Bear Down Wildcats

That place will be rocking.

Who's coming back for Gonzaga? Pretty sure Sabonis, Wiltjer, and Karnowski are back.

Im there...

Beachcat97 wrote:Who's coming back for Gonzaga? Pretty sure Sabonis, Wiltjer, and Karnowski are back.

Dranganis, Perkins as well

That's a good Zags team coming back next season. Not sure who they have coming in.

dcZONAfan wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Who's coming back for Gonzaga? Pretty sure Sabonis, Wiltjer, and Karnowski are back.

Dranganis, Perkins as well

Karnowski is considering leaving to play in Europe. Wiltjer is on the fence. McClellan is another guard. Transferred from Vanderbilt and was injury-plagued last year. If all return, could be best front line in the nation.

We are to Gonzaga what Wisconsin is to us. They want us BAD.

Merkin wrote:

seriously considering this trip

UAEebs86 wrote:

Sometimes I wonder why we seem to play a lot of good midmajors. We don't get a name bump if we win, but they're dangerous teams. Like UTEP last year.

No home games against mountain schools? Lame.

So as of now (copying from that article):

Bradley
Boise state
northwestern state
3 game wooden classic (has bc, msu, Boise state, uc Irvine, evansi, etc..)
@gonzaga
Fresno state
Missouri
northern Arizona
unlv
long beach state

9 home games, a tournament in Anaheim where we'll have the most fans and 1 true road game at gonzaga. But the season opener before Bradley is still TBD. But as of now it's that.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

UAEebs86 wrote:

Sometimes I wonder why we seem to play a lot of good midmajors. We don't get a name bump if we win, but they're dangerous teams. Like UTEP last year.

Seems to be focusing on Western teams. Not many majors in the West. Nonetheless, a victory at Gonzaga could be more bump than any Pac-12 win.

Tough, tough schedule like that should get us all primed and ready for another sweet sixteen run.

Via Scheer. Pac-12 won't schedule for-profit schools. So no Grand Canyon. Only game left is home opener.

Karnowski coming back. Announced yesterday.

It would be nice to get a power conference school for the opener in a neutral site or on road. Burning doubt games like that are ever scheduled this late. Probably will have to settle for some big west or big sky team at home.

ASUHATER! wrote:It would be nice to get a power conference school for the opener in a neutral site or on road. Burning doubt games like that are ever scheduled this late. Probably will have to settle for some big west or big sky team at home.

Lots of new players on this team, give me the gimme game in the opener.

Just like having a home opener other than the exhibition(s). Top 150 RPI team works

NAU is going to have one of their better teams...Murphy has them back to contending for the #2 program in the state. Boise will be a media darling for the upset with a good team last remember being "screwed" by the other Miller playing in Dayton. I like those "Arizona is the big, bad guy" games against good but not great teams. Solid top 50 to 100 RPI fodder with a nearly fo sho win. Wooden looks good, Gonzaga will be big, UNLV has a chance to be a lower end top 25 team.

The top 50-100 mid major games are scary when on the road. In McKale? Solid resume builders with almost guaranteed wins vs tournament level teams. We will have a good enough RPI to challenge for a high seed ( who comes back is more an impact right now as to which tier we are fighting for, good or elite), there are a handful of needle mover games, and we will get all we need in conference with crazy road game situations.

I'd like to see us open as soft as possible...could have a whole different lineup out there. All for picking up the schedule as OOC goes on, but no need to play a tough game to start the year.

Sorry but this schedule sucks.

Probably is better than last year but overall it isn't fantastic. Could end up playing tournament teams in gonzaga, msu, Boise state, nau and unlv. Missouri and Boston college can't be worse than this year and are power 5 teams. The other 6 games are cupcakes we should all win by 20.

If worse comes to worse and we end up starting Ristic, Anderson and a 3 guard lineup, this weak schedule will hopefully buoy our seeding to at least an easy S16.

2014-15 KenPom Rankings for next years OOC opponents:

TBD
270 Bradley
42 Boise State
243 Northwestern State
(Wooden Legacy - 3 games)
7 Gonzaga @
204 Fresno State
214 Missouri
174 Northern Arizona
100 UNLV
142 Long Beach State

Bigest game in McKale = Boise State - should be a white out game no doubt .

