Bear Down Wildcats

Merkin wrote:Did he step on the parking spot stripe when he got out?

That was good. Well done.

our current non conference rpi matchups. if we manage to win our last 3 games we'll have no wins over any team that is currently in the top 60ish of the rpi.

W Pacific 320
W Bradley 262
W Boise St 63
W NW State 237
W Santa Clara 282
L Providence 26
W Boise St 63
W Gonzaga 67
W Fresno State 137
W Missouri 96
? NAU 337
? UNLV 64
? Long Beach St 92

It is quite possible that we will go the entire season without having played a single team in the top 25 of the Pomeroy rankings.

KaibabKat wrote:It is quite possible that we will go the entire season without having played a single team in the top 25 of the Pomeroy rankings.

UCLA (especially if they beat UNC on Saturday)

KaibabKat wrote:It is quite possible that we will go the entire season without having played a single team in the top 25 of the Pomeroy rankings.

Quite is too strong a word. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? Hardly.

then Chance caught a sniff of some churros

The thought of Simon and Comanche as upperclassmen makes me happy.

Comanche has really good hands for a freshman. Good hands at any level in fact.

LMAO. I like Chance a lot, very optimistic about his future.

Chance remind anyone else of Channing a little?

z

Merkin wrote:Comanche has really good hands for a freshman. Good hands at any level in fact.

I will probably get shot for saying this, but for whatever reason watching him reminds of Ed Stokes early in his career (when he flashed a lot of potential and most Cat fans had very high hopes for him).

Hopefully his story ends better than Stokes' did... I have been really pleasantly surprised by his play thus far. Same goes for Simon... for all the comparisons to Geary, Justin is not nearly as raw at this stage and plays under much more control; I think Simon's upside is considerably higher.

With the exception of Smith, the time our freshman are getting will pay dividends later this year and into the future. I think this will prove to have been a really, really good class.

I really hope Chance gets that killer instinct and becomes a force in the paint on the defensive end. It has been so long since we have had a shot blocking stud in the paint at center. His future looks so promising.

Simon gets compared to Geary a lot, but I don't really get that. The length he has is a dimension Geary never did. I understand the tendency to compare guys who came to the U of A, but the big, spidery, athletic guard isn't something we've had a lot of. Frankly, I start thinking about guys like Chris Douglas-Roberts or Garrett Temple, that big, big guard with a lot of athletic ability.

Comanche has a lot of potential to be a glue guy. He will evolve into someone who can play both the 4 and 5, someone who does a lot of things well but maybe nothing dominantly.

Simon to me is way more of a poor man's Rondae and even then it's not even poor. Maybe a middle class man's Rondae is a better way to put it.

Comanche looks like Anthony Cook. Long, sleek and bouncy. Cook gained offensive skills as he got older and was a great shot blocker. Ran by other bigs.

The Geary comparison is based on being a very athletic, undersized small forward who swats shots, steals the ball, makes good passes and is a general nuisance. He also couldn't shoot all that well. Simon isn't as exuberant. Nobody was. Geary then became the point guard, which was a remarkable transformation.

Chris Douglas-Roberts? Long way to go to be that polished and effective on offense.

gumby wrote:Comanche looks like Anthony Cook. Long, sleek and bouncy. Cook gained offensive skills as he got older and was a great shot blocker. Ran by other bigs.

The Geary comparison is based on being a very athletic, undersized small forward who swats shots, steals the ball, makes good passes and is a general nuisance. He also couldn't shoot all that well. Simon isn't as exuberant. Nobody was. Geary then became the point guard, which was a remarkable transformation.

Chris Douglas-Roberts? Long way to go to be that polished and effective on offense.

My take relative to CDR. He didn't make more than a third of his 3 point attempts until his last year of college. He spent a lot of time as a fairly athletic guy who was a so so shooter. I get your point though, bc Simon has to make strides. Temple is a similar defender, but never evolved offensively at all. Depending on how much Simon develops, we'll see.

The true guy that JS is most like:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pla ... mon-1.html" target="_blank

Zero wrote:I really hope Chance gets that killer instinct and becomes a force in the paint on the defensive end. It has been so long since we have had a shot blocking stud in the paint at center. His future looks so promising.

Yeah... Ala Woods...(Loren)

gumby wrote:Comanche looks like Anthony Cook. Long, sleek and bouncy. Cook gained offensive skills as he got older and was a great shot blocker. Ran by other bigs.
.

I dont think he will be as good as Cook but that is exactly who I was going to post.

