Bear Down Wildcats

I think he needs more face up opportunities to keep him engaged

He needs to learn to go right. Once everyone figured out he only drives left, it’s been a lot tougher sledding for our man Zu.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:00 am He needs to learn to go right. Once everyone figured out he only drives left, it’s been a lot tougher sledding for our man Zu.

Yep. That, perimeter shot, motor and defense. A lot of work to do to become a draft worthy player. I do think he can get there with another year or two but much work to be done.

CTL said we need him to show up Thursday. I bet he's going to get a little Aw Shucks scolding.

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:49 am very very very poor game

its all mental with him - if hes engaged hes amazing, and if hes just not feeling it well hes just not gonna try.

fucking bizzaro

He took 4 very early shots and missed them all, not even close to making a basket.

Tommy also said "He's probably a little mad at me." (for not playing him more). That doesn't really sound like an injury situation.

Tommy also said match-ups are tough so I think CTL just recognized that Zu wasn't our best option for tonight.

We need Zu in beast-mode when playing teams like this.

Finesse game ain't gonna work against TCU / Houston

He was soft last night. Aside from one dunk, he was passive on both sides imo.

Hopefully the splinters he got on his ass motivate him.

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:26 am

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:49 am very very very poor game

its all mental with him - if hes engaged hes amazing, and if hes just not feeling it well hes just not gonna try.

fucking bizzaro

He took 4 very early shots and missed them all, not even close to making a basket.

He's playing euro soft

I would have pulled his ass when he left his man wide open for uncontested dunks twice. Then he does it later a 3rd time. Maybe that's when Lloyd sat him.


Trying to watch his body language on the bench. Here he is facing the crowd after another Mathurin dunk where Benn was also fouled with no call.

I think he is facing Ballo who has a hand on his shoulder.

Looks to me like a celebration back turn, whatever that means.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:50 am We need Zu in beast-mode when playing teams like this.

Finesse game ain't gonna work against TCU / Houston

I've been beating this drum for quite a while. Tubelis can be one of our greatest assets and liabilities at the same time. When he plays his best game, we're untouchable. Not even close.

He has a skill set that's unmatched in the tournament. But I worry about him because he seems spacey at times, almost in a daze when he's on the court. I worry about low post entry passes with him, because his reaction time is too slow for the stronger teams. I almost cringe sometimes. These things have to be addressed.

Tubelis can get away with some of this with weaker, less athletic teams but in the tournament everyone's going for the jugular. I almost screamed at the TV set on the lax defense and uncontested dunks. Like I said before, he seems like a different person from when he plays overseas. I hope it's something that CTL can work through, because if he does show up, it's game over for everyone else in the tourney.

He just looked slower and was not contesting anything. Missing baskets at the rim 2x early in game. Glad CTL saw he was not productive and held him, but he needs to get some toughness by Thursday because when he’s on, he can be a beast. Just looked out of it last night

Tubelis was my favorite player last year, but I feel he's regressed a bit this year, especially in the PAC and NCAA tourney games thus far.

I don't think he has NBA speed, athleticism or length, but as others have said, he could be a dominant college player.

I'd like to see him model his collegiate career to be a Drew Timme type player with a splash of Luke Walton i.e. being able to distribute the ball from the post or in a high/low situation.

phxcat23 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:41 pm He just looked slower and was not contesting anything. Missing baskets at the rim 2x early in game. Glad CTL saw he was not productive and held him, but he needs to get some toughness by Thursday because when he’s on, he can be a beast. Just looked out of it last night

He has a tendency to just not be aggressive. Like 1st round, he got multiple entry passes batted away because he would face the rim, but make zero attempt to drive or shoot. He just sort of faced the rim to pass and his defender would drop off of him and he just tried to pass it around the guy.

I used to have a coach tell me to "be a shooter," and that's what Tubelis lacks sometimes. He doesn't go out there to make shots or make plays. He'll square up...then do zero to threaten the D.

Zu seems to be good every other game.

I expect to see him have a much bigger impact on Friday night

Tubelis will be fine. Lloyd definitely pissed him off by benching him, which is a good thing.

Zu is the key for how far we go in this tourney. He had a bad game but I expect him back.

Olsondogg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:08 pm Tubelis will be fine. Lloyd definitely pissed him off by benching him, which is a good thing.

