The 2019-2020 Season Thread

[YoDeFoe]

Zeke's AAU numbers look great... his scoring ability is right there with Matt Hurt. Longer, more athletic, and better motor than his five star former teammate as well.

Just needs to pick up his passing ability and shot blocking. Hopefully he learns from Jeter and Gettings and Lee. Kid could be a beast.
https://www.prepcircuit.com/stats/team_ ... ol=2976240" target="_blank

[NYCat]

Here's more video of him shooting from 3

I'm interested to see if he'll backup Jeter -while starting at the 4- because he's 6'11 and if he'll be as effective there. He's the better candidate to play center because of his height, despite being more mobile and skinnier.

To me it feels like Arizona is 3 deep at both post positions. Koloko probably only getting spot minutes (5-10)

PF: Nnaji, Lee, Gettings
C: Jeter, Nnaji, Koloko

[catgrad97]

I always assumed Koloko would be a prime redshirt candidate next season. Barcello NEEDS one, but it sems he's just along for the ride at this point.

[Beachcat97]

I always assumed Koloko would be a prime redshirt candidate next season. Barcello NEEDS one, but it sems he's just along for the ride at this point.

Unless there's an injury, it's hard to imagine Barcello getting into many games next season.

[Irish27]

[NYCat]

Hopefully having shoulder problems doesn't affect his shooting.

[Beachcat97]

Hopefully having shoulder problems doesn't affect his shooting.

Can't see how it wouldn't, but at least he's starting this process several months before the season. You gotta like his chances at being fully recovered by November.

[terryarms]

Does anyone know the expected recovery time for Josh's shoulder?

[Olsondogg]

Before the season starts

[EVCat]

as long as he just tore the Glenoid labrum, and it is fixed, he'll be fine.

If the dislocation took any of the Glenoid Cup/Rim (Bony Bankart Fracture or Lesion), THAT can be trickier. I know as I am 4 weeks out of that surgery. The time I was told before I could throw a ball was 4 months (I play baseball). But that is because the bone busted through all points, and ripped the cup, which is cartilage and slow to heal.

I would assume, given the kind of "oh, by the way" this was out there, he simply tore the Glenoid labrum, no fracture or lesion of the rim/cup, and his rotation will be fine. It's not like a rotator cuff...the labrum is just extra fibrous tissue that serves as a stopper to keep the shoulder ball/cup joint from dislocating. It increases the depth of the cup and surface area of the ball of the joint to make it harder to dislocate, since the cup is not deep and stable like the hip. As long as it is repaired, it should act the same in a couple of months, and PT is the key to keep the muscularity and flexibility as best as possible. If there was no fracture of the actual cup, he isn't at increased risk for continued dislocations.

[NYCat]

Officially official

[Olsondogg]

Those matchups:

[YoDeFoe]

as long as he just tore the Glenoid labrum, and it is fixed, he'll be fine.

If the dislocation took any of the Glenoid Cup/Rim (Bony Bankart Fracture or Lesion), THAT can be trickier. I know as I am 4 weeks out of that surgery. The time I was told before I could throw a ball was 4 months (I play baseball). But that is because the bone busted through all points, and ripped the cup, which is cartilage and slow to heal.

I would assume, given the kind of "oh, by the way" this was out there, he simply tore the Glenoid labrum, no fracture or lesion of the rim/cup, and his rotation will be fine. It's not like a rotator cuff...the labrum is just extra fibrous tissue that serves as a stopper to keep the shoulder ball/cup joint from dislocating. It increases the depth of the cup and surface area of the ball of the joint to make it harder to dislocate, since the cup is not deep and stable like the hip. As long as it is repaired, it should act the same in a couple of months, and PT is the key to keep the muscularity and flexibility as best as possible. If there was no fracture of the actual cup, he isn't at increased risk for continued dislocations.

