2017-2018 Arizona Basketball

[PHXCATS]

yeah with all of Miller's final fours no need to adjust anything

Yeah...with Miller averaging a farther run into each tournament than Lute Olson and only 49 years old, there IS NO FUCKING NEED TO ADJUST ANYTHING ABOUT PLAYING MAN.

But you get hard over a marketing slogan. Fair enough.

This is Miller's 14th year as a college coach. Lute made the final four in his 7th and 14th years coaching in college. Age has nothing to do with it. But FYI Lute was 46 when he made his first final four

Again adjustments is not solely moving to a zone. Teach a few different things and mix it up. Make the adjustments needed to put your team in the best position to win every game, especially the NCAA Tournament games.

[EVCat]

yeah with all of Miller's final fours no need to adjust anything

Yeah...with Miller averaging a farther run into each tournament than Lute Olson and only 49 years old, there IS NO FUCKING NEED TO ADJUST ANYTHING ABOUT PLAYING MAN.

But you get hard over a marketing slogan. Fair enough.

This is Miller's 14th year as a college coach. Lute made the final four in his 7th and 14th years coaching in college. Age has nothing to do with it. But FYI Lute was 46 when he made his first final four

Again adjustments is not solely moving to a zone. Teach a few different things and mix it up. Make the adjustments needed to put your team in the best position to win every game, especially the NCAA Tournament games.

It is one game. In a one and done format.

How many times did Lute lose in the first round? Were you shouting at him from the parking lot that he needed to change his style of play because 86, 87, 92, 93? Get more Pete Eisenrich's and less Chris Mills'?

He is putting his team in the best position to win NCAA games, something he has done every year more than the venerable Lute Olson. And, BTW...don't pretend this is a knock on Lute. Because there were assholes just like you are acting right now shouting this kind of shit at Lute through talk radio (no message boards) in '92 and '93 and '95, and '99.

Have you ever seen Miller get slaughtered by double digit seeds as a top seed? I mean, if you want to compare. Did Lute not "mix things up enough and teach different (I don't know what other than that zone thing R&F says so zone and other...stuff...TEACH OTHER STUFFFF!!!) things those years?

The fact is Miller IS preparing his team to win in the post season, and has a philosophy that this defense works best by year's end and throwing in zone is to introduce bad practices on defense and in rebounding, and he isn't the only coach to have that philosophy, but he is one of the most successful, because he has been one of the most successful in his era of the game. Wisconsin X2....not one of those games gets won by zoning. UConn...nope. The fouling stuff...no, no, no...you bury problems in zones. It would be interesting if he adds one occasionally, and if you can do so and not lose something, then do it, but he clearly has not been convinced that his teams up to this point gained enough by doing so.

But you think YOU know that it would help? Over Sean Miller? Please...enlighten us on why I should trust you. Please tell me why you know that we wouldn't have lost in the 2nd round instead of Wisconsin if we zoned?

You can't because you can't, and you have latched on to this idea like some kind of panacea for a problem that really isn't a problem, but you want to go round and round about it. Except you don't have one fucking clue if it isn't actually something that would hurt. Because you don't have one fucking clue.

But, yeah...Lute made it at 7 and 14...and would have been DESTROYED by idiots like you if message boards existed in the numerous years he lost in the first round, because people like you don't consider how hard it is to be perfect in one and done tournaments.

but, yeah...Miller has still been far more successful season in and out. You just love the Final Four. If it was baseball, the final 8 make the CWS, so EIGHT, EIGHT!!!! would be your chant. Fans obsession with a banner and a t-shirt that is still short of a title is all this is. Come back if you want to talk "Title or bust" because at least that makes some sense. Final Four is just 4 rounds instead of 3 in a 6 round tournament, and to desire 4 wins once time surrounded by a litany of one and done runs over multiple runs into the 2nd weekend is ludicrous if you remove the marketing campaign of Final Four.

To review...

Lute went to the final four. He also lost a bunch in the first round.
Miller has been more successful in average finish in the tournament
You would have talked trash about Lute losing in the first round 5 times in 10 years around those first 2 final fours...and you would have been wrong then, too.
Miller does, in fact, teach a few things and mixes it up. He just doesn't play zone...and that's the only thing you know.
You wouldn't actually know if we were in a zone, but you have decided he needs to "mix things up" and doesn't do just that...because you don't know the game.
You don' t have a clue if a zone would help or hurt
You have decided it would help and that Miller is a bad coach because he is not...agreeing with your coaching analysis
That last line shows how fucking stupid this is.

