Bear Down Wildcats

Salty not impressed.

I'm going to really be shocked/crushed if we don't make the Final Four. Even last year, I didn't have this feeling. This year, it seems like our time.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:I'm going to really be shocked/crushed if we don't make the Final Four. Even last year, I didn't have this feeling. This year, it seems like our time.

I agree but it will be no easy feat to make it to the final four.

I'm in the same boat.

FF is the expectation. Anything less than then and its a failed season.

It is time.

In the past eight years, Sean Miller has been to the Sweet Sixteen SIX times.

6/8. That's on pace to be some Izzo level shit right there.

Just needs the Final Four/Natty. It's coming.

97cats wrote:16-7

13-1.

http://www.kvoa.com/story/28593128/ariz ... elan-award

'ZONA97 wrote:In the past eight years, Sean Miller has been to the Sweet Sixteen SIX times.

6/8. That's on pace to be some Izzo level shit right there.

Just needs the Final Four/Natty. It's coming.

Totally agree. I keep hearing "best coach of his generation" but I don't think that captures the extent of Miller's ceiling. You look at his record and metrics, compare them to the greats at similar points in their careers and he either meets or exceeds them.

Frankly, I think Miller is the next All-time great modern-era coach...I'm taking Wooden, K, Dean Smith level type results/records.

CalStateTempe wrote:

'ZONA97 wrote:In the past eight years, Sean Miller has been to the Sweet Sixteen SIX times.

6/8. That's on pace to be some Izzo level shit right there.

Just needs the Final Four/Natty. It's coming.

Totally agree. I keep hearing "best coach of his generation" but I don't think that captures the extent of Miller's ceiling. You look at his record and metrics, compare them to the greats at similar points in their careers and he either meets or exceeds them.

Frankly, I think Miller is the next All-time great modern-era coach...I'm taking Wooden, K, Dean Smith level type results/records.

I agree

CalStateTempe wrote:

'ZONA97 wrote:In the past eight years, Sean Miller has been to the Sweet Sixteen SIX times.

6/8. That's on pace to be some Izzo level shit right there.

Just needs the Final Four/Natty. It's coming.

Totally agree. I keep hearing "best coach of his generation" but I don't think that captures the extent of Miller's ceiling. You look at his record and metrics, compare them to the greats at similar points in their careers and he either meets or exceeds them.

Frankly, I think Miller is the next All-time great modern-era coach...I'm taking Wooden, K, Dean Smith level type results/records.

No one will ever touch Wooden, but Miller can exceed K, Smith and the rest if he hits his ceiling. K has the best resume, and that number of nattys is exceedable.

Frybry02 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:I'm going to really be shocked/crushed if we don't make the Final Four. Even last year, I didn't have this feeling. This year, it seems like our time.

I agree but it will be no easy feat to make it to the final four.

Wisky is a really, really good team and XU will be a tough out. I just get this feeling. Like I posted before, I just get the old fashioned romantic feeling about this team where I'd do anything to bone it.

As good as we were last year, I lost that feeling when Ashley went down. This year, it just seems like the magic is still happening.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:

'ZONA97 wrote:In the past eight years, Sean Miller has been to the Sweet Sixteen SIX times.

6/8. That's on pace to be some Izzo level shit right there.

Just needs the Final Four/Natty. It's coming.

Totally agree. I keep hearing "best coach of his generation" but I don't think that captures the extent of Miller's ceiling. You look at his record and metrics, compare them to the greats at similar points in their careers and he either meets or exceeds them.

Frankly, I think Miller is the next All-time great modern-era coach...I'm taking Wooden, K, Dean Smith level type results/records.

No one will ever touch Wooden, but Miller can exceed K, Smith and the rest if he hits his ceiling. K has the best resume, and that number of nattys is exceedable.

Agree on Wooden, but that was a different era. I choose those names basically as representative of their respective eras in College BB.

Miller took some K mojo when he shook his hand after the beat-downs in 2011 and 2013. He's the next iteration.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Frybry02 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:I'm going to really be shocked/crushed if we don't make the Final Four. Even last year, I didn't have this feeling. This year, it seems like our time.

I agree but it will be no easy feat to make it to the final four.