Yeah I've been cruising around with a torn labrum for the last two years (SLAP tear). Same shoulder I previously had a full rotator cuff tear on that would dislocate once a month, repaired with open surgery and months of recovery, but I'm 100% functional after just PT to build up the muscle of my shoulder girdle to support the labrum tear. All to say: it's a relatively minor injury.

It'll be July before Green is getting really good workouts in, likely October or so before he's 100%. Thankfully Nico knows how to work with Green so no concerns about getting him into the offense, and we've got wings a plenty to work on.

Very good for him to get this addressed at 18 or 19 years old where his body will recover well. Hopefully he's got killer health insurance and can get platelet rich plasma injections to encourage fast and strong healing.

[YoDeFoe]

It's also possible that good PT here will remove some of the kinks in his shooting form. He had pain and muscular imbalances previously that are going to be major focal points of his recovery/PT - removing those could do wonders for his shot.

[EVCat]

where are we at, scholarship-wise? WA reporting that we are prioritizing landing Brown (swipe 2) from Nevada. We added Hazzard. Brown would have to sit out a year, but still a scholie.

Smith is gone. We can make reasonable conclusions on Randolph. With the leaving seniors and no "walk-on gets one year scholie" players, is that enough or does another shoe need to drop?

[NYCat]

1. Nico Mannion
2. Josh Green
3. Zeke Nnaji
4. Terry Armstrong
5. Christian Koloko
6. Brandon Williams
7. Devonaire Doutrieve
8. Ira Lee
9. Chase Jeter
10. Max Hazzard
11. Alex Barcello
12. Stone Gettings
13. Dylan Smith/Jordan Brown/Stanley Umede

where are we at, scholarship-wise? WA reporting that we are prioritizing landing Brown (swipe 2) from Nevada.

I saw that tweet. The recruiting liver period is going on and there's lots of evaluating and scholarship offers being handed out. I took that tweet that Arizona is now prioritizing Brown because Miller doesn't see anyone he could land or better than Brown is currently. I've been saying it but the 2020 front court recruits in the West are really weak.

[goslingswagg]

Really hope we don't push DD out to pick up a non-Jordan Brown transfer. Don't think there's any realistic transfer on the market that I would prefer over DD (Brown).

[azgreg]

https://bustingbrackets.com/2019/04/30/ ... -rankings/" target="_blank

1) Arizona Wildcats
Let’s be clear on this, Arizona’s position at the top of these rankings may be surprising to some, but they should remain there unless the dominoes fall against Sean Miller. If Miller comes out of the corruption case unscathed and without an NCAA investigation, Arizona is poised to take the big leap back to the top of the Pac-12.

Not only does Arizona return a handful of key pieces, they also bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the country. Brandon Randolph is currently going through the NBA Draft process, but if he chooses to return, the Wildcats may even find themselves as an early Top 10 team.

One thing that makes this Wildcats team so dangerous is that there is no clear “top player” to run the offense through, making defenses prepare for a balanced attack. Nico Mannion and Josh Green appear to be instant starters, alongside Brandon Williams and Chase Jeter. However, the fifth starting role could be handed to one of a handful of players including Ira Lee, Zake Nnaji, or Cornell transfer Stone Gettings.

If Oregon gets a couple of their draft prospects to return, Washington lands one more recruit, Colorado avoids ridiculous upsets, or USC can play strong team defense, Arizona could fall. However, as it stands, the Wildcats are the most talented team in the Pac-12, and a jump from eighth to first in the conference shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

[YoDeFoe]

"unless the dominoes fall against Sean Miller"

This is more of the same, where false allegations but untrustworthy people creates "clouds of concern" and "dominoes poised to fall" in media parlance. Lies become tangible, dangerous objects of concern.

Anyways, good to see Arizona be objectively measured beyond that.

[SunnyAZ]

If Zeke is actually a good shooter than he could start at PF. I had Stone starting for spacing purposes + rebounding but if Zeke can shoot no reason for him not to start (assuming he decent defensively).

