Cronin hopes morning start is no deterrent
Rise and shine. It?s time to play basketball.
Thanks to the scheduling mavens at ESPN, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will face Seton Hall bright and early at 11 a.m. today at the Prudential Center on ESPNU, looking to pick up a quick win and then beat a path back to Cincinnati before sunset.
?You try to turn it into a positive for the guys,? said UC coach Mick Cronin. ?You say, ?Hey, look, we don?t have to wait around to play. Let?s get up, get something to eat, go play, get a win, then we?ve got the rest of the day. We?ll be back home in Cincinnati by four o?clock or five o?clock.? You?ve got to try to sell your guys on the good part of it.?
That?s not to say Cronin likes playing in the morning.
?TV dictates everything,? he said. ?It?s all about money and the players get none of it. It?s begun to get completely ridiculous with conference realignment and playing games at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. It?s all about television.?
No. 24 UC (17-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big East) will confront a Seton Hall team that appears highly vulnerable. The Pirates (13-8, 3-6) have lost six of their last seven games ? including a 74-52 shellacking by Georgetown on Wednesday night ? and have committed 17 turnovers per game in Big East play, more than any other team.
A UC victory would give the Bearcats, who have won four of their last five, their best nine-game start since joining the league in 2005-06. It would also provide Cronin with his 200th victory. He is 199-116 in 10 years as a head coach ? three at Murray State and seven at UC.
To prepare for the early start, the Bearcats conducted an 8:30 practice Friday morning at UC before heading here in the afternoon. They?ll be roused this morning in time for a 7:30 breakfast and then settle into their usual pre-game routine.
Once the game begins, look for a flurry of 3-point shots from two teams that have launched more of them than any other two teams in the league. UC leads the way with 456, followed closely by Seton Hall at 453.
The Pirates rank second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 37.1 percent and have three players ? Aaron Cosby, Brian Oliver and Fuquan Edwin ? who are among the top 10 in the league in 3-point field goals. Fuquan leads the Pirates with 16.7 points per game.
UC ranks seventh in 3-point field goal percentage at 33.6 percent. Cronin makes no qualms about the importance of the long-range shot to the Bearcats? offense because of the presence of guards Cashmere Wright and Sean Kilpatrick in their lineup.
?We?ve got two of the best shooters in the country in Cash and SK, in my opinion,? Cronin said. ?If they get open looks, I don?t even want them thinking about it. I want them shooting the basketball. At times, you say, they shoot a lot of threes, but if they?re open, that?s what we?re going to do, especially those two guys. And JaQuon (Parker), he?s probably a better shooter than he gives himself credit for.?
Despite the Pirates? penchant for long-range shooting, Cronin said his biggest concern today is 6-foot-9, 290-pound junior forward Eugene Teague, who averages 12.0 points and 7.9 rebounds and has the potential to dominate a game inside.
Rise and shine. It?s time to play basketball.
Thanks to the scheduling mavens at ESPN, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will face Seton Hall bright and early at 11 a.m. today at the Prudential Center on ESPNU, looking to pick up a quick win and then beat a path back to Cincinnati before sunset.
?You try to turn it into a positive for the guys,? said UC coach Mick Cronin. ?You say, ?Hey, look, we don?t have to wait around to play. Let?s get up, get something to eat, go play, get a win, then we?ve got the rest of the day. We?ll be back home in Cincinnati by four o?clock or five o?clock.? You?ve got to try to sell your guys on the good part of it.?
That?s not to say Cronin likes playing in the morning.
?TV dictates everything,? he said. ?It?s all about money and the players get none of it. It?s begun to get completely ridiculous with conference realignment and playing games at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. It?s all about television.?
No. 24 UC (17-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big East) will confront a Seton Hall team that appears highly vulnerable. The Pirates (13-8, 3-6) have lost six of their last seven games ? including a 74-52 shellacking by Georgetown on Wednesday night ? and have committed 17 turnovers per game in Big East play, more than any other team.
A UC victory would give the Bearcats, who have won four of their last five, their best nine-game start since joining the league in 2005-06. It would also provide Cronin with his 200th victory. He is 199-116 in 10 years as a head coach ? three at Murray State and seven at UC.
To prepare for the early start, the Bearcats conducted an 8:30 practice Friday morning at UC before heading here in the afternoon. They?ll be roused this morning in time for a 7:30 breakfast and then settle into their usual pre-game routine.
Once the game begins, look for a flurry of 3-point shots from two teams that have launched more of them than any other two teams in the league. UC leads the way with 456, followed closely by Seton Hall at 453.
The Pirates rank second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 37.1 percent and have three players ? Aaron Cosby, Brian Oliver and Fuquan Edwin ? who are among the top 10 in the league in 3-point field goals. Fuquan leads the Pirates with 16.7 points per game.
UC ranks seventh in 3-point field goal percentage at 33.6 percent. Cronin makes no qualms about the importance of the long-range shot to the Bearcats? offense because of the presence of guards Cashmere Wright and Sean Kilpatrick in their lineup.
?We?ve got two of the best shooters in the country in Cash and SK, in my opinion,? Cronin said. ?If they get open looks, I don?t even want them thinking about it. I want them shooting the basketball. At times, you say, they shoot a lot of threes, but if they?re open, that?s what we?re going to do, especially those two guys. And JaQuon (Parker), he?s probably a better shooter than he gives himself credit for.?
Despite the Pirates? penchant for long-range shooting, Cronin said his biggest concern today is 6-foot-9, 290-pound junior forward Eugene Teague, who averages 12.0 points and 7.9 rebounds and has the potential to dominate a game inside.
