Bear Down Wildcats

Tonight's game was won because of the turnover battle. Realistically we are still shooting terribly. Saturday's game will not be a turnover battle but who can keep the other's second shots to a minimum and not hit a prolonged dry spell. If you look at this team's performance over the last 5 games it gives me pause if we can win that type of game. It certainly will not work on the road without consistent offense.

I'm always hopeful but something is wrong with our offense. Lack of confidence. Freshman wall. Working to get drafted. I don't know what it is but there is something amiss. Saturday is the perfect time to figure it out or we may be in a 5 way tie for first......lol.

Weakness, as in being skinny 19 year old kids.
As these guys age, they will get stronger and be able to finish at the rim during contact.
Then you get the and one.
Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen here.

There were some nice interior passes. I feel like they are improving as a team.
Josh was very aggressive on D, got some steals and disrupted several passes. I still think he disappears for large parts of the game.

Moved up in adjusted offense on Ken Pom? Who should I trust?

I think we will finish out the season with an 8 game winning streak if we shoot 48% from 3 in every game like we did tonight.

We scored 89 points and hit nearly 50% of our 3s. Our PG had a 6:1 assist:turnover ratio. Our SG has 6 assists. All this while Dylan and Stone went 1-7 and 2-7 respectively. Mac hit 3-6 from deep. But yeah...we suck as a team on offense.

IndianaZonaFan wrote:We scored 89 points and hit nearly 50% of our 3s. Our PG had a 6:1 assist:turnover ratio. Our SG has 6 assists. All this while Dylan and Stone went 1-7 and 2-7 respectively. Mac hit 3-6 from deep. But yeah...we suck as a team on offense.

Unfortunately, that is misleading as a lot of our offensive accuracy improved when the game was loose later in the 2nd half. Hitting shots and scoring when it's a close game is different. I can't really point to why shots aren't dropping, but I hope the offense focuses on going to Zeke often and gets Koloko more involved.

A win is a win, and we obviously took advantage of a rattled, outmatched OSU team yesterday. Hopefully our guys gained a little confidence in their shooting.

But tomorrow is the real test. Last chance in the reg season for a win that will matter a lot on Selection Sunday.

AZ 78, Oregon 75

Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

azcat49 wrote:Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

Can't find any insight about N'faly playing. We can abuse them in the post and play the perimeter tight.

Beachcat97 wrote:A win is a win, and we obviously took advantage of a rattled, outmatched OSU team yesterday. Hopefully our guys gained a little confidence in their shooting.

But tomorrow is the real test. Last chance in the reg season for a win that will matter a lot on Selection Sunday.

AZ 78, Oregon 75

Both the LA games will matter quite a bit.

eoe wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

Can't find any insight about N'faly playing. We can abuse them in the post and play the perimeter tight.

Every impactful player this season who was injured for the ASU game was miraculously healthy for the Arizona game. There has literally been zero exceptions to this rule.

ChooChooCat wrote:

eoe wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

Can't find any insight about N'faly playing. We can abuse them in the post and play the perimeter tight.

Every impactful player this season who was injured for the ASU game was miraculously healthy for the Arizona game. There has literally been zero exceptions to this rule.

Probably Miller’s fault, no?

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

eoe wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

Can't find any insight about N'faly playing. We can abuse them in the post and play the perimeter tight.

Every impactful player this season who was injured for the ASU game was miraculously healthy for the Arizona game. There has literally been zero exceptions to this rule.

Probably Miller’s fault, no?

Obviously

ChooChooCat wrote:

eoe wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Huge game tomorrow. We haven’t faired well in those in awhile it seems. Oregon will be very focused after losing to the scum and I doubt Pritchard gets in foul trouble

Can't find any insight about N'faly playing. We can abuse them in the post and play the perimeter tight.

Every impactful player this season who was injured for the ASU game was miraculously healthy for the Arizona game. There has literally been zero exceptions to this rule.