[PHXCATS]

Again never said Miller was a bad coach and that major changes were needed

[SunnyAZ]

We need to shore up base fundamentals of man/packline. The argument about zone sort of disregards that. When you say 6 months should be enough, well, the reality is that it is not that easy or linear. Even our freshmen have been coached in base man rotation for years and we execute that poorly. Trier has been in this system for years and his execution wavers heavily.

I've never been a fan of building a large level of execution prep around possibilities down the road. You tend to wind up average at two things instead of good at one and poor at another.

The idea of prepping for tourney matchups I also am not really impressed by. It's a crapshoot and you do the best for yourself by coming in with a solid base of being a good team that executes what is needed.

that's the point, every team has x-potential to reach defensively in a man. This year ours isn't as high as previous teams, no matter how much time we spend on it. It doesn't take the whole year to reach that potential either. Adding different types could potentially raise our overall x-potential defensively.

Watching this Nova vs. Zags (both teams have been in the title game the last couple years) game there has been 5 different defenses in the 1st half.

[YoDeFoe]

Watching this Nova vs. Zags (both teams have been in the title game the last couple years) game there has been 5 different defenses in the 1st half.

This is kind of rich given the knock on Mark Few last year and Jay Wright two years ago.

[Captain Obvious]

Watching this Nova vs. Zags (both teams have been in the title game the last couple years) game there has been 5 different defenses in the 1st half.

This is kind of rich given the knock on Mark Few last year and Jay Wright two years ago.

I would like to see CSM use a zone periodically in situations where we play teams that don't shoot an overall good FG% or have good dribble penetrating guards. It can be risky but if it doesn't work the team can adjust back to man to man. Mixing it up could really confuse opponents who fully expect us to go the entire game using the pack line. Could really help us gain an advantage against familiar conference opponents who would be surprised by a new defensive strategy.

[btfd16]

I'm sorry, but I think Dusan is terrible and a liability. A&M figured it out and just fed Tyler Davis until with went Ira on RW3 and Ayton on Davis.

[Beachcat97]

I'm sorry, but I think Dusan is terrible and a liability. A&M figured it out and just fed Tyler Davis until with went Ira on RW3 and Ayton on Davis.

Ristic has nice touch around the basket. That's where he helps us. Beyond that, his only real value is his size. He'll grab a few boards and change a few shots simply by virtue of being 7 feet tall.

I don't think he's terrible. He's no Kyryl. Tyler Davis is obviously a very good player, and A&M was smart to exploit that match-up.

I have to say, though: we just faced to two teams (UNLV and TexasA&M) with outstanding bigs, and we got two wins. That's a little reassuring going forward. I don't know how many more teams we'll face this year with bigs as good as these two. Ristic played big minutes in both games, and while he had me face-palming often, he also hung in there and made some big plays. We don't need Ristic to be a star. We just need him to stop reaching on defense, box out, and keep hitting those 3 footers.

[btfd16]

I'm sorry, but I think Dusan is terrible and a liability. A&M figured it out and just fed Tyler Davis until with went Ira on RW3 and Ayton on Davis.

Ristic has nice touch around the basket. That's where he helps us. Beyond that, his only real value is his size. He'll grab a few boards and change a few shots simply by virtue of being 7 feet tall.

I don't think he's terrible. He's no Kyryl. Tyler Davis is obviously a very good player, and A&M was smart to exploit that match-up.

I have to say, though: we just faced to two teams (UNLV and TexasA&M) with outstanding bigs, and we got two wins. That's a little reassuring going forward. I don't know how many more teams we'll face this year with bigs as good as these two. Ristic played big minutes in both games, and while he had me face-palming often, he also hung in there and made some big plays. We don't need Ristic to be a star. We just need him to stop reaching on defense, box out, and keep hitting those 3 footers.

He does have nice touch and for a 7 footer, is good at FTs, but also as a 7 footer, you have 2 rebounds? And just can't play D against someone above average.

