The 2022-2023 Season Thread

[TheCatInTheHat]

John Wooden would roll over in his grave watching the behavior of Cronin, Campbell, Bona, Etienne, and others in representing the program he built up. But, they're "LA's College Basketball Team", so the sycophantic local media dutifully erase all blemishes and follow whatever narrative UCLA prefers. The whole point is what a deranged take it is by Cronin that UCLA's move to the Big Ten would have anything to do with whatever writer's crystal ball projection he'd like to censor. I don't always agree with Jason Scheer, but he also picked up on the absudity of it. A bunch of UCLA coaches, players, and fanboys are still butt-hurt about losing in McKale when they'd vowed revenge for the previous year's loss there. Having lost the first head-to-head game, they can't handle being neck-and-neck in the rankings with Arizona, or having anybody think the Wildcats can get preferential seeding over them. If you concede their wannabe apocalyptic game on March 4, just like last year...that would still just make it a toss-up at 1-1. So I'd love to get them in the Pac-12 Tournament again for the rubber match. Cronin & Co. are so sadly desperate to have the last word. But...you can't always get what you want.

[Beachcat97]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

[CatFan1399]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

Who were they’re top three candidates back then?

[PHXCATS]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

Who were they’re top three candidates back then?

And why does it matter?

Miller wasn't choice number 1 back in 2009 and he turned the job down before accepting it later on.

Why the fuck would it matter to anyone not obsessed with ucla?

[dmjcat]

John Wooden would roll over in his grave watching the behavior of Cronin, Campbell, Bona, Etienne, and others in representing the program he built up. But, they're "LA's College Basketball Team", so the sycophantic local media dutifully erase all blemishes and follow whatever narrative UCLA prefers. The whole point is what a deranged take it is by Cronin that UCLA's move to the Big Ten would have anything to do with whatever writer's crystal ball projection he'd like to censor. I don't always agree with Jason Scheer, but he also picked up on the absudity of it. A bunch of UCLA coaches, players, and fanboys are still butt-hurt about losing in McKale when they'd vowed revenge for the previous year's loss there. Having lost the first head-to-head game, they can't handle being neck-and-neck in the rankings with Arizona, or having anybody think the Wildcats can get preferential seeding over them. If you concede their wannabe apocalyptic game on March 4, just like last year...that would still just make it a toss-up at 1-1. So I'd love to get them in the Pac-12 Tournament again for the rubber match. Cronin & Co. are so sadly desperate to have the last word. But...you can't always get what you want.

I'd bet that Wooden has long since been spinning in his grave watching the Cronin Thug Ball played on his court at Pauley.

If the UCLAns believe they are getting disrespected now, just wait a few years until they are making 2500 mile plane flights just to play
on the home-court of a Michigan/Ohio State/Indiana/Wisconsin.....where they will no longer be the protected "Standard Bearer" of the conference. Far from it. In fact, I expect them to get seriously hosed by B1G officials for a number of years. It will be interesting to see if UCLA can continue to recruit the local SoCal talent given the travelling/officiating they will be subjected to.

[KillerKlown]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

Who were they’re top three candidates back then?

And why does it matter?

Miller wasn't choice number 1 back in 2009 and he turned the job down before accepting it later on.

Why the fuck would it matter to anyone not obsessed with ucla?

It doesn't have to matter. It's a message board you dingus.

[TheCat]