100%
Upsetting but it also means that ASU is the lesser thought of team and there's no reason to want that to change. Let them make the tourney and get bounced in the play-in game... again

That dude hasn’t played like in a month but of course he will return tomorrow I am sure

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:A win is a win, and we obviously took advantage of a rattled, outmatched OSU team yesterday. Hopefully our guys gained a little confidence in their shooting.

But tomorrow is the real test. Last chance in the reg season for a win that will matter a lot on Selection Sunday.

AZ 78, Oregon 75

Both the LA games will matter quite a bit.

Oh fo sho. And it's quite possible we go 0-2 on that trip. But I'm pretty sure Oregon is our only Quad 1 game remaining.

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:A win is a win, and we obviously took advantage of a rattled, outmatched OSU team yesterday. Hopefully our guys gained a little confidence in their shooting.

But tomorrow is the real test. Last chance in the reg season for a win that will matter a lot on Selection Sunday.

AZ 78, Oregon 75

Both the LA games will matter quite a bit.

Oh fo sho. And it's quite possible we go 0-2 on that trip. But I'm pretty sure Oregon is only Quad 1 game remaining.

Nope, since USC is a road game and based on their current ranking of #44 that game is also a Quad 1 game.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:A win is a win, and we obviously took advantage of a rattled, outmatched OSU team yesterday. Hopefully our guys gained a little confidence in their shooting.

But tomorrow is the real test. Last chance in the reg season for a win that will matter a lot on Selection Sunday.

AZ 78, Oregon 75

Both the LA games will matter quite a bit.

Oh fo sho. And it's quite possible we go 0-2 on that trip. But I'm pretty sure Oregon is only Quad 1 game remaining.

Nope, since USC is a road game and based on their current ranking of #44 that game is also a Quad 1 game.

Wow! Didn't notice that. I stand corrected.

Well, as others have been noting, I can't remember a Pac season with such a tight cluster at the top of the standings heading into the final games. The separation among 1-4 is going to be razor thin.

I know it's silly to expect us to go 5-0. I just wanna see our guys remain competitive. Don't get blown out. As long as we're in close games in the final minutes, we're right where we wanna be.

Oregon Live

Fellow freshman N’Faly Dante, who twisted his knee in Oregon’s overtime win at Washington Jan. 18 and has missed the last eight games, practiced Tuesday but his status for Thursday’s game was undetermined as of Wednesday afternoon.

“I don’t know,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “He practiced a little bit (Tuesday), but I’m not sure if he’ll be ready to go or not. We’ll see.”

Lol, He’ll play.

CalStateTempe wrote:Lol, He’ll play.

Of course he'll play. Probably go for 15 and 10.

Beachcat97 wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:Lol, He’ll play.

Of course he'll play. Probably go for 15 and 10.

Duarte shot 1-6 from 3 against ASU. Of course he's gonna be on fire at McKale.

Oregon shot 15-17 from FT line against us in Eugene. In conference play, they're at a 71% clip. Arizona shot 9-14 and averages 73%. That's a four point swing and shows just how focused and clutch you need to be in tight games. It's also about who you foul. Pritchard, Richardson and Duarte are all excellent FT shooters. Oregon's other players: not so much.

Koloko, while playing well and earning minutes, can be a liability because of his poor FT shooting. If I'm Oregon, I'm fouling him every time he takes a high percentage shot or gets the ball close to the basket.

Dylan Smith: his offensive struggles have been addressed. His defense doesn't show up in the box score -- but he's arguably Arizona's best perimeter defender aside from Josh Green because of his length. Tres Tinkle didn't score or have a rebound in the first 7 minutes last night.
My preference is to slightly reduce Dylan's minutes. Offensively, he needs to be aware that taking a shot, any shot, with more than :10 on the shot clock isn't ideal. He's hitting just 33% FGs in conference play. That's 2 & 3 pointers. Any shot he takes early in the shot clock represents a lost opportunity cost. Would you rather Smith take an open three pointer at 32% or try again to get the ball inside to Zeke where he can get a high percentage look or even get to the foul line? Smith taking jumpers later in the shot clock isn't terrible. But we need to exhaust other opportunities before that's even an option.

