Bear Down Wildcats

just might be the best of the bunch

He will be! Dude can ball

97cats wrote:just might be the best of the bunch

Yeah, but then I remember Nico. Then I remember Green. Then I remember Nnaji again.

It's a nice problem to have. It just makes me feel bad for Christian Koloko, though.

97cats wrote:just might be the best of the bunch

if that's the case, this team is gonna be goooooooooood

97cats wrote:just might be the best of the bunch

This makes me very excited because you’ve said how high you are on Nico! If Zeke is the best if the bunch than that makes this team much better in my opinion.

One name up front receiving rave reviews early is Zeke Nnaji; he could start right away next to Chase Jeter.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... 25-2019-20

97cats wrote:One name up front receiving rave reviews early is Zeke Nnaji; he could start right away next to Chase Jeter.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... 25-2019-20

very strong correlation, imo, with how good zeke is to how good our team is.

Doutrive is gonna be a nightmare for opponents this season. So happy he’s coming back. His length and athleticism will do wonders for a team that has threats at all five positions. Green, Nnaji and Doutrive will be such a pain to opponents on the offensive glass.

97cats wrote:One name up front receiving rave reviews early is Zeke Nnaji; he could start right away next to Chase Jeter.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... 25-2019-20

I went from thinking Nico/BWill in the backcourt was out strength to wondering if Jeter, Nnaji, Lee and Gettings is the strength of our team.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

97cats wrote:One name up front receiving rave reviews early is Zeke Nnaji; he could start right away next to Chase Jeter.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... 25-2019-20

I went from thinking Nico/BWill in the backcourt was out strength to wondering if Jeter, Nnaji, Lee and Gettings is the strength of our team.

There's pretty good frontcourt/backcourt balance. And even without BW, there's decent depth. Excited to see Zeke play.

Beachcat97 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

97cats wrote:One name up front receiving rave reviews early is Zeke Nnaji; he could start right away next to Chase Jeter.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... 25-2019-20

I went from thinking Nico/BWill in the backcourt was out strength to wondering if Jeter, Nnaji, Lee and Gettings is the strength of our team.

There's pretty good frontcourt/backcourt balance. And even without BW, there's decent depth. Excited to see Zeke play.

Yea and nay. With BWill, I felt like we could just have him, Nico and Green play tons of perimeter minutes in big games. Now we need Smith, Hazzard or DD to step up to fill that third spot.

That's potentially the big loss. I was ready to count on BWill, Nico and Green in big games. Now, we need a third guy to step up and deliver in the tourney.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Now, we need a third guy to step up and deliver in the tourney.

Every year in the tourney, there are guys who step up and make big plays who weren't expected to. Happens every, single, year. One of these years, AZ is gonna have one or two of these guys. We have plenty of candidates: Stone, Hazzard, DD.

I love our roster and have a good feeling about this team. Of course it would've been better to have BW, but he's out and may not be back. This team can do big things.

Beachcat97 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Now, we need a third guy to step up and deliver in the tourney.

Every year in the tourney, there are guys who step up and make big plays who weren't expected to. Happens every, single, year. One of these years, AZ is gonna have one or two of these guys. We have plenty of candidates: Stone, Hazzard, DD.

I love our roster and have a good feeling about this team. Of course it would've been better to have BW, but he's out and may not be back. This team can do big things.

Me too, and I have in-explainable confidence that Max Hazzard is going to be much better than we think. Just feels like he fits the mold for a guy that really puts it together in March. He did it last year.

StickItInTheyFace wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Now, we need a third guy to step up and deliver in the tourney.

Every year in the tourney, there are guys who step up and make big plays who weren't expected to. Happens every, single, year. One of these years, AZ is gonna have one or two of these guys. We have plenty of candidates: Stone, Hazzard, DD.

I love our roster and have a good feeling about this team. Of course it would've been better to have BW, but he's out and may not be back. This team can do big things.

Me too, and I have in-explainable confidence that Max Hazzard is going to be much better than we think. Just feels like he fits the mold for a guy that really puts it together in March. He did it last year.

Tourney history is loaded with examples of unheralded seniors who turned into superheroes in March. Not trying to put it all on Hazzard, but he's going to have a great opportunity this year to give us good minutes.