Any chance Comanche starts next season? Too early to tell, I know. But I think we're getting a glimpse of his potential these past few games.

Beachcat97 wrote:Any chance Comanche starts next season? Too early to tell, I know. But I think we're getting a glimpse of his potential these past few games.

There's no way Chance starts over a Junior Ristic.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Any chance Comanche starts next season? Too early to tell, I know. But I think we're getting a glimpse of his potential these past few games.

There's no way Chance starts over a Junior Ristic.

I was thinking of this:

KA/PJC
Trier
JJ
Chance
Ristic

Does Comanche even have an outside game? CSM loves the stretch 4.

Merkin wrote:Does Comanche even have an outside game? CSM loves the stretch 4.

Did Channing as a freshman?

And yeah, I know Miller loves those stretch 4s. TJ Leaf was next in line.

LM is next in line.

Airizona wrote:LM is next in line.

Right. And LM is going to be a good player. I was just wondering if Chance might give LM some competition for a starting spot next season. I don't know if it's as much of a given that LM would start as it is that JJ would.

I don't think Chance Comanche is a 4 and I'm not 100% sure if Lauri is either fwiw, but I think he's closer than Chance is. Also by 4s I'm talking college 4s. NBA 4s and College 4s are completely different. Remember to play the position successfully you have to be able to defend it a la Mark Tollefsen at the 3.

All of this totally depends on our roster next season. Is Trier back to hold down the 2 spot? Do we have Josh Jackson? Will Ray be fully healthy and be too good to keep on the bench? In my perfect world where we land Jackson, Trier comes back, and Ray is Ray once again this is our starting lineup next year:

Kadeem Allen
Allonzo Trier
Josh Jackson
Ray Smith
Dusan Ristic

Comanche backing up Ristic and I'll give Lauri the 4 spot behind Ray.

Now if Trier isn't back then Jackson is my 2, Ray is my 3, and Lauri is my 4. Comanche backs up the 5 and Ray/Josh slides over to the 4 when only one of these 7 footers is out on the floor.

Trier is gonna be one and done. Becoming more obvious by the week.

Beachcat97 wrote:Trier is gonna be one and done. Becoming more obvious by the week.

Well you are the expert. If that is the case though then Lauri is our starting 4 man and we have two very capable 6'8 guys (with Jackson in the fold) to fill in at the 4 when required.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Trier is gonna be one and done. Becoming more obvious by the week.

Well you are the expert. If that is the case though then Lauri is our starting 4 man and we have two very capable 6'8 guys (with Jackson in the fold) to fill in at the 4 when required.

You just don't see very many guys with Trier's talent stay beyond a single season. He would be drafted in the first round. This assumes, of course, that his performance over the next three months is similar to what we've seen the last three weeks.

Beachcat97 wrote:Trier is gonna be one and done. Becoming more obvious by the week.

I wouldn't call that yet. I think Tollefsen and Anderson might be.

If Kris Dunn can stay all those years don't tell me there's no chance that an NBA undersized 2 is already gone in mid-December.

PennZona20 wrote:If Kris Dunn can stay all those years don't tell me there's no chance that an NBA undersized 2 is already gone in mid-December.

You're right, and I don't know what AT's situation is in terms of his family, goals, etc. All I'm saying is that AT is an NBA-level talent, and he's already showing a prolific scoring ability 11 games into his collegiate career. Let's hope that he's enjoying being a Wildcat and that he sticks around at least a couple years. I just think the current culture of leaving early suggests he could be gone.

I would hope we keep an undersized kid (by NBA early entree standards) at least 2 years.

And while he def has an NBA game w Chauncey billips / d rose ability to get to rim , it's harder to finish over Deandre Jordan and Dwight Howard than it is to finish over guys like Webb or Sabonis.

Here's a tough question: when was the last year AZ did not lose a single player to transfer or early draft entry?

Beachcat97 wrote:Here's a tough question: when was the last year AZ did not lose a single player to transfer or early draft entry?

Don't suppose you could look that up. My search engine is overheating.

I was gonna say 1997 to 1998, but Quynn Tebbs. Or do you mean guys that matter?

RPI was 34 on Saturday. Now 25.

Olsondogg wrote:RPI was 34 on Saturday. Now 25.

We handle our business in conference, the RPI will work itself out. The Pac will help our SOS this year, as opposed to other years where it hurt it.

Cats a 3 seed, so far, says Lunardi.

Oregon, 6; Cal, 7; Utah, 8; UCLA, 9; ASU, 11.

USC still has work to do.

Turn of the calendar year, and fuckin Lunardi dominates threads.

