The 2021-2022 Season Thread

[UAEebs86]

Anyone seen a line posted for tomorrow yet?
Thinking it’ll be Tennessee -2

Not yet, Im thinking AZ -3.5

https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaab/col ... ecember-22

Money line all day!

No money line listed now

[gronk4heisman]

Anyone seen a line posted for tomorrow yet?
Thinking it’ll be Tennessee -2

Not yet, Im thinking AZ -3.5

https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaab/col ... ecember-22

Money line all day!

No money line listed now

+102 on Fanduel right not, I locked in at +118

[Jefe]

Buddy texted me from Austin and just asked why we're not favored. Told him Tutelis is out but still ML 'em!

[azgreg]

Another post from Vols Nation:

Is this the biggest the biggest game of the season so far? I think so. A win against a top 6 team in TBA would be wild. Arizona is no joke... I wish I could say I know how we win this game, but I don't. Shooting the 3 at a high level is the only way I see a win in this one. Arizona has some legit big men along with really solid guard play and I can bet they will pressure us all up and down the court. Against Illinois Arizona ran a 1-2-2 press most the game and it will REALLY slow you down. We're in for a 15 round fight here and if we can throw some counter punches at home it should be an exciting game. I'll give the rotation for Arizona as well as ORtg (offensive rating) All #s from KenPom.com.

Before I go into it KP predicts we win this game 75-73 with a 58% chance of winning. I'll just say I do not see that happening. These Arizona guys shoot at a high clip as well as rebound better than pretty much anybody else, especially offensively.

PG: Kerr Kriisa (6'3" 180) ORtg 119.5 231st in the country
SG: Dalen Terry (6'7" 195) ORtg 122.9 159th in the country
SF: Benedict Mathurin (6'6" 210) ORtg 119.4 239th in the country
PF: Azuolas Tubelis (6' 11" 245) ORtg 119.4 239th in the country
C: Christian Koloko (7'1" 230) ORtg 128.8 74th in the country
Reserves:
Pelle Larson (6'5" 215) ORtg 115.2 397th in the country
Oumar Ballo (7'0" 260)

Arizona will play those seven and possibly eight depending on foul trouble. We are one of the worst teams in the country in getting FTA to FGA so I wouldn't expect us to get anybody in foul trouble. I've seen many say this could be a Plavsic game and I highly disagree. Plavsic does not have the "foot speed" our other bigs do, Arizona would screen and roll him to death. This is a game I think we have to go small and use JJJ for his solid rebounding and quickness.

I have to say, I think our post play since the days of Grant and Kyle has been SO soft that it's really sad. Fulk and Pons did a solid job in a year we had bad guard play, but when the guard play caught up they didn't do the same. I know, Fulk is out there battling injuries and all that. Pons was a shot blocking guy that helped but he also hurt in his abilities to rebound since he wanted that blocked shot so bad. There's no arguing that Grant and Kyle were so much tougher overall than what we've seen since. If this team is going to make noise it will be because our bigs decided to man up down low.

Arizona runs their offense at a level I'm not sure we've ran into this season. Zona plays four guys that shoot .35%+from 3 and with the "force you to shoot" defense we play that could be a death sentence. We may have to rely on an off night from Arizona to win this one.

Our X Factor me is ORN or JJJ. One of those two will win us this game. Obviously our best player in Kennedy Chandler getting guys good shots is a huge part. This will be another game where Chandler likely won't have a Colorado type game attacking the rim. If we go as far as Chandler this will be a game where he will show the ability to attack and draw defenders for good looks/his ability to shoot the 3.

I hate this match up honestly. I'd give us a 25% chance to win this one, even if we're at home. Maybe we hit shots and Zona doesn't, I just don't see it.

Prediction: Tennessee 66 Arizona 77

[Longhorned]

Just heard from a proverbial “friend of a friend” that Tubelis injured his hand. It’s allegedly pretty swollen and the team is not sure if he’ll be able to go tonight. Has anybody heard anything to corroborate this?

Maybe not the correct Tubelis?

Tutelis?

Post of the year

[97cats]

start of the longest road trip in 13years...lets do this!

Go Cats!!

[RondaeShimmy]

Arizona low iq cost them the game

So many chances but they turned stupid when it got close

First loss of the season and it was just dumb.

No better example of low iq than Kerr taking a heat check 3 down 2 late in the game.

