University of Cincinnati Bearcats
Yancy Gates: 'I'm not nice'
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted February 11, 2010 8:31 PM ET
Any intimidation disappears the moment Yancy Gates enters the room. Sure, the University of Cincinnati power forward towers at 6-foot-9 and casts long shadows at 260 pounds every time he ducks through a doorway.
But only moments after first eye contact, his easy demeanor takes over. Gates respectfully answers questions in a soft tone as if his mother were sleeping in the room next door. His wide smile is only interrupted by intermittent outbursts of laughter to further perpetuate the teddy-bear image.
"He's the nicest kid you'll ever meet," Mick Cronin said.
On the surface, a complement from coach to player. Only, when Gates stands as bouncer at the front door of a Bearcats team built on the reputation of bullying opponents into submission, nice doesn't cut it.
Cronin wants to see more of Gates repainting the floor with opponents jerseys and filling the front row with rejections.
"Instead of five-hour energy, I wish we could give him two-hour nasty," Cronin said earlier this season.
Gates knows his coach's stance. The motivation comes in outbursts that echo through every practice at Fifth Third Arena.
He hears the whispers about motivation. After all, when you are 6-foot-9 and been the face of the future in Cincinnati basketball since you were 16 years old, it's hard to avoid real talk.
"Everybody's got the answer," he said.
He sees the numbers. There is no hiding the black and white truth of 6 points 3 rebounds against UConn and 16 points 14 rebounds a week later against Pitt; 11 points, 13 rebounds and a defensive shutdown of Luke Harangody at home against Notre Dame, then eight points, two rebounds and foul trouble the next game against USF.
But for those that claim he's too nice on the court, well, Gates would like to squash any speculation.
"I don't think I am nice," said Gates, averaging 10.5 points and 6.6 rebounds this year. "I am never nice. I think that nice statement is not true. Just some nights it might not be my night to score the ball. I just try to go out there every night and do what the team needs me to do. Whether it is throwing it in the post to me or just playing defense and rebounding."
The concerns of Cronin with his prize hometown project don't necessarily come from lack of production in the box score but an ability to bring the intensity and intimidation Gates' big body demands on a consistent basis.
"You got to always keep Yancy motivated," Cronin said.
When Gates plays more like bear than cat, the game changes for UC. The team's loudest statement of the season came in Maui when the sophomore posted 44 points and 30 rebounds in the three games.
Perhaps one of their top overall performances, though in a loss, came against Pitt when Gates dominated the paint with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals.
Yet, early losses to St. John's and Seton Hall turned when Gates fell into his bad habit of finding foul trouble. Cincinnati's late collapse against Syracuse on Sunday came when Gates grabbed but one rebound after halftime.
"At the end of the day it is a maturing process for every player," Cronin said. "Playing hard and being physical and competing at a high level every play with tremendous energy is not easy. If it was, everybody would do it. Everybody in the NBA would be Kevin Garnett. You say, well, that shouldn't be hard. It is."
With seven games remaining in Big East play and the Bearcats' NCAA tournament hopes closer to extinction with every defeat, Gates morphing from sporadically immature to consistently mean could dramatically alter the course of this season.
Cronin has seen Gates take strides in the right direction and says "I know how much he has improved his effort with being consistent."
Saturday against Connecticut represents the latest opportunity to show off consistency. Considering the Huskies land in the bottom of the Big East in 3-point percentage, Gates' presence in the lane will be necessary.
Two days prior to the game, Gates joked and laughed on his way to practice. Nothing new there. What he says he won't have a problem doing, however, is putting away the good-guy routine come noon on Saturday.
"On the court and off the court I take those as two different things," Gates said. "On the court it is serious. I love to win. I don't really know any of the players on any of the other teams so I really don't have no reason to be nice to them. I don't' think it is hard. It is just being focused."
Should Gates not play well against UConn, you can call it immaturity, lack of focus or maybe bad breaks.
Just don't say he's not mean enough. He insists that is false. If you don't believe him, just ask his teammates.
"You know from somebody like me who goes up against him in practice everyday, I got to go home, got to get in my bed and try to get my body together," Ibrahima Thomas said. "You want to, you can come out there at 3 o'clock (for practice) and you are just going to see that he is not nice."
Categories: College, Featured Stories, Features, Men's Basketball, University of Cincinnati Bearcats
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