The 2019-2020 Season Thread

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ASUHATER!
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by ASUHATER! »

PieceOfMeat wrote:Really glad to have another quality loss on the resume.

Should really help come March
In the NIT sure
i was going to put the ua/asu records here...but i forgot what they were.

i'll just go with fuck asu.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by catgrad97 »

catgrad97 wrote:
AZCatGirl wrote:
MountainCat wrote:
AZCatGirl wrote:Glad I had something better to do than watch the game.......
Than why did you have nothing better to do than come to this forum and whine about a game you didn’t watch?
Because I'm annoyed we're going to lose in the first weekend of the tournament... again.

Why that doesn't bother the rest of you is beyond me.
It'll bother more after the unexpected loss to a Pac-12 cellar dweller. Because while this team is "building," a team as young as this is also just as susceptible to regressing.

Too many of our fans want to pretend like last night wasn't one of this team's spikes in its performance this season--that it's just part of a gradual upward curve.

I've seen far too many seasons of regressive step backs and hiccups from even more talented Arizona teams to guarantee that won't be the case. We're going to lose at least one more nobody expects to lose. We're going to have at least one more "bad loss."

If, with this team, said "bad loss" comes before the tournament, those same fans will come back with, "OK, we got that out of our system. We're overdue some luck now. Onward and upward!"
Too soon? Or does tonight qualify?
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by PieceOfMeat »

Hey now, did you see OrSU shoot the ball in the 2nd half?

unstoppable

nobody could have beaten them in the 2nd half tonight
It's long past time to bring this back to the court, let's do it with a small update:

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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by mofo »

Time for some positives: We HAVE won 2 of our last 7. That’s better than 0!
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by CalStateTempe »

Olsondogg wrote:It's the Sean Miller year...one way or another, it's now or never IMO
First post

QFT
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by SCCats »

CalStateTempe wrote:
Olsondogg wrote:It's the Sean Miller year...one way or another, it's now or never IMO
First post

QFT
I remember the hype. Lots of final four or bust type stuff.

Going to start needing to consider the bust scenarios.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by CalStateTempe »

Haven’t you heard?

We have a really special team this year?

Give miller Porsche and he’ll drive it like a Kia.

Then blame the PDK for not being a tight enough transmission.

Mid major coach.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Captain Obvious »

CalStateTempe wrote:Haven’t you heard?

We have a really special team this year?

Give miller Porsche and he’ll drive it like a Kia.

Then blame the PDK for not being a tight enough transmission.

Mid major coach.
Yep Mid Major Miller or 3M for short.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by catgrad97 »

PieceOfMeat wrote:Hey now, did you see OrSU shoot the ball in the 2nd half?

unstoppable

nobody could have beaten them in the 2nd half tonight
As much as I have reformed my opinion of Dick Tomey over the years, your facetious post, POM, brought back far too many flashbacks to the football call-in shows after losses in his tenure. That satirical response is way too reminiscent of fan reactions to very winnable losses on KNST after the game.

Like it or not, I fear this program is locked into Miller for the foreseeable future.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

It’s interesting how Miller continues to recruit well even as his teams fare poorly.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by CalStateTempe »

Of course! Pit stop!
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Olsondogg »

The least you idiots could do is quote me correctly. Lmao.

This team is different.

And yes, this year is make or break for Miller and it’s January 11. Lots of games left for you all to whine about...
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by TatetheGreat »

Olsondogg wrote:The least you idiots could do is quote me correctly. Lmao.

This team is different.

And yes, this year is make or break for Miller and it’s January 11. Lots of games left for you all to whine about...
How exactly? You understand Miller has not changed whatsoever, correct?
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by ChooChooCat »

Alieberman wrote:This team has 3 1st round draft picks on it....3.... and we can't beat Oregon Fucking State.
This is a really shitty draft class.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Longhorned »

Fuck. It’s 6:47 and the sun hasn’t risen. This time I’m getting worried.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Dosia »

ChooChooCat wrote:
Alieberman wrote:This team has 3 1st round draft picks on it....3.... and we can't beat Oregon Fucking State.
This is a really shitty draft class.
I don’t watch the NBA, but it’s really hard to believe any of our freshman are NBA ready. Zeke is the closest. I guess it is all potential like they say.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Longhorned »

