Sabel's Haus

Like rubbing salt in a deep wound, Brian Kelly made a court-side appearance last night in UC's embarrassing 83-65 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend.

And so much for Yancy Gates dominating two-time Big East player of the year Luke Harongody. Harongody dropped 37 on 15-of-25 shooting and grabbed 14 boards.

As poorly as the team played last night, I have to start placing more of the blame on Mick Cronin. I listen to him night in and night out, even at press conferences during the week, and all I hear are excuses.

He's always talking about how much the other team needs a win. How well the other team plays well at home. How great the Big East is. The list goes on and on.

But all I see out of his team is a lack of effort. Like they don't care. Cincinnati has always had a "thug" appeal in their basketball program and I'm finally done with it.

Back when Kenyon Martin and DerMarr Johnson were here, teams would be blown out of Cincinnati night in and night out. Bob Huggins made it that way. Mick Cronin can't make it that way.

I want people to start coming to play at Cincinnati who know how to play basketball in a gym...not at Rucker Park.

Unless they can muster up five more wins, what they'll probably need to get into the tourney, I think Mick has to go.

Can you tell I'm bitter? Good. Because I am.

UC sits at 14-8 overall, 5-5 in the Big East with eight regular season games remaining plus at least one Big East tournament game. Next up, No. 4 Syracuse comes to town.

Freshman point guard Cashmere Wright picked the best possible time to bust out of his season-long scoring funk in UC's 92-88 win over Providence Saturday night.

Wright was 9-11 from the field including 3-4 from beyond the arc on his way to 24 points. He also didn't turn the ball over and added five assists and three steals which head coach Mick Cronin said was equally as impressive as his point total.

Providence proved their place as one of the best offensive teams in the Big East despite their 12-9 record. Friars guard Sharaud Curry actually outscored Wright with 27 points but was far less efficient shooting 9-21 from the field.

It wasn't a perfect night offensively for the Cats even though five players posted double-digit point totals. Senior guard Deonta Vaughn scored 12 but was just 3-8 shooting and 1-6 from deep.

Vaughn wasn't the weakest link either. The Cats nearly cost themselves the game shooting 20-41 from the free-throw line. Earlier in the year, free-throw shooting cost the Bearcats at least one game but of late, they haven't negatively affected any games.

But 16 points on 6-9 shooting including 3-3 from deep from Rashad Bishop helped put the Cats over the hump. Bishop has been solid all year for the Cats and, in my opinion, is the most consistent player on the team.

Wright stole the night though and it couldn't have come at a better time. His play won't just be important for the stretch run of the season but for the future of UC basketball.

Vaughn (senior) and probably freshman Lance Stephenson (12 points, 9 rebounds against Providence) will not be back next season so it's a big question mark as to who will carry the scoring load next year.

Wright has shown flashes of being able to do that but, as most would admit, he has a long way to go. He has shown no consistency this year but if he continues on the path of the last two games, he can eventually emerge as the top scorer.

Wright's play in the last nine games of the season could be a huge boost too. UC is 14-7 and they will have at least a tenth game with the Big East tournament. Five of their final nine opponents are ranked in the top 25 and five of those final nine are also on the road. Villanova and Syracuse will be the only two home games of those five against the top 25. Very confusing, I know, but basically UC has an extremely hard schedule down the stretch.

UC heads to Notre Dame Thursday for their second date with the Irish this season. The Cats clipped Notre Dame by two points earlier this season at Fifth Third Arena and quite frankly, UC big-man Yancy Gates has owned two-time Big East Player of the Year Luke Harongody. Harongody still managed 14 points in the first meeting but was just 5-20 shooting from the field.

Gates did a great job of forcing Harongody into a lot of jump shots that he usually wouldn't take. This will be their final meeting in college basketball so it's definitely a match up to watch closely. Game tips at 9 p.m. Thursday.

The Cats will go nearly a whole week between games. Their last, a loss to Louisville at Freedom Hall, put the UC at 4-4 in the Big East.

Bottom line is that the Bearcats have 10 games left, five of which are against ranked teams. I think they'll need at least six more wins to put them in and that could still be a stretch.

