The day after

Mick Cronin has done his best not to let himself get carried away with one big win, even if it was over Louisville and his mentor, Rick Pitino. That's as it should be. Before practice today, he talked mainly about moving forward and staying hungry. But he had to be feeling a measure of vindication, too.
Cronin inherited a nearly impossible situation here and while no one should feel sorry for him because he knew what he was getting into, that hasn't made it any less difficult, especially after he lost Hernol Hall and Adam H. last year and Mike Williams this year.
As the losses mounted, especially early this year when things were supposed to be better, some fans began to wonder if he was the right man for this job, but he shrugged off the criticism, remained positive and kept coaching his players. He should be credited for that.
And so should his seniors, who took a beating all last year but for the most part kept plugging away, doing their best against overwhelming odds.
"It was neat to see their reaction after the Louisville game in the locker room," Cronin said today, "especially the returning guys, because last year was so hard on them. They felt like they were being disrespected by the way other teams treated us. We felt disrespected by a lot of things that went on last year from the way things happened in the Big East because we didn’t have a bench and we didn't have any size.
"I kept telling them when the help arrives you’ve got to be ready to play hard and play smart and we’ll get our payback. We’re not going to go 18-0 but we’ll get a chance at our payback. It was nice to see those guys really get a chance to enjoy a big win."