The 2020-2021 Season Thread

[UAEebs86]

[NickyBCats]

Terrel Brown with the gold jersey. Seems like he’s fitting in better than anticipated?

[Chicat]

[Alieberman]

Can someone explain to me where community spread of COVID is at a an all time high all over the country.... state officials , medical leaders, etc are begging people to not gather right now and college presidents are continuing to allow football and basketball to happen right now?

[84Cat]

Terrel Brown with the gold jersey. Seems like he’s fitting in better than anticipated?

I have no expectations for TB so I am glad to see him excelling. We need all the help we can get

[UAEebs86]

Can someone explain to me where community spread of COVID is at a an all time high all over the country.... state officials , medical leaders, etc are begging people to not gather right now and college presidents are continuing to allow football and basketball to happen right now?

It's all about the Benjamins.

[UAEebs86]

[84Cat]

Anyone have any insight on this tweet?

[ChooChooCat]

Anyone have any insight on this tweet?

He's wanted to walk on to the basketball team since day 1, but it's never happened. He's actually a capable player. I doubt it ever happens though for a multitude of reasons.

[UAEebs86]

Going back and forth from one team's bubble to another team's bubble sounds like a great idea.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Anyone have any insight on this tweet?

Maybe he wants to have a chance to win a game or two.

[Merkin]

Anyone have any insight on this tweet?

He's wanted to walk on to the basketball team since day 1, but it's never happened. He's actually a capable player. I doubt it ever happens though for a multitude of reasons.

RichRod wouldn't allow any football players to play basketball. Actually, last coach I remember that allowed it was Tomey, with Ortege Jenkins and Peter Hansen the kick blocker both walking on. Don't recall anyone since.

[Postmaster]

Kelvin Eafon, Kenny Lofton

Although I’m thinking Lofton practiced both but didn’t play baseball until basketball was over.
And not sure if Eafon stopped basketball to play football or did both at same time.

[ChooChooCat]

Eafon was on the basketball team first, but was never in place to get PT, so he tried out for the football team and the rest is history.

[azgreg]

[ChooChooCat]

Update on Kerr. NCAA is just absolutely terrible.

https://news.err.ee/1171147/kerr-kriisa ... ing-season

[84Cat]

Update on Kerr. NCAA is just absolutely terrible.

https://news.err.ee/1171147/kerr-kriisa ... ing-season

Of course. We are cursed

[YoDeFoe]

It is wild as shit to me that we have an Arizona Wildcats basketball game today.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Update on Kerr. NCAA is just absolutely terrible.

https://news.err.ee/1171147/kerr-kriisa ... ing-season

Seriously, it's hard not to feel like Kriisa's a pawn in a larger issue the NCAA has.

[ChooChooCat]

This team desperately needs Kriisa for a multitude of reasons.

[Spaceman Spiff]

This team desperately needs Kriisa for a multitude of reasons.

We need this to be a first live action experience. Things like trying to throw touch passes through two guys and firing a 3 with 20 seconds left on the clock...those things don't create success

A lot of the raw pieces are there, but when a box score comes out, the TO's and 3's aren't going to look good.

[UAEebs86]

[dmjcat]

Thoughts on the 1st game

Jordan Brown played up to his 5 star HS rating: 19 points on 8/10 shooting with 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots

James Akinjo played OK but not great. A 1.0 assist to turnover ratio isn't going to cut it for a PG. There were also a few times when
he jacked up an early shot when he should have passed it

This is a very long UA team. With Brown/Koloko/Terry in the lineup we have 3 starters with 7 foot wingspans

Terrel Brown didn't light it up shooting but had a respectable 7/2 a/to ratio

Azuolas Tubelis did not play up to his press clippings. He looked a step slow on both ends of the court and at times looked lost. Lets hope
it was just 1st game jitters

Mathurin/Terry are very long athletic freshman.......who play like freshman. If Mathurin had played for Lute (and had the Turnovers he had
tonight) Lute would bury him so far down the roster that it would take a Tunnel Boring Machine to find him.

The entire team was too loose with the ball......again, hopefully this was a 1st game thing that goes away with a few games under their belt.

3 point shooting was not a strength tonight. Take out Akinjos 4/9 and the rest of the team shot 3/16 from beyond the arc. This has to improve if we hope to make any run at the PAC12 title.

