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Cincinnati basketball

superjohn said:
He tries to dress it up with numbers but he basically says they are just a pretty good football conference that nobody in the country knows exists or respects...

Aresco declares American Conference is "at a crossroads"
247sports.com

Aresco declares American Conference is "at a crossroads"

Commissioner spoke to reporters by video conference on the last day of the league tournament in Fort Worth
247sports.com 247sports.com
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I honestly just don’t see a scenario where that entire conference doesn’t dismantle in the next 5-10 years. Nothing about that conference makes any sense at all. Some of the individual schools have good programs in different sports, but the conference as a whole just makes no sense. And it doesn’t help that the fans and higher ups of the conference blindly defend it and act like they can just declare themselves a power conference and that’s it.

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I personally take no pleasure in the trouble with Cincinnati and the AAC. The AAC IS pretty good at football, but the P5 and NCAA won’t let them get better/wealthier. Now some of that is just economics (if they had huge followings and success, the money (or invite) would be there), but the deck is stacked against them. It’s similar in basketball. A few of the schools care, but they are saddled with other conference-mates that don’t, and the aforementioned deck stacking against them.

Cincinnati, in my opinion, was always a forced rival. UConn and Cincinnati are very different institutions. But we were in a similar boat and I don’t take pleasure in them sucking. To be clear, I want them to be worse than us (and the AAC worse than the Big East), but I’d be fine with them succeeding.

Regarding the situation at hand, Brannen needs to get in front of this if he has any chance of surviving in the near and long term. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cincinnati is in a financial situation like UConn football with Diaco where they had to think outside the box (for better or worse) to come up with a way to get rid of him and afford a coach.
 
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Chuck said:
I personally take no pleasure in the trouble with Cincinnati and the AAC. The AAC IS pretty good at football, but the P5 and NCAA won’t let them get better/wealthier. Now some of that is just economics (if they had huge followings and success, the money (or invite) would be there), but the deck is stacked against them. It’s similar in basketball. A few of the schools care, but they are saddled with other conference-mates that don’t, and the aforementioned deck stacking against them.

Cincinnati, in my opinion, was always a forced rival. UConn and Cincinnati are very different institutions. But we were in a similar boat and I don’t take pleasure in them sucking. To be clear, I want them to be worse than us (and the AAC worse than the Big East), but I’d be fine with them succeeding.

Regarding the situation at hand, Brannen needs to get in front of this if he has any chance of surviving in the near and long term. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cincinnati is in a financial situation like UConn football with Diaco where they had to think outside the box (for better or worse) to come up with a way to get rid of him and afford a coach.
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I thought Cincy was more one of our peers than most of the other programs. Cincy, Temple, the Floridas. UConn was the only "Flagship" but all large state U's. It is a good football conference but I don't think it's a basketball conference Cincy and Temple should be in.

UConn was proactive in getting out of the AAC and some of the other programs may be forced to follow. At that point the AAC may have to consider keeping some football only programs.
 
Maybe some of the UC football players will become two sport athletes.... oddly Connor Barwin did this when the basketball team was depleted in 05-06 and the student section was wild every time he came in a game
 
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kobe said:
i hate everyone and everything
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Good to see you back, Kobe :) That avatar and "Expert in Round of 32 Flame outs" always makes me laugh, LOLOLOL.

My question to you: What the hell is going on over there in Cincinnati? Have you found out anything? They only have 4-5 players for next year and Brannen walking off like that at the end of the AAc final is a horrible look.
 
theathletic.com

The rift with Cincinnati Bearcats coach John Brannen that led to a mass exodus of basketball players

An untenable culture within the Bearcats’ program, stemming from player issues with Brannen, sparked six transfer announcements.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

None of the sources The Athletic spoke to went so far as to classify Brannen’s actions and demeanor as malicious or abusive, with one source describing Brannen as “a good man” who doesn’t know how to properly relate to his players. Some felt Brannen’s management approach was too rigid and antiquated, lacking flexibility and empathy in a season that needed it more than ever. Brannen built his coaching reputation in no small part on a relentless, almost maniacal work ethic and intensity. But at least for a notable portion of this particular team, that proved to be an untenable relationship.
 
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It may be unpopular but I always liked Cincinnati before they were in our conference and I'm rooting for them afterwards.

Basketball-wise. And not to get a life raft before us (though they won't, I don't think).

Football team can lose forever IMO.
 
tzznandrew said:
It may be unpopular but I always liked Cincinnati before they were in our conference and I'm rooting for them afterwards.

Basketball-wise. And not to get a life raft before us (though they won't, I don't think).

