Game #16 vs Washington State

[TheCat]

athleticism is a concern but they have beat teams that are much athletic. Guard play wins championships and we dont have strong guards.

[84Cat]

Touch fouls

[AZCatGirl]

I think Tommy was reading this thread to the guys during a timeout.

[84Cat]

5 point game

[UAdevil]

Ballo can't shoot all of a sudden.

[84Cat]

Nobody can shoot all of a sudden.

Fixed it for you

[Merkin]

what a fucking disaster end of game.


7-0 RUN OVER 2:40
FGs: 1 OF LAST 9
SCORING DROUGHT 2:54

[arizonawildcats]

Bad loss. No way to sugarcoat it.

[AZCatGirl]

Does this team have issues? Obviously.
Are they fixable? Yes.
Do we still have a lot of heart? Absolutely.

So let's not write them off after two losses in January.

[g32knights]

Does this team have issues? Obviously.
Are they fixable? Yes.
Do we still have a lot of heart? Absolutely.

So let's not write them off after two losses in January.

They're going to suddenly develop athleticism by March?

[Merkin]

Do we still have a lot of heart? Absolutely.

I have seen very little this week. Just a lot of UA sulking and the Washington teams just wanting the ball more.

[AZCatGirl]

There wasn't athleticism and heart with the run to get it to 5? Okay then.

[arizonawildcats]

There wasn't athleticism and heart with the run to get it to 5? Okay then.

Come on. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Double digit loss to a 6-10 team at home.

[arizonawildcats]

No leaders on this team. We miss Terry and Mathurin even more than Koloko.

[AZCatGirl]

There wasn't athleticism and heart with the run to get it to 5? Okay then.

Come on. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Double digit loss to a 6-10 team at home.

Because they used up everything they had to do that just like at Utah. I don't know why they wait until the end of the game to turn it on. It clearly needs t be addressed. But to act like this is suddenly a bad team who doesn't care and the season is over is ridiculous.

[LuteIsGod]

what a fucking disaster end of game.


7-0 RUN OVER 2:40
FGs: 1 OF LAST 9
SCORING DROUGHT 2:54

These type of issues plague teams with more athleticism too.

Our guards need to big able to make 14 footers, but most kids want the 3 or the dunk. It’s a mentality that plagues college basketball.

Bal should cut backdoor to get some easy buckets, but he appears completely uncomfortable unless on the perimeter.

Kerr needs a tear drop and a pull up 14 footer

Pelle needs to use his size to hit some easy bank shots, but he looks uncomfortable everywhere

Boswell could get more PT if he could hit 12 footers in rhythm

Tommy needs to get Tubelis to hit FT line extended shots

Tommy should run some different defensive looks

We need more ball defense besides Boswell and Pelle

[Dave]

You look at the last 3 games 69pts,70pts and 61pts. Our offense looks labored.

[arizonawildcats]

There wasn't athleticism and heart with the run to get it to 5? Okay then.

Come on. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Double digit loss to a 6-10 team at home.

Because they used up everything they had to do that just like at Utah. I don't know why they wait until the end of the game to turn it on. It clearly needs t be addressed. But to act like this is suddenly a bad team who doesn't care and the season is over is ridiculous.

I agree, I don't think this is a bad team at all. But losing like this at home is bad. WSU was more physical tonight and has the length and athleticism absent on this year's team. We need to play with effort every night because we don't have consistent shooters either.

[dovecanyoncat]

I spent 2 hours on the elliptical to watch this game. Somebody stop me.

[Captain Obvious]

Sweet 16 is the ceiling for this team and that's being optimistic. UCLA is the best team in the conference.....by far. You know, the team that can actually get to the Final Four (four times) since we've been there. We are not elite. Even Texas has been to the Final Four more recently than Arizona has. For those of you saying Texas isn't a program worthy of a coach like Tommy Lloyd you really need to get your heads checked. Your egos are out of control.

[KaibabKat]

PGU has lost its' accreditation.

[Siempre Verde]

We are…what we are.

[Merkin]

In retrospect, deciding not to cover 3 point shooters in the first half, against a team with the most prolific 3 point shooting in PAC was probably not a good idea.

Sweet 16 is the ceiling for this team and that's being optimistic.