[Olsondogg]

Again never said Miller was a bad coach and that major changes were needed

Again never said PHXCATS was an insufferable douchebag that should be ignored. I said Machina was.

[gumby]

Cats remain undefeated on U.S. soil! Last time I checked, that's where the tournament is played!

[DiehardDave37]

Is it true that our starting line-up for the Alabama game will be PJC, Trier and Ayton ? 3 on 3?

[TucsonClip]

I'm sorry, but I think Dusan is terrible and a liability. A&M figured it out and just fed Tyler Davis until with went Ira on RW3 and Ayton on Davis.

First, Ristic is terrible on defense.

Second, I was totally fine with how MIller defended Davis. I was fine with the double coming from Ayton to help Ristic in the first half. I would have lost my shit if we had Ayton man up on Davis, he picks up two fouls, all the meanwhile, Morelos is raining opens threes against Ristic, pump faking and throwing down dunks, as Ristic scrambles to close out to him on the perimeter.

Third, we didnt go offense(Ristic)/defense(Lee) until the last 90 seconds. I thought it was the smart adjustment, and the perfect time to do it.

[SunnyAZ]

[TucsonClip]

Pretty good breakdown, but PJC make the right rotation. Its called an x-out. Basically, when player A (PJC) is helping, and the ball is rotated where player B (Trier) has to cover for player A's (PJC) man. Player A (PJC) then has to cross paths and pick up player B's (Trier) man. The two defenders literally cross paths picking up each others man via help, and form an X. So Trier us jumping out to cover the man on the wing, and PJC crosses to pick up Trier's man via help the helper.

It obviously would have made sense for Randolph to pass his man on to PJC instead, and then jump out on the ball reversal, but we dont switch like that. That switch would have been something the Warriors or Celtics do.

[Longhorned]

Pretty good breakdown, but PJC make the right rotation. Its called an x-out. Basically, when player A (PJC) is helping, and the ball is rotated where player B (Trier) has to cover for player A's (PJC) man. Player A (PJC) then has to cross paths and pick up player B's (Trier) man. The two defenders literally cross paths picking up each others man via help, and form an X. So Trier us jumping out to cover the man on the wing, and PJC crosses to pick up Trier's man via help the helper.

It obviously would have made sense for Randolph to pass his man on to PJC instead, and then jump out on the ball reversal, but we dont switch like that. That switch would have been something the Warriors or Celtics do.

Remind me again why these players can't major in basketball. This stuff is way more complicated than the stuff my students can't understand.

[YoDeFoe]

Love this kind of content and appreciate the post and the additional breakdown from Clip.

Or we can just yell about our feelings. That's also an option.

[TheGreatCatsby]

Like Dylan Smith's game, hope he can hang in there for playing time competing against Rawle, Randolph, and Akot for minutes. I'm not really looking for a consistent 12/5/5 from him (heck I'd take a consistent 5/5 part from Trier even.)

Dylan's game reminds me just a bit of Jason Terry the way he shuffles his feet, and how cuts to the basket. Kinda that sneaky, angly stuff. Not saying he's there yet or ever will be, but he's just a sophomore...three years now playing/practicing at the college level. He should be able to pick it up on defense pretty quickly you'd think, he's been practicing all these years college defensive schemes. He's one of the more interesting players we have to watch so hope he doesn't get in Miller's doghouse too bad here for defensive lapses. With our players currently, sprinkle in more offense, you get increased defensive liability. Some more months to work on it. That's why Akot, if he can get healthy, could carve out a role this year as a good defensive role player.

[zonagrad]

Trier and others are only used to creating shots off the bounce. None of them have mastered moving without the ball and getting open. That's why our offense looks slow.

[CalStateTempe]

Trier is a junior, why has he mastered this yet?

[luteformayor2]

Trier and others are only used to creating shots off the bounce. None of them have mastered moving without the ball and getting open. That's why our offense looks slow.

Trier is actually quite horrible at off-ball movement for someone who has been training hard since he was like 1 years old. He just stands and claps his hands.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Pretty good breakdown, but PJC make the right rotation. Its called an x-out. Basically, when player A (PJC) is helping, and the ball is rotated where player B (Trier) has to cover for player A's (PJC) man. Player A (PJC) then has to cross paths and pick up player B's (Trier) man. The two defenders literally cross paths picking up each others man via help, and form an X. So Trier us jumping out to cover the man on the wing, and PJC crosses to pick up Trier's man via help the helper.