[Beachcat97]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... 25-2019-20" target="_blank

[YoDeFoe]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... 25-2019-20

13 feels a little high given how many new pieces we'll need to fold in, as well as the injury risk with three of our major contributors (Green's shoulder, Williams's knee, Jeter's back). I do love our depth and experience across the front court, our bevy of wing options, and our two stud guards leading the charge. The synergy of Nico and Josh should offset some of the "new pieces" concerns as well, assuming Josh recovers quickly and is smoothly added into the fold.

I think the biggest question mark for us is the four spot and how much productivity we can get out of the three players competing for PT there. Does Lee continue his leap that we saw emerging at the end of last season? Does Gettings translate to big stage basketball (with the benefit of being in practices since last fall)? Is Nnaji the second coming of Brandon Ashley? How those guys add value and how far they push their game is my biggest curiosity, as I think we know what we'll get out of Nico, Josh, Bwill, and Chase.

In the big picture: Good to see three Pac-12 teams in the top 20 with two more knocking on the door in this early ranking. That would be a very good year for the conference.

[Beachcat97]

I actually think 13 is just about right. Expectations are high for this team, and rightfully so. Miller needs to bounce back next year. He's got NM and JG for one season. Gotta do something noteworthy.

[StickItInTheyFace]

I actually think 13 is just about right. Expectations are high for this team, and rightfully so. Miller needs to bounce back next year. He's got NM and JG for one season. Gotta do something noteworthy.

I think we agree that we really need to have a successful season this year with what happened last year and with the cloud Book has put over our program. With that said, success is obviously measured in different ways and is up to our own expectations. I am wondering what you guys think, what would this team have to do to be considered successful?

I think I would expect this team to win the Pac and hopefully the Pac 12 tournament. Hopefully secure at the very least a 4 seed, and at least make it to the second weekend of the tournament. I don't think those are unreasonable expectations. I think anything less than a trip to the second weekend would maybe not be a failure, but at the same time I definitely don't think it would be seen as a success.

Although, I don't think for a second that a bad showing in one lousy tournament would or even should encourage us getting rid of Miller. I do think this program has to have some kind of feel good moment at the end of the season after what it weathered last season and the relentless PR attacks we have received from the media for over a year. Thoughts?

Note: I think they will do much better than this. Just trying to set a baseline for me to unnecessarily get my hopes up.

[CalStateTempe]

It’s FF time.

[CalStateTempe]

With all this talent and if we still see mid major miller ball and no FT then it’s time to ask some serious questions.

[YoDeFoe]

I think we agree that we really need to have a successful season this year with what happened last year and with the cloud Book has put over our program. With that said, success is obviously measured in different ways and is up to our own expectations. I am wondering what you guys think, what would this team have to do to be considered successful?

I think I would expect this team to win the Pac and hopefully the Pac 12 tournament. Hopefully secure at the very least a 4 seed, and at least make it to the second weekend of the tournament. I don't think those are unreasonable expectations. I think anything less than a trip to the second weekend would maybe not be a failure, but at the same time I definitely don't think it would be seen as a success.

Although, I don't think for a second that a bad showing in one lousy tournament would or even should encourage us getting rid of Miller. I do think this program has to have some kind of feel good moment at the end of the season after what it weathered last season and the relentless PR attacks we have received from the media for over a year. Thoughts?

Note: I think they will do much better than this. Just trying to set a baseline for me to unnecessarily get my hopes up.

Baseline... top two in conference, compete in the Elite Eight. Below that and I'm disappointed. Would comment on seeding but that'll depend on the quality of the conference. The above would be a "return to normal" for Arizona.

[StickItInTheyFace]

Baseline... top two in conference, compete in the Elite Eight. Below that and I'm disappointed. Would comment on seeding but that'll depend on the quality of the conference.

I agree. I think if we make the Elite Eight I'm definitely happy. We will eventually break through, lets just get back to the point where we can be knocking on that door again.