Mick told me today they need to limit turnovers to be successful. A few of the teams they still play run a small offense meaning they use a lot of perimeter players.

It's an advantage for the Cats on offense but hurts on defense when UC big-man Yancy Gates will have to guard a perimeter guy. It helps on offense because Gates will be able to impose his will on the glass and scoring the ball.

Providence, although not as good as West Virginia, runs that type of offense so we'll have a good indicator after the game Saturday at 8 p.m.

I met new UC head coach Butch Jones in his office yesterday and I liked what I heard from him. He didn't say much that I wasn't expecting but I liked his attitude. He also said he sees Cincinnati as a destination job.

I don't put much stock into that because as soon as a bigtime school comes calling (Notre Dame) Jones will probably bolt as they all do.

The thing he said that I liked most was this, "I don’t think it's about one individual, it’s about a program. We’ve been through it and we went 22-3 at Central Michigan in Mid American Conference play and that doesn’t happen by chance."

For me, I like hearing that from a coach. He was speaking there about being in the same situation before with his assistants, most of whom are following him to Cincinnati from CMU. Jones was the same coach that replaced Kelly at CMU when Kelly came to Cincy.

Anyway, I wrote more about it in a story I did for The News Record. That same story also has comments from new UC president Greg Williams who I also spoke with earlier this week. I asked him about Brian Kelly, Butch Jones and the state of UC athletics in general.

ESPN Big East blogger Brian Bennett linked to the story here, on his blog.

And be sure to follow my tweets where you'll find interesting tidbits like, "I ran over a bird on my way to class this morning in my car" or "going to lunch downtown with my mom." But seriously, I tweet about interesting stuff too.

If UC doesn't make the 64-team NCAA Tournament come March, it can look back at the past two games and see why it was left out.

All I've heard since last night's 52-50 loss against St. John's at Madison Square Garden is how terrible of a coach Mick Cronin is. Newsflash: Mick Cronin wasn't the reason his team missed all 12 of its 3-point shots.

Cronin didn't turn the ball over 21 times that led to 25 points for St. John's.

Cronin didn't tell Deonta Vaughn to go out and shoot 1-7 from the field including 0-4 from beyond the arc.

Cronin didn't tell Lance Stephenson to heave the ball to half-court and have it stolen with five seconds left while UC had the lead. Yes, you read that right. They had the lead and the ball with five seconds left and Stephenson chucked the ball to mid-court on the inbound play.

You see what I'm driving at. But Mick isn't getting out of it that easy.

I don't like the way he coaches. He can't get this team ready to play. A lot of the time these players are playing hard against ranked teams but act deflated anytime they play someone unranked. It's unreal.

You'll never hear Mick give credit where credit is due. If someone does something great, Cronin will never praise them. If they do something wrong, they might as well start walking to the bench because it's a certainty that Mick will pull them from the game.

I feel like Cronin tries to be like Bob Huggins but it doesn't work for him. Huggs' players respected him because he made them respect him and he earned it. Cronin's players don't seem like they even want to listen to him and why should they. All he does is jump their case at the smallest mistakes.

This team goes as Stephenson and Vaughn go. Yancy Gates is good and played well last night (6-9 for 12 points in 22 minutes) but it has been proven he can't carry this team ... not this year at least. Deonta and Lance were a combined 4-16 last night for 11 points between them both. They were a combined 0-6 from long-range too.

If you can't tell, that's not going to get it done. As far as I can tell, this team doesn't have the talent to overcome Mick Cronin.

The Cats are 11-6 now and 2-3 in the Big East. They play Notre Dame at home on Saturday.

My sincere apologies for not blogging recently. I know that you were all sitting near your computers awaiting my blog post about the Sugar Bowl. Couple of reasons why that blog wasn't written: 1.) I'm in college and was drinking during that game (you had to as bad as UC played) and 2.) I was too mad about what was going on. I'll explain.

College football is terribly flawed. It's no secret but the sport has major problems. I'm not making any excuses for my Cats. They were completely mismatched with the Gators. Florida wins that game 10 times out of 10 ... no doubt in my mind.