If any UA team is destined to lose in the first round as a high seed, this is it. Barely beating a UDub team that hasn't won an away game all season, and getting destroyed by a 6-10 Wazzu team at home sure is a tell.

[SabinoDrifter]

Kerr has been terrible the last two games

[TheCatInTheHat]

I think a lot of factors hit all at once. Ballo was hospitalized with the intestinal virus, and he's still not 100%. They were uninspired by the Washingtons, which is certainly the players' fault and Tommy's. WSU had enough interior size to bother us, and they rebounded well enough to slow down our running game (which will be an on-going problem, depending on future matchups.) We shot horribly (16% threes), and WSU shot phenomenally (43% threes.) Meanwhile, it's an oversimplification to dismiss WSU due to their record or some early losses. They've played more than half of their games away from home with close losses against a number of good teams. WSU isn't very high-level, but they can be a dangerous "on any given day" kind of team when things fall right for them. Some things can be worked on: Tubelis misses box-outs way too often, and his man gets too many put-backs. And we don't like playing defense all that much; we prefer home blowout "run with us" dunk-a-thons. But, our guards are what they are in a half-court game against some defensive length. Icarus was due for a fall, but I think it was a shock at home to WSU, versus at Oregon or against UCLA.

[Merkin]

Cats have shown they aren't near as athletic as they were last year, and even then they weren't athletic enough even with Mathurin, Terry and Koloko.

The only player living up to expectations is Tubelis. Kriisa completely forgot that he should at least attempt 2 point shots and the refs have him as a marked man. The grad transfers are proving why they were mid-major talent. Boswell is going through being a 17 year old freshman. Larsson was in the POY conversations after his 6th Man of the Year award last season, and still hasn't found his shooting groove he had as a freshman where he led the PAC in 3 point percentage.

Defenses have figured out Lloyd's high pick and roll offense, and he is unable to motivate the players to try and actually play some pressure defense.

Wonder what the UA record is for getting shots blocked?

[Dave]

I noticed they were front guarding Ballo and Tubelis any time they were near the basketball. It almost completely shut down our inside out action or our big to big passing. With all the focus on our bigs you would think our perimeter guys would have more wide open shots.

[UALoco]

WSU was the first game I attended since the Pac12 tourney in Vegas. This is a 4 seed team at best. Maybe even a 5 seed. Hopefully it was Ballo's illness that threw us off but I am not sure if we have any true NBA players on this roster.

[pc in NM]

WSU's successful tactics.

• They shut down Arizona's transition game; their big ran the floor very well

• The pressured our back-court, and extended the perimeter; our guards became CSM guards - overly cautious, dribbling too often; standing around without the ball

• Arizona was forced to run a half-court offense all the time, and increasingly became uncomfortable; when passing to the interior, everything else stopped, enabling collapsing and double-teaming the be more effective that we've seen for most of the season so far.

This is basically the same formula that Houston employed last year, and WSU had enough athleticism to accomplish similar outcomes. This is now the template for defending Arizona!!! And this year we don't yet have a guard like Benn who can create his own shots, making it all the more difficult.

We're gonna see more teams, especially conference opponents attempting the same thing. Not all teams will have the tools to pull this off for entire games. I think that the guards can make adjustment to lessen this weakness, and am sure that is a priority with CTL.

I am really concerned with Ramey's performance recently. I have no tolerance for guards that can't make foul shots - IMNSHO, it's a matter of focus and practice!! Period. He made some very lazy ass plays also!! I say give Boswell and Bal (Yes!! Let him overcome his issues if Ramey doesn't!!!) more PT. Henderson got 27 minutes Saturday, and he's worth them!!

I think we should probably press more routinely, too. Henri needs some PED's too!!!

I remain hopeful, and like the attitudes of our plaayers - they can and will learn!!!

[RawleArenas]

Cats have shown they aren't near as athletic as they were last year, and even then they weren't athletic enough even with Mathurin, Terry and Koloko.

The only player living up to expectations is Tubelis. Kriisa completely forgot that he should at least attempt 2 point shots and the refs have him as a marked man. The grad transfers are proving why they were mid-major talent. Boswell is going through being a 17 year old freshman. Larsson was in the POY conversations after his 6th Man of the Year award last season, and still hasn't found his shooting groove he had as a freshman where he led the PAC in 3 point percentage.