[goslingswagg]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... 25-2019-20

13 feels a little high given how many new pieces we'll need to fold in, as well as the injury risk with three of our major contributors (Green's shoulder, Williams's knee, Jeter's back). I do love our depth and experience across the front court, our bevy of wing options, and our two stud guards leading the charge. The synergy of Nico and Josh should offset some of the "new pieces" concerns as well, assuming Josh recovers quickly and is smoothly added into the fold.

I think the biggest question mark for us is the four spot and how much productivity we can get out of the three players competing for PT there. Does Lee continue his leap that we saw emerging at the end of last season? Does Gettings translate to big stage basketball (with the benefit of being in practices since last fall)? Is Nnaji the second coming of Brandon Ashley? How those guys add value and how far they push their game is my biggest curiosity, as I think we know what we'll get out of Nico, Josh, Bwill, and Chase.

In the big picture: Good to see three Pac-12 teams in the top 20 with two more knocking on the door in this early ranking. That would be a very good year for the conference.

I get what you're saying, but disagree that 13 is too high for us. Look at the rosters of the other teams out there...we are in great shape, should be a back end top 10 team in the preseason.

[EVCat]

With all this talent and if we still see mid major miller ball and no FT then it’s time to ask some serious questions.

A LOT of freshmen here...and a lot of meshing of talent with talent.

I doubt we are top 10 to start the season, much less an odds-on FF team. And Vegas certainly isn't fearing being back-doored by big whales with the correct info on our team.

We are a Sweet 16 team with what we have in place, with the potential to be much better if pieces fit, or a clash of cultures could hurt (think Rasheed and Jerry being added to a defending national title UNC team with all the pieces back in the day).

While I see this class as special, I don't see it as Duke last year (didn't make Final Four) or the Fab Five...I imagine there will be as much slack as is possible given to this team early. Like this year. This year's team showed it couldn't handle transition or runouts, and the offense tightened back up.

Sean will be coaching for his life...he will not allow stupid mistakes to hopefully fix themselves. But I think Nico simply makes the offense we already have more dynamic.

With this team and the packline, it always comes down to Sean's trust of guards...can they overplay/jump passing lanes with accuracy, or are they getting themselves out of position? We saw Sean loosen the rope for TJ and Rondae, and we had runouts. But the defense is blown up if you are constantly jumping passing lanes and getting caught out of help or primary position. Fast break basketball is about the defense, not the offense. Early offense is about pushing misses, but fast break stuff is straight off turnovers. No one pulls the ball out of the net and runs with continued success.

So is Nico ready for the defensive piece? That is the question on all the freshmen. If they are not sound, we cannot run out.

In the set offense, we will still see zones. Because zones are used to slow teams with better individual talent, which we will have in most PAC games. It will slow us down some...but that isn't the sign of an effective zone. Can you stop our efficiency? If everyone zones us and we crush it and they feel better coming out of it, we will have a faster paced offense. But you cannot just blitz a zone. It looks like a slowed-down offense, but you have to find its seam. And if you look at our offensive efficency the last two years prior to this one, you will see we actually did pretty OK against zone, which we saw virtually every game. Quick backcourts with pressure man killed us (think: Buffalo, Wichita St.).

[NYCat]

EV is right, this is a Sweet 16 on paper. Beyond that is dependent on the bracket Arizona is in, seeding, potential injuries or if someone or a couple players get hot and carry the team ala Kemba Walker.

Again like EV says, this incoming class is good but isn't on the level of the some of all the great ones in CBB who also didn't win it all or make a F4. Recent history this decade also doesn't really bode well for one and done/freshman led teams making a Final Four at minimum. There's like 2015 Duke and a couple of Kentucky teams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N ... rticipants" target="_blank

I just want this team not get embarrassed in the first weekend by a mid major again and hopefully dominos fall in front of Arizona and can walk in to a F4 like Gonzaga did a couple of years ago. Imo we need a top 2 seed to get to the next level. If we didn't lose to Buffalo we almost surely got smoked by Kentucky the next round. But I don't know if a young OnD team can do that or if the conference is strong enough to get a top 2 seed (apart from maybe having 2-3 total loses the whole year).