Ugh. Why in the wide world of sports would a coach give a flying fuck about sportscasters' guesses about NCAA seeding with three weeks still to play? Hint: the projections will not be close to 100% accurate when the actual games all play out. It's speculation for fan clicks and reads and ratings, just like the various conference realignment scenario guesses. But UCLA's bald midget is unhappy that the speculation put Arizona as a 2 seed just like UCLA, but with UCLA going east while the Cats stay in the West. His rationale for how this could happen? It's all a conspiracy that somehow has to do with UCLA moving to the Big Ten. Why that would remotely have any bearing on sportscasters' seeding guesses is a mystery to ask the Dalai Lama. Maybe a cognitive test is in order. El Segundo Times fanny-kisser Ben Bolch eventually explained the difference in our quality wins versus UCLA's, but not to Cronin's face, naturally. So baldy can gear up for his crusade against us at Pauley, and considering Pac-12 road games and refs, they'll likely get their precious win against us, and UCLA's first regular season conference title in TEN years. (Arizona's got five in that time.) But then there's the Pac-12 Tournament and the NCAAs. I also think he's warming up his excuse-making about conspiracies that will get trotted out with every future Big Ten loss. But, that's all later. For now, he gets to go up to the cold and altitude of the mountain schools, while we get ready to play our continuing conference rival (Pac-10, Big XII, or whatever) in McKale.

Cronin was just totally bizarre. He was asked about the seeding the committee came out with and he said it was comical. I thought he would say there is a ton of basketball to be played and a lot can change which I totally agree with. Instead he went off on moving conference and people losing millions etc. was being held against UCLA. Guy is just weird at times. What I will tell you is I would change the West bracket for the East to play the other 4 teams in that bracket. While playing in Vegas would be epic, we have never done well in the West and Purdue doesn't scare me.

On another note he better get use to cold because I think it is going to be cold half the time he plays next year.

What I think was interesting is that those pro's that visited with us last night could still be here this year and next. Think of that team.

[Beachcat97]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

They actually offered a contract to Rick Barnes. Also Few, Shaka, and Calipari. Stevens was rumored as well.

The bottom line is that they didn't get to the irritable, miniature albino until way, way down their list.

ucla always gets good players. Even exceedingly average coaches like Lavin and Alford can do well there. Jury's still out on the irascible munchkin.

[EastCoastCat]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

Who were they’re top three candidates back then?

And why does it matter?

Miller wasn't choice number 1 back in 2009 and he turned the job down before accepting it later on.

Why the fuck would it matter to anyone not obsessed with ucla?

It doesn't have to matter. It's a message board you dingus.

You are correct. This is a message board and there is a thread dedicated to UCLA (UCLA is in trouble one) so why not go there and spew all the Bruin bashing you want?

This thread is around our team’s season so while a mention that Cronin wasn’t happy with his projected seeding, a full diatribe including UCLA’s coaching selection process a few years ago seems like a highjack on the topic.

[KillerKlown]

Guys, Cronin was their 4th choice of coach. 4th. It's such a telling reflection of that program's status and Micro Mick's 4th tier coach status.

Who were they’re top three candidates back then?

And why does it matter?

Miller wasn't choice number 1 back in 2009 and he turned the job down before accepting it later on.

Why the fuck would it matter to anyone not obsessed with ucla?

It doesn't have to matter. It's a message board you dingus.

You are correct. This is a message board and there is a thread dedicated to UCLA (UCLA is in trouble one) so why not go there and spew all the Bruin bashing you want?

This thread is around our team’s season so while a mention that Cronin wasn’t happy with his projected seeding, a full diatribe including UCLA’s coaching selection process a few years ago seems like a highjack on the topic.

You can make a case for both threads. Cronin speculating on seeding when we have a very important upcoming game with them this close to march seems pretty relevant to a 2023 season thread.

[arizonawildcats]

#7 this week

[Beachcat97]

A lot of eyes will be on the AZ/ucla next week. Is AZ good enough to win a hard road game late in the season? Is ucla going to notch at least one respectable win before the postseason?

[EastCoastCat]

We have 2 games to play until the UCLA rematch. Can't be looking ahead.

Let's stomp on the Scummies first.

[Alieberman]

I'm glad the Cats have used these last 2 weeks to learn to play without Zu.

Now the Cats need to be back at full strength- and full dominating Zu

[Beachcat97]

I'm glad the Cats have used these last 2 weeks to learn to play without Zu.

Now the Cats need to be back at full strength- and full dominating Zu

If Zu isn’t getting 15 to 20 ppg, it’s a little hard to see us getting far in the tourney. Or having a chance of stealing one at Pauley.