Also have to hit their FTs. Down 62-60 and Arizona went to the line TWICE and missed the front end of the 1&1 FTs and couldn't tie and/or take the lead.

[EastCoastCat]

We played dumb for an entire game which is the first time all season.

Better in December vs. March.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Look, I said not to get too high when we were winning or too low when we lose. This is why.

That was terrible IQ and we weren't ready to play at the start. Both are just fatal. I hope Lloyd and the team learn and grow from this.

It's a long season with time to improve, so the sky isn't falling. The mental mistakes and sharting out the gate are the things that have to change.

[dmjcat]

Thoughts after the game:

The "We don't miss Akinjo" fantasy is over

The "Koloko is NBA ready" fantasy is over

Our collective basketball IQ when pressured is NOT good.

Coach Lloyd has 8 days to figure out how to run an offense against a tough defensive team that puts pressure on the ball. Tyger Campbell is going to be an even bigger nightmare for Kerr than Chandler was tonight.

Tubelis has to figure out how to play against smaller quicker players........he isn't going to have an easier time against Jaquez at UCLA

I would take an LA road split in a heartbeat right now.

That loud sound you heard at the end of the game was Seth Davis having an orgasm

[dovecanyoncat]

I'd like to know what came out of Kriisa's mouth.

[RawleArenas]

Lloyd needs to call a quicker timeout when the team in unsettled. That lead doesn't balloon in the first half like it did.

[RawleArenas]

Thoughts after the game:

The "We don't miss Akinjo" fantasy is over

The "Koloko is NBA ready" fantasy is over

Our collective basketball IQ when pressured is NOT good.

Coach Lloyd has 8 days to figure out how to run an offense against a tough defensive team that puts pressure on the ball. Tyger Campbell is going to be an even bigger nightmare for Kerr than Chandler was tonight.

Tubelis has to figure out how to play against smaller quicker players........he isn't going to have an easier time against Jaquez at UCLA

I would take an LA road split in a heartbeat right now.

That loud sound you heard at the end of the game was Seth Davis having an orgasm

As you know I'm big on Akinjo. He would have carved up Tennessee like a turkey (like he did with Duke, Illinois and Marquette). Him and Benn would have taken over.

[dmjcat]

Thoughts after the game:

The "We don't miss Akinjo" fantasy is over

The "Koloko is NBA ready" fantasy is over

Our collective basketball IQ when pressured is NOT good.

Coach Lloyd has 8 days to figure out how to run an offense against a tough defensive team that puts pressure on the ball. Tyger Campbell is going to be an even bigger nightmare for Kerr than Chandler was tonight.

Tubelis has to figure out how to play against smaller quicker players........he isn't going to have an easier time against Jaquez at UCLA

I would take an LA road split in a heartbeat right now.

That loud sound you heard at the end of the game was Seth Davis having an orgasm

As you know I'm big on Akinjo. He would have carved up Tennessee like a turkey (like he did with Duke, Illinois and Marquette). Him and Benn would have taken over.

That is the achilles heel of this team.......we don't have a guard who handles the ball well under pressure.

[phxcat23]

Yeah seeing Akinjo playing on Baylor the other day was rough. Does he ball hog at times, of course, but he takes care of the ball and can ball when needed.

[RondaeShimmy]

I don't think a lot of the guys that are good on this team would've been here if Akinjo was on the team, point is moot.

[WildcatStunner]

Awful start to put us in a hole we had a hard time getting out of. Officiating didn't do us any favors. We fought like hell and made a game out of it. Sucks to lose. Specifically cause it felt like we hurt ourselves more than Tennessee did. But whatever, learn from it and hope this team can grow.

[RawleArenas]

I wonder if Terrell Brown regrets transferring. He wasn't Akinjo, but would've been a really solid number two.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Awful start to put us in a hole we had a hard time getting out of. Officiating didn't do us any favors. We fought like hell and made a game out of it. Sucks to lose. Specifically cause it felt like we hurt ourselves more than Tennessee did. But whatever, learn from it and hope this team can grow.

Long season, but the other frustrating part was Tennessee played poorly. Chandler is a stud and was way off all game. They missed a ton of ft's too.

Neither team played well. We had a few good runs or we'd have been blown out.

Oh well, the important part is how we move forward.

[RawleArenas]

Interesting thing is, we didn't drop in Kenpom. Still #6, I'm thinking we drop 3-4 spots in the AP rankings.

