Bear Down Wildcats

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.

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.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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 like the story of Job right now.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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.

Take a look at the sausage thread. I advanced basically the same idea about how that sector of our fan base is partially responsible for this situation.

zonagrad wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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.

Take a look at the sausage thread. I advanced basically the same idea about how that sector of our fan base is partially responsible for this situation.

Those are the fans that piss me off the most. It's sad when Dana Altman can sing praises of Arizona basketball under Sean Miller more than a some spoiled, unappreciative and ignorant fans.

97cats wrote:

Sean Olson wrote:97,

First off, I don't know you. I think your name starts with a J, you enjoy the movie Fletch, and consistently provide some of the best insight into the Arizona program. But that's just what I've gathered hanging around the boards. Point is, I know nothing beyond the information you've posted here over the years, but I think I've read enough insights that I can make some inferences and I just can't put two-and-two together on Miller.

You mentioned college basketball players have been receiving compensation at all the top programs for 30+ years (which incidentally encompasses the heyday of the Lute years as well so I wouldn't think this is exactly news to anyone close to the program). You've also been about as big a Miller fan as anyone from the day Miller was hired at Arizona (Miller's a witch, we're right where we want to be with Sean Miller, etc.). Then the UNC possibility came along but that seemed to have nothing to do with Arizona everything to do with UNC (understandably) being the 'holy grail' for Miller.

Recently though, it seems like something drastically changed. You even acknowledge that others around the program, "at a higher altitude," have changed their tune on Miller as well to the point of just wanting him gone. And this was before all the FBI stuff. The corruption in college basketball seems like the worst kept secret in sports. It's like an elephant in the room covered by a table cloth. And I don't think for a moment all those talking heads on TV, former players, coaches, and on down the line don't know exactly how it all works behind the scenes. So the outrage at Miller, particularly from within our own program, just seems odd. Isn't Miller just doing what everyone else is doing? Is it just that he got "caught" or got sloppy to where it put certain people's reputations in danger? Is there some distinction between cheaters and CHEATERS? Or has some other cardinal sin been broken?

If Miller and Arizona was coming to an end (seemingly) regardless of this FBI investigation, there has to be more to the story than just wanting a change of scenery. Maybe now is not time to ask these questions, but when the dust settles it would be interesting to get more details on how it all went down.

first my man thank you for taking the time to write this question(s) - ive been online chatting about Arizona for so long but these posts make me smile. I appreciate the kind words, seems there was some common ground with us in the past so that's always cool to read.

I'm still a gigantic Sean Miller fan. in his nine years at Arizona I've learned that nobody will outwork Sean Miller. he is a tireless competitor who loves basketball and working with student athletes, his players go to class and graduate, that means something to me.

the results on the floor have been outstanding, Miller has carries a .771 winning percentage with 242 wins in nine years at AZ. hes won the Pac 12 Conf four times (soon to be five) and has been coach of the year three times.

his ability to handle the media and control the environment is what I noticed about him right away, always smooth and under control seeming to say the right thing over and over.

what separates Sean tho is his ability as a recruiter. he would laser in on a player and make that player the clear number one priority, tracing and tracking the player showing up unannounced to take in a practice or take the private plane after an away game to catch a run on the way home. the players talk about how he would appear and make his presence felt, especially with parents.

his sunday breakfast meetings at the University Marriot to close the deal for official visits were legend - many players and their mothers pledged to Miller on those Sundays.

as with anything however, time is the ultimate equalizer.

I often said over the years the earlier Sean Miller gets to the Final Four at Arizona the better the prospects of keeping him in Tucson for 20 years.

the close calls and the missed opportunities hurt, and they put Coach on the backside of that timeline - then the stress became a factor as the near misses piled up and adversity came in form off the floor.

over time a few small cuts can add up, and that happened here a bit. people in Tucson want a winner, but they also want a certain type of person. I believe Sean Miller had the opportunity and the desire to be that person, but he needed to win to validate that and he fell just short.

if he makes the Final Four in '11 and/or '14 we are having a different conversation today - that's how close this is. Tucson can be a buffer, but its fickle and needs to feel good.

in some ways it hasn't felt good or its felt bad too often.

the UCLA administrator, the ref scandal, the ongoing feud with the conf, Larry Scott, Elliot Pitts, Book suspension (pre FBI), Harvey Mason, Trier PED, the FBI Sept-current), and now the popular narrative of Miller being plain dirty and bad.

it can add up -- change sometimes is the best thing for everyone, Miller has even said that himself.

people began to pile on the leader a bit and then the FBI situation changed everything, as soon as that hit folks who I would never chat basketball with were telling me how fucked Arizona was, and how fucked Sean Miller was.

when stories corroborate it becomes a sick feeling.

