The 2021-2022 Season Thread

[BeardownZonaZona]

Don't take my word as fact as I have absolutely zero idea who's coming back, but I'm thinking we're looking to go with a different strategy for the upcoming season and beyond. Kerr is listed at what? 6'3"? He's probably shorter than listed. When we play teams like Oregon or UCLA he's having to guard a guy who's around 6'6" and is built. Look at the guys we're bringing in this year and who we're recruiting past this class. We're looking at bigger guards who can guard a couple positions and some small ball 4s. Defense was our main issue and a lot of it had to do with guarding these modern positionless basketball lineups. Bigger 2s and smaller 4s are concepts that UCLA and Oregon are using and we struggled with that. As with Kerr I'm assuming he'd run the point off the bench, as that's his natural position and he has experience over a guy like Simpson who'd be a freshman. A lineup of Akinjo, a guy like Umude, Benn, a smaller 4 like Eason, and Tubelis matches up far better defensively to a team like UCLA and Oregon.

[ChooChooCat]

Was reading a little bit ago we reached out to Stanley Umude. He'd be an interesting piece. He's about 6'6" and can shoot from beyond the arch and is a very good scorer. Rebounds well for his size. Scheer said this doesn't mean Benn is leaving, which is good. So I'd assume he'd start at the 2 or come off the bench if we did end up landing Stanley. What's everyone's thoughts towards adding Umude? Edit: I also just read he plans on going through the NBA draft process, and if doesn't like his chances he will then be transferring. But he is likely transferring. Just wants to see where he sits with scouts

If we land Umude he'd start at the 2 with Benn at the 3. Someone else may beat him to the punch ultimately since he intends to go through the draft process.

If we're looking for a 2, does this mean only one of Akinjo, Kriisa is back? I'm hoping not, as I'm pretty into Kriisa's potential and Akinjo as a senior.

Both are expected to be back unless Akinjo develops a NBA draft stock that no one is expecting.

[ChooChooCat]

Choo would the other guy start as well? Or have we not zeroed in on anyone else just yet?

I don't know of any 4 man we're on that would no doubt start. It's early though.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Choo would the other guy start as well? Or have we not zeroed in on anyone else just yet?

I don't know of any 4 man we're on that would no doubt start. It's early though.

So is Eason out of the question then?

[gronk4heisman]

Im not nearly as sold on Kerr, but even with him back we need a perimeter defender at the 2 or 3 who can handle guard 1 - 4 to have any hop of a deep run. There is always the possibility that one of our Freshman meet that need.

[Spaceman Spiff]

If we're looking for a 2, does this mean only one of Akinjo, Kriisa is back? I'm hoping not, as I'm pretty into Kriisa's potential and Akinjo as a senior.

Both are expected to be back unless Akinjo develops a NBA draft stock that no one is expecting.

Thank you.

I'm not overly worried about Akinjo's draft stock rising heavily, so that's nice. My hope is we return Akinjo, Kerr, Terry and Mathurin plus mystery man and incoming freshmen on the wing.

[ChooChooCat]

Choo would the other guy start as well? Or have we not zeroed in on anyone else just yet?

I don't know of any 4 man we're on that would no doubt start. It's early though.

So is Eason out of the question then?

It appears that way and I'm not sure what occurred there to be honest.

[ChooChooCat]

If we're looking for a 2, does this mean only one of Akinjo, Kriisa is back? I'm hoping not, as I'm pretty into Kriisa's potential and Akinjo as a senior.

Both are expected to be back unless Akinjo develops a NBA draft stock that no one is expecting.

Thank you.

I'm not overly worried about Akinjo's draft stock rising heavily, so that's nice. My hope is we return Akinjo, Kerr, Terry and Mathurin plus mystery man and incoming freshmen on the wing.

I'd expect Akinjo, Kerr, Mathurin, Terry, J. Brown, Koloko, and Tubelis back barring something unforeseen.

[azcat49]

Nice group with the incoming guys. Should make a nice run.

We play the Zags and Illinois next year so that should tell us where we are pretty early given those are road ganes

[Spaceman Spiff]

If we're looking for a 2, does this mean only one of Akinjo, Kriisa is back? I'm hoping not, as I'm pretty into Kriisa's potential and Akinjo as a senior.

Both are expected to be back unless Akinjo develops a NBA draft stock that no one is expecting.

Thank you.

I'm not overly worried about Akinjo's draft stock rising heavily, so that's nice. My hope is we return Akinjo, Kerr, Terry and Mathurin plus mystery man and incoming freshmen on the wing.

I'd expect Akinjo, Kerr, Mathurin, Terry, J. Brown, Koloko, and Tubelis back barring something unforeseen.

That makes me happy, as those are easily the core 7 that I'd wanted back. Add a good transfer or freshman and hope the incoming class has one rotation ready guy and we're in a very good place.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Nice group with the incoming guys. Should make a nice run.

