Bear Down Wildcats

Ummm. Let's see. Only the three greatest faces in Cats basketball history....

Kerr>Simon?

Lot of NBA championship rings there.

Sean, Steve, Lute.

Post some pics of Travis Hanour, Ray Owes, Kevin Flannigan, etc. for the experts.

Sonora919 wrote:Kerr>Simon?

I'd say Kerr>Simon.

I don't even think Simon was the best player on his own team.

PieceOfMeat wrote:

Sonora919 wrote:Kerr>Simon?

I'd say Kerr>Simon.

I don't even think Simon was the best player on his own team.

Not saying NBA success is related to college success, but Kerr played in 910 NBA games, Miles 5. Simon's NBA success is right up there with Matt Othick and Ed Stokes who played in 4.

Simon was a better scorer and defender, but Kerr the better shooter and passer. Kerr did have a lot of steals though for being such a slow white guy.

Merkin wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:

Sonora919 wrote:Kerr>Simon?

I'd say Kerr>Simon.

I don't even think Simon was the best player on his own team.

Not saying NBA success is related to college success, but Kerr played in 910 NBA games, Miles 5. Simon's NBA success is right up there with Matt Othick and Ed Stokes who played in 4.

Simon was a better scorer and defender, but Kerr the better shooter and passer. Kerr did have a lot of steals though for being such a slow white guy.

Kerr was the better teammate overall too.

Might as well toss Ooh Aah Man in here. Website is up:

http://oohaah.org/

Now has a book:

https://www.createspace.com/4543482

And first video installment:

http://www.amazon.com/Wildcat-Biographi ... 00KGEO96G/

Let me know if you want to get on the email group list

It all started with those three.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2161 ... ll-history

Bleacher Report has a piece on the top 10 three point shooters in CBB history. Kerr doesn't even get an honorable mention.

Kerr's 57% from 3 his senior year is amazing. Salim led the nation his senior year in 2005 at just over 50% as well. Derrick Williams shot just under 57% his junior year.

I'd confidently put prime Kerr and Salim up against anyone on that list.

Kerr still has the CBB record for highest percentage with a minimum number of shots attempted. He also only had one year with the 3 point line which was brand new his senior year.

Puerco wrote:http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2161 ... ll-history

Bleacher Report has a piece on the top 10 three point shooters in CBB history. Kerr doesn't even get an honorable mention.

When was the last time you saw a basketball list with so many white boys?

Really surprised JJ Redick wasn't first with all the hype he got. The Salim v. Redick debate was unreal that year. Lute was so pissed.

I really wanted to shoot any announcer that mentioned JJ Redick. The amount of love he got was ridiculous.

And any list of three point shooters that doesn't even mention Kerr is a joke.

Didn't Lute point out Reddick had to make 102 in a row to match Salim's percentage? Sure, JJ shot from 4 feet beyond the arc. Salim ''Shot from the volleyball line" - Aaron Aflallo. Salim also shot (and made) from the cactus and got benched.

Merkin wrote:Kerr still has the CBB record for highest percentage with a minimum number of shots attempted. He also only had one year with the 3 point line which was brand new his senior year.

Puerco wrote:http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2161 ... ll-history

Bleacher Report has a piece on the top 10 three point shooters in CBB history. Kerr doesn't even get an honorable mention.

When was the last time you saw a basketball list with so many white boys?

Really surprised JJ Redick wasn't first with all the hype he got. The Salim v. Redick debate was unreal that year. Lute was so pissed.

AZCatGirl wrote:I really wanted to shoot any announcer that mentioned JJ Redick. The amount of love he got was ridiculous.

And any list of three point shooters that doesn't even mention Kerr is a joke.

To be fair to that list maker, it was a career list for best shooter, percentage and volume combined. Kerr only had one season, so leaving him off is legit. But he should have been mentioned at least.

(Corey Williams FB pic with Pete Williams, Eugene Edgerson, Bob Elliott, Reggie Geary, Kevin Flanagan, AJ Bramlett, Jason Terry, Khalid Reeves, Joe Turner, Steve Kerr, Joe McLean, Sean Elliot, Joseph Blair, Bennett Davison, Miles Simon, Hassan Adams, Sean Rooks, Damon Stoudamire, Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson and Ben Davis.)