Appears to be straight out of the Herb Sendek School of Scheduling.

That's the schedule you put together when you believe you're going to lose your entire starting 5 and 6 of your top 8 players will have never played a minute for Arizona before.

Obviously with Zeus likely to return, PJC's development, and the availability of certain grad transfers, the schedule could be tougher. But now it's too late. And if Stanley comes back? Whew, we should smoke all those teams outside of Gonzaga and Michigan State.

Wow, shocked to see Bradley, Mizzou and Fresno St have fallen to 200+ RPI programs.

azcat49 wrote:Wow, shocked to see Bradley, Mizzou and Fresno St have fallen to 200+ RPI programs.

And didn't that Missouri home-and-home get announced when Mizzou was in the midst of a 30 win season and coming off a pair of 20+ win seasons? No way to predict they'd go into the toilet.

azcat49 wrote:Wow, shocked to see Bradley, Mizzou and Fresno St have fallen to 200+ RPI programs.

Shows what a good coach Tarkanian was if he could win at FSU.

Chicat wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Wow, shocked to see Bradley, Mizzou and Fresno St have fallen to 200+ RPI programs.

And didn't that Missouri home-and-home get announced when Mizzou was in the midst of a 30 win season and coming off a pair of 20+ win seasons? No way to predict they'd go into the toilet.

I think their 2nd (or was it 1st?) round bounce in the tourney screwed up their mojo good.

Chicat wrote:That's the schedule you put together when you believe you're going to lose your entire starting 5 and 6 of your top 8 players will have never played a minute for Arizona before....

Like Kentucky - the team that has already scheduled #4 Duke, @ #33 UCLA, #21 Ohio State and #16 Louisville?

I agree - we need to go back to play anybody, any time.

Wiltjer announces return. Best frontline in nation? Be a helluva thing to win that game. And, yeah, scheduling needs work.

KaibabKat wrote:

Chicat wrote:That's the schedule you put together when you believe you're going to lose your entire starting 5 and 6 of your top 8 players will have never played a minute for Arizona before....

Like Kentucky - the team that has already scheduled #4 Duke, @ #33 UCLA, #21 Ohio State and #16 Louisville?

And how well did that scheduling work for them in 2012 when they were breaking in a whole new team and played Duke, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Louisville?

Our game at Gonzaga is going to be one of our toughest roadies in a while. Maybe we should lose it though so we don't play in the west region...

Here is the 2001-02 OOC sked (after the 2001 exodus). only Gardner back, among starters. Had Walton (bench player) and Rick Anderson (coming off redshirt).

Maryland, Florida, Texas, KU, Illinois, Purdue, Mich State, Pepperdine, Valpo. Went 7-2. That just doesn't happen anymore, but still ... could be a smidge tougher given the circumstances.

gumby wrote:Here is the 2001-02 OOC sked (after the 2001 exodus). only Gardner back, among starters. Had Walton (bench player) and Rick Anderson (coming off redshirt).

Maryland, Florida, Texas, KU, Illinois, Purdue, Mich State, Pepperdine, Valpo. Went 7-2. That just doesn't happen anymore, but still ... could be a smidge tougher given the circumstances.

I know that Michael Wright leaving was definitely not anticipated prior to the season, and Jefferson leaving also wasn't a foregone conclusion. This year it was expected that all five starters would be gone. I can see the logic behind scheduling in anticipation of having to break in a lot of new pieces.

If Missouri and Fresno State weren't historically bad this coming year, this schedule is a nice mix of major conference teams and mid-major tests. Much like Lute not being able to predict that Michael Wright would bolt, Sean Miller and Greg Byrne couldn't have predicted in 2011 that Missouri would be bent over grabbing it's ankles in 2015.

gumby wrote:Here is the 2001-02 OOC sked (after the 2001 exodus). only Gardner back, among starters. Had Walton (bench player) and Rick Anderson (coming off redshirt).

Maryland, Florida, Texas, KU, Illinois, Purdue, Mich State, Pepperdine, Valpo. Went 7-2. That just doesn't happen anymore, but still ... could be a smidge tougher given the circumstances.