We play the Zags and Illinois next year so that should tell us where we are pretty early given those are road ganes

Illinois will be interesting. Dosunmu, Cockburn and Frazier could all be gone, so they might be in transition.

Sort of the same with the Zags in that Kispert and Suggs will be gone, maybe Timme, Ayayi and Nembhard too. So much upheaval in CBB.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Biggest need is a 4

[zonagrad]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Nice group with the incoming guys. Should make a nice run.

We play the Zags and Illinois next year so that should tell us where we are pretty early given those are road ganes

Illinois will be interesting. Dosunmu, Cockburn and Frazier could all be gone, so they might be in transition.

Sort of the same with the Zags in that Kispert and Suggs will be gone, maybe Timme, Ayayi and Nembhard too. So much upheaval in CBB.

Don't forget though, looks like Zaga going to have a killer freshman class. Likely to get two top 10 kids and another who sits around 50 in the country. Should still have elite talent. For Illinois, I think all those guys are probably gone. They're going to have to recruit really well late to have a team anywhere near as good as they had this year.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

Nope. Especially when we play a team like UCLA or Oregon when they're playing a 4 who's about 6'6". Between Koloko, Batcho, Tubelis, and Brown, none of those guys are really 4s. They're all 5s really.

[Chicat]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

If Koloko gets the offseason he needed last year he could make a really nice jump.

Akinjo
Kriisa
Mathurin
Tubelis
Koloko

[Spaceman Spiff]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

Nope. Especially when we play a team like UCLA or Oregon when they're playing a 4 who's about 6'6". Between Koloko, Batcho, Tubelis, and Brown, none of those guys are really 4s. They're all 5s really.

Tubelis is a traditional 4. Vs small 4's, I think we can make do with Mathurin, particularly if we can add another 6'6, 6'7 guy.

If Benn can fill out a little, he should be able to rebound fine with a stretch 4. Especially if he's flanked by other strong rebounders (Koloko, Tubelis and Brown are good) it shouldn't be an issue.

I love(d) Eason's game, but if there are character things...well, I can't YouTube those.

[Beachcat97]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

If Koloko gets the offseason he needed last year he could make a really nice jump.

Akinjo
Kriisa
Mathurin
Tubelis
Koloko

What do you think, Chi? Do you really think that looks like a lineup that can overtake some of these other ascendant Pac programs? Or maybe you're only thinking about making a tourney run.

If we can actually keep all of the guys you've listed here, I'll feel pretty good about next season. Still feels like a big "if."

And as we've touched on in other threads, all of these Pac teams doing well in the tourney are losing guys. Some are losing multiple key players.

[ChooChooCat]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

Nope. Especially when we play a team like UCLA or Oregon when they're playing a 4 who's about 6'6". Between Koloko, Batcho, Tubelis, and Brown, none of those guys are really 4s. They're all 5s really.

Tubelis is a traditional 4. Vs small 4's, I think we can make do with Mathurin, particularly if we can add another 6'6, 6'7 guy.

If Benn can fill out a little, he should be able to rebound fine with a stretch 4. Especially if he's flanked by other strong rebounders (Koloko, Tubelis and Brown are good) it shouldn't be an issue.

I love(d) Eason's game, but if there are character things...well, I can't YouTube those.

I'd play Terry at the 4 personally.

[Chicat]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

If Koloko gets the offseason he needed last year he could make a really nice jump.

Akinjo
Kriisa
Mathurin
Tubelis
Koloko

What do you think, Chi? Do you really think that looks like a lineup that can overtake some of these other ascendant Pac programs? Or maybe you're only thinking about making a tourney run.

If we can actually keep all of the guys you've listed here, I'll feel pretty good about next season. Still feels like a big "if."

And as we've touched on in other threads, all of these Pac teams doing well in the tourney are losing guys. Some are losing multiple key players.

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

[Spaceman Spiff]

Biggest need is a 4

Jordan Brown isn't the answer.

Nope. Especially when we play a team like UCLA or Oregon when they're playing a 4 who's about 6'6". Between Koloko, Batcho, Tubelis, and Brown, none of those guys are really 4s. They're all 5s really.

Tubelis is a traditional 4. Vs small 4's, I think we can make do with Mathurin, particularly if we can add another 6'6, 6'7 guy.

If Benn can fill out a little, he should be able to rebound fine with a stretch 4. Especially if he's flanked by other strong rebounders (Koloko, Tubelis and Brown are good) it shouldn't be an issue.

I love(d) Eason's game, but if there are character things...well, I can't YouTube those.

I'd play Terry at the 4 personally.

I picked Mathurin bc he has a higher rebounding rate, but really it's just Mathurin/Terry at forwards with Jordan/Koloko/Tubelis at C. From there, just best fit on D and gang rebounding.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Any ideas who most likely we're going to be bringing in?