113 NBA seasons $528 Million in salaries in this photo

Don't forget Jason Gardner on the bottom right.

I was at that game. Fourth row. Arenas hit four threes from 30 feet, nothing but net.

It's pretty much the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" of Arizona basketball games, at least to date.

Jefe wrote:

(Corey Williams FB pic with Pete Williams, Eugene Edgerson, Bob Elliott, Reggie Geary, Kevin Flanagan, AJ Bramlett, Jason Terry, Khalid Reeves, Joe Turner, Steve Kerr, Joe McLean, Sean Elliot, Joseph Blair, Bennett Davison, Miles Simon, Hassan Adams, Damon Stoudamire, Sean Rooks, Damon Stoudamire, Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson and Ben Davis.)

113 NBA seasons $528 Million in salaries in this photo

When will they be doing this again? I would love to see this happen soon!

No Gardener in the pic...that I can tell. Thats RJ bottom right

Kneeling between Miles and RJ perhaps?

Damon

At the Cal game

What's Rick Anderson doing these days?

gumby wrote:What's Rick Anderson doing these days?

OK, ya made me curious:

http://arizona.247sports.com/Article/Ar ... rson-84708

Rick, who played overseas as well as in Argentina down in South America for nearly five seasons following his Wildcat career, today is happily married and living near his hometown of Long Beach where he was a basketball standout at Long Beach Polytechnic. He’s currently pursuing his master’s degree in coaching and hopes to follow in the footsteps of his dad in the decades to come.

Mid 1970s

Jefe wrote:

Mid 1970s

RE: the Mid-70s photos. I think it was $1.50 for students to sit in the bleachers. Had to get there early for the courtside ones. and we did. Awesome.

At least Arenas did not end up in prison like the other genius:

Everyone could hear Gilbert and Javaris going at it as we rode along.

“I’ll see your [expletive] at practice and you know what I do,” Gilbert said.

“What the [expletive] you mean, you know what I do?” replied Javaris.

“I play with guns.”

“Well I play with guns, too.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc- ... -incident/

Cooking with the Stars was last night at Mr An's

http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default ... nt=1141442" target="_blank

Sean Elliott, a terrible color commentator for the Spurs, was fed up yesterday for a series of technical difficulties and took his revenge here in the fourth quarter. Perfect execution for the Spurs, as always.

http://deadspin.com/fed-up-spurs-color- ... socialflow" target="_blank

Someones been in the gym...

Merkin wrote:Sean Elliott, a terrible color commentator for the Spurs, was fed up yesterday for a series of technical difficulties and took his revenge here in the fourth quarter. Perfect execution for the Spurs, as always.

http://deadspin.com/fed-up-spurs-color- ... socialflow" target="_blank

Wha??? Sean Elliott is an awesome color commentator. He's a bit of a homer for the Spurs, but that's what he's paid to be. He's hilarious and entertaining on the mic, and never misses a chance to talk about his Arizona Wildcats!

Agent Zero in trouble again...


Video here: http://www.complex.com/sports/2015/12/g ... wnba-video" target="_blank

illcat wrote:It all started with those three.

Don't be silly.

It all started with Snowden, Money, and Norman.

Remember this, always: before Snowden was hired, Arizona was getting a couple of hundred people to see games at Bear Down Gym. When McKale opened, Snowden's team was filling it. From a couple of hundred to 12,000 practically overnight. And that was because of Money and Norman and the basket ball they played. Al Flemming, Bob Elliot, Herm Harris, Jim Rappis came a year or so later. Those guys stand up with the greatest to ever put on a Wildcat uniform. Those guys made Lute possible.

In the (approximate) words of Bob Elliot, without Snowden there would be no Lute and without Lute there would certainly be no Sean Miller.

It all started with Snowden, Money, and Norman. They turned Arizona into a Basketball school and Tucson into a Basketball town.

Yep. That is (almost) exactly right.

The original 1972 "Kiddie Korps" class included Eric Money, Coniel Norman, Al Fleming, Jim Rappis and John Irving. Also in that 1972 class was freshman Dave Burns along with JC transfers Ron Allen and Jim Wakefield. After the first year John Irving transferred to Hofstra where he led the nation in rebounding.