Wisky is a really, really good team and XU will be a tough out. I just get this feeling. Like I posted before, I just get the old fashioned romantic feeling about this team where I'd do anything to bone it.

As good as we were last year, I lost that feeling when Ashley went down. This year, it just seems like the magic is still happening.

Totally spaceman.

CST, I agree on Wooden's era. I think I posted in the ceiling thread that Miller could be the greatest coach in the history of modern college basketball. Wooden is the greatest of the old days, but modern era is just a different beast.

Last year, Bo Ryan got to shed the label of one of the best coaches to never reach a Final Four, in the year his father passed away. It was a nice story.

This year is Coach Miller's turn.

BTFD.

I think I want this more for CSM than I do for myself. He just deserves this so much for so many reasons but mostly for his passion for the game, his players and the U of A.

I think the players feel the same way.

AZCatGirl wrote:

well that's interesting. was he responding to someone on twitter directly?

it was pretty clear from the postgame presser that he was in no mood to put up with any elite 8 debbie downer bullshit

Miller is an excellent coach.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports. ... lls-short/

I heart Miller. The season was anything but a failure.

"It was like a video game"


Now, I'm not saying that Miller and Arizona are going to go out and win the national title in 2016. But we shouldn't look at Miller's track record and say that the guy can't win the big one, either. After all, what happened against Wisconsin was an offensive performance that we likely won't see replicated any time soon.

The Badgers made 10 of their 12 3-point attempts in the second half, and dropped 1.62 points per possession with a ridiculous 105 percent effective-field goal rate (yes, the Badgers shot better than 100 percent when accounting for the fact that a 3 is worth more than a 2). And they did it against the fifth-best defense since 2006 according to KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric, which makes it all the more crazy. And the last time a team dropped 85 points on an Arizona/Sean Miller team? Try Feb. 27, 2013.

Even Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan -- who has been coaching college basketball for 40 years -- said after the game that he can't remember one of his teams getting hot the Badgers did in the second half of this game.

"I can remember getting hot the last five minutes, hitting like your last seven shots, 10 free throws in a row," Ryan said. "I can remember some of those. But this one I'm going to enjoy quite a bit because Arizona gave us everything they had. And I'm sure Sean is looking at that and going, 'Come on, how many times is that going to happen?' You know, they're a team that won their league, won the conference tournament, got to this point. We were in the same position. One of us had to stay home. But, no, I don't remember one like that, not for a half."

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... tten-coach

That comment from Ryan sums my thoughts up: how many times is this going to happen?

There's no way I'd call this season a disappointment, per Miller above. It is disappointing to come this close again, then get derailed by a historic offensive explosion. It's disappointing for players who worked hard, a coaching staff who did the same and fans who have seen this before.

Between the Illinois comeback, Uconn's hot streak, Kaminsky last year and Kaminsky plus this year, all our last 4 trips to the Elite Eight have lost to aberrant greatness. How many times is this going to happen, and when is it our turn?

AZCatGirl wrote:

I had to check and see if this was actually Coach or the Fake Sean Miller account.

He is the man.

HiCat wrote:Miller is an excellent coach.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports. ... lls-short/

All positive comments below the article, even one from a Wisconsin fan. Except this one:


"Winners win. Sean Miller loses. He’ll be ousted from U of A someday. All that talent and he can’t get to a final four. Choke artist."


RockyRaccoon? RiseAndFire?

Spaceman Spiff wrote:That comment from Ryan sums my thoughts up: how many times is this going to happen?

There's no way I'd call this season a disappointment, per Miller above. It is disappointing to come this close again, then get derailed by a historic offensive explosion. It's disappointing for players who worked hard, a coaching staff who did the same and fans who have seen this before.

Between the Illinois comeback, Uconn's hot streak, Kaminsky last year and Kaminsky plus this year, all our last 4 trips to the Elite Eight have lost to aberrant greatness. How many times is this going to happen, and when is it our turn?

Yep, other than Wiscy last year, all the other E8 losses were to damn good teams that went on to the title game. And we played them all as tough as can be. Forget being a few plays away from many more final fours, we are a few plays away from a couple more titles. Our fate has to turn around at some point.