[RondaeShimmy]

Honestly our drop coverage was pretty good vs Chandler

Made him take deep 2s or floaters

[billk78]

I have to say, some of the things I'm seeing tweeted at Kerr tonight by supposed Cat fans are absolutely disgusting. Hurling insults and saying to leave the team. Unbelievable. The kid plays his heart out for this team. He made a mistake with the Tech (we think; who knows with those refs). But where would this team be without him? And I have a feeling those same "fans" will be Tweeting how much they love him when he's winning us games in March.

Akinjo left. Let it go. Kerr stayed loyal. He's our point guard. BTFD.

[billk78]

Honestly our drop coverage was pretty good vs Chandler

Made him take deep 2s or floaters

100%. The problem early was we had no offense, so we couldn't' get set on defense and it led to some easy buckets (mostly and 1's or fouls) for Tenn. Second half was much much better.

[YoDeFoe]

Interesting thing is, we didn't drop in Kenpom. Still #6, I'm thinking we drop 3-4 spots in the AP rankings.

We drop two spots in the votes, no more

[YoDeFoe]

I'd like to know what came out of Kriisa's mouth.

He said "let's go" while clapping at Terry

[dovecanyoncat]

I'd like to know what came out of Kriisa's mouth.

He said "let's go" while clapping at Terry

Like I said elsewhere: he was lucky they didn't eject him from the game.

[dmjcat]

Interesting thing is, we didn't drop in Kenpom. Still #6, I'm thinking we drop 3-4 spots in the AP rankings.

We drop two spots in the votes, no more

Do you think that Seth Davis is only going to drop us 2 spots?

[dmjcat]

I have to say, some of the things I'm seeing tweeted at Kerr tonight by supposed Cat fans are absolutely disgusting. Hurling insults and saying to leave the team. Unbelievable. The kid plays his heart out for this team. He made a mistake with the Tech (we think; who knows with those refs). But where would this team be without him? And I have a feeling those same "fans" will be Tweeting how much they love him when he's winning us games in March.

Akinjo left. Let it go. Kerr stayed loyal. He's our point guard. BTFD.

Agree completely. Attacking college kids on a personal level is lower than a snakes belly.

Having said that I think it is fair to say that Kerr needs to grow. I don't mind the swagger but it needs to be intelligent swagger.....not stupid swagger. And that 3 point shot he took late in the game while at full speed with a hand in his face was not what I would call an optimal shot.

[YoDeFoe]

Interesting thing is, we didn't drop in Kenpom. Still #6, I'm thinking we drop 3-4 spots in the AP rankings.

We drop two spots in the votes, no more

Do you think that Seth Davis is only going to drop us 2 spots?

Davis is already on twitter bitching at Arizona fans for lampooning him for low rankings of the team to date. "You lost so now what" type of stuff.

He's turned into a real jackass.

[YoDeFoe]

The first thing to be said about this game should be that the refs were in the fucking bag for Tennessee from the get go.*

The last thing to be said should be that this team fought together and stayed tough to get the game within reach at the end.

(*I don't think I've ever led off with that statement and I feel no qualms about using it now)

[Bordercat]

What's this talk about Kerr? Love that kid.

[Postmaster]

Does Ballo have an injured hand?
This is second game I’ve seen him grab his hand after some contact.

[dovecanyoncat]

I hope Koloko's right shoulder is OK.

[prh]

This team played as bad of basketball as is humanly possible for 13 minutes, and fought and clawed their way back despite having the entire team in (fucking ridiculous) foul trouble, some highly....questionable...officiating. I sure hope they learn from this, but there are definitely positives to take from this if you're so inclined.

[Beachcat97]

Arizona will soon be approaching a stretch without a home game for almost a month while playing four true road games in that same period against Tennessee, UCLA, USC, and ASU.

the xmas/New Years road tour toward a #1 Seed

Predicted a few weeks back that our only 3 game losing streak of the season would begin tonight. Sticking by that.

Even if we do drop the next two, we’ll still be in the mix for a 2 seed if we protect home court and win the road games we’re supposed to.

[pokinmik]

Of course it could happen but I’d be pretty surprised if we don’t win one of the two LA games. This team is too good and they’re due to handle the adversity a little better and play a cleaner game. Ask any non-vol SEC fan, playing at tenn is a house of horrors. We overcame a shitload and were one fluke 3-point play rebound putback from being able to win.