1973 saw the addition of Bob Elliot, Herman Harris, Len Gordy, Jerome Gladney, and Bob Aleksa. Norman and Money left for the NBA following the 1973-74 season.

They were something to behold. The 1973-74 team averaged 89 points per game without the advantages of a shot clock or three point shots.

There is a good chance that if Irving, Norman and Money had all stuck it out for four years there would be two, or perhaps three, NC Banners hanging in McKale today.

Don't recall ever hearing about Irving. He died last year, very young.

Amazing, 6'9" and getting 15 boards a game.


Re: RIP JOHN IRVING
Postby Jojogunne » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:33 pm

Found this online:

Former Howard basketball star John Irving, 61, died Sunday in Atlanta. A first-team All-State pick in 1971-72, Irving led Howard in scoring and rebounding as the Wildcats reached the state semifinals. The 6-foot-9 Irving spent one season at Arizona, then transferred to Hofstra and averaged 13.2 points and 15.4 rebounds per game over three seasons. He led the nation in rebounding (15.3 per game) in 1975 and helped Hofstra reach the NCAA Tournament twice. He was selected by Detroit in the third round of the 1977 NBA draft, but never played in the NBA. He played professionally in England, France and Belgium, and is a member of the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame and Delaware High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

http://www.scout.com/story/1662749?s=106" target="_blank

Miles Simon's jersey belongs in the rafters

WildcatAuthority.com makes the argument that it is time to retire Miles Simon's jersey.

It’s easy to imagine the national sports media’s mounting skepticism at the 7:30 mark of the second half of Arizona’s 1997 first-round NCAA tournament matchup against South Alabama.
Down by 10, No. 4 seed Arizona faced the very real possibility of losing to a double-digit seed for the fourth time in six years.
For a program lacking a national championship, the narrative for underachieving when it mattered most was creeping dangerously close to the inner fabric of this proud program.
A key contributor for the Wildcats as a freshman and sophomore, shooting guard Miles Simon was one of the most intense alpha male competitors in program history.
Ruled academically ineligible for the first semester of his junior season, Simon posted solid scoring numbers upon his return, but the team nonetheless struggled, finishing in a tie for fifth place in the Pac-10 Conference.
Yet, with everything on the line against South Alabama, Simon lived at the free throw line, outscoring the entire South Alabama team in the closing minutes of a 65-57 Wildcat victory.
The next five contests witnessed a historic run where UA knocked off three No. 1 seeds while Simon outlasted the likes of Paul Pierce, Vince Carter and Ron Mercer.
To be fair, it was far from just Simon. Mike Bibby connected on an untold number of huge buckets while Jason Terry played a jack-of-all-trades role, handling the ball, converting big shots and employing his trademark pesky defense.
The big man quartet of AJ Bramlett, Bennett Davison, Donnell Harris and Eugene Edgerson outperformed expectations as well.
But with leading scorer Michael Dickerson mired in a career worst slump from the Elite Eight on, it was Simon who picked up the slack to the tune of 28 points per outing during that three-game stretch.
Simon scored his points not by skying over defenders or with slick crossover moves, but off pump fakes, up and unders or merely contorting his body off the dribble in such a way that enabled him to get a step on his defender.
This “old man-type game” resulted in Simon shooting 38 free throws in the last three tournament games, including 17 in the national title game.
It was only proper that Simon collapsed to the ground with the ball in his hands when the buzzer sounded on Arizona’s 84-79 overtime win over Kentucky in the National Championship game.
There was also no debate as to who would be named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Far from a six-game wonder, Simon returned stronger the following season. Where the 1997-98 team is mostly remembered for the Elite Eight destruction courtesy of the triangle and two defense deployed by the Utah Utes, the Wildcats still finished 30-5 (17-1 in conference) while earning a No. 1 seed in the process.
Simon averaged 17 points and 5 assists, and was selected first-team AP All American, an honor that only four other UA players (Sean Elliott, Damon Stoudamire, Bibby and Terry) have garnered. With the exception of Elliott, Simon is the second most decorated Arizona Wildcat of all time.
In the 18 years since Simon hung up his UA jersey, a number of all-time UA greats have had their jersey retired.
Miles Simon is not one of them.
Policy instituted in the late 90s states that for an Arizona basketball player to have their jersey retired, the player in question must win a National Player of the Year award of some sort.
Evidently, a Final Four MOP doesn’t count as a Player of the Year award under these curiously confined parameters.
Yet, a most inspirational player of the year (Steve Kerr) or Frances Pomeroy award winner for the best player six-feet or shorter (Jason Gardner), or the now niche media entity (Basketball Times) National Freshman of the Year for Bibby qualifies.
The instituted criterion appears tight and unnecessary. At universities like Duke, it is preferred that a player is honored with a legitimate Player of the Year award before seeing their jersey retired, but that criteria isn’t required.
Basically, the mantra at Duke and many other universities is this: You know the deserving players when you see them.
It’s understandable that less than two years after being declared academically ineligible, and on the heels of a messy 1998 lawsuit filed against the university, the athletic department wasn’t pleased with Simon.
But since someone connected to UA orchestrated the unprecedented move of releasing Simon’s transcripts to the Kansas City Star, it’s difficult to place blame on Simon for the ensuing mess.
Now, it is a new day at UA with a different athletic department and athletic director.
The irony of Simon’s academic trials is that instead of pouncing at an NBA opportunity after his junior season --where he would be selected was up for debate, but he was destined to be a first-round pick-- he returned for his senior season with a focus on winning the university its second basketball national championship.
And sure, Simon believed another year at UA would improve his NBA stock, though he would be mistake.
Before the magical 1997 run, Simon was one of the more precocious players of the Olson era, but hardly a legend.
Those six games in the NCAA Tournament forever altered the equation. If Elliott put Arizona on the map as a high caliber basketball entity, Simon shot through the last barrier facing the program.
Certainly, Simon was blessed to play with three of the best perimeter players in UA history, but there has only been one Wildcat continuously entrusted to get crunch time baskets for an eventual national champion.
Winning a National Player of the Year award is fine for a loose guideline to jersey retirement, but it shouldn’t be the only factor at stake.
There’s already plenty of precedent to tweak the guidelines. The UA worked through back channels to allow Terry to receive his deserved honor in 2015, despite Terry admitting to taking money from an agent. Part of his agreement initially stated he could not have his jersey retired.
In an odd way, Simon is his own special legacy, a glaring omission likely due to politics.
With the 20th anniversary of UA’s national title season upcoming, now seems an ideal time to celebrate that accomplishment with the appropriate gesture from the athletic department.
Until that happens, the absence of Simon’s No. 34 jersey looking down on Lute and Bobbi Olson Court diminishes the credibility of the entire jersey retirement process.

