Bear Down Wildcats

Well let’s be real. We all thought more news would hit more programs back in September and that happened only on Friday. Then ESPN happened.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:Grew up my whole life from 13 on loving Lute and Arizona basketball. Those 4 years at the end of his era were tough. Then comes Sean Miller, I knew not much about him, and he lit the same passion back into me.

If he’s gone today, I feel that we are in for some tougher years and without the passion and coaching that Miller brought back.

I’m at a loss guys.

What makes me more at ease here is the intimation that Miller feels this is best too.

The idea that there is more to come out is why I’m not at ease.

We are in for some dark days ahead. Do we think the team will just mail it in now or at least finish the season with pride?

Well I think there is more to come out everywhere

Fuck ESPN

Fuck Greg Hansen

Fuck it all

Why are we so cursed????

Dosia wrote:We are in for some dark days ahead. Do we think the team will just mail it in now or at least finish the season with pride?

Have you ever played organized sports? No chance they mail it in. They played with purpose on Saturday and I don’t see them regressing. Competitors compete and if the do mail it in, I hope they do transfer then.

i was told when this hit in September that the layers were deeep and colorful.

I posted I didn’t think Sean Miller would survive this.

the plan, with all the unknowns and unanswered questions, was to get behind the head coach until more was discovered and charge on.

over the course of a short period of time it became apparent to many, many people that the problem was much deeper than anticipated, and Sean Miller was “fucked” and Arizona was going to be in deep shit forthcoming.

the University was hell bent on making it through the season and then getting a “fresh start” with a new coach and new era and then ESPN decided not to cooperate and started the process a month earlier than anyone wanted.

I even posted in my rose colored happy post last night that people at a different altitude have said and known all along that Sean Miller was fucked. the general feeling is there is more to follow, much more and AZ can’t keep defending Miller and run a basketball program.

Sean Miller has known this and has been planning for this day, I’ve said so as much as I felt comfortable that this would be his last season at AZ.

he knows this and has been working on his own future, putting his name out to places that seemed beneath him before. It’s the feeling inside the program that Sean Millers AZ ship has been slowly sinking and he’s been searching for any lifeboat.

It’s too bad the Miller era will end this way allegedly, versus him walking off the court on final time with his guys, but coach Miller is now paying for his bold and brash choices and blind loyalty’s that so many warned him would bring him down.

Arizona is going to have some tough years ahead - it’s a sad ending.

Olsondogg wrote:Grew up my whole life from 13 on loving Lute and Arizona basketball. Those 4 years at the end of his era were tough. Then comes Sean Miller, I knew not much about him, and he lit the same passion back into me.

If he’s gone today, I feel that we are in for some tougher years and without the passion and coaching that Miller brought back.

I’m at a loss guys.

Me too. And reading Nick's tweet it just shows how lucky we are to have had CSM as our coach. He came in with no ties to Az but from day 1 embraced the legacy and tradition of Az basketball (still will never forget his first press conference and his reverence to Lute and our program) and nobody worked harder to get us back to where we belonged. It's a shame that he came so close to getting us back to the FF but came up short.

Can you imagine what that man is going through right now? It's just a damn shame.

Olsondogg wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:Grew up my whole life from 13 on loving Lute and Arizona basketball. Those 4 years at the end of his era were tough. Then comes Sean Miller, I knew not much about him, and he lit the same passion back into me.

If he’s gone today, I feel that we are in for some tougher years and without the passion and coaching that Miller brought back.

I’m at a loss guys.

What makes me more at ease here is the intimation that Miller feels this is best too.

The idea that there is more to come out is why I’m not at ease.

Yeah I feel ya. It at the very least makes it easier to stomach the decision though and makes our overall picture clearer. We are going to have a tough few years here and there's no reason to be disappointed when someone like Romar is hired to replace Miller.

BE4RDOWN21 wrote:

Dosia wrote:We are in for some dark days ahead. Do we think the team will just mail it in now or at least finish the season with pride?

