Bear Down Wildcats

ChooChooCat wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:How high should our hopes be on Baker being eligible?

Not very high. The NCAA has been lax lately, but Baker doesn't have the greatest waiver case.

If only he was a quarterback.

That's funny!

Spaceman Spiff wrote:If Doutrive is as improved as he looks, it might not matter.

I hate to fall in love at the red blue but wow. He looked grown. I hadn't bought in on DD yet but he's got me reaching for my wallet.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:If Doutrive is as improved as he looks, it might not matter.

I hate to fall in love at the red blue but wow. He looked grown. I hadn't bought in on DD yet but he's got me reaching for my wallet.

Ultimately Nico & Green are starting. If DD's jumper were semi-consistent then he could most certainly start alongside them. That remains to be seen of course. Also depends how much the 4 man's jumper is at spreading the floor as well.

Also, Koloko was more aggressive and fluid than I imagined. You can't teach seven foot and agile - he looked like a real asset for the program.

ChooChooCat wrote:

midnightx wrote:Did any noteworthy recruits attend?

There was like 15 recruits at the game.

With Miller's stated intention to make this a more compelling recruiting event, this has to be considered a resounding success:

Dalen Terry (official, already committed)
Puff Johnson (official)
Devin Askew (official)
Kerwin Walton (official)
Nathan Bittle (official)
Jaden Hardy
Will McClendon
DaRon Holmes
Isael Silva
Dylan Anderson

Johnson is a... 6-foot-7 forward from Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix. He is the No. 48 player in the 2020 class.*

Askew is a...6-foot-3 guard from Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California. He is the No. 10 player in the 2021 class, though he may reclassify to 2020.

Walton is a... 6-foot-5 guard from Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota, the same school UA freshman Zeke Nnaji attended. He is the No. 96 player in the 2020 class.

Bittle is a...6-foot-10 center from Crater High School in Central Point, Oregon. He is the No. 15 player in the 2021 class.

Hardy is a... 6-foot-4 combo guard from Coronado High School in Henderson, Nevada. He is the No. 7 player in the 2021 class.

McClendon is a...6-foot-3 guard from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the No. 142 player in the 2021 class.

Holmes is a...6-foot-8 forward from Millennium High School in Goodyear, Arizona. He is the No. 119 player in the 2021 class.

Silva is a...6-foot-3 point guard from Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California. He is the No. 32 player in the 2021 class.

Anderson is a....6-foot-9 center from Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. He is the No. 21 player in the 2022 class.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... -2020-2021" target="_blank

YoDeFoe wrote: Devin Askew (unofficial)

Only correction.

There were also a handful of other 2022 guys there.

“But what does Dylan do? He can hit 40% of his 3-point shots, especially when he takes good ones. He’s an excellent defensive player, and with his experience, if he could bring those two things to the table on a daily basis for our team this year, man, he will help us win a lot of games.”

Miller: not a dum dum.

YoDeFoe wrote:“But what does Dylan do? He can hit 40% of his 3-point shots, especially when he takes good ones. He’s an excellent defensive player, and with his experience, if he could bring those two things to the table on a daily basis for our team this year, man, he will help us win a lot of games.”

Miller: not a dum dum.

He can also air ball a wide open 3 pointer in transition by a good 4 feet with someone open under the hoop as he did on Friday. I stand by my previous statements that as good as he is on D he is the worst player I have seen in an Arizona uniform get meaningful minutes since Daniel Dillon. And the stats back that up, since 2010 (when basketball reference first started reporting the stat) only three players have played for Arizona and had a PER under 9 and played over 400 minutes. Those players are Dylan Smith the last two years and Jordin Mayes in 2012-13. For reference for those of you not familiar with the PER stat, anything below a 10 is god awful and is the equivalent of playing with any geek off the street. He definitely has not earned his keep his two years here.

gronk4heisman wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:“But what does Dylan do? He can hit 40% of his 3-point shots, especially when he takes good ones. He’s an excellent defensive player, and with his experience, if he could bring those two things to the table on a daily basis for our team this year, man, he will help us win a lot of games.”