Football team can lose forever IMO.
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I never had any sports hatred towards Cincinnati. I always rooted for them in the NCAA tourney except in 2011 when they played UConn. I will say it was great though when to see UConn finally beat them last year in Gampel. I was at that game and it was Cumberland’s first and only loss to UConn.
 
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tcf15 said:
theathletic.com

The rift with Cincinnati Bearcats coach John Brannen that led to a mass exodus of basketball players

An untenable culture within the Bearcats’ program, stemming from player issues with Brannen, sparked six transfer announcements.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

None of the sources The Athletic spoke to went so far as to classify Brannen’s actions and demeanor as malicious or abusive, with one source describing Brannen as “a good man” who doesn’t know how to properly relate to his players. Some felt Brannen’s management approach was too rigid and antiquated, lacking flexibility and empathy in a season that needed it more than ever. Brannen built his coaching reputation in no small part on a relentless, almost maniacal work ethic and intensity. But at least for a notable portion of this particular team, that proved to be an untenable relationship.
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I feel like you can be a really high work ethic coach and still be personable (see Dan Hurley). But yeah he just seems like he is a very dry person. You can still be an intense coach and find ways to relate to your players. But if they feel like you are working them too hard and don’t really have a bond with you in any way, I can see how that might be an issue for kids.
 
tzznandrew said:
It may be unpopular but I always liked Cincinnati before they were in our conference and I'm rooting for them afterwards.

Basketball-wise. And not to get a life raft before us (though they won't, I don't think).

Football team can lose forever IMO.
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I always respected that they played hard-nosed but they turned every game into s^^tball. UConn always played hard-nosed but they could also play beautiful basketball, Cincinnati couldn't. Always rooted for them when they were in the Big East with us but hated that we were stuck with them in the Aresco A**clown Conference. We were always associated with them and it drove me nuts that some UConn fans made it out that the two bball programs were on equal footing.
 
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quacktalker said:
A quote from a player in the Athletic article...

“I do not want to leave. Everything about Cincinnati is great. Except for one thing. Literally, one thing.”
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Just read the article. Wow.

Reading all the quotes and reports, Brennan sounds like an good coach and an OK guy, just didn't have the flexibility and compassion the players needed in a totally upside-down year. He's built a reputation of being an intense, hard-working coach, but this year out of all is needed to connect with players, especially since the guys had almost nothing else in their lives outside of basketball. Thankfully, this sounds like there was no singular moment that really put the kids in a tough situation, but more of a sum of the parts.

On the flip side, you see a guy like Hurley, who, like Brennan, is known as an intense, hard-working coach who expects a lot out of his players. However, you also see a guy with a great sense of humor, takes his job but not himself seriously...you see his ability to connect with the team and there's a sense of love and family within the team.
 
I would not want to be the Cincy AD right now and sure as hell glad that I am not a Cincy fan.

The equivalent situation happening to UConn would send me over the edge into oblivion.
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Reading all the quotes and reports, Brennan sounds like an good coach and an OK guy, just didn't have the flexibility and compassion the players needed in a totally upside-down year.
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Who knows, Brannen could establish the culture he wants in the next couple years and end up being fine... but alienating the players you inherited- on what was a really good team last year and the year before- is a painful way of getting there.

Also, some of the stuff like not allowing jewelry at team meetings and meals just strikes me as so tone deaf in 2021. I don't think it accomplishes anything really
 
kobe said:
i hate everyone and everything
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I will be honest here, we tried to warn you. You didn't listen, your sorrow is yours and yours alone.
 
quacktalker said:
Who knows, Brannen could establish the culture he wants in the next couple years and end up being fine... but alienating the players you inherited- on what was a really good team last year and the year before- is a painful way of getting there.

Also, some of the stuff like not allowing jewelry at team meetings and meals just strikes me as so tone deaf in 2021. I don't think it accomplishes anything really
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Here's the thing... these aren't the players he inherited. All of the transfers this year (except 1) are players he recruited . . .
 
The Cinci team issues are why I really like what Hurley has done to rebuild UConn basketball. When he was hired, he did not run off players or treat them poorly. He tried to develop them. His first year, he only brought in 1 HS recruit who he had recruited to URI. His recruiting classes have been a manageable number of new players. For transfers, he only brought in kids he knew personally. Cole played for his dad and really wanted to play at UConn and he recruited and coached Martin at URI. He brought in Tom Moore as an assistant coach and he hired Taliek Brown as director of player development linking the current program to the past. And he hired Kevin Freeman as an assistant coach and made Mamidou Diarra a grad assistant. Now the foundation at UConn is solid.
 
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