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?r ... %3BArizona

This got posted in the SM thread, but rostercast has that 7 man core with no additions as #7 nationally. Link above.

[BeardownZonaZona]

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?r ... %3BArizona

This got posted in the SM thread, but rostercast has that 7 man core with no additions as #7 nationally. Link above.

That website is too much fun. I play around with that a little too much

[azcat49]

Interesting commentary on why the B1G has underperformed. They mentioned they all run out a traditional line up with a big 5 and 4 and these other teams are just killing them off the dribble.

That sounds like Sean Miller’s AZ teams. He always hated the death by inches and now he gets beat because he can’t guard off the bounce

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?r ... %3BArizona

This got posted in the SM thread, but rostercast has that 7 man core with no additions as #7 nationally. Link above.

That website is too much fun. I play around with that a little too much

It's like a horoscope. For entertainment purposes only, ultimately, but interesting. I feel like we seem on deck to add at least one guy to that core, but we'll see.

I wouldn't be shocked if we were in the just inside/outside of top ten at all. I've said this elsewhere, but if we just finish the games that were close losses this year, we're beating Oregon (h), Colorado (r), UCLA (h) and both Stanford games. That would have put us at 15-5 in conference, 21-5 overall and probably around a 5-6 seed range.

Not weird at all to think we could easily bump that to a 2-3 seed if our returners develop. That 7 man core...7 is a lot of guys returning.

[BeardownZonaZona]

For sure. It's all speculation, not going to lie though. It is really fun to toy with that site and see what happens

[ChooChooCat]

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?r ... %3BArizona

This got posted in the SM thread, but rostercast has that 7 man core with no additions as #7 nationally. Link above.

All I did was add Umude and we jumped up to #3.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Scheer said that when he put in the most accurate estimation of our roster in there he got us to 6th nationally

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think that’s a Top-2 Pac-12 (Top-20 National) starting lineup

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?r ... %3BArizona

This got posted in the SM thread, but rostercast has that 7 man core with no additions as #7 nationally. Link above.

All I did was add Umude and we jumped up to #3.

Benn took us from 11 to 7. I mean, some of that is they may be restricting other teams returners or not crediting them with transfer portal additions.

Like I said, not convinced it's accurate beyond the idea it shows we have legit returning talent.

[BeardownZonaZona]

What would you guys think about bringing in Marjon Beauchamp? He had us in his original top 3 before he decided to just train for the draft. 5 star forward from last class. Is now looking at playing college ball

[ChooChooCat]

What would you guys think about bringing in Marjon Beauchamp? He had us in his original top 3 before he decided to just train for the draft. 5 star forward from last class. Is now looking at playing college ball

A lot of schools passing on him. JUCO is his most likely route.

[BeardownZonaZona]

What would you guys think about bringing in Marjon Beauchamp? He had us in his original top 3 before he decided to just train for the draft. 5 star forward from last class. Is now looking at playing college ball

A lot of schools passing on him. JUCO is his most likely route.

Wow. What a let down that is. He thought he was going to be able to train for the nba draft and be a first rounder and is now looking to go JUCO. Should've gone to college this past year. That sucks for the kid

[ChooChooCat]

What would you guys think about bringing in Marjon Beauchamp? He had us in his original top 3 before he decided to just train for the draft. 5 star forward from last class. Is now looking at playing college ball

A lot of schools passing on him. JUCO is his most likely route.

Wow. What a let down that is. He thought he was going to be able to train for the nba draft and be a first rounder and is now looking to go JUCO. Should've gone to college this past year. That sucks for the kid

Yeah he got played by some used car salesmen.

[Spaceman Spiff]

What would you guys think about bringing in Marjon Beauchamp? He had us in his original top 3 before he decided to just train for the draft. 5 star forward from last class. Is now looking at playing college ball

A lot of schools passing on him. JUCO is his most likely route.

Wow. What a let down that is. He thought he was going to be able to train for the nba draft and be a first rounder and is now looking to go JUCO. Should've gone to college this past year. That sucks for the kid

I have no inside knowledge, but that seems like a kid who suffered for an inflated opinion of himself. Basically no one had him in the top 40 recruits and he decided to prep for the draft.

I looked up his comments now, and even those are all about being a pro. He doesn't seem to realize he isn't on that radar right now, and I doubt too many colleges want a piece of a four star who thinks he's top five.

[azgreg]

Interesting commentary on why the B1G has underperformed.

Is it underperforming if you're overrated in the first place?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Interesting commentary on why the B1G has underperformed.

Is it underperforming if you're overrated in the first place?

One of the odder parts of the Illinois/Loyola upset is that you'd think the bigger team would do well in a slower game with a focus on rebounding, turnover, etc.