If Dante doesn't play, Arizona needs to pound the ball inside to Zeke. He needs a ton of touches and get to the FT line. The more he scores and gets active, the more it will open up the floor for good outside looks, not the crappy ones we force up after one pass. Oregon is gonna give us a lot of different defensive looks with zones, traps, etc... Our patience and determination to get the ball inside without panicking and turning it over or taking a poor shot will decide the outcome.

PHXCATS wrote:Moved up in adjusted offense on Ken Pom? Who should I trust?

Your eyes.....

IndianaZonaFan wrote:We scored 89 points and hit nearly 50% of our 3s. Our PG had a 6:1 assist:turnover ratio. Our SG has 6 assists. All this while Dylan and Stone went 1-7 and 2-7 respectively. Mac hit 3-6 from deep. But yeah...we suck as a team on offense.

Sure we can get hot from 3's and Max was that but we also can't hit at all sometimes. Please tell me what we shot from 2's? Your bread and butter. Don't read the box score and simply tell me what we shot from threes and Nico's assist numbers. I already stated this game was won based on TO. That is why we have such a shot advantage in this game. You think other tourney teams are going to have 20+ TO's.

Our offense is not running smooth right now. I am hopeful a lot of that is familiarity in conference. Not yet convinced.

From what I've seen I think Sweet 16 is our ceiling. Beyond that just isn't going to happen for this team and I'll be a little surprised if we get beyond the first game. One game at a time, I know. The issues i see are no fluidity on offense, long scoring droughts, inconsistent play, sporadic defense, and poor shot selection. This team may be Miller's most mysterious. It could be a game like last night against Oregon State or the team that got man handled by UCLA. I just hope we have some success in the tournament because with Nico, Zeke, and Green all leaving next season could be pretty rough.

All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering. If we somehow make the final 4, u better be in here screaming for miller’s head and complaining that we should have won by more in the second round. I’m so sick of all the fucking negativity with about 5 of the posters on the board. Either go root for someone else or just shut up. Tell your therapist. I don’t wanna hear it.

IndianaZonaFan wrote:All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering. If we somehow make the final 4, u better be in here screaming for miller’s head and complaining that we should have won by more in the second round. I’m so sick of all the fucking negativity with about 5 of the posters on the board. Either go root for someone else or just shut up. Tell your therapist. I don’t wanna hear it.

This is the worst kind of fan.

Good fan: “we suck, we’ll never make it out of the second round”
This more like it?

IndianaZonaFan wrote:Good fan: “we suck, we’ll never make it out of the second round”
This more like it?

No, good fans are actually realistic and can actually be objective instead of cultists that always pretend everything is fine.

ASUHATER! wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:Good fan: “we suck, we’ll never make it out of the second round”
This more like it?

No, good fans are actually realistic and can actually be objective instead of cultists that always pretend everything is fine.

Never said everything is fine. But the 5 or so posters I’m referring to act like the sky is always falling. We just won by 26 and you would think we got beat by 40 the way they talk.

IndianaZonaFan wrote:All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering. If we somehow make the final 4, u better be in here screaming for miller’s head and complaining that we should have won by more in the second round. I’m so sick of all the fucking negativity with about 5 of the posters on the board. Either go root for someone else or just shut up. Tell your therapist. I don’t wanna hear it.

Well said. The turds that have made football way harder to succeed at have turned on basketball now

I think the best way to beat Oregon is to throw different defenders at Pritchard, the Ducks go through him, as he goes, goes Oregon...if Nico is his main defender we will have a tough night because he's more experienced and will get Nico into foul trouble, I expect to see Dylan cover him a lot and probably Baker...I would love it if we pressured the ball out top instead of letting him set the pace...double team him and let the cards fall where they may.

