It was only a flash, but you can really start to see now why Mick Cronin has so much confidence in his offense to mature into a force that is very much different from the one that has inhabited the Bearcats quarters in Fifth Third Arena for so long.

To put it very, very bluntly the Bearcats have not had a guy who can do what Farad Cobb just did in a very long time. Cobb played something close to 25 minutes (minute figures are not available vis ESPN or GoBearcats at the time of this writing). He took 14 shots in total, made 6 of 9 three pointers and totaled 24 points. None of his shots were what I would consider* to be out of the flow of the offense. None of the shots that Cobb got tonight were shots that came out of the offense. Other guys got the same looks and made different decisions, Cobb saw them and took them for shots.

*That's a horrifically subjective turn of phase, and I would not fault you at all for taking issue with it

One of my biggest recurring complaints about the offense in the Mick Cronin era is that he has recruited so many guys who play big minutes and look absolutely terrified to shoot the basketball in any situation. Sometimes that fear is with reason (SEE: Rubles, Titus). But Jermaine Sanders is really the archetype. By the numbers he is the best returning shooter that the Bearcats have, but give him an on time, on target pass on a walk in three pointer and it looks like there are a million other things that Jermaine would rather do than shoot the basketball.

That inner battle isn't there with Cobb at all, with his mindset a look, any look with a little bit of space is a good look. Time will tell if the percentages bear that out, but that attitude is something that has been missing for the Bearcats since Cashmere Wright walked out that door. Farad isn't Cash, he is a different kind of player, but he is the kind of player that the Bearcats needed tonight and will need all year.