[84Cat]

We have 2 games to play until the UCLA rematch. Can't be looking ahead.

Let's stomp on the Scummies first.

Thanks for the reminder! Game is Saturday at noon, Tucson time(MST)

[Beachcat97]

I wonder if this movement with WSU impacts our NET. Maybe a non-issue because we've been behind ucla in NET all season and are still projected as a higher seed.

[TheCat]

We have 3 more games in the season and we have a conference tournament. UCLA has 4 games left and the conference tourney before anything is decided. Not sure why people obsess with seeding or anything else with at least 6 games to play if it is close.
We have been a bit snake bit in the West so I don't think it matters as long as it isn't within 150 miles of the other teams campus. Would love to play in Vegas but we will see.

[TheCatInTheHat]

Haven't done one of these in a while, but here's "next up." ASU's coming off a decent win over Utah, and they could really use an upset win for whatever chance they have at the NCAAs. If the refs officiate two games, letting them get away with murder to "balance" the home court advantage and helping them generate turnovers, while they call Tubelis and whoever else for every technical call listed in the back of the rule book, and if ASU shoots lights-out from three-point range, it's not impossible for them to beat us in McKale. It's just a case of the oldest of coaching mantras: put in the work on defense and the boards, take care of the ball, make your free throws, and work it around for a clean shot when there's no break.

[TheCat]

I think we have our 3 hardest games remaining. ASU fouls on every single play with hand slaps and bumps. You have to be strong with the ball. Their style of helter skelter with a ton of 3 pointers is their offense. They can beat us if the game is called loosely and they are warm from outside.

USC is Boogie and Peterson although they are starting to get a little play inside. If Boogie is hot no defense will stop him. Will he be?

UCLA is a experienced good team. If you recall they had only 44 points before their press and scramble at the end. Although offensively challenged they wont shoot as bad as they did in Tucson. Can we do well against their press? Will their role players perform this time? JJJ is out of his funk but Campbell is not.

Bottom line is we could challenge for a one or drop to a 4 before the PAC tourney.

Just enjoy the guys we got and the way they play. We have a great record and our coach is nearing a milestone that has been around for awhile.

[azcat49]

Just have this feeling we go into Pauley and beat the bruins

[CardiacCats97]

Just have this feeling we go into Pauley and beat the bruins

I love that feeling.

I’m not feeling the same, and instead hoping we meet and beat them in Vegas, but I’m hoping like hell you’re right and I’m wrong.

[azcat49]

I think Cronin’s whining will motivate us as well. If we get a fair shake with the whistles I think we pull it off

[TheCatInTheHat]

BTW, Pascoe clarified where Cronin was coming from, and it's even worse than just being stupid or crazy; it's an unfounded malicious accusation. Heeke replaced UCLA's AD on the NCAA tournament committee, so that's why he thinks UCLA is projected to be sent east with preference to Arizona staying west. Just a despicable slur. Nothing like a pre-emptive excuse for failure, even if you have to make it up. Actually, I'm glad that's where his head's at. UCLA's having a nice season, and he's obviously not enjoying it. Good.

[g32knights]

BTW, Pascoe clarified where Cronin was coming from, and it's even worse than just being stupid or crazy; it's an unfounded malicious accusation. Heeke replaced UCLA's AD on the NCAA tournament committee, so that's why he thinks UCLA is projected to be sent east with preference to Arizona staying west. Just a despicable slur. Nothing like a pre-emptive excuse for failure, even if you have to make it up. Actually, I'm glad that's where his head's at. UCLA's having a nice season, and he's obviously not enjoying it. Good.

I'm guessing he doesn't realize that their best win is *checks notes*... Maryland? Is he really that incompetent?

[TheCat]

Well he probably doesn't realize that individuals on the NCAA tournament committee are not allowed to be in the room when their team is discussed. So at least every other member thought Arizona should be ranked 6 and kept in the West. My opinion, I would change brackets to the East to play those teams. The West bracket looked tough.