He is MASSIVE. Give in to the WEAR DOWN.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Trier is gonna be one and done. Becoming more obvious by the week.

I wouldn't call that yet. I think Tollefsen and Anderson might be.

LOL! Don't go too far out on that limb.

Moved up to 20th in AdjO and fell down to 33rd in AdjD after the UCLA game.

The D is getting worse and worse and we're only two games into conference play. Have to improve immediately or we'll be losing a ton of 87-84 games.

ASUHATER! wrote:The D is getting worse and worse and we're only two games into conference play. Have to improve immediately or we'll be losing a ton of 87-84 games.

Exaggerate much? Never mind.... facts already in evidence.

This team will not be as strong defensively as past Miller teams, and I think anyone who has been paying attention has known that since the season started.

We were not going to run the table, and losing at UCLA on a last second shot, this season, is hardly a cause for paranoia. You lose games on the road in conference, and this is far from a shocker or embarrassment.

This team won't be as good as the past couple years, but it probably does not need to be to have a chance to win the conference and go deep in the NCAA tournament. I am not convinced either is a foregone conclusion, but I absolutely believe both are a distinct possibility.

If we win Saturday we are right on schedule. TBD.

ASUHATER! wrote:The D is getting worse and worse and we're only two games into conference play. Have to improve immediately or we'll be losing a ton of 87-84 games.

Need to make more free throws too, right Machina?

We lost RHJ, Stan and TJ... all fantastic defenders and some are wondering why our D isn't as good?

Come on. I don't worry at all about Miller getting this team to play a high level of defensive.

This loss does not bother me much. Wins are going to be tough on the road. I wouldn't bet against this team in March.

Need to make a rational observation presentable for the Internet? Hater has an app for that. The Eeyore Hyperbolator.

Instead of, "Looks like a cloudy day." You get, "Stock up on water and batteries!"

Alieberman wrote:We lost RHJ, Stan and TJ... all fantastic defenders and some are wondering why our D isn't as good?

We have good, not great defenders this year. As far as the guards, it's about effort and will. Most times it's there, but they do take plays off unfortunately. The good thing is that's correctable. The big men are better right now, and I love the fact that Zeus is becoming a rim protector. I think he's less concerned with fouls since he's got Dusan, Tolly, and even Chance behind him.

Alieberman wrote:This loss does not bother me much. Wins are going to be tough on the road. I wouldn't bet against this team in March.

13-2 is a great start to the season. Now, if we lose to USC, I'll revisit my "What, me worry?" stance but for now I have no problem with being 1-1 on the road in such a deep conference.

Aside from losing those guys, last night was inexcusable. No, we aren't going to be a force defensively. Contrary to how much some people love Kadeem's D, I don't see him as a stopper or an elite defender, just our best on the perimeter. We are going to have to accept that teams are going to pick on PJC and Tollefsen when they are out there, that Trier is going to have his ups and downs, etc. But, in January there is no reason we should be looking like we did November in terms of where we need to be on the floor and how to properly play at least adequate team defense. It really was like watching us in November last night. How many times were defenders in no man's land? How many easy uncontested shots? How many clear path layups and dunks? Outside of Zeus, we looked like a pick and roll was something invented a week ago. And the effort was half-assed.

Not to keep picking on Anderson, but he killed us last night. At least six times last night he either didn't hustle, didn't recover, or brain farted, and it resulted in at least five layups/dunks and a 3. One time it was jogging back on defense. Another time he recovered from a hedge and was looking up, down, front, back, and spinning around as his man hit a 3. He was taken out after that lazy ass recovery off a hedge that resulted in an easy two. Another time it was a half-assed close out and his dude went right by him for a dunk. His effort and defense was the worst, and you cant have that from your senior who is also your best player. I've never considered him to be a great defender, but the effort and thinking needs to be there. And his 15(?) boards looked nice on paper, but I was shocked when I saw that total because he was not as aggressive as he usually is and there were about three times he allowed an offensive rebound, I think on one of those plays he allowed two. He was out of it mentally, not sure if it was being at home or if he wasn't feeling well. And I mean Kadeem, dude busts his ass all year on the defensive end. He waits until the game deciding shot to fight through that screen like he is PJC who hasn't eaten in months and has weights around his ankles?

It needs to get better and it will. Maybe last night was what we needed early in the conference season. We aren't going to be elite like the years past, but we can mitigate that and make ourselves a lot better by just giving the effort and using our damn brains out there. UCLA wasn't doing anything special. Boise State when they played us at McKale was a much more complex offense and a tougher cover