The problem isn’t the “future NBA players.” It’s every senior and grad who plays in the backcourt, to a man. The backcourt is a black hole that Nico is getting torn apart in. There’s every reason to think both Baker and Hazzard at least can return to themselves, but what they’re giving right now is astonishing. Smith may very well have reverted to his true nature and little can be done. The other two need to pull it together.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Merkin »

Dosia wrote:
ChooChooCat wrote:
Alieberman wrote:This team has 3 1st round draft picks on it....3.... and we can't beat Oregon Fucking State.
This is a really shitty draft class.
I don’t watch the NBA, but it’s really hard to believe any of our freshman are NBA ready. Zeke is the closest. I guess it is all potential like they say.
I don't either, but from what the announcers have said over the season, Green is the most physically ready. Zeke is built more as a stretch 4 and needs to have a perimeter game. Lavin drooled over Mannion last night, but still didn't mention how bad he is on defense, and how he has alligator arms.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Chicat »

Are we having fun yet?
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by SCCats »

Chicat wrote:Are we having fun yet?
No: I’m not seeing the number of excuses we need to get us through this.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Longhorned »

Chicat wrote:Are we having fun yet?
At least we get paid for this and it gets us into Heaven.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by PHXCATS »

For everyone who says UA and Miller suck now. What has been the issue this year? Why arent the Cats good in your opinion?

They have talent. They shoot well. They move the ball well. The rebound well at times. They defend well. They take care of the ball most games. So what is the issue? Other than consistency which takes time to develop with new and young teams what is the glaring issue of this team?
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pc in NM »

PHXCATS wrote:For everyone who says UA and Miller suck now. What has been the issue this year? Why arent the Cats good in your opinion?

They have talent. They shoot well. They move the ball well. The rebound well at times. They defend well. They take care of the ball most games. So what is the issue? Other than consistency which takes time to develop with new and young teams what is the glaring issue of this team?
They're a group of strangers who have never been seriously coached before; the frosh have great talent and "potential", but lack the teamwork or maturity to quickly become a cohesive unit at either end of the floor....

They still could come together as a team, but will be as much, if not more, concerned with their play-for-pay futures....

At this point, it would be hard to rate Nico as much better than Staf!!
“If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong.”

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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pc in NM »

BEEN THERE; DONE THAT!!!
PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : No. 2 Arizona Shocked by Oregon State, 84-61
Dec. 3, 1989


From Associated Press

Arizona Coach Lute Olson says there’s no doubt who should be favored to win the Pacific 10 Conference basketball title.

“In my opinion, it’s not us or UCLA, but definitely Oregon State,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that they’re the best team in the conference.”

After the Beavers beat Olson’s No. 2-ranked Wildcats, 84-61, Saturday at Corvallis, Ore., no one was arguing with him.

Gary Payton scored 25 points and led a harassing defense as the Beavers handed Arizona its worst defeat since Olson became coach in 1983.

Arizona, which beat defending national champion Michigan in its season opener but lost to Oregon, 68-63, Thursday night in Eugene, is off to an 0-2 Pac-10 start for the first time since the 1983-84 season. The Wildcats, two-time defending conference champions, are 1-2 overall.

Oregon State (3-0 and 2-0) jumped to a 20-point lead in the first half and never was threatened thereafter.

“They totally destroyed us for 20 minutes,” Olson said. “They have tremendous balance. Every guy can shoot. Every guy can defend. And they have maybe the best point guard (Payton) in America.

“They’ve got the intensity that every coach wishes for. They beat us to the ball constantly.”

Harvey Mason scored 18 for Arizona, 16 in the second half. Brian Williams added 14 for the Wildcats.

Olson, who was assessed a technical foul for kicking the ball at the end of the first half, had never had a team lose by more than 19 points since he took the Arizona job. The Wildcats lost to Illinois, 82-63, in the 1986-87 season.
Why Olson wasn't fired on the spot still puzzles sports fans!!!
“If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong.”

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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by zonagrad »

pc in NM wrote:
PHXCATS wrote:For everyone who says UA and Miller suck now. What has been the issue this year? Why arent the Cats good in your opinion?