Gardner left too, but had such a poor showing in the pre-draft camps he came back and completely fell off the draft charts.

Ricky Anderson was the next Shane Battier, so the others wouldn't have been missed so much.

Wright wanted to return but spend some time at SF to prepare for the NBA since he was so short. Lute said no, you are a PF.

Chicat wrote:

gumby wrote:Here is the 2001-02 OOC sked (after the 2001 exodus). only Gardner back, among starters. Had Walton (bench player) and Rick Anderson (coming off redshirt).

Maryland, Florida, Texas, KU, Illinois, Purdue, Mich State, Pepperdine, Valpo. Went 7-2. That just doesn't happen anymore, but still ... could be a smidge tougher given the circumstances.

I know that Michael Wright leaving was definitely not anticipated prior to the season, and Jefferson leaving also wasn't a foregone conclusion. This year it was expected that all five starters would be gone. I can see the logic behind scheduling in anticipation of having to break in a lot of new pieces.

If Missouri and Fresno State weren't historically bad this coming year, this schedule is a nice mix of major conference teams and mid-major tests. Much like Lute not being able to predict that Michael Wright would bolt, Sean Miller and Greg Byrne couldn't have predicted in 2011 that Missouri would be bent over grabbing it's ankles in 2015.

Scheduling overall is just more strategic now, so I don't expect those Lute skeds. Fewer coaches willing to pull the trigger. We haven't had one even when we've had a good, experienced squad returning and a high preseason ranking.

It's a new era. I get that. Which is why I just asked for a smidge.

Merkin wrote: Ricky Anderson was the next Shane Battier, so the others wouldn't have been missed so much.

Dear Roz: The Internet never forgets.

gumby wrote:

Chicat wrote:

gumby wrote:Here is the 2001-02 OOC sked (after the 2001 exodus). only Gardner back, among starters. Had Walton (bench player) and Rick Anderson (coming off redshirt).

Maryland, Florida, Texas, KU, Illinois, Purdue, Mich State, Pepperdine, Valpo. Went 7-2. That just doesn't happen anymore, but still ... could be a smidge tougher given the circumstances.

I know that Michael Wright leaving was definitely not anticipated prior to the season, and Jefferson leaving also wasn't a foregone conclusion. This year it was expected that all five starters would be gone. I can see the logic behind scheduling in anticipation of having to break in a lot of new pieces.

If Missouri and Fresno State weren't historically bad this coming year, this schedule is a nice mix of major conference teams and mid-major tests. Much like Lute not being able to predict that Michael Wright would bolt, Sean Miller and Greg Byrne couldn't have predicted in 2011 that Missouri would be bent over grabbing it's ankles in 2015.

Scheduling overall is just more strategic now, so I don't expect those Lute skeds. Fewer coaches willing to pull the trigger. We haven't had one even when we've had a good, experienced squad returning and a high preseason ranking.

It's a new era. I get that. Which is why I just asked for a smidge.

I hear you. It's also about timing. Our OOC strength of schedule last year could have been stronger if Mizzou, Michigan and UNLV had been better. Same thing for next year with Mizzou and UNLV. No one was really complaining when we set up those series, but now they actually hurt our SOS.

Yep.

the nonconf away game balance of scheduling may also be a revenue decision by GB & the athletic dept, no?

dirtbags wrote:the nonconf away game balance of scheduling may also be a revenue decision by GB & the athletic dept, no?

Yes.

How do you feel about flat front dress slacks?

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

dirtbags wrote:the nonconf away game balance of scheduling may also be a revenue decision by GB & the athletic dept, no?

Yes.

How do you feel about flat front dress slacks?

Love em. No pleats for me.

Pleated pants an are anathema.

ahh, the ffds. thumbs up, though i prefer pbscawj*


* pleated back semi casual acid wash jeans

CalStateTempe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

dirtbags wrote:the nonconf away game balance of scheduling may also be a revenue decision by GB & the athletic dept, no?

Pleated pants an are anathema.

Easy for you to say.

Schedule looking better already ...

gumby wrote:Schedule looking better already ...