Loyola took 51 shots to Illinois's 49 and outrebounded Illinois. Pace wise, 51 fg attempts would be bottom 5 nationally.

So, they played a super slow paced game and Loyola won and beat Illinois on the glass. They only took 10 threes, too. It's the polar opposite of how you'd think a small Cinderella would take down a bigger team.

Then, you've got Oral Roberts, who took out Ohio State by shooting 70 times, including 35 threes. Now that's what you think would trigger an upset like that. Or Oregon's 68 shots and 25 threes.

[Postmaster]

I’m curious if most players thought the ncaa stuff would be settled by now.

And if that is impacting whether they stay or go.

[84Cat]

So many guys transferring. I don't want to post them all but it's a shit show for sure

[Spaceman Spiff]

I’m curious if most players thought the ncaa stuff would be settled by now.

And if that is impacting whether they stay or go.

The IARP? I doubt it. That may well not be settled until next summer or beyond.

[gronk4heisman]

So many guys transferring. I don't want to post them all but it's a shit show for sure

Not sure if it has been posted here, but Timmy Allen looks intriguing. He is originally from AZ, has shown he can compete in the Pac 12, can guard 2 - 4, good vision, and a decent shot (though not out to the 3pt line at this stage).

[Spaceman Spiff]

So many guys transferring. I don't want to post them all but it's a shit show for sure

Not sure if it has been posted here, but Timmy Allen looks intriguing. He is originally from AZ, has shown he can compete in the Pac 12, can guard 2 - 4, good vision, and a decent shot (though not out to the 3pt line at this stage).

That last part is the weird part about Allen. He seems to check every box...and can't shoot 3's.

[gronk4heisman]

So many guys transferring. I don't want to post them all but it's a shit show for sure

Not sure if it has been posted here, but Timmy Allen looks intriguing. He is originally from AZ, has shown he can compete in the Pac 12, can guard 2 - 4, good vision, and a decent shot (though not out to the 3pt line at this stage).

That last part is the weird part about Allen. He seems to check every box...and can't shoot 3's.

He is a 74% FT shooter, so there is the potential to see that improve if he picks and chooses the right shots (see Zeke Nnaji in Denver this year)

[Spaceman Spiff]

That last part is the weird part about Allen. He seems to check every box...and can't shoot 3's.

He is a 74% FT shooter, so there is the potential to see that improve if he picks and chooses the right shots (see Zeke Nnaji in Denver this year)

That's why it's weird. You look at everything else and figure at least he'd be average. But he's not, for whatever reason.

[TheCat]

Timmy Allen the guy from Stanford?

[ChooChooCat]

Timmy Allen the guy from Stanford?

Utah.

He's from Phoenix originally. I don't know if he's interested fwiw.

[TheCat]

Thanks.

[Postmaster]

Allen has family in Tucson.

[TheCat]

I'd expect Akinjo, Kerr, Mathurin, Terry, J. Brown, Koloko, and Tubelis back barring something unforeseen.
[/quote]

That makes me happy, as those are easily the core 7 that I'd wanted back. Add a good transfer or freshman and hope the incoming class has one rotation ready guy and we're in a very good place.
[/quote]

I think our speculation on results of number #2 in the PAC or top 10 nationally ignores what other teams are doing. Oregon will have arguable the best from line in college basketball. If you watch their recent game against USC the guy that stuck out the most was a freshman big toward the end of the game. Add to that probably the best recruiting class in the nation with the number 2 and number 6 centers in the nation and a SF in the top 10 they are going to be a handful. Plus Dana will fill any holes with transfers.

I hope we are going to be top 3 in the conference and top 20 but not sure what everyone else is doing or who they have staying.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'd expect Akinjo, Kerr, Mathurin, Terry, J. Brown, Koloko, and Tubelis back barring something unforeseen.

That makes me happy, as those are easily the core 7 that I'd wanted back. Add a good transfer or freshman and hope the incoming class has one rotation ready guy and we're in a very good place.
[/quote]

I think our speculation on results of number #2 in the PAC or top 10 nationally ignores what other teams are doing. Oregon will have arguable the best from line in college basketball. If you watch their recent game against USC the guy that stuck out the most was a freshman big toward the end of the game. Add to that probably the best recruiting class in the nation with the number 2 and number 6 centers in the nation and a SF in the top 10 they are going to be a handful. Plus Dana will fill any holes with transfers.

I hope we are going to be top 3 in the conference and top 20 but not sure what everyone else is doing or who they have staying.
[/quote]

That's why I care more about national comparison when I think we're good. Pac rank...well, years like 16-17 are very different from even the next year of 17-18. We were better in 16-17 but won it outright in 17-18.

Put another way, if we're top 15 nationally, I don't really care where we are in the Pac. We're a good team and the Pac rank is more an indicator of the Pac strength than how good we are.