It obviously would have made sense for Randolph to pass his man on to PJC instead, and then jump out on the ball reversal, but we dont switch like that. That switch would have been something the Warriors or Celtics do.

Great post.

If I had to nitpick on why the play ended up as it did, it would be 3 things.

1. Trier could have been slightly faster to close out the skip. This would have potentially delayed the swing pass by a hair.
2. Ayton is slow to recover. As the skip is thrown, he needs to be moving back so PJC can vacate a split second quicker and get to the shooter.
3. A&M is a really good team. Davis makes the right read and throws a dead on skip. The recipient immediately swings it with no dead time. If they hesitate for any time, throw an off target pass, are out of position or make a bad read, Parker closes hard and we're reset and they have nothing except maybe reposting Davis. They executed multiple things flawlessly with no hesitation.

[Bangkok Wildcat]

Fascinating stuff SunnyAZ, thanks much for this! I love this kind of breakdown analysis....very interesting.

[gumby]

Teachable moment. Love these videos.

[gumby]

Love this kind of content and appreciate the post and the additional breakdown from Clip.

Or we can just yell about our feelings. That's also an option.

[rgdeuce]

We go through this every freaking year

And every year Miller and Arizona miss the final four.

Adjustments can help make that not the case anymore.

Please tell me how a zone defense would have made any difference in the two Wisconsin losses, the Wichita State loss, the UConn loss...

So you do think a zone would have helped vs Xavier and Ohio State

Second time vs Wisconsin Ashley and Tarczewski had four fouls and Johnson and RHJ had 5. So you dont think that would have mattered at all?

UCONN Williams had foul trouble and was not as aggressive.

Yeah no help at all a zone would have been in those games.

We lost the 2nd game against Wisconsin because of foul trouble? Sure that zone would have done wonders on their lights out shooting. And it's not like we werent the THIRD best defense in the country that year according to Kenpom.... Would have made total sense to incorporate some zone that year.

[rgdeuce]

Like Dylan Smith's game, hope he can hang in there for playing time competing against Rawle, Randolph, and Akot for minutes. I'm not really looking for a consistent 12/5/5 from him (heck I'd take a consistent 5/5 part from Trier even.)

Dylan's game reminds me just a bit of Jason Terry the way he shuffles his feet, and how cuts to the basket. Kinda that sneaky, angly stuff. Not saying he's there yet or ever will be, but he's just a sophomore...three years now playing/practicing at the college level. He should be able to pick it up on defense pretty quickly you'd think, he's been practicing all these years college defensive schemes. He's one of the more interesting players we have to watch so hope he doesn't get in Miller's doghouse too bad here for defensive lapses. With our players currently, sprinkle in more offense, you get increased defensive liability. Some more months to work on it. That's why Akot, if he can get healthy, could carve out a role this year as a good defensive role player.

Very grateful for his first half, kept us in the game. He was getting into the lane because he was hitting from outside. With that said, he puts the ball on the floor far too much and he holds the ball for far too long.

[gumby]

Funsies!

[Statfreak77]

Like Dylan Smith's game, hope he can hang in there for playing time competing against Rawle, Randolph, and Akot for minutes. I'm not really looking for a consistent 12/5/5 from him (heck I'd take a consistent 5/5 part from Trier even.)

Dylan's game reminds me just a bit of Jason Terry the way he shuffles his feet, and how cuts to the basket. Kinda that sneaky, angly stuff. Not saying he's there yet or ever will be, but he's just a sophomore...three years now playing/practicing at the college level. He should be able to pick it up on defense pretty quickly you'd think, he's been practicing all these years college defensive schemes. He's one of the more interesting players we have to watch so hope he doesn't get in Miller's doghouse too bad here for defensive lapses. With our players currently, sprinkle in more offense, you get increased defensive liability. Some more months to work on it. That's why Akot, if he can get healthy, could carve out a role this year as a good defensive role player.

Dylan Smith also needs to be able to make a pass without turning the ball over on a regular basis.

How many times has the guy gotten the ball, and immediately passed or swung the ball to the opposite wing without even looking? This happens in the half court, and on in bounds plays. He just turns and passes the ball, without even reading the off-ball defender; resulting in live ball turnovers, which can be deadly.

