Bear Down Wildcats

Chicat wrote:He had one play after the ten minute mark of the second half where he hit another gear to get past his defender and then finished with a nice layup at the rim where I thought, “Oh yeah, that’s what I came to see.”

You can tell he‘ll have more of those moments. It just won’t be consistent at first.

Merkin wrote:Someone (not me) posted this on FB on University.

This should be shown to every cold weather recruit!

84Cat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Nico's freshman season at AZ will most resemble:

(a) Bibby's freshman year
(b) Bayless' freshman year
(c) McConnell's junior year
(d) Gardner's freshman year
(e) none of the above (stupid quiz, BC)

Beachcat97 wrote:Nico's freshman season at AZ will most resemble:

(a) Bibby's freshman year
(b) Bayless' freshman year
(c) McConnell's junior year
(d) Gardner's freshman year
(e) none of the above (stupid quiz, BC)

Beachcat97 wrote:Nico's freshman season at AZ will most resemble:

(a) Bibby's freshman year
(b) Bayless' freshman year
(c) McConnell's junior year
(d) Gardner's freshman year
(e) none of the above (stupid quiz, BC)

97cats wrote:well - i opened this up earlier and was suprised ... plus #15

6 - Nico Mannion | Arizona | Fr | PG | 6-3, 180

Minnesota's glaring roster weakness right now is at point guard; conversely, its glaring roster strength right now is Karl-Anthony Towns. So to maximize Towns' potential, an upgrade at point guard is in order. Mannion may not be the immediate fix, but his scoring and passing could give the bench a desperately-needed boon.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... bleheader/

97cats wrote:

Longhorned wrote:
A good turnover is when you keep stepping down on the baseline over and over and over again. That’s a move I hope he develops.

for me this is second only behind dribbling off your foot out of bounds - now that’s a good turnover

Beachcat97 wrote:Feels like his game is most reminiscent of TJ's, but he's bigger and more athletic.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Feels like his game is most reminiscent of TJ's, but he's bigger and more athletic.

I don't think he's as good a defender as TJ, but a better shooter and penetrator. Bibby just seems like a better fit for him.

TJ was solid, but not the kind of guy who could really attack a D. Bibby could attack.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:Here's The Athletic's Sam Vecenie on Mannion's 2020 draft position:

11. Nico Mannion

6-3 guard, Pinnacle High School (Phoenix, AZ). Committed to Arizona

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t the biggest believer in Mannion prior to this month. It’s not that I thought he was a bad player or anything, I just wasn’t sure I saw the one-and-done potential that some did. And at McDonald’s, I thought it took him some time to figure out how to attack against length and elite athletes. But here’s the thing: Mannion is an incredibly smart player. So once he showed up to Hoop Summit about two weeks later, it was clear he had figured some things out. What followed in the practices and games was Mannion morphing into the week’s top performer, consistently playing with terrific pace and poise.

Unsurprisingly, Mannion’s skill level is incredibly high. He can hit shots from all three levels, and has a terrific in-between game. I worry about finishing at the basket for a player who isn’t quite as explosive as some other lead guards, but it’s possible that his floater game can help him make up for it. The real place where he excels is running the show as a point guard, though. He is a terrific passer who can drop dimes all over the floor to teammates for efficient shots. Arizona fans are going to love having him next season after the team’s offense plummeted toward the bottom of the Pac-12 this past season in large part due to a lack of cerebral point guard play. I now expect that Mannion will be a one-and-done.

The bolded...that's why I've been so hyped about Nico. He's always had the IQ and skills, and his body has grown to allow him to express them. He knows how to play the game and should be very easy to play with.

StickItInTheyFace wrote:My favorite part of the game was him shit talking the Illinois Guard while we were down like 7 points. Dude is not lacking confidence and that is a beautiful sight that we haven't seen since in recent pg's. This team really felt like it lost its edge and swagger after TJ left. Its back.

ChooChooCat wrote:

StickItInTheyFace wrote:My favorite part of the game was him shit talking the Illinois Guard while we were down like 7 points. Dude is not lacking confidence and that is a beautiful sight that we haven't seen since in recent pg's. This team really felt like it lost its edge and swagger after TJ left. Its back.

Nico is a massive shit talker and always has been. He loves to take it and dish it right back.

97cats wrote:i cried last night, thats right, cried.

im not over it, still sad.

i may never get over it, i may never stop looking back

its just so depressing.

ChooChooCat wrote:

StickItInTheyFace wrote:My favorite part of the game was him shit talking the Illinois Guard while we were down like 7 points. Dude is not lacking confidence and that is a beautiful sight that we haven't seen since in recent pg's. This team really felt like it lost its edge and swagger after TJ left. Its back.

Nico is a massive shit talker and always has been. He loves to take it and dish it right back.

TucsonClip wrote:The way he can see and manipulate the floor at such a young age is amazing. Great example was late in the game on that lob to Zeke.

Nico had been busting them with that floater from the elbow. Before the ball screen came, he pointed to Zeke basically saying be ready. He attacks off the screen, draws Zeke's man out of position because of the threat of his floater and then lobs one at the rim for Zeke to slam home.

Miller hasn't had a player who can do that during his time in Tucson. He does now.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

TucsonClip wrote:The way he can see and manipulate the floor at such a young age is amazing. Great example was late in the game on that lob to Zeke.

Nico had been busting them with that floater from the elbow. Before the ball screen came, he pointed to Zeke basically saying be ready. He attacks off the screen, draws Zeke's man out of position because of the threat of his floater and then lobs one at the rim for Zeke to slam home.

Miller hasn't had a player who can do that during his time in Tucson. He does now.

We've had good scorers and good distributors. Now we have both in a single player.

One of the things that impresses me a lot about Nico is his ability to go back and forth between a scorer and distributor seamlessly. When Illinois made a mini run to cut to 11, he flipped the switch and hit a driving layup and floater to stop their momentum.

He's good at knowing what the moment calls for.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

TucsonClip wrote:The way he can see and manipulate the floor at such a young age is amazing. Great example was late in the game on that lob to Zeke.

Nico had been busting them with that floater from the elbow. Before the ball screen came, he pointed to Zeke basically saying be ready. He attacks off the screen, draws Zeke's man out of position because of the threat of his floater and then lobs one at the rim for Zeke to slam home.

Miller hasn't had a player who can do that during his time in Tucson. He does now.

We've had good scorers and good distributors. Now we have both in a single player.

One of the things that impresses me a lot about Nico is his ability to go back and forth between a scorer and distributor seamlessly. When Illinois made a mini run to cut to 11, he flipped the switch and hit a driving layup and floater to stop their momentum.

He's good at knowing what the moment calls for.

I said that I thought Nico could be a combo of Trier's scoring and TJ's passing... that's what I saw last night.

StickItInTheyFace wrote:My favorite part of the game was him shit talking the Illinois Guard while we were down like 7 points. Dude is not lacking confidence and that is a beautiful sight that we haven't seen since in recent pg's. This team really felt like it lost its edge and swagger after TJ left. Its back.

Beachcat97 wrote:Not really seeing how our being undefeated at this point is a big surprise. Zeke’s play and DD’s exit are the only surprises. If we make it to the start of Pac play without a loss, that too would be surprising.

97cats wrote: long season to go including road tests which will tell much more about this bunch, but I understand why the piece from ESPN was written - the way in which Arizona has dominated early has been a surprise for me too.

CalStateTempe wrote:I don’t know why we let espn on campus

azcat49 wrote:Would ESPIN dare to bring game day to McKale for the Zags game. Would that be fun or what