Unfortunately there isn't much of a realistic way to make teams more competitive with each other. It would take a long time for UC to compare to a team like Florida as far as talent of players goes. UC, being a stepping-stone school for coaches, doesn't speed that process up either.

I don't know the numbers but I would venture to guess that Florida's roster is stacked with four- and five-star recruits. UC may have two four-stars. Now I know that a lot of those recruiting rankings don't end up mattering but we all know the Gators get the better players. It's pretty amazing too considering the schools they have to compete with too (Miami, Florida State, South Florida).

So to the real problem. A playoff system. I know it's not a new concept but if money is the main reason that you keep a bowl system, then your sport sucks. Think of how many different national champions there would have been over the years with a playoff system. It's the only way to crown a legit national champion. Or when bowl season is over everyone is constantly talking about how the third team (in this case, Florida) would beat the so-called "national champion."

It's the reason college football is less popular than the NFL. I personally hate college football. Sure I still watch the games but I can't help thinking that our season will come down to one game and we may not even get a shot at the title.

So yes, I do think UC should have had that shot at a title. Would they have gotten beat? Absolutely. Would they have been beaten badly? More than likely. But when a BCS school runs the table and does everything asked of them during the season and then is told to go play for third place, it's ridiculous.

I realize that UC wouldn't have won a game in the post-season this year playoffs or not. But to tell them, Florida, TCU or Boise to go play for runner-up is pitiful.

It happens year after year though and it won't stop. Until it does, I don't care to watch.

With .7 seconds left the game was tied at 69, and Lance Stephenson aka Born Ready was at the line after being fouled going to the basket. Stephenson drained both free throws to finish 7-7 from the stripe for the game. UConn's half-court attempt as time expired was off the mark and UC (9-3 overall, 1-0 Big East) knocked off the tenth ranked Huskies 71-69.

"All I was thinking is let me get to the free throw line and I'll knock 'em down," Stephenson said.

Stephenson made some shots tonight that were unreal. He was crossing UConn players over and hitting tough shots all night. He finished 7-18 from the field and missed his only attempted 3-ball. I asked UConn coach Jim Calhoun what he thought of Lance after the game. "He's a good player, talented kid," he said.

When I asked him to elaborate he said, "Talented kid, puts the ball on the floor, strong, nice body, competes. Obviously he stepped up big in a big-time spot. That's not an easy spot for any kid to stand up in."

Before the Stephenson free throws though UConn's Kemba Walker hit his only three of the game to tie it. Prior to hitting that shot with 10 seconds, UC held the lead the entire game.

Free throws came up huge for UC. Something that can't be said for most of the games they've played this season. UC was 14-19 from the stripe compared to UConn's 17-26.

Have to give it to the Huskies though. Jerome Dyson was 9-19 for UConn and finished with 24 points and seven boards. Stanley Robinson was 9-18 and 3-4 from distance to finish with 22 and seven.

Aside from Lance though, we learned that this team plays well if Deonta plays well. Vaughn scored 17 points on 6-11 shooting and 3-5 from range before fouling out with 1:30 remaining. He also had five assists and five boards. "He's gotta' always be in the game," Stephenson said of Vaughn. Lance said he was nervous at first when Deonta fouled out because he's the team leader.

Quick Stat: UConn did not block a shot tonight. It has been nine years since the last time that's happened.

Haven't blogged in a while. My deepest apologies to my fan. UC on a two-game win streak heading into tonight against Jim Calhoun's 10th ranked Huskies. We're at halftime now at Fifth Third Arena and UC has a one-point advantage (36-35).

Of course a lead against a top-10 team is always good but considering that UC had an 11 point lead at one point makes it a little less attractive. UC has done an exceptional job at the free throw line going 8-for-9 in the first half. Lance has 13 points and Deonta has 10. UConn's Jerome Dyson has 14.

This place went nuts at one point when Deonta Vaughn hit back-to-back threes to give UC an eight-point lead. Lance Stephenson aka Born Ready has hit a couple of shots that are making some UConn players look like they haven't played basketball before.

