Bear Down Wildcats

Utah looking to take a road sweep up in Oregon.

Time to refocus on the Utes!

That udub/UCLA game should be a dandy tonight.

Utah sweeps Oregon
Dub looking to sweep LA (2/3 zone looking nightmarish)

these are significant in the race for the championship

I like chocolate chips

All we know so far is Oregon isn't good and Utah got them in Eugene when the students were away.

Yeah, I’ve been thinking Utah has been under the radar for a while now....Wow, they and ASU, along with UCLA and USC sucking/under-performing have really surprised me so far.

PS. Anyone else chomping at the bit to get revenge on UCLA and Oregon at McKale this year? Anyone? Ferris? Ferris Buehler?

everybody with 1 loss now except the Cats. ASU winless

Hopefully Utah takes care of them on Saturday too.

ASU v. Utah will be interesting. They potentially have the same strength with the 3-point game, though Utah apparently has a 5-point game as well, and Utah has a size advantage at the expense of ASU's quickness advantage. I like ASU's ability to dictate tempo, but it's a tough place to win on the road.

Longhorned wrote:ASU v. Utah will be interesting. They potentially have the same strength with the 3-point game, though Utah apparently has a 5-point game as well, and Utah has a size advantage at the expense of ASU's quickness advantage. I like ASU's ability to dictate tempo, but it's a tough place to win on the road.

Utah is a test of a team's defensive discipline, moreso than personnel. They won't break you down individually, but will force you to execute rotations for extended periods.

In theory, this sets up well for ASU because they have experience playing with each other and can work more switches with the small lineup. That said, like I posted in the other thread, this is their first taste of adversity, and that's always an adventure.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Longhorned wrote:ASU v. Utah will be interesting. They potentially have the same strength with the 3-point game, though Utah apparently has a 5-point game as well, and Utah has a size advantage at the expense of ASU's quickness advantage. I like ASU's ability to dictate tempo, but it's a tough place to win on the road.

Utah is a test of a team's defensive discipline, moreso than personnel. They won't break you down individually, but will force you to execute rotations for extended periods.

In theory, this sets up well for ASU because they have experience playing with each other and can work more switches with the small lineup. That said, like I posted in the other thread, this is their first taste of adversity, and that's always an adventure.

After finally finding a copy of the Utah game, I’m impressed. Think they will beat the Scummies and will chase us but won’t catch us for the P12 chip. So far they as much as people love to talk up the Scummies (and they are definitely much improved) they don’t look like they have the mental toughness and I think Utah will end up second with ASU third.

Case in point Tra Holder playing hero ball (with a 3 point attempt when they only needed 2 to tie) in what should have been the last possession in regular time while Hurley was trying to call a TO To set up a final play....they got lucky in getting the offensive rebound to force OT.

This conference isn't good, that Colorado loss is even worse.

Should be a cake walk for the 'Cats

I don't think everyone is aware of the amount of injuries to several teams before conference play.

Dorian Pickens is a really good player and missed a ton of time. He's back and gives Stanford a really good inside/outside threat with Reid Travis.

USC has had issues with injuries to Boatwright. He's missed numerous games with knee trouble.

UCLA's China trip fractured the early part of their season. But they did beat an overrated Kentucky team on a neutral floor.

Once these teams get healthy, they're going to start to gel and gain confidence. I don't think either are serious conference contenders, but they'll have some big wins along the way.

15-3 wins the conference. Arizona needs to hold serve at home. That means going 5-2 on the road the rest of the way, which is doable. Can't stumble against Wazzu or Cal. Out of trips to UW, Stanford, Oregon, OSU & ASU we need to go 3-2.

zonagrad wrote:I don't think everyone is aware of the amount of injuries to several teams before conference play.

Dorian Pickens is a really good player and missed a ton of time. He's back and gives Stanford a really good inside/outside threat with Reid Travis.

USC has had issues with injuries to Boatwright. He's missed numerous games with knee trouble.

UCLA's China trip fractured the early part of their season. But they did beat an overrated Kentucky team on a neutral floor.

Once these teams get healthy, they're going to start to gel and gain confidence. I don't think either are serious conference contenders, but they'll have some big wins along the way.

15-3 wins the conference. Arizona needs to hold serve at home. That means going 5-2 on the road the rest of the way, which is doable. Can't stumble against Wazzu or Cal. Out of trips to UW, Stanford, Oregon, OSU & ASU we need to go 3-2.

FWIW, we have a 3 day turnaround for both the Washington trip and the NorCal trip. That should help, especially the Washington trip.

It looks like Pac 12 season is going to be more interesting than most thought... mainly because the top isn't as good as we thought it might be and the middle may be better than expected.

I lot of mediocre teams are going to make for lots of close games this year. It's not going to be great basketball, but it will be interesting to see where teams finish up.

I still say we win the Pac easily but the battle for 2nd and 3rd could make for some drama.

I didn’t really envision, back in Dec, that next weekend’s game at Palo Alto would be for first in the Pac. They’ve been playing very well the last couple weeks.

Saturday vs Stanford for first place in teh league!

Well Miller is 14-0 against Stanford so hopefully that continues. Win this game and sweep UCLA and USC at home and we most likely have the conference wrapped up.

Stanford is going to give us fits. They are playing awfully well, particularly their freshmen.

I doubt we get another stellar offensive game from Dylan Smith, or PJC. It's hard to shoot the ball that well two games in a row.

Ayton vs. Travis will be a great matchup. And I'm always waiting for the notorious Pac 12 refs to get our best player in foul trouble early because they suck so bad.

We always seem to do well vs. Stanford, but I’d be a little surprised to see us favored in this game.

If Rawle is out again ..... it’s going to be a dogfight.

zonagrad wrote:Stanford is going to give us fits. They are playing awfully well, particularly their freshmen.

I doubt we get another stellar offensive game from Dylan Smith, or PJC. It's hard to shoot the ball that well two games in a row.

Ayton vs. Travis will be a great matchup. And I'm always waiting for the notorious Pac 12 refs to get our best player in foul trouble early because they suck so bad.

I feel good about it. Generally we've delivered better performances against better teams. In the Colorado/Utah and Oregons doubles, we came to play against the better team and let down against the weaker team.

PennZona20 wrote:If Rawle is out again ..... it’s going to be a dogfight.

Stanford starts a 6'8" SF Kezie Okpala - kid is a gamer, knocked off Ira Lee and Shareef's Crossroads team in last year's state playoffs with 46pts. Without Rawle we're going to have our hands full defending these guys.

It's not just Okpala - Stanford has a bevy of big guys with skill. Humphrey, Travis, Sharma, Da Silva, and Okpala are each 6'8" or taller and get good minutes. Any of those guys can go off for 15 or 20 points... and there's five of them.

6'5" Sr. SG Dorian Pickens is back for conference play and playing well, though he's never had a good game against Arizona. Fr. PG Deajon Davis is a problem as well.

Now that this team is healthy and eligible... they're dangerous. Really looking forward to seeing how we match-up with them.