Miller: not a dum dum.

He can also air ball a wide open 3 pointer in transition by a good 4 feet with someone open under the hoop as he did on Friday. I stand by my previous statements that as good as he is on D he is the worst player I have seen in an Arizona uniform get meaningful minutes since Daniel Dillon. And the stats back that up, since 2010 (when basketball reference first started reporting the stat) only three players have played for Arizona and had a PER under 9 and played over 400 minutes. Those players are Dylan Smith the last two years and Jordin Mayes in 2012-13. For reference for those of you not familiar with the PER stat, anything below a 10 is god awful and is the equivalent of playing with any geek off the street. He definitely has not earned his keep his two years here.

His PER is where it is due to his game off the dribble. He is both turnover prone and low percentage converting into points.

If he just shoots catch and shoot J's, defends and rebounds, the PER changes. No dribbling. No penetrating.

Smith also missed a 2 foot layup by 8 feet last season. Explain that one!

Daniel Dillon wasn't that bad though. His only role was to not lose a lead, so he didn't make that many mistakes. I don't trust Smith to do that. Just a terrible decision maker.

To soothe my 9 month old son to sleep, I tell him things like Jemarl Baker will be immediately eligible and that means Dylan Smith won't have to play this year. True story.

ChooChooCat wrote:To soothe my 9 month old son to sleep, I tell him things like Jemarl Baker will be immediately eligible and that means Dylan Smith won't have to play this year. True story.

Between Max and DD (and Josh, of course) I could see Smith being at the back of the bench anyways. If you're ranking members of the backcourt, he's got to be fifth on the list right? Nico and Josh... and then Max and DD for more reliable shooting and ball handling.

I might insert Smith only when Josh sits, to keep a defensive stopper on the floor at the three. 10min/g?

YDF my thoughts from another thread and before RBG. Did not see RBG, but sounds like DD in the starting lineup is not out of the question and gettings in earlier possibly.

Starting Line-up
PG – Mannion
SG- Hazzard
SF – Green
PF – Zeke
C – Jeter
Thoughts: I think these are generally considered the likely starters based on skill, OFFvsDEF, seniority

First Substitution
PG – Mannion
SG – DD/Green
SF – Green/DD
PF – Lee
C – Zeke
Thoughts: should be a good rebounding group. A lot of length everywhere to offset Lee’s general lack of it.

Mannion-Less Lineup
PG – Hazzard
SG – Green
SF – Smith
PF – Gettings
C – Zeke/Jeter (matchup/foul/rest dependent)
Thoughts: Green and Smith offset Hazzard for defense in the backcourt and Green/Gettings offset hazzard playmaking and ball movement. Smith/Gettings Hazzard all space the floor and open up green to attack from the wing.

Second thought: A Green-less lineup does not seem very appetizing either.

Miller said that DD would get a chance to play PG much like Bwill did last year. We will see but he looked much more in control than last year. Of course it was only the R/B game so...

YoDeFoe wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:To soothe my 9 month old son to sleep, I tell him things like Jemarl Baker will be immediately eligible and that means Dylan Smith won't have to play this year. True story.

Between Max and DD (and Josh, of course) I could see Smith being at the back of the bench anyways. If you're ranking members of the backcourt, he's got to be fifth on the list right? Nico and Josh... and then Max and DD for more reliable shooting and ball handling.

I might insert Smith only when Josh sits, to keep a defensive stopper on the floor at the three. 10min/g?

I would sure as hell hope so, but you never know with Miller. He's got a thing for Smith.

baycat93 wrote:Second thought: A Green-less lineup does not seem very appetizing either.

I remember that line stuck in my head from when I read this comment from when you posted it in the other thread.