They have talent. They shoot well. They move the ball well. The rebound well at times. They defend well. They take care of the ball most games. So what is the issue? Other than consistency which takes time to develop with new and young teams what is the glaring issue of this team?
They're a group of strangers who have never been seriously coached before; the frosh have great talent and "potential", but lack the teamwork or maturity to quickly become a cohesive unit at either end of the floor....

They still could come together as a team, but will be as much, if not more, concerned with their play-for-pay futures....

At this point, it would be hard to rate Nico as much better than Staf!!
Our three freshmen are good. Very good for freshmen. But I can’t understand that they’re considered 1st round draft picks. I don’t see Mannion as significantly better than Pritchard when he was a freshman. Green isn’t a dominant player and Zeke has no perimeter game.

Although not having Brandon Williams wasn’t a surprise, couple his absence with Doutrive’s departure and we have close to a worst case scenario. Imagine if Baker hadn’t been granted eligibility. We’re stuck with Smith getting 20+ minutes per game. That puts enormous pressure on everyone else (specifically our 3 freshmen). It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.

Time for some soul searching for our upperclassmen. Time for our freshmen to step up and mature fast.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by PHXCATS »

pc in NM wrote:
PHXCATS wrote:For everyone who says UA and Miller suck now. What has been the issue this year? Why arent the Cats good in your opinion?

They have talent. They shoot well. They move the ball well. The rebound well at times. They defend well. They take care of the ball most games. So what is the issue? Other than consistency which takes time to develop with new and young teams what is the glaring issue of this team?
They're a group of strangers who have never been seriously coached before; the frosh have great talent and "potential", but lack the teamwork or maturity to quickly become a cohesive unit at either end of the floor....

They still could come together as a team, but will be as much, if not more, concerned with their play-for-pay futures....

At this point, it would be hard to rate Nico as much better than Staf!!
Yeah my point is the team has done it all well at points but needs to be more consistent. That happens with young teams. Hell only three guys who play minutes this year played on the team last year in Smith Jeter and Lee. It will take time. To write this team off now is completely ridiculous
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Merkin »

zonagrad wrote:It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.
How does a player that tall, and that close to the basket only get one board per game during the Oregon trip? Along with a total of 8 points in combined 30 minutes.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Dosia »

Merkin wrote:
zonagrad wrote:It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.
How does a player that tall, and that close to the basket only get one board per game during the Oregon trip? Along with a total of 8 points in combined 30 minutes.
Probably because he’s more concerned with his shorts getting untucked.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pokinmik »

How about his touch around the rim, lmao. I’ve never seen a D1 player chuck a ball against the backboard so many times like that. He legit has zero basketball skills. He should go to bed every night thanking god he is 7 feet tall and got an education out of it.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pokinmik »

zonagrad wrote:
pc in NM wrote:
PHXCATS wrote:For everyone who says UA and Miller suck now. What has been the issue this year? Why arent the Cats good in your opinion?

They have talent. They shoot well. They move the ball well. The rebound well at times. They defend well. They take care of the ball most games. So what is the issue? Other than consistency which takes time to develop with new and young teams what is the glaring issue of this team?
They're a group of strangers who have never been seriously coached before; the frosh have great talent and "potential", but lack the teamwork or maturity to quickly become a cohesive unit at either end of the floor....

They still could come together as a team, but will be as much, if not more, concerned with their play-for-pay futures....

At this point, it would be hard to rate Nico as much better than Staf!!
Our three freshmen are good. Very good for freshmen. But I can’t understand that they’re considered 1st round draft picks. I don’t see Mannion as significantly better than Pritchard when he was a freshman. Green isn’t a dominant player and Zeke has no perimeter game.

Although not having Brandon Williams wasn’t a surprise, couple his absence with Doutrive’s departure and we have close to a worst case scenario. Imagine if Baker hadn’t been granted eligibility. We’re stuck with Smith getting 20+ minutes per game. That puts enormous pressure on everyone else (specifically our 3 freshmen). It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.