This will all change in the next 3 weeks but glad the mighty midget is worried about it instead of working a defense for Boogie.

[dmjcat]

Heeke should attend the AZ/UCLA game and wear a shirt with the phrase "Ship them East" emblazoned on it..........and sit directly across from Cronin.

[Alieberman]

We will finish regular season 2-1

[EastCoastCat]

We will finish regular season 2-1

Since you are normally wrong that means we are either 0-3 (blasphemy), 1-2 or 3-0.

[Alieberman]

We will finish regular season 2-1

Since you are normally wrong that means we are either 0-3 (blasphemy), 1-2 or 3-0.

Who are you... my wife?!!!!

[EastCoastCat]

We will finish regular season 2-1

Since you are normally wrong that means we are either 0-3 (blasphemy), 1-2 or 3-0.

Who are you... my wife?!!!!

As they say "takes one to know one".

[arizonawildcats]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... gs-2022-23

5. Arizona Wildcats (24-4)
Previous ranking: 7
This week: vs. Arizona State (Saturday)

Tommy Lloyd will be hoping Saturday's performance boosts Oumar Ballo moving forward. Ballo was a dominant force for the first three months of the season, averaging 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds over the first 20 games, shooting 64.5% from the field and hitting double figures in each. Over the next seven games, though, he averaged just 9.9 points, scoring double figures in just three. He was still efficient from the floor, but it wasn't translating to points consistently. On Saturday against Colorado, Ballo reverted to his early-season form, finishing with 18 points, 16 rebounds -- 6 on the offensive end -- and 3 assists.

8. UCLA Bruins (23-4)
Previous ranking: 9
This week: at Utah (Thursday), at Colorado (Sunday)

UCLA was the team I was most intrigued by entering the NCAA mock bracket reveal on Saturday afternoon. It's in the top five of KenPom, BPI and Sagarin while also sitting at No. 4 in the NET. Its strength of record is No. 6. It's pretty clear why the Bruins were ranked No. 4 in the AP poll this past week. On the flip side, their 23 wins are mostly empty from a résumé-building perspective. They have a win over Maryland ... and that's it. (Kentucky probably moved into that same category over the weekend.) It's why the Bruins were just No. 9 in last week's Power Rankings. Ultimately, the committee slotted them at No. 8. UCLA has a lot of work to do to get in the 1-seed conversation.

[EastCoastCat]

That's why UCLA will be tough to beat at Pauley. It will be their only quality win of the season.

[Beachcat97]

If they can’t beat us at Pauley, they deserve a significant demotion seed-wise. 3 seed at best.

[arizonawildcats]

ASU, USC, and UCLA will all be desperate for a signature win. Great preparation for the tournament.

[AzCatFan2]

ASu plays decent D, and a lot of iso, 1v1 on O. If they get hot from the outside, they can be difficult to beat. We need to be patient on Offense and work for the good shot. And don't lose your man on D. We should beat them in McKale.

USC is similar to ASu, only even more athletic, and a player who is the best iso, 1v1 player in the league. USC is in right now. Winning 3 out of their last 4, including a win against us, and they are in.

UCLA is UCLA, and the ESPN piece that has us ahead of them is very good. They have no great, quality wins, whereas we have several, including our victory over UCLA. Beat us, and it could set up a potential rematch in Vegas for being seeded in the west.

Love that we have tough games in the end. Should be fun. Focus on no silly turnovers against ASu and playing solid D first.

[pc in NM]

If they can’t beat us at Pauley, they deserve a significant demotion seed-wise. 3 seed at best.

Losing to Arizona is neither shameful, nor a significant setback…

… unless we blow them out

[PHXCATS]

If they can’t beat us at Pauley, they deserve a significant demotion seed-wise. 3 seed at best.

Losing to Arizona is neither shameful, nor a significant setback…

… unless we blow them out

Also this does not account for any other team kn the nation and what they do the next few weeks

[Beachcat97]

If they can’t beat us at Pauley, they deserve a significant demotion seed-wise. 3 seed at best.