With all the caveats of "it's the Red Blue for the love of God," DD looked really capable out there - especially with the ball in his hands. Right now I'd prefer to see him at back-up PG over Hazzard, who I think plays far more effectively off ball.

At this point I'd like to see the below [position - player (min/g)]:

PG - Mannion (33), Doutrive (7)
SG - Hazzard (20), Doutrive (20)
SF - Green (30), Smith (10)

Hard to judge the front court post-Red Blue, didn't have Jeter out there. My only comment is that we're deeper than I imagined with Gettings looking really sharp and Koloko looking like a very fluid big man who could be useful this season (despite needing to work on his touch).

On rotations, I sort of feel like this. Nico is the key to our ballhandling rotation. Green is the key to our wing rotation. Jeter is the key to our post rotation.

As long as we have at least two of those guys out there at a time, I think we're good. If we get down to only one of them, that's a shaky lineup. I can't really come up with a lineup that I like for longer than a 2-3 min stretch without two of those three on the floor.

Red/Blue was a little misleading minus Jeter. He gives us interior scoring and D that would stabilize things while Green or Nico sits. The sucky thing is that BWill is another key guy that could really help us flex both Nico and Green.

YoDeFoe wrote:
With all the caveats of "it's the Red Blue for the love of God," DD looked really capable out there - especially with the ball in his hands. Right now I'd prefer to see him at back-up PG over Hazzard, who I think plays far more effectively off ball.

At this point I'd like to see the below [position - player (min/g)]:

PG - Mannion (33), Doutrive (7)
SG - Hazzard (20), Doutrive (20)
SF - Green (30), Smith (10)

If DD is ready for primetime at the backup 1. Our prospects this season got a lot better. If we can roll a DD/Baker backup PG rotation.... . Trying so hard not to get excited.

Despite the talking heads during the Red/Blue game does anyone see Koloko not redshirting?

At this point i see Jeter/Nnaji/Gettings/Lee playing at the 4/5

Mannion/Green/Doutrive/Hazzard/Smith at the 1/2/3

Thats 9 bodies...........and Miller almost never goes that deep after conference play begins. I could easily see
Gettings or Lee dropping out of the rotation after January 1. If Koloko plays thats 10 deep, which I will believe when
I see it........Leopards don't change their spots and neither will Miller.

Why doesn’t basketball have a similar number of games player without giving up a year like football has? Seems like a good rule would be the teams non conference schedule

azcat49 wrote:Why doesn’t basketball have a similar number of games player without giving up a year like football has? Seems like a good rule would be the teams non conference schedule

I'd be OK with that, but I imagine it's due to Div I football rosters being around 105 players, 88 scholies, and basketball only around 17, 14 scholies.

dmjcat wrote:Despite the talking heads during the Red/Blue game does anyone see Koloko not redshirting?

At this point i see Jeter/Nnaji/Gettings/Lee playing at the 4/5

Mannion/Green/Doutrive/Hazzard/Smith at the 1/2/3

Thats 9 bodies...........and Miller almost never goes that deep after conference play begins. I could easily see
Gettings or Lee dropping out of the rotation after January 1. If Koloko plays thats 10 deep, which I will believe when
I see it........Leopards don't change their spots and neither will Miller.

Arizona under Sean Miller has had numerous true freshmen who probably should've redshirted not redshirt. I imagine Christian Koloko will be no different regardless how little playing time he's in for. I agree with you for how good Koloko has looked the rotation barring injury at the 4 and 5 will consist of the 4 guys you listed. FWIW Chase Jeter is pretty much all, but guaranteed to get injured at some point this year. He does not play through pain to be quite frank. That's where Koloko will come in.

ChooChooCat wrote:

dmjcat wrote:Despite the talking heads during the Red/Blue game does anyone see Koloko not redshirting?