Time for some soul searching for our upperclassmen. Time for our freshmen to step up and mature fast.
Yea in a sane world all three of our stud freshman would return for their sophomore years. I watch the nba every night and none of them would be close to getting playing time right now outside of mop up duties down 20 with 3min left. I’d say green and zeke are closer than Nico right now. Green and zeke have a little more toughness to them.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Longhorned »

I’d start Nnaji and Gettings.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by ChooChooCat »

pokinmik wrote:
Yea in a sane world all three of our stud freshman would return for their sophomore years. I watch the nba every night and none of them would be close to getting playing time right now outside of mop up duties down 20 with 3min left. I’d say green and zeke are closer than Nico right now. Green and zeke have a little more toughness to them.
Ultimately this is what does Miller in for me. If this were a decade or two ago this year would just be a growing year and you knew Nico, Josh, Zeke would just get better and more dominant with time and then you'd add whatever you could build around that core. This year would be just hoping for best case scenario and there would be hope for a brighter future. Instead they're all fricken leaving after one year and we have to depend on another year with a completely new group that ultimately won't take to the pack line because they all have little to no familiarity with it and it's going to be god damn Groundhog Day again and again and again. It'll never stop. We can't keep doing this, we just can't. The literal definition of insanity.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pokinmik »

ChooChooCat wrote:
pokinmik wrote:
Yea in a sane world all three of our stud freshman would return for their sophomore years. I watch the nba every night and none of them would be close to getting playing time right now outside of mop up duties down 20 with 3min left. I’d say green and zeke are closer than Nico right now. Green and zeke have a little more toughness to them.
Ultimately this is what does Miller in for me. If this were a decade or two ago this year would just be a growing year and you knew Nico, Josh, Zeke would just get better and more dominant with time and then you'd add whatever you could build around that core. This year would be just hoping for best case scenario and there would be hope for a brighter future. Instead they're all fricken leaving after one year and we have to depend on another year with a completely new group that ultimately won't take to the pack line because they all have little to no familiarity with it and it's going to be god damn Groundhog Day again and again and again. It'll never stop. We can't keep doing this, we just can't. The literal definition of insanity.
Totally agree. I’ve stuck with miller hard core his entire tenure. Defended him and AZ against all the east coast fans, but I have basically given up. The only thing providing a slimmer of hope is that this year is wide the fuck open in college basketball and maybe this team catches lightning in a bottle come March. Outside of Gonzaga and SDSU, maybe butler and Wichita state, every other team is going to lose a decent amount of games this year, and most already have.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by SabinoDrifter »

Longhorned wrote:I’d start Nnaji and Gettings.
Baker / Gettings / Hazard need more minutes at the expense of Smith and Jeter.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

SabinoDrifter wrote:
Longhorned wrote:I’d start Nnaji and Gettings.
Baker / Gettings / Hazard need more minutes at the expense of Smith and Jeter.
Agree 1000%. How many gold jerseys have Jeter or Smith won this season? That means they’re not getting after it in practice, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone when they’re not getting after it in actual games. These guys have been *gifted* their minutes; they haven’t earned them.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Dosia »

Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose

These are entirely reasonable expectations, even a bit modest imo, given this roster. I’m not sure how any serious fan could set the bar lower for Miller.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Dosia »

Beachcat97 wrote:
Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose

These are entirely reasonable expectations, even a bit modest imo, given this roster. I’m not sure how any serious fan could set the bar lower for Miller.
My expectations would be higher if Jeter wasn’t completely useless. If miller has smith become solely a spot up shooter (lol) i think these are reasonable.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by RawleArenas »

ChooChooCat wrote:
pokinmik wrote:
Yea in a sane world all three of our stud freshman would return for their sophomore years. I watch the nba every night and none of them would be close to getting playing time right now outside of mop up duties down 20 with 3min left. I’d say green and zeke are closer than Nico right now. Green and zeke have a little more toughness to them.
Ultimately this is what does Miller in for me. If this were a decade or two ago this year would just be a growing year and you knew Nico, Josh, Zeke would just get better and more dominant with time and then you'd add whatever you could build around that core. This year would be just hoping for best case scenario and there would be hope for a brighter future. Instead they're all fricken leaving after one year and we have to depend on another year with a completely new group that ultimately won't take to the pack line because they all have little to no familiarity with it and it's going to be god damn Groundhog Day again and again and again. It'll never stop. We can't keep doing this, we just can't. The literal definition of insanity.
I totally agree with this, I'll get to your other observation in a second. I made this point before, a lot of people move the goalpost with Miller's on court performance. Lute had more time to work with players and indoctrinate them into his system. The 2001 team had All Americans at every position except for Gilbert, who was the best player in college basketball. They also had three upperclassmen who were Wooden nominees. You can't build a team like that in this day and age, and our program suffers because of it.