Rightly so. Tubelis didn’t look right at all.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:23 pm Zu seems to be good every other game.

I expect to see him have a much bigger impact on Friday night

I don't think he would be 1st team all PAC12 if that were true.

TheCat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:09 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:23 pm Zu seems to be good every other game.

I expect to see him have a much bigger impact on Friday night

I don't think he would be 1st team all PAC12 if that were true.

You are correct. I used poor words. I meant to really say that every time Zu has had a bad (low impact) game- he seems to bounce right back with a great game.

Him and his brothers birthday today. Tutelis born on the 22nd, you don't say.

I also forgot they were twins

Alieberman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:48 am

TheCat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:09 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:23 pm Zu seems to be good every other game.

I expect to see him have a much bigger impact on Friday night

I don't think he would be 1st team all PAC12 if that were true.

You are correct. I used poor words. I meant to really say that every time Zu has had a bad (low impact) game- he seems to bounce right back with a great game.

I think he’ll put up slightly better numbers than the TCU game, but I think he won’t play as much either. Houston will give him as much fits as TCU did and he’s going to be hard pressed to defend this game too. He’s going to be huge in an Elite 8 matchup against either Nova or Michigan though.

ChooChooCat wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:42 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:48 am

TheCat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:09 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:23 pm Zu seems to be good every other game.

I expect to see him have a much bigger impact on Friday night

I don't think he would be 1st team all PAC12 if that were true.

You are correct. I used poor words. I meant to really say that every time Zu has had a bad (low impact) game- he seems to bounce right back with a great game.

I think he’ll put up slightly better numbers than the TCU game, but I think he won’t play as much either. Houston will give him as much fits as TCU did and he’s going to be hard pressed to defend this game too. He’s going to be huge in an Elite 8 matchup against either Nova or Michigan though.

Pelle time.

I know this wont happen but we could have all these guys back except C-Lo for 3 more years. Let that sink in. We are winning with the 5th youngest team ( I think) in Div 1.

RondaeShimmy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:35 pm

Euro players still have that "Old School" mentality!!

BTFD!!!!

Love Zu's attitude. He's gonna come out with a fire in his belly.

Welp, really don't expect Zu back next season, although I have no insider knowledge. He is just too soft for the American game once you play a physical quicker team, along with never being able to use his right hand.

He has no confidence left. None of his shots were even close.

I could really give a shit if he comes back next year. Give me some guys who play with heart.

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:45 pm Welp, really don't expect Zu back next season, although I have no insider knowledge. He is just too soft for the American game once you play a physical quicker team, along with never being able to use his right hand.

He has no confidence left. None of his shots were even close.

This. Reminds me of Ryan Anderson just completely dropping off in the last month.

I’ll cheer Zu’s return and be eager to see the improvements he makes over the off-season.

We wouldn’t have had the season we had without him!!!

pc in NM wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:18 pm I’ll cheer Zu’s return and be eager to see the improvements he makes over the off-season.

We wouldn’t have had the season we had without him!!!

This.

Develop his right hand over the off-season.

Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 pm Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

Excellent post.

The hand wringing after a fantastic season is seriously starting to piss me off. People need to just zip it and give this coach and his players time to develop. Some people need to stop acting like entitled brats and give them time to improve.

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 pm Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

No, because CTL is far too smart to make the same mistake twice. Especially after getting rolled by Baylor. He's not your typical first year coach. Everybody saw this coming, and we still had no answers.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:34 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 pm Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

No, because CTL is far too smart to make the same mistake twice. Especially after getting rolled by Baylor. He's not your typical first year coach. Everybody saw this coming, and we still had no answers.

So Zu transfers? or We never become able to teach Euro players to adjust to fast Western ball?

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:38 pm

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:34 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 pm Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

No, because CTL is far too smart to make the same mistake twice. Especially after getting rolled by Baylor. He's not your typical first year coach. Everybody saw this coming, and we still had no answers.

So Zu transfers? or We never become able to teach Euro players to adjust to fast Western ball?