[97cats]

Arizona will soon be approaching a stretch without a home game for almost a month while playing four true road games in that same period against Tennessee, UCLA, USC, and ASU.

the xmas/New Years road tour toward a #1 Seed

Predicted a few weeks back that our only 3 game losing streak of the season would begin tonight. Sticking by that.

Even if we do drop the next two, we’ll still be in the mix for a 2 seed if we protect home court and win the road games we’re supposed to.

tough start at Tennessee for Arizona - seemed as tho they had sea legs a bit for the first time, and heck, its that time of year. arrived in Knoxville late the night before, its a learning lesson for coaches and players. i tend to forget there is a lot of firsts for Lloyd as well in admits of all the lopsided winning.

look for Arizona to bounce back in LA (if the games are even played)

[Beachcat97]

Of course it could happen but I’d be pretty surprised if we don’t win one of the two LA games. This team is too good and they’re due to handle the adversity a little better and play a cleaner game. Ask any non-vol SEC fan, playing at tenn is a house of horrors. We overcame a shitload and were one fluke 3-point play rebound putback from being able to win.

I don’t disagree with any of that.

UCLA is much better than Tennessee. Provided the game actually happens next week, it’ll easily be our hardest road game so far this season. Jaquez is their best player and a match-up problem. Kriisa will have to play much smarter vs. Campbell. Maybe Mathurin guards him? Could see Terry on Juzang.

USC is a much more winnable game. But it’ll be our third straight road game against a ranked opponent. Major challenge for this team.

Here’s hoping for at least a split in L.A.! If it doesn’t happen, I have zero doubt we’ll crush ASU the next game.

[Alieberman]

We played an awful game against a good team on the road… and still made a game of it

I’m not any less optimistic today than before this game

[DrWildcat]

I really don't know whether to be mad that we didn't show up or to be pleased that we still made it a game.

[Longhorned]

We played an awful game against a good team on the road… and still made a game of it

I’m not any less optimistic today than before this game

Me, too. I'm disappointed in the loss. I expected to win. But I had to leave it in the first half when it couldn't have looked worse, and then followed it on my phone as we somehow tied it up. We seriously shot 59% against the best defense in the country in the second half on the road?

Besides, if we aren't laying a egg at Christmastime, then this isn't Arizona Basketball!

[Beachcat97]

Besides, if we aren't laying a egg at Christmastime, then this isn't Arizona Basketball!

Literally said the exact same thing to my Dad during the game, lol.

I even have a vague memory of losing to a different SEC team - LSU - in December back when Lute was still on the sidelines. Think they had Stromile Swift.

These letdown games right before Christmas are pretty common. And we were on the road against a top 15-ish team. And STILL almost won. Take away the Kriisa tech and hit a few more FTs, and it’s an AZ victory.

[Alieberman]

We couldn’t shoot
We couldn’t rebound
We kept turning the ball over
We weren’t playing smart
We had no energy
We could not get any 50/50 balls
Officiating was… not favoring us

We were 2 plays away from winning

I don’t know what most of you want from these guys… they aren’t robots… they will have bad games.

I’m encouraged

[Longhorned]

Besides, if we aren't laying a egg at Christmastime, then this isn't Arizona Basketball!

Literally said the exact same thing to my Dad during the game, lol.

I even have a vague memory of losing to a different SEC team - LSU - in December back when Lute was still on the sidelines. Think they had Stromile Swift.

These letdown games right before Christmas are pretty common. And we were on the road against a top 15-ish team. And STILL almost won. Take away the Kriisa tech and hit a few more FTs, and it’s an AZ victory.

Yeah, Christmastime generally. That LSU game was something like Dec. 27th I think. And the players really didn't show up for that one, while LSU was pumped. We tried to win that by turning the switch on with five minutes left in regulation.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Honestly our drop coverage was pretty good vs Chandler

Made him take deep 2s or floaters

I sort of go back and forth on this. It worked, but I wonder how much was D and how much was Chandler missing makeable shots.

This is just memory, but I remember him regularly getting 13-17 foot jumpers without a heavy contest. He made basically zero of them, but they are makeable shots.

It's something I said earlier, as much as we missed a ton of opportunities, Tenn missed a lot too. I'm sure if you asked them, they'd feel like they shot poorly and could have closed it out earlier if they made a few more makeable shots.

