The 2021-2022 Season Thread

[UAEebs86]

I thought according to the NCAA these are students first, athletes 2nd. How can they go to class with these crazy schedules?

[EastCoastCat]

I thought according to the NCAA these are students first, athletes 2nd. How can they go to class with these crazy schedules?

You really need to use emojis when you say things that are so hilarious.

[RondaeShimmy]

WHITE OUT THE WILDCATS

Arizona coming off a close emotional win vs Oregon I thought they would lose soon, because that's usually how it works in basketball.

Utah wasn't good enough to do it, but there was no energy there for that Colorado loss. Usc just came off a close emotional win

[Beachcat97]

USC is going to shoot 70% on Tuesday and then 35% on Saturday. Watch.

[dovecanyoncat]

That's like saying water is wet.

[RondaeShimmy]

USC is going to shoot 70% on Tuesday and then 35% on Saturday. Watch.

After two close emotional, draining wins, I'm saying they'll come out with not enough intensity to win. Come out flat

Arizona had won 9 in a row and didn't have any energy or intensity or any desire to win let alone be there in that loss. Arizona got it's bad loss out of the way and unless this team completely collapses mentally, will be focused.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

I'm calling the bounce back butt whooping! Down at sea level again, just got embarrassed, time for a beat down.

[Postmaster]

Well in thinner air, the ball should go farther so they shouldn’t be hitting the front of rim if they are tired.

Teams are defending the high low post pass better and we didn’t have anyone who could make a long J.

[cats101]

WHITE OUT THE WILDCATS

Arizona coming off a close emotional win vs Oregon I thought they would lose soon, because that's usually how it works in basketball.

Utah wasn't good enough to do it, but there was no energy there for that Colorado loss. Usc just came off a close emotional win

It's flattering to be the superbowl for teams but kind of annoying. Good thing we're still winning the PAC 12 regular season

[cats101]

WHITE OUT THE WILDCATS

Arizona coming off a close emotional win vs Oregon I thought they would lose soon, because that's usually how it works in basketball.

Utah wasn't good enough to do it, but there was no energy there for that Colorado loss. Usc just came off a close emotional win

It's flattering to be the superbowl for teams but kind of annoying. Good thing we're still winning the PAC 12 regular season

[RondaeShimmy]

[RondaeShimmy]

Arizona stays #2 in the new ap poll (2/28)

#13 Tennessee
#16 usc
#17 UCLA
#20 Illinois

[dmjcat]

Lot of spread in the votes. The bulk of the AZ votes were for 3rd.

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

[EastCoastCat]

https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-colleg ... tball-poll

#3 Baylor
#4 Duke (ugh)

[RondaeShimmy]

Arizona stays #2 in the new ap poll (2/28)

#13 Tennessee
#16 usc
#17 UCLA
#20 Illinois

Good week to get that bad loss out of the way

Not let's win vs USC

[Beachcat97]

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

You can count on it. Tomorrow's game became a whole lot more important when we lost to Colorado.

[RondaeShimmy]

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

A) Arizona's two biggest haters besides that Oregon writer still hate us, nothing new

B) you said Colorado loss would be devastating and knock us off the 1 seed line (probably in the ap as well). Lunardi's latest bracket and pretty much everyone else's still has us as a #1

C) you keep being wrong

[Alieberman]

Just a reminder that AP voters have zero effect on Selection Committee

[ChooChooCat]

Lot of spread in the votes. The bulk of the AZ votes were for 3rd.

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

[Beachcat97]

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

It's not just losing to the #16 team on the road though, Choo.

It would be our first two-game losing streak of the season, and it's getting awfully late in the day. That's the wider context for tomorrow's game.

Not sure how we can drop two straight games and remain a 1 seed.

[EastCoastCat]

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

It's not just losing to the #16 team on the road though, Choo.

It would be our first two-game losing streak of the season, and it's getting awfully late in the day. That's the wider context for tomorrow's game.

Not sure how we can drop two straight games and remain a 1 seed.

I don't think that's what Choo is saying.

Dimcat was attempting to conclude that because of what Seth & the rest of the typewriter maintenance teachers did by dropping us so low in their rankings that's what's going to happen in the real world.

[ChooChooCat]

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

It's not just losing to the #16 team on the road though, Choo.