Defenses have figured out Lloyd's high pick and roll offense, and he is unable to motivate the players to try and actually play some pressure defense.

Wonder what the UA record is for getting shots blocked?

Bingo. Finally someone said it. Arizona has always been known for being one of the most athletic teams in the Pac12, if not the most. We have taken a serious downgrade because of poor recruiting. CTL still has Gonzaga goggles on, and is bringing in guys that would dominate the WCC. The only reason why this team is relevant because of the two leftovers from CSM's regime. Aside from Boswell and Ballo, every recruit that CTL has been brought in has been a disappointment this season. Of course CTL's systems, culture and coaching work, but all the Pac12 coaches have game tape on us and know how to disrupt our offense. And because we haven't recruited well, we don't have athleticism to overcome slow starts and bad decision making.

Athleticism allows us to have Scooby Doo games and still win. We can stumble and bumble out the gates, but in the end still solve the mystery. I'm sorry, Filip, Bal and Anderson just don't cut it. CTL doesn't trust them enough to put them in games with sub par teams. All these guys are four star athletes, so what's going on?

I said earlier that we lack maturity. It's clear that we don't have leaders and guys that understand the pride that we carry with each game. People are making excuses for Wazzu. Does anybody think that Wazzu at full strength is better than Tennessee or Indiana? To lose in McKale in that way is just heart wrenching, the game wasn't even close and we have more talent on paper. CTL understands defense, but doesn't know how to teach it because he's an offensively minded coach, which would be fine if he understood that he needs to bring in the right staff to help shore it up. We dropped over 10 points in defense in Kenpom, and will likely drop further if things don't improve. Fans are overlooking the huge wins this season, and not looking at our ceiling, which is scary low when we play poorly. We need to play disciplined, aggressive and focused every game (not unlike how Virginia used to play) in order to have a chance to be relevant, because we have such a small margin for error. I hope the coaching staff wakes up, because I don't certainly don't like getting embarrassed at home.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

WSU was the first game I attended since the Pac12 tourney in Vegas. This is a 4 seed team at best. Maybe even a 5 seed. Hopefully it was Ballo's illness that threw us off but I am not sure if we have any true NBA players on this roster.

We do not, unless tubelis starts shooting 37% from 3 and makes 2 or more a game.

Is that his goal? I don't know. He will be an incredible EuroPro.

So will Kerr and Ballo

If Kerr wants to play in the NBA he needs to watch some TJ tape.

We really don't have anyone that can routinely drive into traffic and score or get to the line. Really want to see Pelle do more of that.

I'm no coach and I don't know crap. I love these guys, feel awful for them, esp. Ballo, it's gotta be really tough leaving those points at the line. Ive worked sick a lot, through chemo, through COVID, nothing goes quite right, but you do what you have to do and people appreciate it cause you did it.

This team can win it all if they string together 6 great games, they can also lose to Iona in the first round. We'll see what happens.

I believe in them and rooting for them to play their best and win lots of games and have a ton of fun doing it.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

WSU was the first game I attended since the Pac12 tourney in Vegas. This is a 4 seed team at best. Maybe even a 5 seed. Hopefully it was Ballo's illness that threw us off but I am not sure if we have any true NBA players on this roster.

We do not, unless tubelis starts shooting 37% from 3 and makes 2 or more a game.

Is that his goal? I don't know. He will be an incredible EuroPro.

So will Kerr and Ballo and Pelle.

If Kerr wants to play in the NBA he needs to watch some TJ tape.

We really don't have anyone that can routinely drive into traffic and score or get to the line. Really want to see Pelle do more of that.

I'm no coach and I don't know crap. I love these guys, feel awful for them, esp. Ballo, it's gotta be really tough leaving those points at the line. Ive worked sick a lot, through chemo, through COVID, nothing goes quite right, but you do what you have to do and people appreciate it cause you did it.

This team can win it all if they string together 6 great games, they can also lose to Iona in the first round. We'll see what happens.

I believe in them and rooting for them to play their best and win lots of games and have a ton of fun doing it.