Olsondogg wrote:Unless Arizona dominates every possession, every game...especially against inferior opponents...then things are drastically wrong.
I can only imagine what this board would be like if we were fans of other elite programs whom lose at home to unranked opponents, lose back to back games, have injury issues & off the court problems, etc....
You touch on something here that is unique to Arizona and maybe a couple of other programs.
When we flatline...we lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Most programs have a crazy 11-17 year mixed into their successes. Our consistency allows our fan base to focus on NCAA Tournament finish exclusively...because it is always there. In the "one-and-done" era, it is even more remarkable to always make the tournament. Outside of the first year for Lute and the first year for Miller, we have missed the NCAA tournament ONE TIME since 1985. And that was still very early in our development under Miller, where he had to dismiss half of his recruiting class (Sidiki, Josiah) after losing his starting PG (Momo) to fear of the guy he dismissed (Josiah)...err, family issues. And we still turned up with a 20 win season and a late lead in Staples Center relinquished against a press (we had NO point guards) from making the tournament that year.
We are always there. Programs in that mid to elite tier come and go. Missouri was hot, Iowa State was great, Texas was loaded, San Diego State was the Steve Fisher Model in action, Washington was the new UCLA, Colorado was the new UCLA, Syracuse was great a while ago, remember Georgetown???...UConn has a boatload of rings and trophies, but can't consistently make the tournament.
We are dialed in to the NCAAs. Most fan bases ride the regular season roller coaster with one goal...MAKE IT TO THE DANCE!!! We have VIP passes to the club, and if we don't get the hottest girl in the place every year, we go home upset, walking past all the guys snapping pictures to prove them made it into the first level of the club, snapping photos of us as we go by to show they got to party with us.
It's fun, I guess, to say "we are about Final Fours at Arizona...less than that is beneath us". But that is really fucking hard to do, unless you are Duke or...UConn every 3rd year they make the tournament (seriously...UConn is the huge fkn exception to the rule, like the one guy that got rich selling Amway). We were at the precipice of a long fall, and Miller saved our asses, and rewarded us with 3 Elite Eights in 5 years after being one false move from looking up to programs like SDSU for their consistency. And all we do is bitch, because the collective UA fan brain squeezed all of Lute's Final Fours together and have completely forgot about the years in between. Miller also deals with something Lute didn't have to...total roster upheaval every year. Did you see what we ran out there last year? Yeah, we had seniors...half of them were one year transfers. We lost Grant Jerrett, Aaron Gordon, and Stanley Johnson after one year...Rondae Hollis-Jefferson after two (and TJ also...his two may have been his junior and senior year, but he still only played two years). Our loyal, lifer Wildcat Nick Johnson left with a year left (as did Brandon Ashley). Then there are a list of players who may have become something here if they stuck it out that wouldn't because they fear the yearly classes...Justin Simon, Craig Victor, Momo, etc. Everyone talks about Miller's awesome recruiting classes and "why hasn't he won it all with all that talent" as if that talent always stays.
Given what we had, have acquired, and have lost early...and what the team was dealing with last year as a distraction...I think Sean Miller has performed so far above realistic expectation as to be breath-taking.
But all we talk about is one more game...