Have you ever played organized sports? No chance they mail it in. They played with purpose on Saturday and I don’t see them regressing. Competitors compete and if the do mail it in, I hope they do transfer then.

Yes I have and don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of transfers soon unfortunately.

One question for 97. Who is holding back the info on other programs, why are the blues protected ?

You keep Romar, you keep some transfers.

If you’re Romar, do you love Tucson and coaching this much?

I’ll start by saying that I hope with all my heart that SM is cleared, continues what he started and we continue to run the Pac12 for years to come. But I can’t help but feel a little angry. For years I’ve seen SM stand and yell “the toughest teams survive” and “nastiness is required” to him teams. It’s after all a family-Past, Present, Future. But the thought of SM getting a fresh start to get away from stressors, many of which but not all, that he is 100% responsible for, or at least should’ve seen signs of, just doesn’t sit well with me.

I know, coaches can leave whenever they want but it just doesn’t fit the narrative that SM has worked so hard to ingrain in this program. The toughness, do what we do just do it better etc only to leave when the toughest of circumstances have hit us is just a tough pill to swallow.

Sorry for the vent....

Now #FreeZo #FreeMiller and let’s win the whole motherfucking thing and not apologize for a damn thing!

Well we all knew this was coming. But Miller not coaching at Mckale again is sad

97cats wrote:i was told when this hit in September that the layers were deeep and colorful.

I posted I didn’t think Sean Miller would survive this.

the plan, with all the unknowns and unanswered questions, was to get behind the head coach until more was discovered and charge on.

over the course of a short period of time it became apparent to many, many people that the problem was much deeper than anticipated, and Sean Miller was “fucked” and Arizona was going to be in deep shit forthcoming.

the University was hell bent on making it through the season and then getting a “fresh start” with a new coach and new era and then ESPN decided not to cooperate and started the process a month earlier than anyone wanted.

I even posted in my rose colored happy post last night that people at a different altitude have said and known all along that Sean Miller was fucked. the general feeling is there is more to follow, much more and AZ can’t keep defending Miller and run a basketball program.

Sean Miller has known this and has been planning for this day, I’ve said so as much as I felt comfortable that this would be his last season at AZ.

he knows this and has been working on his own future, putting his name out to places that seemed beneath him before. It’s the feeling inside the program that Sean Millers AZ ship has been slowly sinking and he’s been searching for any lifeboat.

It’s too bad the Miller era will end this way allegedly, versus him walking off the court on final time with his guys, but coach Miller is now paying for his bold and brash choices and blind loyalty’s that so many warned him would bring him down.

Arizona is going to have some tough years ahead - it’s a sad ending.

Well there you go guys. Here's to hoping Kevin Sumlin provides one hell of a distraction for this mess over the next 3-4 years (however long it takes) and we can get back to arguing semantics about the basketball team's play and recruiting.

More truth/knowledge bombs dropped.

Thank you 97, it helps me, us, come to peace with this and what is to come.

I believe everyone involved would be comfortable with Miller continuing this year if nothing else were likely to come in the next few weeks.......

But we always seem to be surprised and blindsided. Maybe this works in our favor once

You might as well shut off the lights for a few years. No one is going to want to play here, and no one is going to want to coach here.

I wonder if what happened to Greg Byrne will happen to Sean Miller. As more time passes, more and more stuff will keep popping up?

Hey '97 another question - if the powers that be knew that a fresh start was needed are we to assume that there's been some discussions/feelers around who the next coach would be? Of course meaning before the shit storm happened last week.

sounds like today is going to suck

I can't believe the shit that was allowed to grow and spread under Greg Byrne's watch. Any UA sports not tainted yet?

As tragic as this is, if nothing changes in NCAA's corrupt premise, it will have been a pointless sacrifice. Jesus.

Yup.


Gonna be really hard for me to follow college ball after this if nothing changes.

I think 5-7+ years from now, we're not looking back at Miller so favorably.

