Bear Down Wildcats

“Just you wait…just you waaaaaiiiit…” (Hamilton singing voice)

41mins - 25pts - 8-15fg - 3-9(3pt) - 6-8ft - 10rbs - 0a - 1blk - 1st - 4to

21.5 Bird Score - KenPom MVP (his first of the year)

That was about the quietest 25 point game I’ve seen since Kyle Fogg.

He will be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA draft.

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:36 pm That was about the quietest 25 point game I’ve seen since Kyle Fogg.

very well coulda been 35, he missed some easy shots and turned the ball over way too much

32mins - 16pts - 7-13fg - 2-5(3pt) - 0-0ft - 5rbs - 1a - 0blk - 1st - 1to

I’d take that game he just played every damn night. Let the game come to him, loved it.

No free throws attempted kind of shocked me because it wasn’t for a lack of activity.

I do like Mathurin. I think he isn't focused enough at times and makes careless turnovers. That's not bad, it is something to work on. Other than that everything else he does is positive.

We talk about his 3-point prowess but I just love his mid-range game. He had a couple of floaters last night that were a thing of beauty.

Oh yea, we seem to have a few guys that can nail the floaters. Floaters are so important to keep opposing defenses honest. Nothing more frustrating than having your guards and wings penetrate too deep or throw up bricks from six feet.

23mins - 6pts - 2-73fg - 0-1(3pt) - 2-2ft - 7rbs - 2a - 1blk - 2st - 4to

Ben has appeared to regress this year, you see the athleticism that makes him so highly thought of, hopefully he is able to right the ship.

Always think of Richard Jefferson when he went into an offensive slump. Lute told him to focus on his defense, then the offense will take care of itself, and it did.

Take note Ben.

i think hes been great!

5 starters - % improvement from last season - as measured by "Bird" Scores:

254 Kerr Krissa
160 Christian Koloko
131 Dalen Terry
68 Azuolas Tubelis
0 Benedict Mathurin

I don’t think he’s regressed. I just see our offense being centered around getting the ball to the bigs on the interior. That’s a lot different than Miller’s philosophy so there are less opportunities for Mathurin to go one-on-one and score.

As long as he’s passing, rebounding, and playing defense, I honestly don’t care what his points output is.

He has been great. I still say he gets watered down against poorer competition where every Arizona player on the floor can dominate.

But that 2 for 73 field goal stat is historically bad:

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:05 am 23mins - 6pts - 2-73fg - 0-1(3pt) - 2-2ft - 7rbs - 2a - 1blk - 2st - 4to

whoa!

2-73 is not good - lmmfao!!!

and yes, Chi - well said

Maybe my eyes are wrong, but I do not think he has been very good this year. I took a look at basketball reference to see if maybe I am crazy.

His stat lines agrees (I am a math nerd) of the 9 man rotation we have going he is 8th in PER, 8th in WinShare/40min, 9th in Defensive +/- and 7th in Offensive +/-. The fact that we are still dominating like we have been with the guy expected to be our best player struggling is very promising for when he does fix his struggles.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:45 pm I don’t think he’s regressed. I just see our offense being centered around getting the ball to the bigs on the interior. That’s a lot different than Miller’s philosophy so there are less opportunities for Mathurin to go one-on-one and score.

As long as he’s passing, rebounding, and playing defense, I honestly don’t care what his points output is.

His overall win shares are up because his D is better. His efficiency is down and I'd focus on a marked decline in his ft rate.

His ft rate dropped from .417 to .299, which is a large decline and indicative of the fact he isn't getting to the rim as much. Some of that is because he's the #1 priority for opponents, certainly on the perimeter.

His 3 point percentage has dropped, but I'd think a lot of that is that he is starting with 3's instead of getting dunks and layups and mixing 3's in. I don't really see a need to panic, though. Everything but shooting efficiency is good and a step forward in being a more complete player. The D is really heartening because he has big potential on that end.

Wouldn't be a terrible thing if he doesn't explode this season, and come back next season, since C-Lo and Zu will be gone. Then he could be the go to guy.

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:31 pm Maybe my eyes are wrong, but I do not think he has been very good this year. I took a look at basketball reference to see if maybe I am crazy.