Hopefully UConn's run at the end of the half doesn't deflate UC but it very well could. UC has given UConn a lot of second chances by not keeping the Huskies off the offensive glass. Fortunately for UC, UConn hasn't converted those chances. If they keep offensive rebounding the way they have been it could mean a lot of trouble for UC.

This one will be exciting to watch. Postgame blog to follow with comments from Cronin, Calhoun and some players.

Just an awful story evolving over the last day when Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry died after injuries sustained from falling out of a pickup truck stemming from an apparent domestic dispute.

I don't cover the Bengals but as a fan, I really liked the man they called "Slim". Obviously he had some off the field issues but he was really looking like he wanted to change and that he had changed.

The man he once was got caught up in the spotlight. Being famous. Having a lot of money. Thinking he had to act like a thug. The kind of guy that once said to a valet attendant,"Do you know who I am?" after a dispute.

But he was different now. A man growing up right before our eyes. A guy that, after given a second chance by owner Mike Brown, finally got it. It was almost as if he realized that the fantasy world he was living in would come to an end one day.

He didn't know it would come to an end in a North Carolina hospital while he was fighting for his life.

He was 26 years old.

Chad Johnson fighting back tears when asked about Henry this morning.

"Chris was a really good friend of mine. I just talked to Chris Tuesday night. He called me to see how i was doing, I told him i was good. we talked before every game. He'd just say handle your business. I don't know what else to say you know. He was doin' everything right. My grandma always says you never question the man upstairs 'cuz he never makes mistakes. I don't know how Chris was supposed to go yet."

Again, this is completely a fans perspective but I think it is a good representation of how people around Cincy think about Slim.

The guy has three kids too who have just lost their dad. It's just an awful story and I feel terrible for everyone involved. We'll see how the Bengals honor their teammate Sunday when the Bengals travel to San Diego with the AFC North Championship on the line.

-When you only make 10-of-22 free throws you won't win many games. Your point guard goes 2-for-4 and your big man, Yancy Gates, goes 2-for-6.

-When your team is inbounding the ball in a tie game with 10 seconds left on the clock, a 3-pointer is not the shot to be taking. Even if it is your best player with an open look (Lance Stephenson).

-When up by three points late in overtime and the other team drives the lane, the last thing you want to do is foul them (Jaquan Parker).

-I wouldn't be upset if Cash Wright never shoots the ball again. So far this season he is shooting 29.6 percent from the field and is just 10-20 from the free throw line. You have to be kidding me with that. This is your point guard and it's not high school where you're dropping dimes every game.

All that kid needs to do is run the show. Don't turn the ball over, make a bunch of assists and don't shoot the ball. Jamual Warren did that two years ago as a senior and Deonta Vaughn fed off that. I like the kid but good lord, dish the ball.

-What a freakin' game though. First double-OT game in Shootout history. Xavier won 83-79 but fights were breaking out on the court like the good old days. Unfortunately, Xavier got better after the fighting, UC got worse.

X was in the midst of a 7 minute scoring drought when, in his first game at UC ever, Ibrahima Thomas found it necessary to walk clear through the middle of a Xavier huddle during a timeout. That's when all hell broke loose. UC strength and conditioning coach Dave Andrews, who looks more like Brian Urlacher, came over as the players were fighting and literally threw UC's Rashad Bishop to the deck. It was pretty funny, trust me, Andrews is one dude you do not want to anger.

Rashad was doing a lot of the jawing though and he has to know better. When the whole fiasco broke out, UC was up seven points. Then the double technicals were given and Xavier started creeping back into it. X then took a 31-26 lead into half.

X went up by as many as 10 points in the second half but UC climbed back into it and eventually tied the game with 7 minutes left on a Lance Stephenson jumper. Lance finished with 22 points on 9-19 shooting but his immaturity really showed Sunday night. Lance denied it but Xavier head coach Chris Mack was asked after the game if Stephenson was talking trash to him during the game. Mack said he was but wouldn't elaborate simply saying, "Yea, that's fine."