We still can't play effectively against a zone defense (what a shocker).

[TucsonClip]

It is clear already, the team needs Akinjo on the floor as much as possible. Having a guy like him to defend at the point of attack is a huge sigh of relief. Dude can lock it up, but best of all his defensive awareness is fantastic. He already has the rotations down, he can diagnose the play, I even saw him pre-tag a roll before the offense even got through their ball screen action. Ive never seen a guard at UA do that. Offensively, he is going to love playing with Terry. He looks at his best attacking and kicking and connecting on spot up jumpers (Terry is going to feed him quite a few).

Need to see more of Terrell Brown, but he was not was I expected, and thats somewhat a good thing. I was expecting a more of a ball stopper and a guy hunting for buckets. That is actually a guy we are going to need, but I thought he did a good job seeing the floor, moving the ball and making some nice passes for easy baskets.

Baker saw some good looks, but wasnt able to get much to fall. I only remember one pull up jumper, which was an absolute brick with a strong contest, and that is what I was hoping to see less of. He looked a bit more defined and in shape, but might just be losing the shirt. Hes streaky, but if he is on he is going to be vital for our offense and floor spacing.

Dalen Terry was the one guy who popped for me. He reminds me of Solomon Hill when he was a freshman, but with a better body and length. By Hill, I mean his IQ and vision jump off the screen. He seemed to play under control, he knows how to set up a pass, whips the ball, sees the floor, and takes what the defense is giving him, not over penetrating and always has his head up reading the defenders. Not in a rush, plus he looks to have some defensive upside. Stroke from the FT line early shows promise for his jumper moving forward. He is on my radar as an NBA prospect.

While Terry looked under control for the most part, Mathurin was more towards the opposite. He is quite intriguing, and I love that hes in attack mode, but needs to settle a bit. Handles arent there yet, and while you can see the potential in his rebuilt jumper, it is definitely a work in progress and seems like he is struggling to repeat his mechanics. Still, having a slashing threat like him who is a willing defender is a great piece to have.

Jordan Brown looks like the rock of the front court. He didnt flash as a post up threat and definitely doesnt look like hes going to square anyone up off the bounce, but hes active, he puts in the effort and he attacks the glass. You can see why Miller is high on him. That said, he is going to need space in order to bully guys in the paint. Defensively, he was the guy talking and calling out actions and screens, but a bit slow to react to what was going around away from him.

I really didnt know what to expect from Tubelis, but he needs to work on his balance and agility. Perhaps he isnt in the best shape, but he did not look nimble, to say the least. Hard to really take anything away from his performance, other than he looks the part of a guy who has been playing strong competition overseas. He has a thick base, and looked to me as though he understands the game and positioning well. Another guy who likely needs to see some spacing to operate.

Lastly, Koloko looked alright early, but he still ebbs and flows quite a bit, which is to be expected. I like him starting, and I like when hes engaged and active, especially around the offensive glass. However, Miller clearly had to sit him down and spread the floor in order to generate some sort of offensive flow. His progression this season will be key to our success.

Overall, this appears to be a team which will struggle to score most nights. I liked the effort, especially defensively, but im not sure I see anyone capable of taking on the scoring load. Akinjo is solid and is certainly a different type of PG than we are accustomed to, but hes not a #1 option. Perhaps Brown takes over the scoring load, assuming he can operate through our limited spacing. Having one other guy who can legitimately create his own offense and get to the rim/line would do wonders for this team.

What does seem apparent is that this looks more the part of what people think a Sean Miller team should look like. We are going to grind out games defensively and on the glass. We are not going to be fun to play against, even if we are limited in the scoring department on most nights. But this is a really nice foundation for Miller to build upon, assuming guys like Terry and Mathurin stick around long enough.

[dmjcat]

Post game press conference:

https://youtu.be/GyqCdmG_lck

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks, Clip. Your breakdowns are great.

I like the points about passing. Right now, we have a number of players who see the floor well. Terry and J. Brown should free up Akinjo to be a scorer, which is more his nature.

Our rotations seemed hugely inconsistent. Sometimes solid, sometimes some really basic mistakes like getting split on the p&r and losing vision off the ball.

I didn't get to see the 1st half so I can't much comment on Tubelis bc he didn't play much in the 2nd.