At this point i see Jeter/Nnaji/Gettings/Lee playing at the 4/5

Mannion/Green/Doutrive/Hazzard/Smith at the 1/2/3

Thats 9 bodies...........and Miller almost never goes that deep after conference play begins. I could easily see
Gettings or Lee dropping out of the rotation after January 1. If Koloko plays thats 10 deep, which I will believe when
I see it........Leopards don't change their spots and neither will Miller.

Arizona under Sean Miller has had numerous true freshmen who probably should've redshirted not redshirt. I imagine Christian Koloko will be no different regardless how little playing time he's in for. I agree with you for how good Koloko has looked the rotation barring injury at the 4 and 5 will consist of the 4 guys you listed. FWIW Chase Jeter is pretty much all, but guaranteed to get injured at some point this year. He does not play through pain to be quite frank. That's where Koloko will come in.

Excellent points. I feel that Jeter will be the equivalent of Khalil Tate in football. Just one injury after another. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go down for the season early on. Just no durability and very injury prone. Some of the new players will have a golden opportunity if he flounders.

I hope Chase sees this thread.

Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

14-4 1st place finish in pac

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

14-4 1st place finish in pac

Pretty sure this is my prediction damn near every season.

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

18-0

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

0-18.

YoDeFoe wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

14-4 1st place finish in pac

Pretty sure this is my prediction damn near every season.

It’s a good outlook to have (last year the exception)

We have some key young pieces that might not travel well in certain venues in true road games. And we don’t do much traveling until conference play.

In the Miller era we average 12.9 conference wins. If you strike out last year’s anomaly year...that jumps to 13.4, and this team is very good. Our other good teams (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018) have not had less than 14.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

0-18.

I bet I'm closer!

Alieberman wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

0-18.

I bet I'm closer!

I thought this was like the Price is Right where we have to be the low bid without going over?

Pac 12 play doesn't start until we get the kinks worked out...

15-3...we win the regular season...

Oregon beats ASU and we play them in the final in Vegas, pretty much like normal because Dana Altman gets his team ready at the right time every year...

We beat Colorado to get to the final and Tad AssBoil complains that the refs gave us the game because his guys can't win unless they get overly physical to make up for non-skill development...2 of his guys foul out in the game.

Shouts of BOOO! resound when Larry Scott once again makes the trophy presentation...and the good news is, this is his last year to do so because he spent too much money on Vegas for himself and Washington State didn't even get transportation to the tournament.

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

14-4 1st place finish in pac

I love our team and think 1st place is realistic. But...UW, Oregon and Colorado(?) will be in the mix. My skepticism about Colorado is simple: I'm not convinced that simply returning a lot of players automatically improves a team. The Buffs finished 10-8 in a weak AF Pac last season. I expect them to finish 4th or 5th this year. I could see Utah finishing ahead of them. Coach K > Boyle.

UW lost 4 of 5 starters but are bringing in two freshmen gems (Stewart and McDaniels). That's a very good frontcourt. Not sure they have enough depth to hang with AZ.

Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Beachcat97 wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone ready to make a prediction on our Pac record/finish?

14-4 1st place finish in pac

I love our team and think 1st place is realistic. But...UW, Oregon and Colorado(?) will be in the mix. My skepticism about Colorado is simple: I'm not convinced that simply returning a lot of players automatically improves a team. The Buffs finished 10-8 in a weak AF Pac last season. I expect them to finish 4th or 5th this year. I could see Utah finishing ahead of them. Coach K > Boyle.

UW lost 4 of 5 starters but are bringing in two freshmen gems (Stewart and McDaniels). That's a very good frontcourt. Not sure they have enough depth to hang with AZ.

Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

I think we split with Washington and Oregon, and then maybe 2 games that we should be favored in.

Only games that worry me OOC are @Baylor, vs. Gonzaga, and vs. Illinois (I’m haunted). However I think we finish OOC with only 1 loss, and then finish regular season with only 5 losses total. We should compete for pac tourney and have a good run in ncaa tourney.

