The Cincinnati Bearcats won the regular season American Athletic Conference title.

The Cincinnati Bearcats won the American Athletic Conference tournament.

The Cincinnati Bearcats entered the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a 31-4 record.

The Cincinnati Bearcats [again] fell short during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, this year panicking away a 22-point second half lead to fall to the Nevada Wolfpack, 75-73.

There is no doubting the regular season success Mick Cronin has achieved with the Cincinnati Bearcats, coming off back-to-back 30-win seasons, winning 20+ games in eight consecutive seasons, while also getting to the NCAA Tournament in all eight of those seasons. Cronin has created a defense-first culture that stifles opponents, oftentimes allowing the Bearcats to accrue victories even when scoring less than 70 points. Throughout his tenure, however, the offense has never moved past mediocre. Cincinnati is known for their offensive droughts and frequently experiences extended periods where a good shot is about as hard to come by as a payphone.

The general consensus is that ’17 and ’18 were Cronin’s most talented Bearcats teams, anchored by Gary Clark in the post alongside Kyle Washington, with a deep compliment of wing players including Jacob Evans III, Jarron Cumberland, Troy Caupain, and Cane Broome. Despite the all-conference talent, Cronin’s teams ranked 34th and 49th in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency over the last two seasons per the Pomeroy Baketball Rankings.

Knowing this, I suppose it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Bearcats folded down the stretch against Nevada, who closed the game on 32-8 run to win.

An opening weekend loss in the tournament is fun for no fan, especially when you have expectations like the Bearcats have had over the last few seasons. The Bearcats have taken tournament losses to Creighton (’13), Harvard (’14), Kentucky (’15), St. Joseph’s (’16), UCLA (’17) and Nevada (’18). Cincinnati was the lower seed in all but two of these matchups (’14 and ’18), but the lack of quality wins combined with losses to mediocre competition is a troubling trend for a team as “regular season accomplished” as the Bearcats.

More troubling than the results in Cronin’s demeanor, both on and off the court. As the Bearcats collapsed down the stretch against Nevada, Cronin offered little in terms of strategy, failing to call plays that would generate an easy look for his rattled players, instead choosing to spend his time berating his players for decisions he had a hand in.

Take Jarron Cumberland, for example. Cumberland’s first game in the tournament was exceptional, single-handedly keeping the Bearcats in the game during the first half while ultimately leading the team in scoring for the game. Cumberland also played well against Nevada, except for foul trouble in the second half. After picking up his fourth foul, he convinced Cronin to stay in the game, but proceeded to foul out on a loose ball foul with roughly four minutes to play.

Cronin responded to this by screaming in Cumberland’s face. Is this leadership? How does the team respond to this type of poise shown by their “leader?” Is that the time to teach Jarron about the importance of playing poised? Is this how Mick shows poise?

After the loss, Cronin was no better. The following video has already received plenty of attention, but it warrants additional follow-up. Rather than owning the failure of blowing a 22-point lead, Cronin instead decided to lecture Bearcat fans and the general public on the relative importance of basketball compared to life’s real challenges.

Mick Cronin asked about coming up short of a Sweet 16. “Doesn’t matter to me. You care about the Sweet 16, I don’t. I care about winning a national championship.” pic.twitter.com/nmsK2ydtJR — Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) March 19, 2018

It’s terrible to hear Mick has an uncle dealing with cancer and a childhood friend who just underwent a tracheotomy. Both circumstances sound incredibly difficult and we all hope they pull through and experience a full recovery.

NEITHER OF THESE THINGS HAVE TO DO WITH THE CINCINNATI BEARCATS BLOWING A 22-POINT LEAD AGAINST NEVADA IN THE NCAAA TOURNAMENT.

Mick, you’re paid millions of dollars to coach basketball. Cincinnati fans are right to expect and demand better results in the NCAA Tournament. It’s what makes the Cincinnati program such a privilege to coach.

Not only that, but Sweet 16’s matter. Elite 8’s matter. Final 4’s matter. The beauty of college basketball isn’t just the National Championship, it’s the journey to get there. It’s the NCAA Tournament runs that you share with your dad, your uncle, your grandpa, your city. Trust me, Cincinnati remembers Huggins’ 1992 Final 4 run with Nick Van Exel.

It’s condescending and inappropriate for Mick to deflect his personal failures as a coach onto his sick family and friends. Fans know that basketball isn’t the end-all be-all. Yes, there are wars happening across the world. The threat of nuclear war has never seemed higher. Bombs are going off across Austin, Texas.

But to say these deflections are surprising would be lying. Mick has routinely deflected his shortcomings (no pun intended) onto others.

Remember the blowout loss to Xavier earlier in the year? Yes, rather than accept the ass-kicking and move on, Cronin spent the postgame handshake playing tough guy to a 22-year old and dedicated his postgame press conference telling the world said player “wouldn’t play for me.”

Mick Cronin needs to look in the mirror and address head on his lack of composure on the court, and lack of accountability off it. Cronin expects his players to improve their weaknesses, execute the game plan and play with intelligence. These expectations need to be mirrored in its coach if the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball program wants to move to the next level.

If not, Mick will quickly learn fan enthusiasm is earned, not given.