[TucsonClip]

Great post.

If I had to nitpick on why the play ended up as it did, it would be 3 things.

1. Trier could have been slightly faster to close out the skip. This would have potentially delayed the swing pass by a hair.
2. Ayton is slow to recover. As the skip is thrown, he needs to be moving back so PJC can vacate a split second quicker and get to the shooter.
3. A&M is a really good team. Davis makes the right read and throws a dead on skip. The recipient immediately swings it with no dead time. If they hesitate for any time, throw an off target pass, are out of position or make a bad read, Parker closes hard and we're reset and they have nothing except maybe reposting Davis. They executed multiple things flawlessly with no hesitation.

Agreed. We are talking basic man principles here (x-out, help the helper, high/quick closeout). This is on top of the packline rules they have to learn. Defense isnt easy. Miller's defense isnt easy. These rotations are a great example of that alone, plus your comments above.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Great post.

If I had to nitpick on why the play ended up as it did, it would be 3 things.

1. Trier could have been slightly faster to close out the skip. This would have potentially delayed the swing pass by a hair.
2. Ayton is slow to recover. As the skip is thrown, he needs to be moving back so PJC can vacate a split second quicker and get to the shooter.
3. A&M is a really good team. Davis makes the right read and throws a dead on skip. The recipient immediately swings it with no dead time. If they hesitate for any time, throw an off target pass, are out of position or make a bad read, Parker closes hard and we're reset and they have nothing except maybe reposting Davis. They executed multiple things flawlessly with no hesitation.

Agreed. We are talking basic man principles here (x-out, help the helper, high/quick closeout). This is on top of the packline rules they have to learn. Defense isnt easy. Miller's defense isnt easy. These rotations are a great example of that alone, plus your comments above.

Yeah, that is why I don't sway to the idea that it's nice, easy and simple to implement a zone to keep in your back pocket. Principles of any defense aren't simple and good execution requires a lot of practice and timing. You don't just spend 5 minutes a practice on 2-3 and expect that you'll execute it well against a team with an effective, smart team.

Good offense always wins too. That play would have been tough to stop with any particular defensive move because A&M had a post mismatch and then executed perfectly when we doubled. There just isn't much you can do against a really good offense unless you can handle every matchup one on one.

[TucsonClip]

Yeah, that is why I don't sway to the idea that it's nice, easy and simple to implement a zone to keep in your back pocket. Principles of any defense aren't simple and good execution requires a lot of practice and timing. You don't just spend 5 minutes a practice on 2-3 and expect that you'll execute it well against a team with an effective, smart team.

Good offense always wins too. That play would have been tough to stop with any particular defensive move because A&M had a post mismatch and then executed perfectly when we doubled. There just isn't much you can do against a really good offense unless you can handle every matchup one on one.

100%. I am with you on the entire zone concept. The idea that "practicing" a zone here and there is a reasonable solution to any of our issues is ignoring your entire point. Im all for tossing out a zone for a possessions ATO, to totally screw up the opposing coach's play call in the huddle. Im not for implementing a zone as a viable defense, because if youve seen us defend as is, I dont know how you can think a zone would be much better.

Ive brought up adjustments I would like to see in Miller's defense, and I think those are more viable than a zone. However, even those are pushing it.

[EVCat]

Pretty good breakdown, but PJC make the right rotation. Its called an x-out. Basically, when player A (PJC) is helping, and the ball is rotated where player B (Trier) has to cover for player A's (PJC) man. Player A (PJC) then has to cross paths and pick up player B's (Trier) man. The two defenders literally cross paths picking up each others man via help, and form an X. So Trier us jumping out to cover the man on the wing, and PJC crosses to pick up Trier's man via help the helper.

It obviously would have made sense for Randolph to pass his man on to PJC instead, and then jump out on the ball reversal, but we dont switch like that. That switch would have been something the Warriors or Celtics do.

Great post.

If I had to nitpick on why the play ended up as it did, it would be 3 things.