Bear The Fuck Down. I’m excited!

Beachcat97 wrote:
Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Except when he doesn’t.

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:
Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Except when he doesn’t.

Yeah, like 17-18. People here just forget the down years for programs that aren't us.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:
Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Except when he doesn’t.

Yeah, like 17-18. People here just forget the down years for programs that aren't us.

I mean, Altman's success and relative consistency at Oregon shouldn't really be debatable. But here we are. He's been to two S16s, one E8 and a FF. He's won one reg season Pac title and three Pac tourney titles. I like our guy more, but nothing wrong with giving Altman props for his time at Oregon. I'm glad he's in our conference.

14-4 sounds right to me

Beachcat97 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:
Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Except when he doesn’t.

Yeah, like 17-18. People here just forget the down years for programs that aren't us.

I mean, Altman's success and relative consistency at Oregon shouldn't really be debatable. But here we are. He's been to two S16s, one E8 and a FF. He's won one reg season Pac title and three Pac tourney titles. I like our guy more, but nothing wrong with giving Altman props for his time at Oregon. I'm glad he's in our conference.

This is where I am at as well.

Much less do what we do and more do what we have the talent to do. He hits the System vs flexibility ratio well.

Much like our guy, when the talent is there, the team excels. When it isn’t, he doesn’t. End of story.

Beachcat97 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:
Oregon has a ton of new guys, but they also return Pritchard. Altman will make them competitive. He always does.

Except when he doesn’t.

Yeah, like 17-18. People here just forget the down years for programs that aren't us.

I mean, Altman's success and relative consistency at Oregon shouldn't really be debatable. But here we are. He's been to two S16s, one E8 and a FF. He's won one reg season Pac title and three Pac tourney titles. I like our guy more, but nothing wrong with giving Altman props for his time at Oregon. I'm glad he's in our conference.

I respect Altman, but he doesn't always make them competitive. I'm not debating he is a good coach who's done well at Oregon, but he isn't Self at KU, delivering conference titles every year.

100 - 0

Altman is hard to figure...there have been times when I thought he would miss everything and he pulls out some greatness from his team...

His teams are disciplined...they do not panic...they are actually "teams" which is what makes them successful.

I think he is a better X and O's coach than the rest of the Pac...Hurley returns some guys but no one seems to consider that a factor because they play for Hurley..hurley has never coached a "team" in his life...he has a co-op of players who show up in the same uniforms...that will never get it done.

Tabby Boyle is a terrible coach although we have had a few close ones with him, Miller seems to have his number every year, probably drives him nuts...and frankly he's just not that good, he could return everyone and they'd still be mediocre, I think because he takes it too personal...its more about him than "Colorado" whereas with Miller, he takes responsibility but it's because he believes in the brand...Boyle has no brand...no one is going there to play "Buff Basketball"...

And I think this is where the distinctions can be seen...schools that have a "brand" where players go to be part of that process, part of a team and schools guys go as stepping stones to the NBA where they are barely good enough...James Hardin did not go to Tempe for the forks...he went because it was a pit stop...

Very few "teams" in the Pac 12 quite a lot of college players looking for an NBA career through a university though.

Laughable.

Katz seems like a nice guy but man his opinions are laughably bad.

Remy is going to get trampled by Nico.

... and Hurley is going to go ballistic... and get a technical

goslingswagg wrote:Katz seems like a nice guy but man his opinions are laughably bad.

This is exactly how I feel. I have always liked the guy, but noticing his takes the past few months I am convinced he has no idea what the fuck he's talking about.

Have his takes always been this bad? Maybe the reason I liked his is because I never really looked at his opinions haha.

Katz also has us preseason ranked 37th with the explanation of "they're young" despite us playing four fifth year seniors, a junior, and a sophomore. I made note in an arch rivals thread that UNC has a similar roster composition (slightly younger, in fact) and he ranks them 10th.

Katz is here for the clicks.