His stat lines agrees (I am a math nerd) of the 9 man rotation we have going he is 8th in PER, 8th in WinShare/40min, 9th in Defensive +/- and 7th in Offensive +/-. The fact that we are still dominating like we have been with the guy expected to be our best player struggling is very promising for when he does fix his struggles.

I'm kind of calling BS on the WS per 40 because it includes Mains, Aiken, Ballo and Kier, none of whom are close to Mathurin's role.

He's tied for 2nd in DWS. Of course, that's partially because his minutes, but it shows he's become a legit defender. His OWS drags him down, which is consistent with him being off shooting wise.

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:35 pm Wouldn't be a terrible thing if he doesn't explode this season, and come back next season, since C-Lo and Zu will be gone. Then he could be the go to guy.

Where is Zu going? Koloko i could potentially see NBA, but not Zu. And if Zu is gone that opens up two schollies since I doubt his brother stays.

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:09 pm

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:35 pm Wouldn't be a terrible thing if he doesn't explode this season, and come back next season, since C-Lo and Zu will be gone. Then he could be the go to guy.

Where is Zu going? Koloko i could potentially see NBA, but not Zu. And if Zu is gone that opens up two schollies since I doubt his brother stays.

All this Zu and C-Lo talk.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:39 pm

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:31 pm Maybe my eyes are wrong, but I do not think he has been very good this year. I took a look at basketball reference to see if maybe I am crazy.

His stat lines agrees (I am a math nerd) of the 9 man rotation we have going he is 8th in PER, 8th in WinShare/40min, 9th in Defensive +/- and 7th in Offensive +/-. The fact that we are still dominating like we have been with the guy expected to be our best player struggling is very promising for when he does fix his struggles.

I'm kind of calling BS on the WS per 40 because it includes Mains, Aiken, Ballo and Kier, none of whom are close to Mathurin's role.

He's tied for 2nd in DWS. Of course, that's partially because his minutes, but it shows he's become a legit defender. His OWS drags him down, which is consistent with him being off shooting wise.

I was only including guys in the rotation, of which he has the lowest Defensive plus minus. I think he looks better on D this year most of the time but still spaces out on occasion. He also has the second lowest DRating on the team along with the lowest ORating. The numbers are not on his side.

plus minus is an absolutely worthless stat in basketball and should never be considered...carry on

There will be a game soon when an opposing coach’s defensive game plan packs the paint and takes us completely out of rhythm, and we are all going to see Mathurin go off, making the other team pay for collapsing on Tubelis and Koloko in the paint, beating guys off the dribble with pull up midrange jumpers. Then when that team starts doubling Mathurin on the perimeter and the inside opens up for our bigs, everyone will talk about the phenomenal second half where our front court dominated.

I think in big games he seems to turn it on. That’s what I love about Mathurin.

I really don’t care if he scores 6 points in blowout games. I want him to play big when it counts.

asking: he scored 25 points and collected 10 rebounds against Wichita State - is that going off?

combined against Michigan and Wichita State (toughest comp so far) he averaged 20.5 pts while shooting 53.5% from the floor - is that bad?

directional school performance is not where my focus is at...thats Pelle Larsson time.

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:16 pm

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:39 pm

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:31 pm Maybe my eyes are wrong, but I do not think he has been very good this year. I took a look at basketball reference to see if maybe I am crazy.

His stat lines agrees (I am a math nerd) of the 9 man rotation we have going he is 8th in PER, 8th in WinShare/40min, 9th in Defensive +/- and 7th in Offensive +/-. The fact that we are still dominating like we have been with the guy expected to be our best player struggling is very promising for when he does fix his struggles.

I'm kind of calling BS on the WS per 40 because it includes Mains, Aiken, Ballo and Kier, none of whom are close to Mathurin's role.

He's tied for 2nd in DWS. Of course, that's partially because his minutes, but it shows he's become a legit defender. His OWS drags him down, which is consistent with him being off shooting wise.

I was only including guys in the rotation, of which he has the lowest Defensive plus minus. I think he looks better on D this year most of the time but still spaces out on occasion. He also has the second lowest DRating on the team along with the lowest ORating. The numbers are not on his side.