1. Trier could have been slightly faster to close out the skip. This would have potentially delayed the swing pass by a hair.
2. Ayton is slow to recover. As the skip is thrown, he needs to be moving back so PJC can vacate a split second quicker and get to the shooter.
3. A&M is a really good team. Davis makes the right read and throws a dead on skip. The recipient immediately swings it with no dead time. If they hesitate for any time, throw an off target pass, are out of position or make a bad read, Parker closes hard and we're reset and they have nothing except maybe reposting Davis. They executed multiple things flawlessly with no hesitation.

Their ball movement off the doubles was something to see. The ball barely touched their hands. We did a great job of scrambling to deny shots off the double all night. Unless you were the dudebro behind me, who ran commentary all game about how our defense sucks, Trier sucks, everyone sucks, "why aren't his hands up? Miller doesn't teach D" yelled at a player who was running through a screen (he was using his hands at the moment). Ugggh...it was like the worst of the message board warrior in real life.

Ayton is good. Ayton can be real good. He is still hesitant on D and ends up in no-man's land, and he needs to present better in the post. One play, PJC literally ran back and forth trying to get the big man a post, and Ayton ran to the wrong side twice, then got caught waaaay low on the block with a defender over his left hip strong side...all he needed to do was step out and repost, or a subtle move with his off hand on hip at the setup. But...he'll get it.

Right now, we have great energy, mostly, on defense. I would be very nervous trying to enter new assignments right now. And a zone? No. We might lose -10 on the O boards alone every night.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ayton has a bad habit of relaxing when the ball gets reversed. You can see it in the twitter video. He executes a good big to big double, but when Davis skips, he straightens up like his job is done.

It kills us in ball rotation because Parker (example in the video) can't leave a ball side post until Ayton is on his way. The second hesitation by Ayton delays PJC and he can't get to the shooter.

Ayton has clearly been trying and it isn't laziness. He just doesn't have the automatic turn/sprint reflex yet.

[SunnyAZ]

https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/7/167 ... -nba-draft

Prospect breakdown of Ayton's defense, which is highlighting his lack of defense.

According to the tracking numbers at hooplens.com, the Wildcats are allowing 1.11 points per possession when the two centers play together and 0.98 points per possession when they don’t.

[Spaceman Spiff]

https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/7/167 ... -nba-draft

Prospect breakdown of Ayton's defense, which is highlighting his lack of defense.

According to the tracking numbers at hooplens.com, the Wildcats are allowing 1.11 points per possession when the two centers play together and 0.98 points per possession when they don’t.

So I disagree that this is a full on criticism of his D. It focuses exclusively on shotblocking. Zeus is a great recent example of the disconnect. He produced good defensive win share numbers and a lower block rate than Ayton.

Ayton has shown flashes of being a very good defender, and needs the consistency. He likely won't ever reach crazy block numbers like Bamba, but has potential to be better than Bamba everywhere else. Bamba has 4 times the block rate but Ayton is 0.6 in DWS and Bamba is 0.8, a minor difference.

Bamba's low DWS shows the adjustment process. Bamba is a high motor kid with great shot block timing and 11 foot arms, yet DUSAN's junior year had him posting more than a 0.8 DWS number.

[TucsonClip]

https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/7/167 ... -nba-draft

Prospect breakdown of Ayton's defense, which is highlighting his lack of defense.

According to the tracking numbers at hooplens.com, the Wildcats are allowing 1.11 points per possession when the two centers play together and 0.98 points per possession when they don’t.

My thoughts on that stat:

I find that data to be underwhelming, as we dont have much context besides it. Not to mention, we dont know what the number looks like w/ Ayton and w/o Ristic, and vice versa. All we know is that without BOTH of them on the floor, thats what the numbers say. We dont know which one is on the floor, who else is on the floor with either, let alone who each one is defending.

A prime example of this is the A&M game. Ristic vs. Davis and Ayton vs. Williams/Morelos. Ristic had by far the more difficult match up.

I certainly think it is something to investigate further, as is matches my eye test. However, there isnt much context behind it and I dont have any way to dive deeper into any tracking data to break it down further.

[azgreg]

[Merkin]

Well, Greg Byrne will be the there! Seems like old times.

Funsies!

[Olsondogg]

I'm as optimistic on Arizona basketball as they come....

normally...

I don't see a sweep of those teams at all. I have a feeling A & M crushes Arizona and Bama runs them as well.

Hope I'm wrong.