[CalStateTempe]

Anything less than S16 with the talent on the roster will be a disaster.

[YoDeFoe]

EV is right, this is a Sweet 16 on paper. Beyond that is dependent on the bracket Arizona is in, seeding, potential injuries or if someone or a couple players get hot and carry the team ala Kemba Walker.

Again like EV says, this incoming class is good but isn't on the level of the some of all the great ones in CBB who also didn't win it all or make a F4. Recent history this decade also doesn't really bode well for one and done/freshman led teams making a Final Four at minimum. There's like 2015 Duke and a couple of Kentucky teams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N ... rticipants" target="_blank

I just want this team not get embarrassed in the first weekend by a mid major again and hopefully dominos fall in front of Arizona and can walk in to a F4 like Gonzaga did a couple of years ago. Imo we need a top 2 seed to get to the next level. If we didn't lose to Buffalo we almost surely got smoked by Kentucky the next round. But I don't know if a young OnD team can do that or if the conference is strong enough to get a top 2 seed (apart from maybe having 2-3 total loses the whole year).

It's not like this team is entirely reliant on freshmen: we're talking about two freshman starters and two off the bench (potentially three starters if Nnaji blows up). We've got three fifth year contributors (Hazzard, Gettings, Jeter) and a bunch of guys who have been herea year or two, on top of the four freshman that should contribute.

I'm most encouraged by the number of quality guards we'll have in combo with experienced big men. That should bode well for us in March.

[ChooChooCat]

Arizona will start 3 freshmen next year, I'm 99% confident in that. Along side them will be a sophomore and a RS Senior.

[Merkin]

Anything less than S16 with the talent on the roster will be a disaster.

How did Miller do 2 years ago with the #1 draft pick in Ayton along with a major NBA contributor in Allonzo Trier, along with another 7 footer who was signed to one of the better Euro teams, along with several bright upcoming freshmen?

Yes, this year the Cats finally have a PG, but I no longer have expectations that I used to for the Cats.

Not that anyone has asked me, I do give Miller a pass for last season. Just pretend it never happened.

[goslingswagg]

Arizona will start 3 freshmen next year, I'm 99% confident in that. Along side them will be a sophomore and a RS Senior.

Yup, 100% makes sense. Question is how the rest of the roster turns out...gotta think we'll have a senior and a junior in the rotation as backup bigs, as well as a grad transfer guard...from there, hopefully we have a sophomore wing, and that's it as far as the rotation goes. That's a top 10 caliber rotation imho.

[NYCat]

Yeah Nnaji is almost surely starting. Probably only here for one year. We have some decent upperclassmen depth to add maturity, upgraded PG, multiple ball handlers,

Keys to make a successful run are defense, 3pt shooting, rebounding. More specifically what will propel Arizona will be Mannion's defense. We've seen what happens when the point of attack is weak or outmatched in the packline defense, the whole thing falls apart.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Anything less than S16 with the talent on the roster will be a disaster.

How did Miller do 2 years ago with the #1 draft pick in Ayton along with a major NBA contributor in Allonzo Trier, along with another 7 footer who was signed to one of the better Euro teams, along with several bright upcoming freshmen?

Yes, this year the Cats finally have a PG, but I no longer have expectations that I used to for the Cats.

Not that anyone has asked me, I do give Miller a pass for last season. Just pretend it never happened.

Well, yeah, but 17-18 was a disaster. With other talented rosters, Miller's been inches from a Final Four.

The tournament has its variability, but we have plenty of talent and it's a better balanced roster than 17-18. I like what we have.

[ChooChooCat]

Anything less than S16 with the talent on the roster will be a disaster.

How did Miller do 2 years ago with the #1 draft pick in Ayton along with a major NBA contributor in Allonzo Trier, along with another 7 footer who was signed to one of the better Euro teams, along with several bright upcoming freshmen?

Yes, this year the Cats finally have a PG, but I no longer have expectations that I used to for the Cats.