Losing to Arizona is neither shameful, nor a significant setback…

… unless we blow them out

Given Cronin’s comments and given that they’re currently ranked higher than us, I think losing to AZ at Pauley would be maybe not shameful but definitely a repudiation of whatever narrative Cronin’s trying to push about his team.

Would be a tougher loss than usual for ucla.

[TheCat]

I'm glad the Cats have used these last 2 weeks to learn to play without Zu.

Now the Cats need to be back at full strength- and full dominating Zu

If Zu isn’t getting 15 to 20 ppg, it’s a little hard to see us getting far in the tourney. Or having a chance of stealing one at Pauley.

Zu didn't score that many (15-20) in the first game and only shot 5-15. He will be better as well as Singleton who did not score at all. Singleton is the key to me. He can put up a dozen pretty easily. Maybe Pelle was covering him don't remember. Plenty to worry about before UCLA.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

Since our loss at Oregon on Jan 14, Arizona is the #1 team at barttorvik, with the 6th best off and 12th best def.

Not saying it means anything except that we are playing pretty good later in the season.

[EVCat]

Ugh. Why in the wide world of sports would a coach give a flying fuck about sportscasters' guesses about NCAA seeding with three weeks still to play? Hint: the projections will not be close to 100% accurate when the actual games all play out. It's speculation for fan clicks and reads and ratings, just like the various conference realignment scenario guesses. But UCLA's bald midget is unhappy that the speculation put Arizona as a 2 seed just like UCLA, but with UCLA going east while the Cats stay in the West. His rationale for how this could happen? It's all a conspiracy that somehow has to do with UCLA moving to the Big Ten. Why that would remotely have any bearing on sportscasters' seeding guesses is a mystery to ask the Dalai Lama. Maybe a cognitive test is in order.

Certainly, the bracket preview/reveal by the NCAA committee won't be the same by tournament time. But Cronin has every reason to be worried...this wasn't some sportscasters' seeding guesses. This was the committee revealing their current seeding, which reveals what this group values in their approach. And their approach favors quality wins over no bad losses. We will play UCLA one, maybe two more times, so things can change in this regard for the Bruins.

But Cronin definitely has reason to be worried that his team's consistency without big wins is valued less than our handful of top tier wins with a couple of stumbles. He has no reason to blame Big 10 move conspiracies, or the illuminati or whatever...that's just Cronin being his typical worst possible self. But it isn't just some sportscasters' seeding guesses, and, while not the final bracket, it does reveal how this committee is approaching things.

[RawleArenas]

Personally, I think a game like ASU was bound to happen. Unfortunately, we dropped back to the 50's in Kenpom defense, compared to the 20s after the UCLA game. Every time we make gains it seems like we find a way to squander it and then some. All of these things are hallmarks of immaturity, something that we have struggled with all year long. You have to have mature guys who lead by example and put in the extra time. We have talent for sure, but our margin for error is razor thin when we don't play focused, balanced basketball. I also put some blame on CTL at the end of the ASU game; you never give a guy a clean shot at the basket (did he not see the miracle shot from Stanford well over a decade and a half ago)? You harass and turn him as much as you can and force him to give it up, or make free throws and send it to overtime.

That's the problem you tend to have when you have a Gonzaga system with Gonzaga good players. The Gonzaga system works extremely well, but it still needs upgrades and fine tuning. I think CTL is getting the memo with his recent recruiting momentum, but from here on out I don't EVER want to see teams like ASU have better athletes than us in addition to having squads like Wazzu and Stanford out-compete us. If CTL doesn't get that, then we have some serious problems. Last year proved that when you have Arizona good players in a Gonzaga system/culture, the results are phenomenal. But when you have fringe 5 star guys like Veesaar and other four star guys like Bal, Anderson and Filip and you can't put them in the game because you don't trust them, then you have some evaluation problems. I will say this about CSM, he completely understood what 'Arizona good' players meant, and he worked extremely hard to make sure our roster was full of guys who not only were highly rated, but could play. He also could evaluate players better. I would take his Euros over Tommy's any day of the week. I mean c'mon, three star Dusan Ristic was far better than Veesaar at this stage of his career. Just look at his clips from the 2014-15 season. The 2020-21 class (which was on a down year) was better than anything that Gonzaga has ever put on the court, even with their 'pipeline' to Europe.