Ugh. This sucks. Hopefully he gets to address the team and he tells them he wants a snipit of 4 nets in the coming weeks

NYCat wrote:I think 5-7+ years from now, we're not looking back at Miller so favorably.

I feel so much better already then. Not.

had to put dog down two weeks ago, felt alot like this. Az bb has been part of my entire life.

OSCat wrote:had to put dog down two weeks ago, felt alot like this. Az bb has been part of my entire life.

That is exactly what this feels like...

Olsondogg wrote:You keep Romar, you keep some transfers.

If you’re Romar, do you love Tucson and coaching this much?

Do you think that when Romar was hired he had no clue what was happening? is it possible that he was read in on the possible outcomes and took the job understanding his potential roles.
He is lauded as a character guy, if that's who you are, you stick with it and start putting it back together.
Maybe that's why he was hired if Miller and admin saw the mess as a possibility.
But I know nothing.
I can see this if back when he was hired there was the thought of it being Miller's last season.

I'm not done hoping yet that it's not!

This is a sad day. I may neex to take a break from college basketball and U of A for a while if this happens with us caving to espn.

Ugh.

The fact that were discussing Romar as a possible replacement shows how miserable this situation is.

Lando05 wrote:This is a sad day. I may neex to take a break from college basketball and U of A for a while if this happens with us caving to espn.

This is more than ESPN. Although ESPN did a horrible job bringing this up, and the timing was wrong, there is far more to the story than we know.

I’m still holding out hope we see Sean Miller coaching tomorrow night.

Sigh. Just hope people find enough motivation to stick around and keep this community active. Rip Az basketball. It's really shitty that other elite teams will get away with this and we have to pay the biggest price and lose everything.

U.P. Zona Fan wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:You keep Romar, you keep some transfers.

If you’re Romar, do you love Tucson and coaching this much?

Do you think that when Romar was hired he had no clue what was happening? is it possible that he was read in on the possible outcomes and took the job understanding his potential roles.
He is lauded as a character guy, if that's who you are, you stick with it and start putting it back together.
Maybe that's why he was hired if Miller and admin saw the mess as a possibility.
But I know nothing.
I can see this if back when he was hired there was the thought of it being Miller's last season.

I'm not done hoping yet that it's not!

I was wondering about this before the news broke. Seemed like some of the guys we were started picking things up with of late were more Romar guys/ had Romar connections. I just assumed I was connecting dots that weren't there, maybe I still am. I am just trying to find a way the UA BBall isn't completely fucked for the foreseeable future.

Chicat wrote:I’m still holding out hope we see Sean Miller coaching tomorrow night.

Me too, man. I am Odogg—sunshine up the ass

U guys are depressing this morning!
What if I told you all Miller and Zo will be back today?
Heads up mofos!!!

If Miller coaches this week, it may be the greatest turn of events since Easter. Like, the first Easter.

CatHoops wrote:U guys are depressing this morning!
What if I told you all Miller and Zo will be back today?
Heads up mofos!!!

I used to live saying “we’ll get it next year” and then it would never happen. The basketball gods kept adding adversity to our program year in and year out. My optimism has started to fade into pessimism. I will always bear down, but at some point, realistically, you have to realize that the light at the end of the tunnel is far away.

you lips to God's ears

CatHoops wrote:U guys are depressing this morning!
What if I told you all Miller and Zo will be back today?
Heads up mofos!!!

I'm ready for you to blow some sunshine up my ass right now. I'll even bend over. Feels like we've been bent over since September.

If that's the case, in the words of Jake Tayler, let "win the whole fucking thing!"

scumdevils86 wrote:Sigh. Just hope people find enough motivation to stick around and keep this community active. Rip Az basketball. It's really shitty that other elite teams will get away with this and we have to pay the biggest price and lose everything.

The same people who were spoiled and didn't appreciate the conference titles and 3 elite eights and complained that Miller "wasn't Lute" and couldn't win the big game... those people will crawl back under the rock the live. The best posters here who understand Miller and what he accomplished, they'll stick around. I know I will.