UAEebs86 wrote:

HiCat wrote:Miller is an excellent coach.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports. ... lls-short/

All positive comments below the article, even one from a Wisconsin fan. Except this one:


"Winners win. Sean Miller loses. He’ll be ousted from U of A someday. All that talent and he can’t get to a final four. Choke artist."


RockyRaccoon? RiseAndFire?

Snarky comment by a truly challenged fan. Apparently he doesn't want to give credit to his Wisc team for shooting the lights out. Watch the game sober bub.

UAEebs86 wrote:

HiCat wrote:Miller is an excellent coach.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports. ... lls-short/

All positive comments below the article, even one from a Wisconsin fan. Except this one:


"Winners win. Sean Miller loses. He’ll be ousted from U of A someday. All that talent and he can’t get to a final four. Choke artist."


RockyRaccoon? RiseAndFire?

Machina

Chicat wrote:

UAEebs86 wrote:

HiCat wrote:Miller is an excellent coach.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports. ... lls-short/

All positive comments below the article, even one from a Wisconsin fan. Except this one:


"Winners win. Sean Miller loses. He’ll be ousted from U of A someday. All that talent and he can’t get to a final four. Choke artist."


RockyRaccoon? RiseAndFire?

Machina

Oh i'm sure Phoechina is over the moon at Miller's "go cheer for asu" comment.

Wow, gloves are off now that Herb is gone:

LMAO. Nice job Coach.

Javier Morales on why Sean Miller actually is not the best coach to never to reach a FF:

http://allsportstucson.com/2015/03/30/d ... ppearance/

Merkin wrote:Javier Morales on why Sean Miller actually is not the best coach to never to reach a FF:

http://allsportstucson.com/2015/03/30/d ... ppearance/

The whole "hasn't reached the FF" thing should always come with a "yet."

He's still young in his coaching career. In a way, saying he's the best who hasn't reached a FF is a huge compliment because there are a ton of experienced coaches who haven't. For Miller to be the best of that group at such a young age, he must really be doing big things.

azcat34 wrote:Wow, gloves are off now that Herb is gone:

The jab at ASU is great, but don't understand why he felt the need to address the trolls of the fanbase.

ChooChooCat wrote:

azcat34 wrote:Wow, gloves are off now that Herb is gone:

The jab at ASU is great, but don't understand why he felt the need to address the trolls of the fanbase.

Because at some point you feel the need to. I have no issues with him calling out the idiots. None.

I just hope Machina didn't get his feelings hurt.

Olsondogg wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

azcat34 wrote:Wow, gloves are off now that Herb is gone:

The jab at ASU is great, but don't understand why he felt the need to address the trolls of the fanbase.

Because at some point you feel the need to. I have no issues with him calling out the idiots. None.

I just hope Machina didn't get his feelings hurt.

I just think a guy in his spot, who owes no one an explanation or an apology by any stretch of the imagination should feel the need to address a mentally handicapped minority of people in the world in a negative manner. Trolls are going to troll. Giving them an ounce of attention only breeds more.

I don't blame him one bit for addressing the trolls. For one thing, he's saying what many of his players can't. Not one person on this team failed. You don't win 34 games if you're a failure. For another, the spoiled entitlement of some people gets out of control sometimes. As if Sean Miller and these kids owe somebody a Final Four. They don't owe people shit beyond representing the university with class and distinction and providing some entertainment for their investment. And if you weren't entertained by this team, then you probably should go cheer for ASU. Find out what true failure looks and feels like.

I didn't see the couple of tweets before that one. Disregard my stance on it, it went perfectly with his other tweets.

Chicat wrote:I don't blame him one bit for addressing the trolls. For one thing, he's saying what many of his players can't. Not one person on this team failed. You don't win 34 games if you're a failure. For another, the spoiled entitlement of some people gets out of control sometimes. As if Sean Miller and these kids owe somebody a Final Four. They don't owe people shit beyond representing the university with class and distinction and providing some entertainment for their investment. And if you weren't entertained by this team, then you probably should go cheer for ASU. Find out what true failure looks and feels like.

This. Sean Miller is protecting a team that he loves from unjust criticism.

Look, the idea that the season was somehow a failure cause ONE more game wasn't won, is a fucking joke. I've always said it's about the ride, and not the destination.