It would be our first two-game losing streak of the season, and it's getting awfully late in the day. That's the wider context for tomorrow's game.

Not sure how we can drop two straight games and remain a 1 seed.

You're not sure huh? The fact that literally every other #1 seed competing team not named Duke just lost this past Saturday, so that basically puts all the #1 seed possibilities on the same footing doesn't matter to you huh? One Quad 2 road loss isn't going to kill our resume to drop us and One QUAD 1 road loss most definitely will not. Now there's less margin for error in the Pac 12 tournament, but no, we are not dropping from a 1 seed if we drop two in a row. The committee no longer uses the final 10 games (or however many games it was) metric any more. Quit overthinking it, because you only pay attention to Arizona and don't know the other teams' resumes. Auburn has lost 3 out of its last 6 including a quad 2 road loss and is still a 1 seed FFS.

[Beachcat97]

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

It's not just losing to the #16 team on the road though, Choo.

It would be our first two-game losing streak of the season, and it's getting awfully late in the day. That's the wider context for tomorrow's game.

Not sure how we can drop two straight games and remain a 1 seed.

You're not sure huh? The fact that literally every other #1 seed competing team not named Duke just lost this past Saturday, so that basically puts all the #1 seed possibilities on the same footing doesn't matter to you huh? One Quad 2 road loss isn't going to kill our resume to drop us and One QUAD 1 road loss most definitely will not. Now there's less margin for error in the Pac 12 tournament, but no, we are not dropping from a 1 seed if we drop two in a row. The committee no longer uses the final 10 games (or however many games it was) metric any more. Quit overthinking it, because you only pay attention to Arizona and don't know the other teams' resumes. Auburn has lost 3 out of its last 6 including a quad 2 road loss and is still a 1 seed FFS.

All good points, Choo. Still, I'll feel much better if we get the W tomorrow, as will you.

I'm also glad to see you acknowledge that the Pac tourney has become more important in light of recent events. Here I was hoping Tommy could just play the reserves and quietly bow out in the semis, but now I'm thinking we need to reach the tourney final to truly lock up a 1. And this is if we lose to USC tomorrow. If we beat USC, Tommy can play the subs!

[Alieberman]

Isn't Colorado even close to being a quad 1? (I thinkn they are #78- and 75 and under on road is quad 1)

Couldn't Colorado even move up to a Quad 1?

[RondaeShimmy]

Isn't Colorado even close to being a quad 1? (I thinkn they are #78- and 75 and under on road is quad 1)

Couldn't Colorado even move up to a Quad 1?

Yes, if they move up a couple spots it'll be a quad 1 loss. (Currently 77)

But they only have 1 game left at Utah to do it in the regular season.

[ChooChooCat]

Yeah if we lose to the #16 team on the road we may drop out of the top 25 altogether!

It's not just losing to the #16 team on the road though, Choo.

It would be our first two-game losing streak of the season, and it's getting awfully late in the day. That's the wider context for tomorrow's game.

Not sure how we can drop two straight games and remain a 1 seed.

You're not sure huh? The fact that literally every other #1 seed competing team not named Duke just lost this past Saturday, so that basically puts all the #1 seed possibilities on the same footing doesn't matter to you huh? One Quad 2 road loss isn't going to kill our resume to drop us and One QUAD 1 road loss most definitely will not. Now there's less margin for error in the Pac 12 tournament, but no, we are not dropping from a 1 seed if we drop two in a row. The committee no longer uses the final 10 games (or however many games it was) metric any more. Quit overthinking it, because you only pay attention to Arizona and don't know the other teams' resumes. Auburn has lost 3 out of its last 6 including a quad 2 road loss and is still a 1 seed FFS.

All good points, Choo. Still, I'll feel much better if we get the W tomorrow, as will you.

I'm also glad to see you acknowledge that the Pac tourney has become more important in light of recent events. Here I was hoping Tommy could just play the reserves and quietly bow out in the semis, but now I'm thinking we need to reach the tourney final to truly lock up a 1. And this is if we lose to USC tomorrow. If we beat USC, Tommy can play the subs!

I mean I want to win and I expect to win. Winning does 100% wrap up a 1 seed and of course the conference. Regardless in the end even if we lose we are still hold all the cards to obtain both in the end.