Then, with UC down two with 30 seconds left in regulation, Lance drove the lance way too easy and tied it with 10 seconds left. A Terrell Holloway baseline jumper missed as time expired and the first OT began.

With 56 seconds left in the first overtime UC probably squandered their biggest opportunity. They were up five after a Deonta Vaughn layup. X got fouled on their next possession and brought the game to within three with the free throws. A turnover, another foul and two more free throws later, X cut UC's lead to one with 27 seconds left.

Xavier then fouled UC on purpose to save time. Dion Dixon managed to make a pair of free throws for UC to bring the lead back to three and that's when it happened. Xavier's Terrell Holloway, who was superb that night, drove the lane and made a layup while getting fouled by Parker. It is unbelievable how bad Parker is playing. I have seen nothing from him that I like.

But still, UC got the ball in a tie game with 19 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout though, the shot UC got off was a 3-ball that missed from Lance Stephenson. I know I already talked about it but if Lance is "Born Ready" like he proclaims, he either drives the hoop and gets to the line or drains that shot. But he didn't. Second overtime.

Again, UC led in the second overtime by as many as three points. X came back, took the lead and UC never got it back. A rather anti-climatic ending to an unbelievable game. What I hated about the second overtime is when UC got the ball back with 16 seconds left down three points. They decide to go for a layup instead of a three to tie it. That decision boggles my mind. Instead, Vaughn missed the wide open layup and X grabbed the rebound to seal it.

This team can be OK if they correct the free-throw shooting. I loved the intensity they played with and they need to do that every night. Lance has to get his head on straight though. This isn't the streets of New York or Rucker Park anymore.

To call out the other team's coach is classless. And there were times his teammates tried to calm him down and he blew them off telling them basically to get away from him. I hope this doesn't continue but we'll see. Wednesday night UC takes on UAB at 7 p.m.

As far as being at the game though it was easily the best game I've covered and maybe the best bball game I've ever been to. I was about 10 feet away fromPat Forde while he wrote this.

This game is an unreal game right now. The way the Shootout should be. X is up at the half but UC led most of the time. Xavier went on a stretch where they didn't score for around seven minutes. But we've had double technicals, near fights and intentional fouls.

At one point the coaches were brought together near midcourt to talk with officials. It's loud in here and UC has lost its composure at times. The good thing: so as X.

This thing is coming down to the wire and it could go either way. This halftime is big in determining which coach will calm their team down. More later.

Once it was one of the best college basketball rivalries in the country. Cincinnati was at one time voted the best town in the nation for college basketball.

Tonight will be the 76th time the two teams have met but the rivalry has lost its luster a little over the last couple years. It's probably because UC has had some down years the past three or four seasons.

There was "the handshake" game where UC lost in 1994 and former UC coach Bob Huggins refused to shake the hand of then Xavier coach Pete Gillen. Needless to say, that's what this game has always been about. Both teams hate each other. The UC campus is only up interstate 71 maybe three miles.

And this game has been close for a very long time. The last time either team has won this game three years in a row was when UC did it in 1990-'93.

On paper, UC should win this game tonight. The rivalry though has taught us one thing. Never say something should happen. And the players know how big this rivalry once was and still is.

I covered a game a couple weeks ago when UC played Texas Southern. One of their assistant coaches was former Bearcat and NBA star Nick Van Exel. He told the UC players in the handshake line after that game to beat Xavier.

It's not just him though. Mick has said in the past that former players will call or come to practices during the week.

But tonight's game is big for UC apart from the rivalry. UC is 5-1 and is ranked No. 19 in the AP and USA Today poll. Meanwhile Xavier is reeling at 5-3 and in need of a win. Xavier will be fine though once they gain some experience and start playing their A-10 schedule.

UC only gets stronger tonight too as Ibrahima Thomas is now eligible. Mick has expressed excitement all year in Thomas. He's a 6-foot-11 junior transfer from Oklahoma St. that can apparently stroke the three ball. He'll only make UC better from here on out. He'll need a few games to get some experience back but once he learns to play (in games) with the rest of the guys, UC will be dangerous.

