College
Notes: Cronin proud member of sprawling Pitino coaching tree
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted January 22, 2010 4:23 PM ET
Mick Cronin says he doesn't have enough to time to run down the list of lessons he learned in two years under Rick Pitino. At least, not in a 20-minute media session.
Cronin prepares to face one of his most influential mentors on Sunday at Freedom Hall, where he spent 2001-03 as associate head coach.
The sincerity in his tone and specifics of his words indicate how important his relationship with the Louisville coach was in his own development on the road to UC.
"What he has done for myself as well as numerous other coaches in this business is probably unparalleled in the history of college coaching," Cronin said. "Maybe Dean Smith. I don't know if anybody besides Dean Smith would compare to Rick Pitino as far as developing other college coaches."
Pitino's coaching tree includes Tubby Smith (Minnesota), Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Billy Donovan (Florida) and Cronin.
The Louisville coach's propensity to groom his assistants became an inherited trait. Sendek alone produced eight grand-coaches, if you will, for Pitino. Sendek's assistants were Thad Matta (Ohio State), Sean Miller (Arizona), Ron Hunter (IUPUI), Charlie Coles (Miami), Jim Christian (TCU), John Groce (Ohio), Larry Hunter (Western Carolina) and Mark Phelps (Drake).
That's why when Pitino fell into hot water this offseason over an extra-marital affair where he admitted to having consenual sex with a woman and paying for her abortion before becoming a victom of extortion, former assistants from Cronin on down felt his pain.
"People don't really know his level of generosity, how much he goes out of his way for other people," Cronin said. "That's why it was so hard for me to watch him go through what he has gone through the last six to eight months. It's been brutal on a lot of us that are close to him. When you watch somebody go through tough times that has changed your life and given you an opportunity that you wouldn't have had without them, you want to help them. You sit around and talk to guys like Billy Donovan and Herb Sendek and say, 'How can we help him?'"
What they found out was, they didn't need to. Little controversy has continued since the season started surrounding Pitino and Louisville jumped out to a 3-0 start to Big East play before a recent run of three consecutive losses.
"If anybody is going to be able to handle the situation with class and dignity and deal with a mistake that he had to go through it is him," Cronin said. "He proved why he is who he is. Although he made a mistake you see how well he has come out of it. I don't know how many people would have been able to hang in and deal with the situation the way he has."
YANCY IN FOUL TROUBLE - The Bearcats expected to use a significant size advantage to push around the South Florida Bulls at home on Wednesaday. When Yancy Gates got into early foul trouble and only logged 10 minutes, that strategy was significantly hindered.
UC was able to draw near even in the rebounding battle with the Bulls thanks to a courageous effort from Steve Toyloy, who played under the weather with a stomach bug.
Against a Louisville team ranked second in the Big East in offensive rebounds, Gates can ill afford to find himself in foul trouble again.
"Last year they outrebounded us by 11, had 17 offensive rebounds," Cronin said. "If that happens, we will not win Sunday.
Cronin believes keeping Gates around to prevent it comes back to focus and mental preparation on defense.
"At times he gets caught reacting to the play instead of being prepared for the play," Cronin said. "If you are resting and a guy makes a cut and now you are reacting to his cut, you are probably going to pick up a foul. What he has got to do is know when he has one foul or three in the second half and gets caught reacting to a play. There is a time to put his hands up and just hope his guy misses."
STEPHENSON STATUS UNCHANGED - Mick Cronin wasn't letting on any secrets to the status of freshman Lance Stephenson for Sunday's game.
Stephenson turned his ankle in practice on Tuesday and missed the South Florida game. Cronin said then he would rest and the team would re-evaluate on Friday. Well, Friday he said Stephenson was "day to day."
As for if he was going to practice, he elaborated slightly.
"We are going to see if he can get loosened up and see how it is," he said.
HITTING THE MARK - Pitino said last week he thought his team would need to finish Big East play with a 10-8 mark to make the NCAA tournament. Since the conference expanded only one of sixteen teams that finished with 10 wins didn't make the tournament. (Providence)
Pitino amended that statement after Wednesday's loss at Seton Hall and said his team needed to make it to 11 wins now.
Asked if that is the same scenario he views for his own team, Cronin slipped a friendly jab toward his mentor.
"I heard him say that," Cronin admitted. "One thing I learned from him was to not say that."
All kidding aside, the team feels the pressure to win this game against a team in the middle of the Big East pack with them and in the same mid-40 RPI zone as well.
It feels almost like a must-win game for both sides, but, you could say that for the next six weeks.
"Every game from here on out is a must-win game," Cronin said. "Unless you are sitting there at 5-1 or 6-1 or 6-0. For the bulk of the league, probably anybody not in the top three, every game seems that way. It's not going to change, really."
Categories: College, Featured Stories, Men's Basketball, News, University of Cincinnati Bearcats
Tags: Bearcats, Lance Stephenson, Mick Cronin, Rick Pitino, Yancy Gates
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