Not sure what kind of defensive player Zeke is, but with he, CJ and IL roaming the paint, our interior defense is looking quite good.

he's ok imo

He looks ready to go pro already.

Damn. What a debut.

Seems good I guess.



/s

Arizona-good enough.

game 1 - 11/6/19

21mins - 9-12fg - 2-2ft - 4rb - 1ast - 1st - 1blk - 1to - 20pts

First thing that struck me was how he ran the floor in transition from D to O. It was beautiful.

Chicat wrote:First thing that struck me was how he ran the floor in transition from D to O. It was beautiful.

Nothing like a 6'11" center who can run the floor like a guard.

I know it's just 1 game... but holy hell he was light years better than anyone else on the court.... game 1 freshman year.... he is special.

This is the first time I've heard Sean compare someone to Derrick Williams. Trying not to get too excited, but I'm excited.

I guess it's our periodic reminder that player rankings are of very limited usefulness. According to the rankings, you'd expect this player to be somewhere notably south of Tarc.

Longhorned wrote:I guess it's our periodic reminder that player rankings are of very limited usefulness. According to the rankings, you'd expect this player to be somewhere notably south of Tarc.

Zeus was the 2nd highest rated center in his class, just as Shakur was the 2nd ranked PG in his class.

I am more excited after game one for zeke compared to how I felt about Ayton.

And I was excited for Ayton.

game 2 - 11/10/19

34mins - 9-12fg - 1-2ft - 5rb - 2asst - 1blk - 19pts

CalStateTempe wrote:I am more excited after game one for zeke compared to how I felt about Ayton.

And I was excited for Ayton.

The issue is Zeke can get his own and is more fluid around the paint than Ayton was. Plus that money baseline jumper. It does help that he has guards who can feed him in the right positions. But in the end, who cares—I’m just excited to have players who produce and are effective at this level. I never want to see another comment about how much better X player will be in the NBA.

ByJoveByJingle wrote:It does help that he has guards who can feed him in the right positions.

Imagine Mannion feeding Ayton.

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:I am more excited after game one for zeke compared to how I felt about Ayton.

And I was excited for Ayton.

The issue is Zeke can get his own and is more fluid around the paint than Ayton was. Plus that money baseline jumper. It does help that he has guards who can feed him in the right positions. But in the end, who cares—I’m just excited to have players who produce and are effective at this level. I never want to see another comment about how much better X player will be in the NBA.

Your last sentence is interesting because the conversation around Zeke’s NBA prospects seems to be focused on the possibility he will be a defensive tweener at the next level much like Jordan Hill.

terryarms wrote:

ByJoveByJingle wrote:It does help that he has guards who can feed him in the right positions.

Imagine Mannion feeding Ayton.

I thought about this several times as I was watching Mannion feed the inside last night.

Ayton was an absolute monster. You wouldn't trade him for any big man in all of college basketball this year. But his November Arizona team would have lost that home game to Illinois last night.

Nnaji looks great. He has good feet on D, can discourage people in the lane, and offensively looks to have a lot of tools and fluidity.

My picky note is that his rebounding has not been good for a guy his size. He has a total rebound rate of 10.1. Comparing him to Ayton, well, Ayton was literally over twice that at 21.4.

I do think Nnaji could be a better defender than Ayton. Offensively, Nnaji benefots a lot from Nico setting him up, but he could produce a similar impact there. I'd like to see him kick up his production on the glass.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:My picky note is that his rebounding has not been good for a guy his size. He has a total rebound rate of 10.1. Comparing him to Ayton, well, Ayton was literally over twice that at 21.4.

Im not worried about this at all, you're right though that the rebounding numbers have been lower than what we might expect. Part of it is that we've emphasized sending our guards to the defensive glass so that takes away some opportunities for Zeke to grab boards.

Nnaji is a great natural rebounder with really good instincts and mobility, that alone will allow him to have some impressive rebounding games.

PAC FOW


https://www.si.com/college/arizona/bask ... -D0TNGjxjc" target="_blank

That's just because he's unstoppable.

Completely off topic, but I want a gold practice jersey

Completely off off topic...I want a 2019-2020 National Championship Shirt

Frybry02 wrote:Completely off topic, but I want a gold practice jersey

If you can somehow get your hands on a regular practice jersey, you'll have it. Just have to turn it inside-out.