I know we all don't love Seth Davis - but I was at a holiday party and had the pleasure of meeting him and chatting (super nice guy) and he explained how Sean Miller was screwed and everyone knew about it. he eluded to their being much more from the scandal and pointed out another 20 schools too.

rewind a bit, I'm pretty sure coach Miller had a moment in September too, maybe one that accelerated his feelings about the long term viability of being at Arizona and began to reassess his situation? I don't know?

but, I know Arizona was looking at this season as an opportunity to stand by their coach and make a run for the Final Four, and then adjust after the season, they had a great team and TONS of unanswered questions that needed time.

not unpredictable it became somewhat of a rollercoaster - Coach is tired, fatigued and under a lot of stress... and it shows.

but, where I'm at a real loss, is him potentially being removed with one week of the regular season left at the hands of a bogus report - that doesn't feel right.

there is unfinished business for Sean Miller at Arizona, the story is not meant to be over, there is one last act.

if tomorrow Arizona can get Coach Miller back to his team and somehow get Alonzo cleared they have an opportunity with DeAndre Ayton dominating to have emotional run through March that could be for the ages.

I have visions of Sean Miller advancing to the Final Four this year and leaving Arizona the week after.

well, I guess tomorrow we will see.......

NYCat wrote:He's not going to get fired. They're going to mutually part ways. His recruiting at Arizona is done. He's going to get paid. He's going to fight ESPN.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

zonagrad wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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.

Take a look at the sausage thread. I advanced basically the same idea about how that sector of our fan base is partially responsible for this situation.

Those are the fans that piss me off the most. It's sad when Dana Altman can sing praises of Arizona basketball under Sean Miller more than a some spoiled, unappreciative and ignorant fans.

Like I said there, if you were frustrated with Elite Eights, the good news for you is you won't have to worry about Elite Eights for a while.

CatFanOneMil wrote: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.

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.

CatFanOneMil wrote: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.

Beachcat97 wrote:So Sean missing two straight practices with nary a word from the school. Not really sure how you read this as a positive. But not sure why it’s negative either. We’re in a stand still until the official press release comes, or a press conference with Sean, which would be much more dramatic.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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 like the story of Job right now.

Merkin wrote:9. Got the homer calls at Hec Edmundson that Sean Miller never got at McKale

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

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 like the story of Job right now.

His daughters getting him drunk so they can get pregnant by him?

Oh, you mean his wife should not have looked back.

No looking back!

CatFanOneMil wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:So Sean missing two straight practices with nary a word from the school. Not really sure how you read this as a positive. But not sure why it’s negative either. We’re in a stand still until the official press release comes, or a press conference with Sean, which would be much more dramatic.

My gut tells me this might be an offensive move by Sean...ESPN story breaks he immediately calls his legal team and says what are my options?

They respond, give us a few days to collect case law and review what your options are...he flies back to Tucson meets with AD and says I need a few days to get my legal options clear and it helps take the target off the team...they agree.

He has probably been meeting with some high powered attorneys to discuss what he can and cannot do towards ESPN/Mark Schlabach

Think about this ESPN/Schlabach have remained incredibly quiet, refusing to talk to ANY news media outlets about the story they broke, not one fucking interview on possibly the biggest breaking story in sports this entire year...while espn has parroted KNOWN events, the fact that they broke the story (and there is a record of it) that Miller had been relieved of his duties and the Schlabach story are actually just inside willful negligence on their part.

I know this much, lawyers ARE involved with this story at this point.

The standoff between Miller and Schlabach is looking like a 12 O'clock high gunfight in old Tucson...

(Que the good the bad the ugly soundtrack)

BE4RDOWN21 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

zonagrad wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

zonagrad wrote: 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.

Take a look at the sausage thread. I advanced basically the same idea about how that sector of our fan base is partially responsible for this situation.