The Miami (OH) game:

The 63-59 final score doesn't seem all that impressive against a MAC team like Miami (which by the way is only about an hour north of UC's campus.) However, Miami isn't a bad team. They only lost to Kentucky by two points on a buzzer beater from John Wall.

So we'll see tonight. I'll be getting to the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier U at around 6 p.m. tonight. Game starts at 7 p.m. (these are eastern times of course)

Be sure to follow my tweets from the game. I'll also throw up a post game and halftime blog about the game.

Brian Kelly has taken the head coaching postition at Notre Dame and will not coach the Sugar Bowl against Florida. It is not yet clear who will coach the Sugar Bowl but all signs point to assistant head coach and defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs.

Coombs was brought in at UC when Kelly arrived from Colerain High School, one of the top high school programs in the country.

Kelly has been taking flack since the news broke announcing his new job. He reportedly told his 105 players today around 5 p.m. about his leaving the program.

You can't help but feel for all those players. Some of which he told to their face that he wasn't going anywhere. College football has major problems right now and they need to get it fixed very soon.

I apologize for how poorly written this is but you got the gist of the info. More on the UC basketball game against Miami (OH) later.

It was reported today that Brian Kelly will interview for the Notre Dame job on Tuesday in New York.

I've said from the beginning, if he's offered, he'll go to South Bend. He also said on Dan Patrick's radio show that there is no guarantee that he'll coach the Sugar Bowl against Florida.

The consensus in Cincinnati seems to be people obviously want him to stay but they really won't hold it against him if he does go. The fans in Cincy seem to understand that if you're offered by the Irish you really can't turn it down.

The big thing though is the fans want him to finish the year. People would be pretty upset if he didn't coach the Sugar Bowl. Some students at UC showed their appreciation a little this morning when they wrote in giant letters, "Please Stay BK" on the field at Nippert Stadium in the snow.

If you're not familiar with UC, Nippert Stadium is directly in the center of campus. People are walking through it, around it and playing on it everyday. The snow melted by the time I got to campus around 1 p.m. today but I saw a picture and somehow the letters were made in perfect lines. Kinda cool.



Some of the players have been saying that BK addressed the issue and told them that he was staying in Cincy. Bottom line is no one knows. ND said they will probably have a decision made by Saturday so we'll wait and see.

It was the worst they've played all year against the best team they've played all year. Still, the Bearcats won their second-straight Big East Championship over Pittsburgh Saturday 45-44.

Three interceptions thrown by Tony Pike and an inability to stop the run (or the pass) made it look like it would be a long day for the Cats. But Mardy freakin Gilyard is the MVP of this team hands down. He scored twice today, once on a 99 yard kickoff return and another on a 68 yard pass from Pike. Gilyard had 381 all-purpose yards and countless times returned kickoffs that put UC in great field position.

Most notably, in my opinion, the final kickoff just after Pitt blew the extra point that left them up by only six instead of seven. Gilyard took the kick out to near the 40 that gave UC the ball with 1:30 left near midfield. At that point I just got a feeling that UC would score.

UC color analyst Jim Kelly Jr. said it best though. Pitt scored too quick. Hindsight is always 20/20 but you have to think that Dave Wannstedt, if he could do it over again, would kneel the ball and go for the field goal as time expired or with too few second on the clock for UC to score (this is what's called a run-on sentence in journalism, can you sense my excitement.)

There was obvious frustration on the UC bench nearly the whole game until the fourth quarter. You have to wonder how much that team was on the verge of collapse. I thought the defense did ten times better in the second half. They gave up two touchdowns but yes, that is better for them.http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=293390221 It's a pretty unreal feeling. Can't help but feel great for guys like Gilyard and Pike. Imagine what they would say had you told them four or five years ago that they would be 12-0 with a chance at the national title.

Now UC fans will be rooting hard for Nebraska tonight against Texas. If the Huskers win, it would leave four undefeated teams. Alabama or Florida, UC, Boise St. and TCU. Two of those teams are BCS schools and two are not. If UC gets left out in that situation it would be a crime.