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Bill Koch offers the latest on the Cincinnati Bearcats


Bill Koch is a sportswriter covering the University of Cincinnati's athletics.

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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Alvin Mitchell

I talked with Alvin Mitchell after the game Saturday night for a Monday story and was impressed by the way he has handled his struggles during his freshman year.

“It’s real tough to come in and not play as good as you expect yourself to play,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes you kind of get down on yourself, but every day Coach looked me in my eyes and told me that it’s a struggle to get better at this level, so don’t get frustrated. He told me to keep my head up and don’t get frustrated that I’m not playing as well as I was looking forward to. I started questioning myself a lot. I just looked to my mom and I looked to my coaches. They basically gave me the answers to everything. They keep me level-headed and they keep me going in the right direction.”


17 Comments:

at 4:29 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

This scrappy underdog team this year is every bit as compelling as the 2005-2006 team under Andy Kennedy. The only difference is that Cronin doesn't have a "do whatever the hell you want" attitude toward the players, maybe because he knows he'll be here for the long haul, and he actually makes sure they go to class.

 
at 4:35 PM Blogger Dave in Omaha said...

Bill - Keep bringing thoughts from the guys...What do you think about Brian Cleary? Is UC going to try to get something going with the baseball program? The first class facilities ake me think that they might. I'd love to see them in the CWS...

the blog is great.

 
at 5:51 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's BS about Kennedy telling the team to skip class in 2006.

Absolute BS. The 2 players were warned, many times.

They ignored the warnings.

Kennedy is 16-1. Cronin is 8-8.

 
at 5:56 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill,
Not that I really want to bring up the topic of censureship, but I must say that it has crossed my mind. It seems that whenever I bring up a topic to improve this blog or speed up the time requireed to view postings, that the comment does NOT reach the blog. And frankly, although I do by and large appreciate your recent efforts regarding UC sports coverage, this blog could use some improvements. Then again, I expect this comment probably will also not be posted. We'll see...

 
at 6:55 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear 5:56 p.m.,

Thanks for saying absolutely nothing.

Sincerely,

Everyone

 
at 7:33 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

5:56. The word is censorship. If I were a betting man, I would venture that the reason your previous posts never appeared is that they were every bit as ignorant as the one that did.

 
at 7:36 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear 6:55 p.m.,

And thanks for saying absolutely everything. Just what have you added to this blog? And thanks for speaking for all of us!

Sincerely,

Everyone Else But You

 
at 7:39 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Truth be told about Andy Kennnedy he only did 1/3 the job of a real college coach in 2005-06.

He ooached the team on the court, but he and his staff did not recruit and they did not focus on academics even one ioda.

It was not just Jihad and James who were in dire straits at the end of the season, is was more like 7 players and if not for some dramatic moves at the end of the quarter the Bearcats may not have been able to field a team in NYC.

Should Kennedy have been recruiting and worrying about players academic development when he knew from October 1 on that he was not going to be back at UC as the head coach in 2006-07? Probably not, and to hold that against him is not logical. But in the same breath, it is also out of the realm of solid thinking to assume that given the same circumstances that Cronin had to deal with that Kennedy would be doing any better. This is a worthless debate, that only people stuck in the past will engage in. But to ignore the fact that Andy Kennedy was running a program with a blind eye towards 2/3 of the program is akin to having the vision of Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder.

 
at 9:31 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

booya!

 
at 10:09 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought you true bearcat fans told us that AK's team coached themselves. So in fact, by you experts, AK did nothing while at UC.

 
at 10:21 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's amazing how a post titled "Alvin Mitchell" turns into a discussion about Mick vs. Andy. This got me thinking, though. Does Mick have a business relationship/friendship with Huggs, Dan Peters, Andy, etc? Just curious. It would be interesting to see who his "peers" are. By the way, I like the hire of Mick. This is just a curiosity of mine, not an attempt to knock Mick as a coach or as a man.

 
at 8:10 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think MC would discuss his peers by first mentioning that guy down in L'ville.

I hope that Alvin will continue to improve and gain confidence. This team could really use another offensive threat.

 
at 9:35 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

let's forget the past.........I am thrilled A.K. is doing so well in the SEC..........the bottom line: the BEARCATS are back baby!!!!!

 
at 10:09 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I totally agree with 7:39. AK completely took advantage of the kids. Warning the kids to go to class and not doing anything about it is worthless. For all of Huggins' perceived problems with academics, I can't remember a single instance of a player getting suspended for grades during his entire tenure.

AK treated his job the entire year as a temporary assignment and never cared for the kids or he would have done more to make them go to class.

 
at 12:25 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Back to the subject of this thread: Who is going to be the point guard next year? Wright? Can a Freshman do the job? Vaughn? Vaughn scores more when he is not running the offense. Either Alvin or Davis have to step up and learn the offense this year, or we will have rookie at point next year.

 
at 2:08 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I work in a restaurant downtown and the day after the win against Syracuse a former UC player who still has a lot of sway within the program came in to eat with his family (I don't want to mention his name). He was telling one of the other men that somebody on the team needs surgery but they are waiting till the end of the season. He also said that they should have been operated on in the beginning of the summer. I didn't catch the players name, but it was right after he had been saying that Biggie needs more playing time. Maybe Biggie needs surgery? Somebody else? Anybody hear anything about this rumor?

 
at 5:53 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Biggie has a bone spur in his foot. Mick has talked about it publicly so it isn't just a rumor.

 
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