We play really lazy on offense. Waaaay too three happy. Our box score of turnovers is actually much higher because we shoot a lot of bad shots with no rebounders underneath the basket. I can't count how many times we shot an ill advised three and the opposing team immediately makes a transition shot or a three. Those five to six point swings really hurt us and show how stagnant we can get on offense. Hitting open threes is great as a dessert when you have a balanced offensive attack, but an entire meal of frosting is disgusting. I thank Steph Curry for this mess, but that's another story. We need more ball movement, cleaner passing and better shot selection. These are things that we can control but have gotten real lazy over the course of the season.

Lastly, when did it become fashionable to fall and flop at the slightest contact? I've never seen an Arizona team like this year's with bigs that fall down as easily as ours. It's not good, and it's certainly not something to celebrate as I've seen some of our players do from time to time. I'm not the only person that's noticed this, we need to toughen up when the lane gets clogged up and teams are playing physical. I'm not worried about the seeding, it's all about matchups. I would prefer our games to be sent as far away from the West Coast as possible. We play better as a foxhole team, and seem to get more energized when the environment works against us. It also builds character, something that this team still needs to work on if they plan to make a deep run in March.

[Merkin]

Pretty much. That's Arizona basketball for ya.

[Beachcat97]

This team will end up a 3/4 seed and get bounced the first weekend. The defense is hard to watch.

[SabinoDrifter]

This team will end up a 3/4 seed and get bounced the first weekend. The defense is hard to watch.

That’s the story today. They let ASU shoot 60%+ from 2 today while going to the line 24 more times. Effort defensively was terrible.

[RaisingArizona]

This team will end up a 3/4 seed and get bounced the first weekend. The defense is hard to watch.

Or maybe they'll play their best defense when it's win or go home.

I was listening to a Daniel Jeremiah NFL draft podcast today and he said, "There's an old scouting axiom. If you can do it once, you can do it."

We have shown that we CAN play elite defense.

Enjoy the ride. What will be, will be.

[ChooChooCat]

The Wazzu game was bad. The Stanford game was bad. The Oregon & Utah games sucked. This game was a god damn catastrophe of the highest order and Tommy Lloyd may never have a worse loss during his entire Arizona tenure than this one and god I sure hope he doesn't have a loss worse than this one.

[Beachcat97]

The Wazzu game was bad. The Stanford game was bad. The Oregon & Utah games sucked. This game was a god damn catastrophe of the highest order and Tommy Lloyd may never have a worse loss during his entire Arizona tenure than this one and god I sure hope he doesn't have a loss worse than this one.

I don’t understand how this team only shows up to play occasionally. We’ve seen this type of team so many times, and you have to know it’s not gonna end well in a few weeks.

We should’ve beaten asu by 15+. Why is Zu fading down the stretch again? Weird.

[Captain Obvious]

It won't end well and any level headed fan knows this because it happens year after year after year. Hopium, wishful thinking, and BS metrics will only get you so far. Historically Arizona is a horrifically bad NCAA tournament team. Countless trips with very little success to show for it. So many first and second round exits, bad luck, underachievement, and disappointment through the years. This year will be no different with another rinse and repeat failure. Last year we had 3 NBA players and couldn't get beyond the S16. And yet another sad chapter of tournament failure was written. The program is snakebit and has been for decades. 20 plus years without a Final Four confirms this despite having more talent than most programs will have in their entire history. Yesterday's embarrassing loss is just another example of this predictable pattern of late season failure. It gets old. It really does.