Those are the fans that piss me off the most. It's sad when Dana Altman can sing praises of Arizona basketball under Sean Miller more than a some spoiled, unappreciative and ignorant fans.

Like I said there, if you were frustrated with Elite Eights, the good news for you is you won't have to worry about Elite Eights for a while.

And if anyone on this forum says anything remotely to the ludicrous nonsense that is being said on twitter about "burning your gear" then gtfo out. We don't need you as fans. Bear down. Survive and Thrive

CatFanOneMil wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:So Sean missing two straight practices with nary a word from the school. Not really sure how you read this as a positive. But not sure why it’s negative either. We’re in a stand still until the official press release comes, or a press conference with Sean, which would be much more dramatic.

My gut tells me this might be an offensive move by Sean...ESPN story breaks he immediately calls his legal team and says what are my options?

They respond, give us a few days to collect case law and review what your options are...he flies back to Tucson meets with AD and says I need a few days to get my legal options clear and it helps take the target off the team...they agree.

He has probably been meeting with some high powered attorneys to discuss what he can and cannot do towards ESPN/Mark Schlabach

Think about this ESPN/Schlabach have remained incredibly quiet, refusing to talk to ANY news media outlets about the story they broke, not one fucking interview on possibly the biggest breaking story in sports this entire year...while espn has parroted KNOWN events, the fact that they broke the story (and there is a record of it) that Miller had been relieved of his duties and the Schlabach story are actually just inside willful negligence on their part.

I know this much, lawyers ARE involved with this story at this point.

The standoff between Miller and Schlabach is looking like a 12 O'clock high gunfight in old Tucson...

(Que the good the bad the ugly soundtrack)

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

Beachcat97 wrote:

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

I don’t tolerate it. But what can I do? Stop giving money to the alumni association? Stop attending games? Stop buying UofA gear? None of those are happening.

I love Miller, but I love the team/school more. If it were up to me, Sean stays. It’s not up to me.

Longhorned wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

I don’t tolerate it. But what can I do? Stop giving money to the alumni association? Stop attending games? Stop buying UofA gear? None of those are happening.

I love Miller, but I love the team/school more. If it were up to me, Sean stays. It’s not up to me.

If that happens, that would make Arizona the only of the "20 or so" programs out ahead this. So my questions would be: Why is Arizona the only one cutting off its own legs to save its body? Or are there not really 20 or so other programs out there who are at risk, and Arizona is the problem rather than part of the problem?

CatHoops wrote:

Longhorned wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

Longhorned wrote:Scary to think: Unless the university is explicitly concerned about forthcoming revelations, the decision to part with Miller based on the ESPN story would be based on the perception that the community would tolerate that. And that's the community we belong to.

I don’t tolerate it. But what can I do? Stop giving money to the alumni association? Stop attending games? Stop buying UofA gear? None of those are happening.

I love Miller, but I love the team/school more. If it were up to me, Sean stays. It’s not up to me.

If that happens, that would make Arizona the only of the "20 or so" programs out ahead this. So my questions would be: Why is Arizona the only one cutting off its own legs to save its body? Or are there not really 20 or so other programs out there who are at risk, and Arizona is the problem rather than part of the problem?

Pretty sure Billy was given a Ferrari to attend Kansas

BBQ wildcat wrote:If Robbins / Heeke fire Sean, they need to change their names to Roberta and Diane, because they obviously have no balls. And if they fire him, I hope EVERY NBA player who played for Miller at the UofA just constantly bash the shit out of this university. Who would want to coach at a place where you just know the leaders don't have your back, that they will just throw you under the bus at the first whiff of a problem?

NYCat wrote:-_-

NYCat wrote:-_-

ChooChooCat wrote:

BBQ wildcat wrote:If Robbins / Heeke fire Sean, they need to change their names to Roberta and Diane, because they obviously have no balls. And if they fire him, I hope EVERY NBA player who played for Miller at the UofA just constantly bash the shit out of this university. Who would want to coach at a place where you just know the leaders don't have your back, that they will just throw you under the bus at the first whiff of a problem?

Yeah this is not the right take, especially if you have read and fully digested what 97cats was spelling out for every one here.

WildcatStunner wrote:Whatever happens, just keep the community alive. This site has the best UofA discussions and educated fans out of all the boards.