Here's at look at where Nnaji's scoring output in his first two games ranks among other UA standouts from the past 20 years:
Chase Budinger: 49 points
Hassan Adams: 43 points
Zeke Nnaji: 39 points
Lauri Markkanen: 39 points
Jerryd Bayless: 39 points
Deandre Ayton: 38 points
Mike Bibby: 35 points
Kobi Simmons: 31 points
Allonzo Trier: 30 points
Solomon Hill: 29 points
Aaron Gordon: 27 points
Mustafa Shakur: 27 points
Jason Gardner: 26 points
Stanley Johnson: 25 points
Gilbert Arenas: 24 points
Derrick Williams: 18 points
Richard Jefferson: 11 points

https://arizonawildcats.com/news/2019/1 ... night.aspx" target="_blank

Nico Mannion: 32 points
Josh Green: 30 points

It's a great start for Zeke. As long as his season ends the same way Bibby's freshman year did, I'm good.

84Cat wrote:Here's at look at where Nnaji's scoring output in his first two games ranks among other UA standouts from the past 20 years:
Chase Budinger: 49 points
Hassan Adams: 43 points
Zeke Nnaji: 39 points
Lauri Markkanen: 39 points
Jerryd Bayless: 39 points
Deandre Ayton: 38 points
Mike Bibby: 35 points
Kobi Simmons: 31 points
Allonzo Trier: 30 points
Solomon Hill: 29 points
Aaron Gordon: 27 points
Mustafa Shakur: 27 points
Jason Gardner: 26 points
Stanley Johnson: 25 points
Gilbert Arenas: 24 points
Derrick Williams: 18 points
Richard Jefferson: 11 points

https://arizonawildcats.com/news/2019/1 ... night.aspx" target="_blank

Money and Norman would both be somewhere around the 30 point mark - and there was no 3 point line. In 1972 Norman was top scorer with 37 in the exhibition against Cal State Bakersfield. Then Money was top with 20 in a loss against San Francisco and Norman was top with 20 in a loss against Stanford. I can't see what they got when they were not top, but I'm sure they had to have gotten 10 or more.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html" target="_blank

Norman always got most of his points from a million miles out - oh for a three point line back then.

Edit: I don't know how that sports-reference site figures we got 13,000 people into Bear Down Gym. I think the 3,200 they list at the start of the season was a stretch.

RichardCranium wrote:

84Cat wrote:Here's at look at where Nnaji's scoring output in his first two games ranks among other UA standouts from the past 20 years:
Chase Budinger: 49 points
Hassan Adams: 43 points
Zeke Nnaji: 39 points
Lauri Markkanen: 39 points
Jerryd Bayless: 39 points
Deandre Ayton: 38 points
Mike Bibby: 35 points
Kobi Simmons: 31 points
Allonzo Trier: 30 points
Solomon Hill: 29 points
Aaron Gordon: 27 points
Mustafa Shakur: 27 points
Jason Gardner: 26 points
Stanley Johnson: 25 points
Gilbert Arenas: 24 points
Derrick Williams: 18 points
Richard Jefferson: 11 points

https://arizonawildcats.com/news/2019/1 ... night.aspx" target="_blank

Money and Norman would both be somewhere around the 30 point mark - and there was no 3 point line. In 1972 Norman was top scorer with 37 in the exhibition against Cal State Bakersfield. Then Money was top with 20 in a loss against San Francisco and Norman was top with 20 in a loss against Stanford. I can't see what they got when they were not top, but I'm sure they had to have gotten 10 or more.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html" target="_blank

Norman always got most of his points from a million miles out - oh for a three point line back then.

Edit: I don't know how that sports-reference site figures we got 13,000 people into Bear Down Gym. I think the 3,200 they list at the start of the season was a stretch.

Since you brought up money, can you explain the following to me?

Tarczewski - Kansas lean, picks Arizona.
Ayton - Kansas lean, picks Arizona.
Nnaji - Kansas lean, picks Arizona.

Averaging almost 22 a game

I never watch the NBA, but is he a real prospect for a one and done?

Merkin wrote:I never watch the NBA, but is he a real prospect for a one and done?

Yep