I share 97's dislike of DBPM. DWS is calculated off DRating. His minutes help as it's an accruing stat, but that's fair because the more minutes you play, the more you're playing tired.

As you note, his offensive win shares have declined but his overall win shares per 40 are noticeably up. As I said, I'm not overly concerned, he just needs to figure out how to get better shots and see some fall.

Benn might be ok

Bird Score = 33.3.
KenPom MVP - his 2nd of the year.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:26 pm There will be a game soon when an opposing coach’s defensive game plan packs the paint and takes us completely out of rhythm, and we are all going to see Mathurin go off

…

Really hoping that Benn really likes orange and that's why he's done so well at Gill against the beavs, maybe it'll translate to to playing well at Illinois and Tennessee.
But man he was bloody impressive last night, what a performance.
Wyoming still Undefeated, could be a pretty good game there

azgreg wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 5:08 pm

Gonna start calling Kriisa Picante Sauce because that spicy little motherfucker made that play happen.

Just a bit on the transitory nature of some of the advanced stats. In one game, Benn improved to third among major minutes guys in PER, third in offensive win shares, second in defensive win shares and third among major minutes guys in Efg and ts%.

7 games in, his shooting slump in some games has dragged his numbers a bit, but there's no reason to worry because if the shots go down, the rest is fine. Some of the bad numbers were essentially a result of a few games missing shots and a small sample size.

He's on a short list of players who could win Pac POY.

His performance yesterday was jaw-dropping...seriously.

Again, what I love about Mathurin is that he has that innate sense to know when his team needs him to step up and take over. And boy does he know how to deliver.

The old line "One Cool Cat" comes to mind.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 9:23 am His performance yesterday was jaw-dropping...seriously.

Again, what I love about Mathurin is that he has that innate sense to know when his team needs him to step up and take over. And boy does he know how to deliver.

The old line "One Cool Cat" comes to mind.

What makes this special is we have our go to player. I want to see Benn master the confidence to be the go to player and this team will be the press gurus; darling.

Catintheheat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 9:27 am

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 9:23 am His performance yesterday was jaw-dropping...seriously.

Again, what I love about Mathurin is that he has that innate sense to know when his team needs him to step up and take over. And boy does he know how to deliver.

The old line "One Cool Cat" comes to mind.

What makes this special is we have our go to player. I want to see Benn master the confidence to be the go to player and this team will be the press gurus; darling.

I feel like Benn will be key when teams zone us and our 3s aren't falling. He's the guy that can break a zone, take it to the basket and/or draw fouls

30mins - 29pts - 11-18fg - 4-9(3pt) - 3-5ft - 9rbs - 1a - 0blk - 1st - 1to

11. Arizona Wildcats (7-0)
Previous ranking: 12
This week: vs. Wyoming (Wednesday), at Illinois (Saturday)

Arizona has been one of the early-season surprises under new head coach Tommy Lloyd, and while clear improvements from the likes of Christian Koloko and Azuolas Tubelis are at the heart of that fast start, last season's leading returning scorer Bennedict Mathurin is still capable of huge performances. He had 25 points in an overtime win against Wichita State, went for 15 in the win over Michigan -- and then kicked off Pac-12 play with a 29-point performance in Sunday's road win at Oregon State. Mathurin's 3-point shooting has taken a step back from last season, but he went 4-for-9 from behind the arc on Sunday and was the best player on the floor. With Koloko and Tubelis controlling the interior, Kerr Kriisa running the show and Mathurin starting to fill it up again, the Wildcats are loaded offensively.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... zaga-falls

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 10:23 am 30mins - 29pts - 11-18fg - 4-9(3pt) - 3-5ft - 9rbs - 1a - 0blk - 1st - 1to

Is that good?

Or do people still think he’s not doing well yet?

Olsondogg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:04 pm

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 10:23 am 30mins - 29pts - 11-18fg - 4-9(3pt) - 3-5ft - 9rbs - 1a - 0blk - 1st - 1to

Is that good?

Or do people still think he’s not doing well yet?

We can celebrate him without ESPN links y'all. Shame on you '97.