Not that anyone has asked me, I do give Miller a pass for last season. Just pretend it never happened.

Well, yeah, but 17-18 was a disaster. With other talented rosters, Miller's been inches from a Final Four.

The tournament has its variability, but we have plenty of talent and it's a better balanced roster than 17-18. I like what we have.

Arizona literally started 5 subpar defenders in 17-18 and the final outcome 100% came from that.

[loomer]

Arizona will start 3 freshmen next year, I'm 99% confident in that. Along side them will be a sophomore and a RS Senior.

Five teams in the last 10 years have started 3 freshman and have gone on to a Final Four:

2011 UCONN
2012 Kentucky
2013 Michigan
2014 Kentucky
2015 Duke

Three of them ended up winning the title and the other two played in the title game. Experienced backcourts have been much more successful since 2015.

Yeah Nnaji is almost surely starting. Probably only here for one year. We have some decent upperclassmen depth to add maturity, upgraded PG, multiple ball handlers,

Keys to make a successful run are defense, 3pt shooting, rebounding. More specifically what will propel Arizona will be Mannion's defense. We've seen what happens when the point of attack is weak or outmatched in the packline defense, the whole thing falls apart.

Completely agree. If we can hit 37-39% from 3 while taking slightly more than usual, it would be huge.

[Irish27]

Sounds like Armstrong is not happy with Boogie Ellis news.

[YoDeFoe]

That's not what the eyes mean... he's just saying "whoa check this out." Hopefully Terry isn't getting any inspiration from it.

[NYCat]

Yes please

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee on Friday proposed moving the 3-point line to the international basketball distance of 22 feet, 1¾ inches.

If the recommendation is approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on June 5, the rule would be effective for the 2019-20 season in Division I. Due to the potential financial impact, the new 3-point line would go into effect for the 2020-21 season in Divisions II and III.

Committee members proposed the rules change after receiving positive feedback from the annual rules survey and from coaches whose teams competed in the 2018 and 2019 National Invitation Tournament, where the international 3-point distance was used on an experimental basis.

[StickItInTheyFace]

Yes please

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee on Friday proposed moving the 3-point line to the international basketball distance of 22 feet, 1¾ inches.

If the recommendation is approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on June 5, the rule would be effective for the 2019-20 season in Division I. Due to the potential financial impact, the new 3-point line would go into effect for the 2020-21 season in Divisions II and III.

Committee members proposed the rules change after receiving positive feedback from the annual rules survey and from coaches whose teams competed in the 2018 and 2019 National Invitation Tournament, where the international 3-point distance was used on an experimental basis.

No reason to not move it to as close to the NBA line as we can. Seems like even the 16 seeds in the tournament have more than capable shooters in every position now.

[RiseAndFire]

Seeding doesn't matter, brackets dont' matter. We've had the prime position a bunch of times through Anaheim and the Cali and Miller came up with nada - didn't make a lick of difference in fact.

What does matter is having at least three players who can shoot at least ~38% 3pt during every game of the tournament. To be successful you must have guys who really put the "heave" in the weave-n-heave half court offense. There is no plan 'B'.

[YoDeFoe]

Long needed change. Hopefully we'd see more room inside and a more free flowing offense (without the need to increase foul calls to force freedom of movement).

[Jefe]

Released in the last 24hrs. Both have us #14

https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com ... on-top-25/" target="_blank
https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... -25-and-1/" target="_blank

[Chicat]

So Dylan Smith isn’t going anywhere....

Dylan, please put in the work to increase your basketball IQ. Thank you.

[IndianaZonaFan]

Weren’t there conversations and a plan in place to have a three year deal with Indiana? A home and home plus a neutral site in NYC if IRC. What ever happened to that?

[Gilbertcat]

The games with Indiana look like the fizzled out. First set of games was supposed to be this year so I wonder if it wasn't finalized because the whole FBI thing happened (was within a month or two of the drama).

https://www.cbssports.com/g00/college-b ... &i10c.dv=7" target="_blank