We can mourn this unpleasant finish. But a fresh start is coming. Our AD hired Sumlin for football. We may catch lightning in a bottle again.

I can't come up with a single pro to firing Miller at this point other than the personal aggrandizement of the person doing the firing.

It will start an ESPN dance on our grave. It will be spun as us trying to cover up if future info emerges. It doesn't help the remainder of the season. It doesn't start us moving forward because we can't hire for a month anyways.

I literally see no positives.

Beachcat97 wrote:If Miller coaches this week, it may be the greatest turn of events since Easter. Like, the first Easter.

Arizona basketball is a religion.

No if you know Miller one thing he does is get everyone on the same page. When espn broke the report he had to get everyone on board and assure everyone involved he is cleared from any FBI wrong doing. Dr. Robbins has his word. Miller ain't fucking around and ull all see later today! Az has had everyone in the program from top to bottom intervied by the FBI and has been given the Green light. Prob the cleanest program in the country right now.
Again I'll be the first to tell you "told us so"

zonagrad wrote:

scumdevils86 wrote:Sigh. Just hope people find enough motivation to stick around and keep this community active. Rip Az basketball. It's really shitty that other elite teams will get away with this and we have to pay the biggest price and lose everything.

The same people who were spoiled and didn't appreciate the conference titles and 3 elite eights and complained that Miller "wasn't Lute" and couldn't win the big game... those people will crawl back under the rock the live. The best posters here who understand Miller and what he accomplished, they'll stick around. I know I will.

We can mourn this unpleasant finish. But a fresh start is coming. Our AD hired Sumlin for football. We may catch lightning in a bottle again.

Yep maybe we will finally be rid of the zone proponents

zonagrad wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:If Miller coaches this week, it may be the greatest turn of events since Easter. Like, the first Easter.

Arizona basketball is a religion.

It’s actually significantly better than religion.

First all of this is still speculation, no one knows for sure which way the coin flip goes.

Second Romar is actually a decent recruiter, and the fact is his game has been deeply impacted by working with MIller, I read the interview with him when he was back in Washington and he said he had a "Light went on" event happen almost every day at practice with UA that explained why we were so hard to beat, I have no problem with Romar keeping the ship from sinking for a few seasons he's actually a good fit. He's been inside the sausage factory minus the killing fields of unknown recruit violations.

His record in the Pac 12 is actually decent at least half of his time here he was 1-3 in the conference finals and his NCAA record is not much worse than Millers, he has coached as many if not more NBA guys than Miller...we just have a bias against him because he was an opponent.

But the CHARACTER thing is unmistakable, and the price tag is affordable right now.

I was actually hoping that he would have a bigger influence on Miller, the tight control freak during the game thing is a bit over done anyway, I love MIller, love his passion, but at some point you gotta be a tiny bit Bobby Hurley and let the ponies run, something Miller would NEVER do, Romar will.

So we got:

1. Clean guy -check
2. Affordable price -check
3. Easy transition -check
4. Decent recruiter -check
5. Knows the conference -check
6. None espn target -check
7. Can handle NCAA crap -check
8. Reason to discard later-check

If they negotiate some kind of settlement with Miller this is a no brainer move and I suggest we hold off judgement until we see what he can do the same way we did for Miller when he came here.

I checked Romars wikipedia page...he's not as bad as was imagining and the fact that he has been inside Millers playbook might even be a game changer for his style of play...he might be the perfect blend now of Lutes fast paced offense and Millers pack line D...

It's obvious Millers style needs a slight tweak to it anyway, and he is pretty damn stubborn...even at the best moments of this season I had no real confidence we were going to go to terribly far in the tournament, Millers style always hinged on one really awesome recruit a few really decent recruits and then some mediocre supporting players...and that last part can never be tweaked enough.

I’m in the staying positive camp! At least for miller coaching thru the end of the year. Like spiff said up above there aren’t any positives to firing Miller right now. ESPN would hammer us and I can’t take that haha.