As far as offense...feed Zeke and Stone will get a ton of touches...if he hits three's we win...Josh will be key here as well...

IndianaZonaFan wrote:All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering. If we somehow make the final 4, u better be in here screaming for miller’s head and complaining that we should have won by more in the second round. I’m so sick of all the fucking negativity with about 5 of the posters on the board. Either go root for someone else or just shut up. Tell your therapist. I don’t wanna hear it.

Need a snickers?

Our team has all attributes necessary to succeed and to fail miserably. I'll be watching, rooting, praising and complaining all the way now and into the future.

No Regerts

IndianaZonaFan wrote:All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering.

So “get past the S16” means make the E8.

That would be a surprise. And you don’t want us to “bring our doubting asses back here cheering” if that occurs.

Before I can accept, I’d like to know what you’re going to do if (when) we get knocked out in the round of 64 or 32.

SCCats wrote:

IndianaZonaFan wrote:All of the doubters can choke on crow if we get past the sweet 16. You whiny bastards better not bring your doubting asses back here cheering.

So “get past the S16” means make the E8.

That would be a surprise. And you don’t want us to “bring our doubting asses back here cheering” if that occurs.

Before I can accept, I’d like to know what you’re going to do if (when) we get knocked out in the round of 64 or 32.

What ANY "fan" would/should do...

... Bear Down, and wait 'til next year!!!

D'uh!

I’m just sick of all the negative energy that gets brought here. Everyone’s a critic. But I’d bet my house that you didn’t even coach your youth league to a championship, let alone know how to navigate as a big time D1 coach, and be successful.

IndianaZonaFan wrote:I’m just sick of all the negative energy that gets brought here. Everyone’s a critic. But I’d bet my house that you didn’t even coach your youth league to a championship, let alone know how to navigate as a big time D1 coach, and be successful.

What a whiny critical post.

With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

CalStateTempe wrote:With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

Same. Going like 23-10 and getting a 7 seed isn't really what anyone was predicting this season.

I'm not sure what your preseason expectations were but I had none. With 3 freshman and another new starter it is hard to have realistic expectations until you see them play. We are an imperfect team that must choose between a competent offense or defense. It has been a fun ride. I agree with you much to negative around here and just some folks that spout crap and nothing more. Why we let them stay when they bring nothing and aren't a fan who knows.

CalStateTempe wrote:With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

Most likely seed is 4 per teamrankings.com

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

Most likely seed is 4 per teamrankings.com

In Albany.

Cool!

CalStateTempe wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

Most likely seed is 4 per teamrankings.com

In Albany.

Cool!

If the Cats are a top 4 seed they will be playing in Spokane or Sacramento

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:With all the talent on this team, to be competing for a 6 seed and being shipped for the ncaa tourney is a matter of not meeting preseasons expectations promulgated by sunshine pumpers like your self.

That doesn’t sit well me me and I’ll still be cheering my cats on, win or lose.

Most likely seed is 4 per teamrankings.com

In Albany.

Cool!

If the Cats are a top 4 seed they will be playing in Spokane or Sacramento

Won't be a 4 seed.

Lol..:4 seed my ads

We gonna get shipped.

Glad I’m not wasting pto on the cats coming to sac.

So much talent so much mediocrity relative to talent.

Our ceiling is a 6 seed honestly. Still have a chance to miss the tournament entirely if we lose another 2-3 games.

ASUHATER! wrote:Our ceiling is a 6 seed honestly. Still have a chance to miss the tournament entirely if we lose another 2-3 games.

Seriously, if we miss the tourney 3 times in millers tenure...fire miller.

ASUHATER! wrote:Our ceiling is a 6 seed honestly. Still have a chance to miss the tournament entirely if we lose another 2-3 games.

So fucking stupid

CalStateTempe wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:Our ceiling is a 6 seed honestly. Still have a chance to miss the tournament entirely if we lose another 2-3 games.

Seriously, if we miss the tourney 3 times in millers tenure...fire miller.

Already have....