By Bill Koch
Mick Cronin is no stranger to bad luck in the postseason.
Jalen Suggs' 3-point bank shot from inside mid-court that gave Gonzaga a 93-90 victory Saturday night in the Final Four no doubt was the most crushing blow in the career of the former UC coach, but he’s used to things not going well for him when the game’s on the line in the postseason.
Flash back to March 19, 2011 when the Bearcats made their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Cronin. No. 6 seed UC knocked off Missouri in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. The Bearcats then had the misfortune to face No. 3 seed and fellow Big East Conference member UConn in the second round.
The Bearcats and Huskies were tied, 45-45, midway through the second half when UConn point guard Kemba Walker scored seven straight points, including a dazzling layup with 7:14 left, that gave the Huskies a 52-47 lead on the way to a 69-58 victory. Walker finished with 33 points and UConn went on to win the NCAA championship.
A side note: A few weeks before the tournament, I wrote a story about how Cronin not only recruited Walker out of high school, but that Walker had told him he was coming to UC before Jim Calhoun got involved and convinced him to attend UConn.
At the Big East Tournament, I was writing in the Madison Square Garden media work room when one of my fellow writers told me that Calhoun had just floated the notion in his post-game press conference that Cronin didn't vote for Walker for first-team all-conference. I waited until Cronin’s post-game press conference following the Bearcats' win over South Florida to ask him about what Calhoun had said.
I told him that Calhoun cited my story about how close Cronin came to landing Walker. “If anybody did it (not vote for Walker for first-team honors) because they lost on him recruiting-wise," Calhoun said, "which we went to one city and that was the story in the paper, something from three years ago.”
Mick was furious. Remember, Calhoun was a Hall of Fame coach and Mick was still trying to get the UC program back to national prominence. But he didn’t hesitate to fire back.
“If he’s got something to say, he needs to say it to me,” Cronin said, “and you can print that. How would he know who I voted for? I root for kids when I'm close to them and I like them. That's unbelievable. I'd do anything for Kemba Walker. He's a class act. It's not me. I can tell you that. If Calhoun wants to know who I voted for, he needs to ask me.
On March 18, 2016, UC entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed against No. 8 seed St. Joseph’s in Spokane, Wash. The week before the Bearcats had lost in four overtimes to UConn, 104-97, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Orlando despite 37 points from Troy Caupain.
It appeared the Bearcats had won in three overtimes after Kevin Johnson buried a 3-pointer with 0.8 second left. But UConn's Jalen Adams caught the inbounds pass, took two steps, and released a desperation shot that banked in to tie the score again. UConn then outscored UC, 16-9, in the fourth overtime.
“I felt we won the game and the game was taken away from us,” Cronin said after the game. “In point-eight, you can’t catch the ball, take two steps and then shoot it. You can’t catch it, turn, bring it below your waist and then shoot it with enough force to shoot it in from 80 feet in point-eight. The clock didn’t start nearly in time. I’ve already watched it five times.”
On Selection Sunday, Cronin tried to put the bad vibes behind his team.
“It’s time for us to get lucky because we haven’t had much,” he said. “Let’s get all bad luck, unfairness and bad things out of the way. It’s our time to be lucky.”
But it wasn’t.
This time UC forward Octavius Ellis’ dunk as time expired appeared to send the game into overtime, but the officials ruled after watching the replay that the ball was still in Ellis’ hands with no time left on the clock, even though it appeared to be clearly inside the cylinder of the basket.
The ruling preserved a 78-76 victory for St. Joseph’s and left the Bearcats stunned again as they sat in their locker room, many with their head buried in their hands in frustraion.
“I can’t tell if Octavius’s hands were off the ball or not,” Cronin said after the game. “I haven’t had time to look at it. What I do know for a certainty is that (St. Joe’s DeAndre) Bembry whacked him in the back of the head going up. He head snaps snaps to the left. When (the officials) watched the replay, I’m sure they saw what they missed, so at the worst we should have had two free throws to tie the game. Once again, unfortunate for our kids.”
And then there was the granddaddy of them all, the 75-73 loss to Nevada in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville on March 18, 2018. The Bearcats sprinted out to a 10-0 lead, increased their advantage to 27-10 less than eight minutes into the game, and built a seemingly insurmountable 22-point lead with 11:37 remaining in the second half.
By the time the game had ended with a scramble for the ball around the UC basket, the Wolf Pack had outscored the stunned Bearcats, 32-8, in the final 10:49. The winning points came on a follow shot by Nevada’s Josh Hall with nine seconds left. After UC called timeout., Cane Broome dribbled down the floor, drove into the lane, and appeared to have his shot blocked, setting off the scramble for the ball.
“Our guys did a great job until the last 10 minutes,” Cronin said after the game. “When Nevada took the gamble and started trapping Jacob (Evans), we got the deer-in-the-headlights look. The ball stopped dropping for us. We got fouled a lot of times and it wasn’t called around the rim. And that got into our heads.”
All devastating losses to be sure, but the worst was still to come for Cronin.
