trying to push through. Playing against the likes of Pitt and UConn for the first time. We had a lot of guys who were sitting on the bench the year prior. We were the youngest team in the Big East. For us to be knocking on the door is a big positive. The end of the season was a big negative, but you have to learn to accept the totality of it all. Our program is back to normal. For us, it’s getting back to normal. … The key for me is making sure my players stay immune to negativity and focus on the positive and understand how close we are to becoming what we need to become.”

About seven weeks later, I talked to director of basketball operations Chris Goggin, and that same sense of optimism remains.

“We have the same pressure we did when we got here. It’s to get this thing where Cincinnati basketball needs to be,” Goggin said. “We’re making progress. Everybody wants to make progress quicker than it is, but we’ve taken steps. You look at our first two years here and as hard as those guys played, we were doing our best to keep our heads above water. We counted on a lot of younger players last year in the toughest season in the Big East in its history. Now we have some returning players and adding some important pieces. We’re looking forward to this season in doing some bigger things.”

Apparently UC AD Mike Thomas agrees. By giving Mick a two-year contract extension Monday, that leaves Mick with five years on his deal. All along, I thought Mick would have the full six-year contract he originally signed to get the program turned around. People forget the shape of the program when Thomas hired him. I covered that first season, and it was bad, bad, bad. The highlight (lowlight?) of the season came when Jamual Warren said he was so frustrated, he wanted to walk himself off a bridge.

But people forget where UC had to begin anew. I don’t need to review the history – Bill Koch writes some of it in today’s Enquirer – but there’s no doubt the program under Mick’s tutelage has been turned around. He told Bill there was no question that the program is back, and although the definition of ‘back’ is unanswered (I imagine some fans wouldn’t say the program is ‘back’ until the Bearcats start advancing in the NCAA tournament), I can’t say Mick is off the mark.

The timing of this extension is interesting. Obviously for recruiting performances, it’s an important accomplishment. Not that extensions necessarily mean anything (as former football coach Rick Minter probably can attest*), but the implication is that Mick is safe for another few seasons. And honestly, I think he deserves that job security. The team has improved each year, and he’s stabilized the program after the disastrous end to Bob Huggins’ era. The end of the season might have turned some fans against him, but he’s right – when you look back objectively, you’d have to agree that the program has been on a steady rise since he became the coach.

*Bearcats Rising!

 

 

And while you’re waiting for your ‘Compose message’ page to load, check out my new Web site joshkatzowitz.com. I figure if a man writes a book,* that man needs his own Web site.

It’s still a work in progress, and I’m still getting the hang of this thing. Since you’re e-mailing me anyway, let me know if you have any suggestions for the site. I’m all ears.

*Big kickoff is Aug. 20 at Joseph-Beth in Rookwood, BTW.

 

And also, check out Dave Curtis’ interview with Tony Pike in the Sporting News from two days ago. Nothing earth-shattering, but there’s some interesting tidbits in there.