[ChooChooCat]

Isn't Colorado even close to being a quad 1? (I thinkn they are #78- and 75 and under on road is quad 1)

Couldn't Colorado even move up to a Quad 1?

Yes, if they move up a couple spots it'll be a quad 1 loss. (Currently 77)

But they only have 1 game left at Utah to do it in the regular season.

If they beat Oregon in the Pac-12 tourney though....

[TheCatInTheHat]

Teams are defending the high low post pass better and we didn’t have anyone who could make a long J.

This is true. Colorado gets some home court edge from altitude against a running team, just as we get some from big crowds booing instant replays that go against us. Teams are anticipating and jumping passing lanes on us more, and we have to adjust to it. I'm not crazy about having a third straight road game scheduled. Somebody on radio pointed out that we were unique among the contenders in having road games cancelled and rescheduled with UCLA after the Bay Area road swing and now USC after the Mountain swing. So be it. As to refs, people simplify it too much with just the foul count, but getting key players in foul trouble early and allowing a physical game throw you off early before you get your sea legs on the road can certainly be a factor. To his credit, Lloyd isn't talking about any of that, plus I think he prefers a physical game called, and the NCAA Tournament generally is. But it worked to Boyle's benefit this time, and he took advantage of it. In any event, going into this three game road trip, I had it as two Ls. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[azcat49]

Curious about our response tomorrow night. Back end of a three game roadie is usually killer but we have responded all year long.

CU owned the paint and dated us to hit shots from three. They took away those lob passes and really made it hard for us on our 2 pt FG%. We need to adjust and dictate the flow better. Going to be tough because USC is better than CU

[Longhorned]

CU owned the paint and dated us to hit shots from three.

I once fell in love with a girl who was just dating me to hit shots from three.

[dmjcat]

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

A) Arizona's two biggest haters besides that Oregon writer still hate us, nothing new

B) you said Colorado loss would be devastating and knock us off the 1 seed line (probably in the ap as well). Lunardi's latest bracket and pretty much everyone else's still has us as a #1

C) you keep being wrong

Huh?? Are you having reading comprehension problems as well???

Please show me the post where I said that losing to Colorado would knock us out of a #1 seed

I'm waiting.

[UAEebs86]

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

A) Arizona's two biggest haters besides that Oregon writer still hate us, nothing new

B) you said Colorado loss would be devastating and knock us off the 1 seed line (probably in the ap as well). Lunardi's latest bracket and pretty much everyone else's still has us as a #1

C) you keep being wrong

Huh?? Are you having reading comprehension problems as well???

Please show me the post where I said that losing to Colorado would knock us out of a #1 seed

I'm waiting.

That was easy.

there is obv a lock category too - Gonzaga is pretty close and if AZ holds serve this weekend they will all but be a lock as well. if Auburn plays now through Tennessee undefeated and beats the Vols in Knoxville on the 25th (something Kentucky & Arizona couldnt) they will move to permanent lock status - Tigers visit Florida and host Ole Miss prior and should handle both those games.

Disagree about the UA being a lock solely on winning this weekend. If we crap the bed and lose to Utah and or Colorado the next week we will be bounced off the one line faster than the speed of light.

You really should use the search function if you can't remember what you posted.

[Alieberman]

Ouch.

[dmjcat]

Seth Davis dropped us to 5th.

Wilner dropped us to 7th.

One voter ranked us 10th.

One more loss, I fear, will drop us several slots.

A) Arizona's two biggest haters besides that Oregon writer still hate us, nothing new

B) you said Colorado loss would be devastating and knock us off the 1 seed line (probably in the ap as well). Lunardi's latest bracket and pretty much everyone else's still has us as a #1

C) you keep being wrong

Huh?? Are you having reading comprehension problems as well???

Please show me the post where I said that losing to Colorado would knock us out of a #1 seed

I'm waiting.

That was easy.

there is obv a lock category too - Gonzaga is pretty close and if AZ holds serve this weekend they will all but be a lock as well. if Auburn plays now through Tennessee undefeated and beats the Vols in Knoxville on the 25th (something Kentucky & Arizona couldnt) they will move to permanent lock status - Tigers visit Florida and host Ole Miss prior and should handle both those games.