I don't know what to say about Oregon State, I turned it off when we were down by seven because I know then that the game was over and that fans were going to break out their pitchforks. The issue that I have with the fan base is that the same problems with Miller are reflected in the top coaches in college basketball. Izzo got blown out by unranked Purdue yesterday and just last year people were saying the same the game has passed him by and that it would be very difficult to fire him because the results on the court were just good enough for him to keep his job. Not to mention if Coach K is the heir apparent to John Wooden, why is he given the benefit of the doubt for his poor coaching over the past half decade? His talent dwarfs ours and he hasn't made a final four in 5 years (when he had five NBA guys on that roster).

Metrics matter to a certain degree, I never implied that it was the end-all, but they are very effective in giving you insight into how you're team compares quality wise with other teams across the nation. It's how we differentiate teams with identical records spread across different conferences. Like Spiff mentioned, after the FBI situation, the culture changed and Miller changed a bit as well. We rarely got blown out before that. I mean rarely. I will never justify a poor performance on the court like Oregon State, so Miller will have to go to the batcave and figure some things out. But unless this trend continues, I will wait and see how this plays out over the season.

Our upperclassmen are just not good enough or athletic. Our overall team athleticism is just not there like it was in past years. I was looking at the 2016-17 team (which is my favorite Miller team) and that team had so much athleticism, even with the bigs. That team was also smarter and more hungry. Chase and Stone are serviceable, but nowhere near dynamic enough to impact a game to take pressure off of our freshmen. So yes, something has to change and it will, it's just that fans want results immediately and that may not happen.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:
Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose

These are entirely reasonable expectations, even a bit modest imo, given this roster. I’m not sure how any serious fan could set the bar lower for Miller.
My expectations would be higher if Jeter wasn’t completely useless. If miller has smith become solely a spot up shooter (lol) i think these are reasonable.
Smith should never start. He can be a 6th man if he improves his 3pt %. For now, Smith is a major liability on offense. Get Baker and Hazzard in there.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Merkin »

Smith's role is only defense since Mannion, Hazzard and Baker are pretty bad at it. Even Lavin was calling out Smith for taking ill advised shots, which he does constantly.
Beachcat97 wrote:
Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose

These are entirely reasonable expectations, even a bit modest imo, given this roster. I’m not sure how any serious fan could set the bar lower for Miller.
Especially since there was so much FF talk with the 3 fab freshman. I would be quite pleased with a S16, but really don't expect to get out of the first weekend.

And no one will be harder on Miller than himself. Maybe he does need to take a year off. I am sure Amy would appreciate it.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by RawleArenas »

Dosia wrote:
Beachcat97 wrote:Fair question: what has to happen the rest of the way this season for you to change your minds on Miller and want him to remain coach?
Finish top 3 in the conf. Win conf tournament. Make the sweet 16 and not get embarrassed if they lose

This is what I thought at the beginning of the season was a reasonable goal for a rebuild year with our level of talent.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by ChooChooCat »

RawleArenas wrote:
I don't know what to say about Oregon State, I turned it off when we were down by seven because I know then that the game was over and that fans were going to break out their pitchforks. The issue that I have with the fan base is that the same problems with Miller are reflected in the top coaches in college basketball. Izzo got blown out by unranked Purdue yesterday and just last year people were saying the same the game has passed him by and that it would be very difficult to fire him because the results on the court were just good enough for him to keep his job. Not to mention if Coach K is the heir apparent to John Wooden, why is he given the benefit of the doubt for his poor coaching over the past half decade? His talent dwarfs ours and he hasn't made a final four in 5 years (when he had five NBA guys on that roster).
Izzo has had some guys out with injuries, but also has wins over a handful of ranked teams and stomped Illinois (our best win to date). That Purdue game was ugly, but they just came off 8 straight wins. He also has a history of getting his teams ready come tournament time. Coach K's resume obviously speaks for itself, but ultimately you're hitting on what my beef is with Sean Miller there. 5 star players who are short timers are not the recipe for the ultimate success outside of a few exceptions. It's an unsustainable format IMO. It'll carry you to more wins than losses of course, but the records speak for themselves here. Duke can get away with it more than we can, because they have more of that talent that we do quite frankly.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Longhorned »