Once we do get to a Final Four, and yes it will happen, is there anyone on here that will be happy to lose that game? No, we would all want to win it and then the next one too.

I think back to 2001 and I don't think about how great it was to win that Elite 8 game, I think about how we lost the Dook game.

It's the nature of fans. Sean Miller is protecting his players and acknowledging their accomplishments--which were fantastic. I have no issues with him doing that, and donkey punching ASSU at the same time.

Chicat wrote:I don't blame him one bit for addressing the trolls. For one thing, he's saying what many of his players can't. Not one person on this team failed. You don't win 34 games if you're a failure. For another, the spoiled entitlement of some people gets out of control sometimes. As if Sean Miller and these kids owe somebody a Final Four. They don't owe people shit beyond representing the university with class and distinction and providing some entertainment for their investment. And if you weren't entertained by this team, then you probably should go cheer for ASU. Find out what true failure looks and feels like.

If ASU lost in the Elite Eight, they would give the coach a lifetime contract and immediately begin researching how to clone him to enable the clone to take over when the real one dies. This year, we won more tournament games than ASU has in the last 18 years.

Our "disappointments" would be the zenith of their program's history. We're lucky to cheer for this program.

Sean Miller has won the same amount of tournament games in the last two years that Asu has won in their last 40 seasons.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Chicat wrote:I don't blame him one bit for addressing the trolls. For one thing, he's saying what many of his players can't. Not one person on this team failed. You don't win 34 games if you're a failure. For another, the spoiled entitlement of some people gets out of control sometimes. As if Sean Miller and these kids owe somebody a Final Four. They don't owe people shit beyond representing the university with class and distinction and providing some entertainment for their investment. And if you weren't entertained by this team, then you probably should go cheer for ASU. Find out what true failure looks and feels like.

If ASU lost in the Elite Eight, they would give the coach a lifetime contract and immediately begin researching how to clone him to enable the clone to take over when the real one dies. This year, we won more tournament games than ASU has in the last 18 years.

Our "disappointments" would be the zenith of their program's history. We're lucky to cheer for this program.

Absolutely. I 100% agree.

Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

azcat34 wrote:Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

Another way to say it is that Sean Miller is the only PAC 12 coach to lead a PAC 12 team to an Elite 8. And he's done it 3 times.

azcat34 wrote:Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

Ivan Rabb should take a look at this list.

LMAO @ 1960

azcat34 wrote:Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

That's fine and dandy, but Arizona has higher goals and expectations than the rest of the conference.

Salty wrote:

azcat34 wrote:Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

That's fine and dandy, but Arizona has higher goals and expectations than the rest of the conference.

Are we not achieving those higher goals and expectations? I would think 34 wins, a conference title, a conference tourney title, and an elite 8 is quite the achievement. Unless you're one of those "every year we don't get to the Final Four is a failure" people of course. Then you're just an idiot.

Salty wrote:

azcat34 wrote:Last Elite 8 for all other Pac-12 schools:

Arizona State: 1975
Colorado: 1963
Utah: 1998
Oregon: 2007
Oregon State: 1982
Washington: 1953
Washington State: 1941
Cal: 1960
USC: 2001
Stanford: 2001
UCLA: 2008

Arizona: The last 2 and 3 in the last 5 years.

Program is in great hands.

That's fine and dandy, but Arizona has higher goals and expectations than the rest of the conference.

Right, but some teams haven't made the Elite Eight since the tourney was segregated.

We have higher expectations, but we are meeting them. We are just getting hosed by teams having insane luck against us.

The idea of winning/losing the last game of the year determining the success/failure of said year is beyond my ability to comprehend.

How does a person live life with expectations set like that?

I think it was Chi who said in a different thread that great coaches keep their team within striking distance of the FF on a consistent basis. Actually getting to the FF requires some strokes of luck, and unfortunately, we just haven't gotten a lucky bounce. We haven't made 10 three pointers in single half. We haven't gotten a key foul call in OT. It sucks. But these things aren't Miller's or our players' fault. It's just the nature of this crazy game we love. Miller will keep us within striking distance of the FF, maybe not every year, but certainly every few years. And we'll eventually catch a little luck on that second weekend of the tournament.