Disagree about the UA being a lock solely on winning this weekend. If we crap the bed and lose to Utah and or Colorado the next week we will be bounced off the one line faster than the speed of light.

You really should use the search function if you can't remember what you posted.

You really should keep up with everything I have posted on the subject. That prediction was BEFORE the all of other top 10 teams lost. This is what I posted after the Cu loss.

Re: (M) Game 28, Arizona at Colorado (2021-2022)
Post by dmjcat » Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:06 pm

Colorado wanted it more, plain & simple'

Mix that in with too many TO's and piss poor rebounding on the defensive end and its a toxic mixture.

The SC game becomes a must win if we want to stay on the 1 line going into the P12 tourney.

If Purdue/Kentucky/Kansas had not lost we would have been blown off the one line.

[Chicat]

It’s rare seeing someone poop down their leg in real time, but I’m glad I was here for this.

Excellent work as always djmcat.

[Alieberman]

This is exhausting

dmjcat-

All of us saying AZ wasn't going to lose it's #1 seed status with a loss was partially based KNOWING other top 8 teams are also going to lose.

You have been on an island thinking Arizona's ranking had only to do with Arizona's wins and losses.

[azcat49]

What is worse is it makes you think he is rooting for a loss to try and prove his stubborn perception.

Cats with two wins this week lock up the #1 for their body of work IMO

[TheCat]

So my concerns against USC are as follows:
1. Drew Peterson was 1-13 for 5 points and has averaged 20+ in last 3 games
2. Boogie was 3-12 which is considerably below his average.
3. They manhandled us on the OFFENSIVE board with 19 OR

I'm not sure if the top two were do to our defense or bad shooting or a combination of both. If we want to win we need to limit offensive rebounds, Benn has to have a better game than he did the first time (8 pts.) and we need to get to the line more. USC led us with about 5-6 mins left in the game last time. This will be a hell of a challenge at the end of another 3 game road trip (teams in the PAC lose of 70% of those). It will be a packed house and rocking. We will see how we respond.

On the topic of seed, frankly I don't believe their is a huge difference between a 1 or 2 seed. I also do not believe the tourney values the PAC like it should and that is reflected in the initial polls. We don't have enough teams ranked early so every loss is a quad 2 or lower. Is there anyone here that thinks Oregon is a bubble team? I don't. They made their own bed by early losses and the 25 point loss to ASU. But Colo. lost to ASU by a ton also. Bottom line if we lose to USC we will not be a one seed unless we play well in the PAC tourney and beat either Or, USC or UCLA.

Simple solution beat the Trojans.

Happy to win the PAC and USC has to play UCLA on Saturday which will determine if we win it by 2 or 3 games. Remarkable!!!!!!

[RondaeShimmy]

On the topic of seed, frankly I don't believe their is a huge difference between a 1 or 2 seed.

Yes there is, 2 seeds who've won the national championship: 1986 Louisville, 1991 Duke, 1998 Kentucky, 2004 Connecticut and 2016 Villanova. 5 total in history.

Number of times #1 have won it all? 23 times and almost always recently have been all 1s

2021 1 Baylor
2019 1 Virginia
2018 1 Villanova
2017 1 North Carolina
2016 2 Villanova
2015 1 Duke
2014 7 Connecticut
2013 1 Louisville
2012 1 Kentucky
2011 3 Connecticut
2010 1 Duke
2009 1 North Carolina
2008 1 Kansas

3 seeds have won it 4 times. 4 seeds once (Arizona)

[UAEebs86]

It's kind of a chicken and egg thing though, isn't it?

Do #1 seeds win more because they are the best 4 teams (and were seeded properly), or do they win more because they get an easier draw in the tourney (instead of perhaps a #2 seed)?

[RondaeShimmy]

It's kind of a chicken and egg thing though, isn't it?

Do #1 seeds win more because they are the best 4 teams (and were seeded properly), or do they win more because they get an easier draw in the tourney?

It's because they have to play a 3 seed (a team usually close to them in quality) in the s16 and then usually a 1 seed.

That's tough to do on Thursday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday turnaround. And 1 seeds have earned the better bracket draw.

[SabinoDrifter]

Curious about our response tomorrow night. Back end of a three game roadie is usually killer but we have responded all year long.