Dumbest post of the thread. Douchebag

[dcZONAfan]

I'm here to blame Parker for the loss to Alabama....

Wow, this feels good. I'm gonna blame him for everything from here on out, just like mostly everyone here!

[YoDeFoe]

https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/7/167 ... -nba-draft

Prospect breakdown of Ayton's defense, which is highlighting his lack of defense.

According to the tracking numbers at hooplens.com, the Wildcats are allowing 1.11 points per possession when the two centers play together and 0.98 points per possession when they don’t.

So I disagree that this is a full on criticism of his D. It focuses exclusively on shotblocking. Zeus is a great recent example of the disconnect. He produced good defensive win share numbers and a lower block rate than Ayton.

Ayton has shown flashes of being a very good defender, and needs the consistency. He likely won't ever reach crazy block numbers like Bamba, but has potential to be better than Bamba everywhere else. Bamba has 4 times the block rate but Ayton is 0.6 in DWS and Bamba is 0.8, a minor difference.

Bamba's low DWS shows the adjustment process. Bamba is a high motor kid with great shot block timing and 11 foot arms, yet DUSAN's junior year had him posting more than a 0.8 DWS number.

I've defended our guys for their low steal % and block rates, pointing to the packline as a "positioning over stats D". But if we're looking at Ayton and being honest this sentence is accurate and it sucks:

He rarely makes two efforts at contesting a shot, and he’s not particularly diligent about getting himself involved in a play when it doesn’t involve his man.

If you imagine what Arizona could be if Ayton becomes a defensive monster, you know the above is true.

[azcat49]

Anyone think maybe the OOC schedule ended up being a little better(tougher) than we thought. I did not see the games in the tourney but Purdue is a top 15 team, SMU is a tourney team. I thought UNLV was very good, especially in the front court and they will play in March Madness.

I thought A&M was and is a FF contender and Alabama was really good on the perimeter and should contend with Kentucky for the conference crown. Not sure how good New Mexico or UConn is but I for one think this schedule has been a surprise in its toughness

[Alieberman]

Is it possible we aren't as bad as the team that played in the Bahamas for 3 days?

Interesting to me last night....

With the addition of Rawle one might think Miller would have a longer bench... instead we basically went only 7 deep using basically only Ira and Rawle. (Barcello 3 minutes, Pinder 4 and Dylan Smith 1)

Is this a sign of things to come?

[zonagrad]

Is it possible we aren't as bad as the team that played in the Bahamas for 3 days?

Interesting to me last night....

With the addition of Rawle one might think Miller would have a longer bench... instead we basically went only 7 deep using basically only Ira and Rawle. (Barcello 3 minutes, Pinder 4 and Dylan Smith 1)

Is this a sign of things to come?

Yes. Yes it is. Smith, Barcello and Pinder might see more minutes in some Pac 12 games on the road when our conference's crappy refs no doubt will get Ayton, Trier or Alkins in foul trouble. They be needed in a few games down the road. But overall, our rotation is going to tighten up. Miller knows who his key contributors are and will be. It's amazing when you compare the minutes played vs. Bama agains the minutes played in the Bahamas. It's no wonder we lost three games. If Alkins was healthy, we probably go 2-1 on that trip.

We have three more weeks until we open conference play against ASU. They're off to a nice start, playing with a veteran group of guards. But I think some of it is fool's gold. A lot of teams are finding their way in November and December. Hell, Duke just lost at Boston College. I can't see ASU stopping our front line of Ayton & Ristic. They certainly can't double Ristic on the block with Ayton on the court, because we'll kill them on the glass. Unless ASU is unconscious from 3 three point range, they can't hang with us for 40 minutes.

[SunnyAZ]

I'm guessing a healthy Akot is still an important player to our team.

[EOCT]

I'm guessing a healthy Akot is still an important player to our team.

Same here. If not, a real mystery.

[EOCT]

ASU leading Kansa 10 points with 7 mins left!

I'm rooting for ASU---can't do anything but help us with seeding rep when we kick their asses twice during conference!

[RondaeShimmy]

All guard team doesn't worry anyone?

It's like the perfect way to attack twin towers

That and hitting 3s

[FreeSpiritCat]

Beating Kansas on the road is impressive. ASU is a top 10 team. They are playing better than the Cats are right now. The scummies could win the conference.