Honestly speaking, I don't know. AT is one incredible player, but I don't know. He seems to shrink in big game situations and plays at his own pace at times. Mark Few hasn't learned, his teams won't get there on talent alone, and neither will we. We need to upgrade our conditioning, and find smart, high character guys who hang their hat on defense.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:49 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:38 pm

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:34 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 pm Zu will add to his skill set and make a lot of us feel like chumps for dunking on him. To be sure, his flaws were exposed and he got his head handed to him. Houston took his fucking lunch money on every fucking possession. Unless he wants to transfer, which I bet he doesn't, he'll be humble (more humble than we are) and coached up by Lloyd and Co. and become aplayer of value none of us can predict. He knows how to play but he is yet to understand the game. The difference between knowing and understanding is time. Give him time. Wasn't that what we demanded of Miller's evolutionary player development? Are we this fucking buttthurt that we discount the future because we didn't get a National Title in Lloyd's first year? FFS.

No, because CTL is far too smart to make the same mistake twice. Especially after getting rolled by Baylor. He's not your typical first year coach. Everybody saw this coming, and we still had no answers.

So Zu transfers? or We never become able to teach Euro players to adjust to fast Western ball?

Honestly speaking, I don't know. AT is one incredible player, but I don't know. He seems to shrink in big game situations and plays at his own pace at times. Mark Few hasn't learned, his teams won't get there on talent alone, and neither will we. We need to upgrade our conditioning, and find smart, high character guys who hang their hat on defense.

Gonzaga played in the national championship game last year. Lmao.

This take is so incredibly dense that I don’t even know what to say.

Clearly we have no future without burning the whole thing down and starting over. It's so sad. I don't know why we even try to care anymore.

With a super stacked team. That may not happen for a long time, to have that group of players. And they were stacked this year and got beat by a far lesser defensive team than Houston. I've watched tons of basketball and we simply don't cut it defensively.

We have to make serious changes if we want to make deep runs. Sampson figured it out in a weaker conference, so can we.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:57 pm With a super stacked team. That may not happen for a long time, to have that group of players. And they were stacked this year and got beat by a far lesser defensive team than Houston. I've watched tons of basketball and we simply don't cut it defensively.

We have to make serious changes if we want to make deep runs. Sampson figured it out in a weaker conference, so can we.

Oh god hes right, we're never gonna recruit a good player ever again with this system!!!

Lol. The takes keep getting better.

If he ain't some West Virginia Cracker or some Ghetto Baller we got no bidness lookin' at him! Ruuuuun, run for the hills!!

Fishclamps wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:59 pm

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:57 pm With a super stacked team. That may not happen for a long time, to have that group of players. And they were stacked this year and got beat by a far lesser defensive team than Houston. I've watched tons of basketball and we simply don't cut it defensively.

We have to make serious changes if we want to make deep runs. Sampson figured it out in a weaker conference, so can we.

Oh god hes right, we're never gonna recruit a good player ever again with this system!!!

Ok yoga master, that's quite a stretch. We're immature, soft and timid. And we never peaked and learned from our mistakes, THAT's what's concerning.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 11:08 pm

Fishclamps wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:59 pm

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:57 pm With a super stacked team. That may not happen for a long time, to have that group of players. And they were stacked this year and got beat by a far lesser defensive team than Houston. I've watched tons of basketball and we simply don't cut it defensively.

We have to make serious changes if we want to make deep runs. Sampson figured it out in a weaker conference, so can we.

Oh god hes right, we're never gonna recruit a good player ever again with this system!!!

Ok yoga master, that's quite a stretch. We're immature, soft and timid. And we never peaked and learned from our mistakes, THAT's what's concerning.

So wild that a team full of sophomores with limited experience would show those traits. You're right, incredibly concerning. I'm afraid it's too late for Arizona.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 11:08 pm

Fishclamps wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:59 pm

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:57 pm With a super stacked team. That may not happen for a long time, to have that group of players. And they were stacked this year and got beat by a far lesser defensive team than Houston. I've watched tons of basketball and we simply don't cut it defensively.

We have to make serious changes if we want to make deep runs. Sampson figured it out in a weaker conference, so can we.

Oh god hes right, we're never gonna recruit a good player ever again with this system!!!

Ok yoga master, that's quite a stretch. We're immature, soft and timid. And we never peaked and learned from our mistakes, THAT's what's concerning.

We lost four games all year and avenged two of those losses including twice without our starting PG. We had a bad night against a difficult matchup. I hate it as much as anyone, but let’s try not to make like this team is garbage.