CU owned the paint and dated us to hit shots from three. They took away those lob passes and really made it hard for us on our 2 pt FG%. We need to adjust and dictate the flow better. Going to be tough because USC is better than CU

I looked at the statistics from the three losses and the combined 2P% from Tubelis, Koloko and Ballo is below 50% (the team is less than 40%) and not surprisingly, the team has shot less than 30% from three in those three losses. As your post indicates, teams are going to dare Arizona beat them from the three point line and really challenge the bigs to be strong in the paint. It all comes down to effort and trusting the system CTL has implemented is going to get them the right looks. Colorado was switching everything and Kerr, Benn, DT and PL need to make teams pay for switching.

[RondaeShimmy]

Curious about our response tomorrow night. Back end of a three game roadie is usually killer but we have responded all year long.

CU owned the paint and dated us to hit shots from three. They took away those lob passes and really made it hard for us on our 2 pt FG%. We need to adjust and dictate the flow better. Going to be tough because USC is better than CU

I looked at the statistics from the three losses and the combined 2P% from Tubelis, Koloko and Ballo is below 50% (the team is less than 40%) and not surprisingly, the team has shot less than 30% from three in those three losses. As your post indicates, teams are going to dare Arizona beat them from the three point line and really challenge the bigs to be strong in the paint. It all comes down to effort and trusting the system CTL has implemented is going to get them the right looks. Colorado was switching everything and Kerr, Benn, DT and PL need to make teams pay for switching.

This is true. Ultimately heading into the tournament it's better being an elite 2pt% team offensively and defensively (have been top 5-7 offensively all year and top 3 defensively all year) as that travels more than a streaky 3pt shooting team.

Not everyone has the size and/or athleticism to contend with. USC is the only one that does and even though teams like UCLA are better, they're a worse matchup for us because of their size.

[EastCoastCat]

You guys keep talking about offense but we all should know by now it's the defense that kick-starts this team.

[TheCat]

On the topic of seed, frankly I don't believe their is a huge difference between a 1 or 2 seed.

Yes there is, 2 seeds who've won the national championship: 1986 Louisville, 1991 Duke, 1998 Kentucky, 2004 Connecticut and 2016 Villanova. 5 total in history.

Number of times #1 have won it all? 23 times and almost always recently have been all 1s

2021 1 Baylor
2019 1 Virginia
2018 1 Villanova
2017 1 North Carolina
2016 2 Villanova
2015 1 Duke
2014 7 Connecticut
2013 1 Louisville
2012 1 Kentucky
2011 3 Connecticut
2010 1 Duke
2009 1 North Carolina
2008 1 Kansas

3 seeds have won it 4 times. 4 seeds once (Arizona)

I wonder how many of those one seeds played a team as good as ours as a two seed. Hey the tourney is a crap shoot. You can get a bad matchup or a team that just shoots out of their mind (see Buffalo / Wisky).
Just glad we now know we have a team that can compete on the floor as well as recruiting as well as an entertaining style of play which will help in the portal. Looking forward to the tourney where ever we land and the years to come. Happy to have a PAC12 championship and to beat two long term foes that have had our number. If we keep this team mainly together (bye Benn) after this year we will be a FORCE for years to come.

[Beachcat97]

I wonder how many of those one seeds played a team as good as ours as a two seed. Hey the tourney is a crap shoot. You can get a bad matchup or a team that just shoots out of their mind (see Buffalo / Wisky).
Just glad we now know we have a team that can compete on the floor as well as recruiting as well as an entertaining style of play which will help in the portal. Looking forward to the tourney where ever we land and the years to come. Happy to have a PAC12 championship and to beat two long term foes that have had our number. If we keep this team mainly together (bye Benn) after this year we will be a FORCE for years to come.

Excellent post, TC.

Agree entirely: while it would be ridiculous to get a FF in Lloyd's first year, I'm just hoping for a solid tourney performance from this team. They've been exciting to watch all year, and I'd love to see them do something special in a few weeks.

Big picture, though, is that our new coach has already built some serious momentum. Future is bright in Tucson again.

[RondaeShimmy]

[UAEebs86]

[MountainCat]

[Bordercat]

after watching the Colorado game it looked like Boyle was sending guards into the lane (peeling off their man on the perimeter), to get steals from our guys weaving into the lane. Seems like something other teams might try.