Mick Cronin is no stranger to bad luck in the postseason.
Jalen Suggs' 3-point bank shot from inside mid-court that gave Gonzaga a 93-90 victory Saturday night in the Final Four no doubt was the most crushing blow in the career of the former UC coach, but he’s used to things not going well for him when the game’s on the line in the postseason.
Flash back to March 19, 2011 when the Bearcats made their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Cronin. No. 6 seed UC knocked off Missouri in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. The Bearcats then had the misfortune to face No. 3 seed and fellow Big East Conference member UConn in the second round.
The Bearcats and Huskies were tied, 45-45, midway through the second half when UConn point guard Kemba Walker scored seven straight points, including a dazzling layup with 7:14 left, that gave the Huskies a 52-47 lead on the way to a 69-58 victory. Walker finished with 33 points and UConn went on to win the NCAA championship.
A side note: A few weeks before the tournament, I wrote a story about how Cronin not only recruited Walker out of high school, but that Walker had told him he was coming to UC before Jim Calhoun got involved and convinced him to attend UConn.
At the Big East Tournament, I was writing in the Madison Square Garden media work room when one of my fellow writers told me that Calhoun had just floated the notion in his post-game press conference that Cronin didn't vote for Walker for first-team all-conference. I waited until Cronin’s post-game press conference following the Bearcats' win over South Florida to ask him about what Calhoun had said.
I told him that Calhoun cited my story about how close Cronin came to landing Walker. “If anybody did it (not vote for Walker for first-team honors) because they lost on him recruiting-wise," Calhoun said, "which we went to one city and that was the story in the paper, something from three years ago.”
Mick was furious. Remember, Calhoun was a Hall of Fame coach and Mick was still trying to get the UC program back to national prominence. But he didn’t hesitate to fire back.
“If he’s got something to say, he needs to say it to me,” Cronin said, “and you can print that. How would he know who I voted for? I root for kids when I'm close to them and I like them. That's unbelievable. I'd do anything for Kemba Walker. He's a class act. It's not me. I can tell you that. If Calhoun wants to know who I voted for, he needs to ask me.
On March 18, 2016, UC entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed against No. 8 seed St. Joseph’s in Spokane, Wash. The week before the Bearcats had lost in four overtimes to UConn, 104-97, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Orlando despite 37 points from Troy Caupain.
It appeared the Bearcats had won in three overtimes after Kevin Johnson buried a 3-pointer with 0.8 second left. But UConn's Jalen Adams caught the inbounds pass, took two steps, and released a desperation shot that banked in to tie the score again. UConn then outscored UC, 16-9, in the fourth overtime.
“I felt we won the game and the game was taken away from us,” Cronin said after the game. “In point-eight, you can’t catch the ball, take two steps and then shoot it. You can’t catch it, turn, bring it below your waist and then shoot it with enough force to shoot it in from 80 feet in point-eight. The clock didn’t start nearly in time. I’ve already watched it five times.”
On Selection Sunday, Cronin tried to put the bad vibes behind his team.
“It’s time for us to get lucky because we haven’t had much,” he said. “Let’s get all bad luck, unfairness and bad things out of the way. It’s our time to be lucky.”
But it wasn’t.
This time UC forward Octavius Ellis’ dunk as time expired appeared to send the game into overtime, but the officials ruled after watching the replay that the ball was still in Ellis’ hands with no time left on the clock, even though it appeared to be clearly inside the cylinder of the basket.
The ruling preserved a 78-76 victory for St. Joseph’s and left the Bearcats stunned again as they sat in their locker room, many with their head buried in their hands in frustraion.
“I can’t tell if Octavius’s hands were off the ball or not,” Cronin said after the game. “I haven’t had time to look at it. What I do know for a certainty is that (St. Joe’s DeAndre) Bembry whacked him in the back of the head going up. He head snaps snaps to the left. When (the officials) watched the replay, I’m sure they saw what they missed, so at the worst we should have had two free throws to tie the game. Once again, unfortunate for our kids.”
And then there was the granddaddy of them all, the 75-73 loss to Nevada in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville on March 18, 2018. The Bearcats sprinted out to a 10-0 lead, increased their advantage to 27-10 less than eight minutes into the game, and built a seemingly insurmountable 22-point lead with 11:37 remaining in the second half.
By the time the game had ended with a scramble for the ball around the UC basket, the Wolf Pack had outscored the stunned Bearcats, 32-8, in the final 10:49. The winning points came on a follow shot by Nevada’s Josh Hall with nine seconds left. After UC called timeout., Cane Broome dribbled down the floor, drove into the lane, and appeared to have his shot blocked, setting off the scramble for the ball.
“Our guys did a great job until the last 10 minutes,” Cronin said after the game. “When Nevada took the gamble and started trapping Jacob (Evans), we got the deer-in-the-headlights look. The ball stopped dropping for us. We got fouled a lot of times and it wasn’t called around the rim. And that got into our heads.”
All devastating losses to be sure, but the worst was still to come for Cronin.
Comments
Post a Comment