I'd definitely be all for replacing Gardner's with Simon's.

On Tuesday, the NBA announced their Coach of the Year, and that honor went to Golden State Warriors head coach and former Arizona Wildcats player Steve Kerr.

The Warriors set the regular season record for wins with 73. However, Kerr was not on the bench for all of them as he recovered from back surgery complications. The first 43 games were led by another former Wildcat, Luke Walton. Walton actually received one second-place and two third-place votes.


As Arizona's motto goes: Past. Present. Future. Nothing embodies that quite like what happened at this particular ceremony.

http://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball ... n-warriors" target="_blank

Jefe wrote:http://www.scout.com/story/1662749?s=106

Miles Simon's jersey belongs in the rafters

Happening, although it's "recognized", not "retired" due to not winning NPOY unlike those dominating players Gardner and Kerr were.

Simon is having quite a post-hoops career in media, and I believe he still coaches various teams. He'll be a legend in Tucson for the rest of his days.

If you allow for single seasons, that 3-point shooting article is a farce to not have Kerr and Salim.

A farce.

At one point, Reddick needed to hit 100 consecutive 3-s to catch Salim?

For us working slobs, any chance someone can take the twitter photos and embed them?

All things Twitter are eliminated on my network

Any story on the best college three-point shooters that includes Redick but neither Salim nor Kerr has the Eastern myopia of Dan Patrick and the credibility of Donald Trump.

Kerr had to be the most unathletic guard in the modern era of the NBA but still had a very nice career, along with his rings. Too bad Salim had all those mental health issues, otherwise he might have had a longer career too, despite his lack of height.