Re: RE: Huggins post game comments - MUST READ!!!!

From: bearcats74
Date: 13 Mar 2003 - 09:50 AM EST

I agree. This team has talent, but the hustle and heart are not there. I heard a replay of Huggs postgame comments this morning and the words in print do not bring out how absolutely frustrated he is with this team. The kids know when they sign on the line with Huggs that you practice your butt off or your butt doesn't get off the bench. Apparently Chadd and others haven't quite grasped that concept yet, and some probably never will. If Huggs has to play Meeker or Lucas or the student manager 30 minutes in the next game (be it NCAA or NIT) because that person is one of the few busting his rear in practice than so be it.

I say he uses the next week of practice as the measuring stick on who wants to be here and who doesn't and kindly show those that won't put forth the effort the door - we don't need them here, no matter how highly recruited they are or how good they THINK they are. Huggs will play with 7 or 8 scholly players - he's done it before.

Anyone REALLY miss I-Mac and his hustle and effort? That is the exact nature of what this team does not have.

One positive from last night - I think Hicks was a monster on the defensive end last night - 6 blocks and a bunch of changed shots. The kid is giving effort despite playing out of position and he's starting to show the explosive leaping ability.

Since a lot of the Forum doesn't want Barker at the point (myself not being one of them)...how about we play him at center? He rebounds better than Johnson or Hollman or Flowers (if he ever gets off the bench again).

From: "Philip Kreiner" <address@hidden>
Date: 2003/03/13 Thu AM 07:55:21 EST
To: <address@hidden>
Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Huggins post game comments - MUST READ!!!!

I totally disagree. No matter how tired you are hustle plays are all about
effort, heart, attitude etc. It's obvious their attitude sucked in practice
and they needed and still need an attitude adjustment. It's not about
teaching them a lesson. Not at this point in the season. At this point in
the season it's about attitude adjustment and considering Huggins post game
remarks, it's his way or the highway. Keith, the only line I disagree with
is "When they get back to Cincy...". If I were Huggins I would of made them
run next to the bus on the way back.

-----Original Message-----
From: UC BearcatFan [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 1:01 AM
To: address@hidden; address@hidden
Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Huggins post game comments - MUST READ!!!!

I agree, there is no excuse, but running them two days in a row before an
important game is not the way to teach them a lesson..IMO it was pretty
obvious that they were worn out towards the end of the game. I hope Huggs
runs them too when they get back because they have plenty of time to
rest..When your legs are tired, all the hustle plays become that much harder
(rebounding, loose balls, etc..) and I think that is what lost them the game
tonight. They couldnt get any loose balls.

Keith Wedinger <address@hidden> wrote:No way I agree with this.
The only reason Huggs ran them was because they
weren't practicing hard. And there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for
Huggins to put up with bad effort. He stated several times during the year
that he was too easy on this team. When they get back to Cincy tomorrow, I
hope Huggins runs these guys until they puke. And regardless of where UC
ends up (NIT or NCAA), I say start the guys who practice hard even if that
means starting John Meeker.

J. Keith Wedinger
Bearcatnews.com
Sciotofootball.com

_____

From: UC BearcatFan [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 12:23 AM
To: address@hidden; address@hidden

"Came in Monday and Tuesday, had to run them to get them to play hard."

That explains the poor shooting. Ask any player what the most important
part of a shot is and they will either tell you 1) follow through or 2) USE
YOUR LEGS..As hard as Huggins works them, there is a good time for it and a
bad time.. Maxiell was dying out there at the end of the game..In any sport,
you don't run teams before games! Especially important games..If they still
don't get the point towards the end of the season, try something else..I
have always said this in the past, Huggins works them too hard before games,
which is why they have a hard time shooting.

Keith Wedinger wrote:

Key stats from tonight's loss:
* Shooting was again awful. 38% from the floor, 29% from beyond the arc
* UC was outrebounded by 2 (2 very critical offensive boards that resulted
in the winning points for USM)
* No other stats really stand out

Huggins' comments:
Came in Monday and Tuesday, had to run them to get them to play hard. It's
not our older guys, it's our younger guys.
Caught the ball at half court, can't get the ball to the basket in 4
seconds?
We run sprints in practice to deal with situations like this.
I don't know. I know what the answer is. We are not tough enough.
We don't play through things. When USM tipped the ball in, there were no
white shirts in the paint.
We have too many guys who just watch, don't play.
We call sets and the players don't have a clue what to do.
It is my fault. I tolerated this stuff this season.
You would think guys coming off the bench would come in with enthusiasm.
Guy came in the first half and was responsible for losing our 10 point lead.
Should not play anymore (who is Huggs referring to?)
It is very apparent that we aren't together.
How can you not go after the rebound with 3.8 seconds left and the season on
the line?
It's frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.
I have no idea with regards to the NCAA tournament. We are in great shape
with everything except our last 10 games.
Can we throw the ball closer than we throw it? We have missed wide open
shots all season long.
Chuck, I don't know what else to do. We have stand still wide open shots.
Support beyond Max and Stokes was missing. Jason missed two dunks (how in
the HELL does this happen?!?!)
Chadd gets a shot blocked on a 3 on 1. That was probably the turning point.
My point is: have you ever seen a team get more shots blocked from behind
than this team? It's a matter of attacking the goal with vengeance. This
team i! s so nonchalant.

This team is such a bad representation of what Cincinnati basketball should
be. I promise the folks in Cincinnati that this will never happen again.
We may have only 6 or 7 guys left after preseason next year but we will not
be soft again.

NCAA tournament: Every indicator other than our last 10 games, we should be
in. I don't know how important the last 10 games are. Our RPI is plenty
high enough to get in.

I'm embarrassed to have a team play like that. I am totally embarrassed.
My teams have always stood for hard work, blue collar guys. This is not my
team. This is 100% my fault. I was not hard enough on them. They don't
care. They don't take it to heart like teams in the past. They don't
prepare to win. You could go in there and ask them what USM's strengths are
and they won't know.

I should have made it so hard where guys would fall by the wayside. If you
don't go to work, you should not be rewarded. Why keep guys that don't want
to work. That's the problem with America.

John Meeker, bless his heart. Practices harder than the guys who get
playing time.

Our post guys are the world's worst. We got guys who can't jump over a
phone book trying to jump and block shots. When teams throw it down low,
they score always.

J. Keith Wedinger
Bearcatnews.com
Sciotofootball.com

_____

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish
your business online

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online

To subscribe, please follow the instructions here.