Cleaning up mental mistakes is a big thing, but an underrated part of last night was getting outrebounded by 3. Between our size and the fact we gave away a ton of possessions (i.e., likely defensive rebounds for UT) that's not what you want to see.

It's early and the biggest thing is how we respond to this. It's the first time we've looked vulnerable, and whether we build from it or regress matters so much more than last night.

[MountainCat]

Of course it could happen but I’d be pretty surprised if we don’t win one of the two LA games. This team is too good and they’re due to handle the adversity a little better and play a cleaner game. Ask any non-vol SEC fan, playing at tenn is a house of horrors. We overcame a shitload and were one fluke 3-point play rebound putback from being able to win.

Yep agree. Most want to say how bad we played, that we stink. I say those fans are already spoiled. As bad as we played, We were only one play away from a win. We couldn’t keep our starters in a rotation due to fouls early on. Yes Tennessee plays a great defense, but half the calls against us were shadow fouls.

How many times in the first half did #10 catch the ball down low, bang his head and shoulders into our player who was already in a stationary position (with hands up) only to draw the foul on us. In fact two times he bounced off Ballo, twice in the same play, while trying to get a layup only to draw the foul without dribbling the ball. Ballo never budge each time while he bounced off.

Sorry but the refs were totally bias and got away with it. We came back with great defense and tying the game only to get a fantom tech on Kerr. The tv replay show it up close of Kerr saying “*clap*clap let’s go *clap*clap” then looking at the ref with a smile, only to get the foul. I think the refs were Illinois fans or something.

We lost, so be it. A great loss, on the road, hostel crowd, with everything against us and - the players never gave up and kept their cool and almost won.

Bring on UCLA & USC.

Let’s support this team for who they are now. No one thought we would be this good. Let’s have fun.

BTW - I bet Coach Barnes tries to pay for dinner.

[Beachcat97]

Anyone else sorta think Illinois is much better than Tennessee? Like, if those two met on a neutral court, my money is on the Illini, especially if Cockburn is healthy.

[RawleArenas]

Honestly our drop coverage was pretty good vs Chandler

Made him take deep 2s or floaters

I sort of go back and forth on this. It worked, but I wonder how much was D and how much was Chandler missing makeable shots.

This is just memory, but I remember him regularly getting 13-17 foot jumpers without a heavy contest. He made basically zero of them, but they are makeable shots.

It's something I said earlier, as much as we missed a ton of opportunities, Tenn missed a lot too. I'm sure if you asked them, they'd feel like they shot poorly and could have closed it out earlier if they made a few more makeable shots.

Cleaning up mental mistakes is a big thing, but an underrated part of last night was getting outrebounded by 3. Between our size and the fact we gave away a ton of possessions (i.e., likely defensive rebounds for UT) that's not what you want to see.

It's early and the biggest thing is how we respond to this. It's the first time we've looked vulnerable, and whether we build from it or regress matters so much more than last night.

I'm sorry, I totally disagree. You can't have your top bigs for only 19 and 13 minutes in the game respectively and expect to be a force on the glass. It ain't happening. Part of the function of good defense (we're top 10 too) is to create a pressure atmosphere where it disrupts the timing of your shots. I think Chandler fell into this (he is a freshman after all) considering this is his first genuinely marquee game. We had 3 impact players foul out, two others players with 4, while Tennessee had one player 4 with Fulkerson only having 2.

While I agree with Lloyd that you don't blame refs, especially when you had your chances. Pretty much every non biased eye on that game felt the zebras whistles were on fire.

And yes, I think Illinois is better than Tennessee, especially when they get Andre Curbelo back. Which is why I was puzzled Tubelis played so poorly being that he has played in a hostile environment before. Anyways, neutral site game with Tennessee and all that smugness would be wiped away by halftime.

[84Cat]

Good breakdown

[RondaeShimmy]

Honestly our drop coverage was pretty good vs Chandler

Made him take deep 2s or floaters

I sort of go back and forth on this. It worked, but I wonder how much was D and how much was Chandler missing makeable shots.

This is just memory, but I remember him regularly getting 13-17 foot jumpers without a heavy contest. He made basically zero of them, but they are makeable shots.

Isn't that the point of drop coverage?

Forcing players to take these gettable bad shots that aren't as easy as layups and don't kill you like 3s.

You basically have to be CP3 to kill a team repeatedly, like he did these past playoff run. Other than that, it's a bad shot most of the time.