I expect to lose in round 1. We have a point guard with all the punch of a boiled potato, along with a black hole of other guards. In the tourney there’s not much point talking about other strengths and weaknesses if that’s your backcourt. But it’s the tourney, so expectations are meaningless.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

Another question: if the benchmark for success is a top 3 Pac finish and a S16, what the hell kind of team do we need in order to raise that benchmark?

I mean, we have three first round picks, experienced upperclassmen, some good role players, bench depth, etc. Granted, this is not Miller’s best roster, but it’s comprised of several key elements.

If this team is only expected to earn a bronze medal and a S16, I’m just struggling to envision a scenario where the bar gets raised. Does it only happen if we get lucky and our elite freshmen stay for a second year? And if so, isn’t that putting far too much of the program’s power in the hands of 18 year olds with very little invested in AZ hoops? Shouldn’t the coach have more power?

If Miller’s big strategy is hoping that some of his 5-stars stay longer than one season, it’s a strategy that fails again and again and again.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Lando05 »

Merkin wrote:
zonagrad wrote:It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.
How does a player that tall, and that close to the basket only get one board per game during the Oregon trip? Along with a total of 8 points in combined 30 minutes.
He's soft and not mentally tough.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by pokinmik »

Beachcat97 wrote:Another question: if the benchmark for success is a top 3 Pac finish and a S16, what the hell kind of team do we need in order to raise that benchmark?

I mean, we have three first round picks, experienced upperclassmen, some good role players, bench depth, etc. Granted, this is not Miller’s best roster, but it’s comprised of several key elements.

If this team is only expected to earn a bronze medal and a S16, I’m just struggling to envision a scenario where the bar gets raised. Does it only happen if we get lucky and our elite freshmen stay for a second year? And if so, isn’t that putting far too much of the program’s power in the hands of 18 year olds with very little invested in AZ hoops? Shouldn’t the coach have more power?

If Miller’s big strategy is hoping that some of his 5-stars stay longer than one season, it’s a strategy that fails again and again and again.
Your second paragraph lists all the positives we have but that’s just on paper. Last night in the second half we needed someone to get a stop or make a freakin shot and nobody did. It’s really as simple as that. Maybe they just aren’t that good. I’m still holding out hope they can start playing better though.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Lando05 »

ChooChooCat wrote:
pokinmik wrote:
Yea in a sane world all three of our stud freshman would return for their sophomore years. I watch the nba every night and none of them would be close to getting playing time right now outside of mop up duties down 20 with 3min left. I’d say green and zeke are closer than Nico right now. Green and zeke have a little more toughness to them.
Ultimately this is what does Miller in for me. If this were a decade or two ago this year would just be a growing year and you knew Nico, Josh, Zeke would just get better and more dominant with time and then you'd add whatever you could build around that core. This year would be just hoping for best case scenario and there would be hope for a brighter future. Instead they're all fricken leaving after one year and we have to depend on another year with a completely new group that ultimately won't take to the pack line because they all have little to no familiarity with it and it's going to be god damn Groundhog Day again and again and again. It'll never stop. We can't keep doing this, we just can't. The literal definition of insanity.
I'm 90% there that we need the change after this season. I have 10% unrealistic faith we Miller can still learn to adapt versus "do what we do" shit system for the type of players he chooses to recruit. Oh well.
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Re: The 2019-2020 Season Thread

Post by Beachcat97 »

Lando05 wrote:
Merkin wrote:
zonagrad wrote:It would be nice if Jeter was more assertive, but it’s clear he’s reached his ceiling. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment of this season: a 5th year senior who plays more like a project sophomore and is very inconsistent.
How does a player that tall, and that close to the basket only get one board per game during the Oregon trip? Along with a total of 8 points in combined 30 minutes.
He's soft and not mentally tough.
Which is probably why Coach K told him not to let the door hit him in the ass as he was leaving Durham.
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