Koloko's offensive rebounding is a big strength. I was not sold on J. Brown coming in, but he was really a revelation. I'm not sure we have a pure post player right now, but I'm not sure I hate that. One of my bigger critiques in the past would be getting bogged down forcing the ball into the post.

There were at least 6-7 unforced turnovers for no real reason. If we limit those and 3's fall, we can be better. Terry, Mathurin and T. Brown don't need to be shooting unless they're wide open. Baker...well, it was clearly not his night.

Defense has to be our calling card. We have a lot of long guys who can guard multiple positions and two legit rim protectors. Akinjo, Baker and T. Brown should be solid on guards. Throw in Lee and hopefully Kriisa and we have a ton of flexibility. You hope as time goes along we settle down and get more offensive efficiency.

Most of all, if we were able to return everyone but the two seniors, there's a lot of raw ability to work with

[AZCatGirl]

Here we go again...

[Olsondogg]

Refused to get excited for this season prior to today. Then got excited. Yeah, that worked out well.

This whole season will be a shitshow.

[AZCatGirl]

[TatetheGreat]

Estonia vs. Russia today at 11:30 AM AZ time. Streaming on ESPN+.

http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2 ... nia-Russia

[WildcatStunner]

I loved watching the team play. I don’t know if it is cause the way the last season ended or having new players to root for. My only observation is that the entire team looks to have a lot of length and if they work together defensively, they will be a real tough out.

[UAEebs86]

[AZCatGirl]

It was awfully short notice, but sucks they couldn't get another team in before conference play.

Next, maybe Colorado?

[ChooChooCat]

Arizona will reschedule with NAU (easy game to work out for both parties) and will likely replace the UTEP game on its schedule, so Arizona will get those 2 games back barring COVID ruining those again of course.

[UAEebs86]

[Spaceman Spiff]

Hey, at least (hopefully) we're getting games. I'm legit still worried we won't have enough games to actually qualify for the tourney

[azgreg]

[ChooChooCat]

Well our game against Colorado has been postponed.

[UAEebs86]

It is what it is.

[Alieberman]

What a fucking shitshow.

And you know COVID will eventually hit the Wildcats and we will be the ones cancelling games.

This season is a joke

[wyo-cat]

The community spread is too high now.

HS has seen the light. Basketball has been cancelled. My daughter is pissed, but it’s the right thing to do.

[ASUHATER!]

There's just no reason to have any sports until sometime in the spring when a larger amount of people are getting vaccinated

[84Cat]

There's just no reason to have any sports until sometime in the spring when a larger amount of people are getting vaccinated

Yep, some will start getting vaccinated this month so by spring, we should be seeing much better control. I don't know how any of the players could be very focused right now with so much going on. I wonder how soon the players could be vaccinated?

[Chicat]

This fucking blows.

So what's our next game? I'm too depressed to look it up/figure it out.

[Alieberman]

This fucking blows.

So what's our next game? I'm too depressed to look it up/figure it out.

Next scheduled game or next actual game?

[84Cat]

Next game is Saturday against Northern Colorado

https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/mens ... l/schedule

[ASUHATER!]

There's just no reason to have any sports until sometime in the spring when a larger amount of people are getting vaccinated

Yep, some will start getting vaccinated this month so by spring, we should be seeing much better control. I don't know how any of the players could be very focused right now with so much going on. I wonder how soon the players could be vaccinated?

Unless they pull unethical shenanigans, healthy 20 year old college athletes should be at the very bottom of the priority list of people to be vaccinated. Like not until next summer or fall or whenever it gets around to them.

The thing to remember with these vaccines is that it will take nearly 2 months after the first shot before you're actually immune. You need a second booster a month after the first and then it's a few weeks after that before you're good to go. So even the first people getting vaccines in a couple weeks won't be good until February. It's going to be at least until April before we really start seeing the improvements from the vaccinations. Which means the next 4 months are still going to be really bad.

[84Cat]

I didn't know that, thanks! Starting in April would make it pretty tight unless they go through June and even then it will be a pretty condensed season. I guess once school is out they could play 3 to 4 games a week

[Chicat]

Next game is Saturday against Northern Colorado

https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/mens ... l/schedule

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Merkin]

The first priority list for vaccinations is similar to this:
1. Medical staff/first responders
2. Nursing home residents
3. Essential workers (retail, food industries...)
4. Seniors 65 and older
5. Everyone else