2024-25 Arizona Basketball

[azgreg]

BYU favored by 1.5

[AZCatGirl]

Love this:

[Alieberman]

Oh hell yeah!!!

[Postmaster]

I'm surprised Hurley would do that based on his brother's thoughts on AZ.

[EastCoastCat]

Love this:

We just can’t have enough Hurley’s?

Will be coming to ECC’s backyard. Hope they play at the Xcel center and not in shit hole Storrs.

Will obviously be representing.

[pc in NM]

The Athletic ranks the Cats #18 today.

18. Arizona

Arizona has become the team everyone thought it would be in the preseason. The Wildcats have cut down on their fouling, and they’ve started shooting and making more 3s with the insertion of Anthony Dell’Orso into the starting lineup.

In addition, 6-foot-8 freshman wing Carter Bryant and sophomore 7-footer Henri Veesaar have seen their minutes go up. The offense is thriving, but it feels like the defense could go to another level, especially with Bryant and Veesaar on the floor. Using on-off numbers, they’ve been the Wildcats’ two best defenders.

[FreeSpiritCat]

Love this:

This will be close enough to me that I could attend the game in Connecticut.

[AZCatGirl]

I just realized a muti-national title coach is willing to do a home and home with us but Cronin is too chicken shit to do the same.

[Merkin]

like the defense could go to another level, especially with Bryant and Veesaar on the floor. Using on-off numbers, they’ve been the Wildcats’ two best defenders.

Can't argue with 10-1 or whatever that Cats have done lately.

Wonder if other schools may try the hockey line scenarios where you keep some of the good players on the 2nd line.

You mad Bobby?

[Winger]

Love this:

Wow, one of my guys told me a while back that we couldn't get this one across the finish line.

Course maybe he was telling me that b/c I am always bitching to him about the lack of quality opponents on our home OOC slate lol.

[ASUHATER!]

How are we still not ranked?

[Alieberman]

How are we still not ranked?

We are 20 in both polls released today

[TheCat]

Terrible news for wildcat fans:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/asu-basket ... 06953.html

[AZCatGirl]

OOC tournaments don't have the same quality they used to, so quality home and homes are the way to go. Good way to get butts in the seats too.

[Postmaster]

I just realized a muti-national title coach is willing to do a home and home with us but Cronin is too chicken shit to do the same.

To be fair, I would probably be looking to get out of CT during that time of year too.

[PHXCATS]

[dovecanyoncat]

Terrible news for wildcat fans:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/asu-basket ... 06953.html

We can't have nice things, but at least for now we got Bobby Dearest.

[TheCat]

His last game will be an epic beat down in McKale.....

[Chicat]

His last game will be an epic beat down in McKale.....

The CBI is still a thing, isn’t it?

[AZCatGirl]

ASU isn't the end of the season. We have to go to Kansas while they go back home for Texas Tech.

So Bobby has a chance to end things at ASU on another embarrassing note.

[TheCat]

My thought was the beatdown would be so bad they would fire him on the spot and make him walk home.

[Alieberman]

Tonight at BYU is probably going to be a very tough 1 to win.

Have a feeling we may drop this 1.

[UAEebs86]

Tonight at BYU is probably going to be a very tough 1 to win.

Have a feeling we may drop this 1.

Does your lucky underwear not work for road games?

[Alieberman]

Tonight at BYU is probably going to be a very tough 1 to win.

Have a feeling we may drop this 1.

Does your lucky underwear not work for road games?

I do not own the right kind of underwear to play BYU

[UAEebs86]

Tonight at BYU is probably going to be a very tough 1 to win.

Have a feeling we may drop this 1.

Does your lucky underwear not work for road games?

I do not own the right kind of underwear to play BYU

[azcat49]

Tonight at BYU is probably going to be a very tough 1 to win.

Have a feeling we may drop this 1.

Bettors feeling the same way. Line is now AZ +2.5

[TheCat]

They have a true home court advantage. They also have a distraction behind the basket that I was wondering if it was legal. It is optical so I guess it is but I have seen video of it from a shooter perspective and it is distracting. If our guards can get up inside of theirs we have a good chance. KJ will be huge in this game so he must stay out of foul trouble. This will be a tough game no doubt. This is the best shooting team from distance in the Big 12.

[AZCatGirl]

I'm sure the guys will take being underdogs as a challenge.

[dirtbags]

They have a true home court advantage. They also have a distraction behind the basket that I was wondering if it was legal. It is optical so I guess it is but I have seen video of it from a shooter perspective and it is distracting. If our guards can get up inside of theirs we have a good chance. KJ will be huge in this game so he must stay out of foul trouble. This will be a tough game no doubt. This is the best shooting team from distance in the Big 12.

the black & white stripey things? they're def distracting, but idk if they're all that different from a section of fans waving pool noodles, or air wavers, or goofballs behind a curtain. marriott is a very tough venue no matter what, though.

also, when you mentioned an optical distraction i was wondering if they had some wacky new configuration for the seating. didn't one of the miller-era teams play an early round tournament game or two in a venue that was like, the court just sort of floating in the middle of an arena with a huge setback between the hardwood and seats? or maybe it was elevated or something? i seem to remember our guards worrying that the setup might mess with their 3pt shooting

[Merkin]

That does look pretty tough. Just focus on the rim. Free throws are all about muscle memory.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marchmadnessmbb ... 8327131438

[Postmaster]

That does look pretty tough. Just focus on the rim. Free throws are all about muscle memory.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marchmadnessmbb ... 8327131438

Dammit,
Now the Chinese are all over my phone.

[EastCoastCat]

Line up to -3.5

[TheCatInTheHat]

That does look pretty tough. Just focus on the rim. Free throws are all about muscle memory.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marchmadnessmbb ... 8327131438

I think the best approach I've seen is: take the ball from the ref, close eyes, deep breath/exhale, look down for a couple of bounces, then look up, sight the rim, and immediately shoot it. Makes you relax and focus, and there's no time to be distracted by much of anything. So fans world-wide are welcome to scheme away and dream up more and more gimmicks and go crazy at their brilliance when the statistics eventually play out. But with a fundamentally solid approach, it shouldn't make any difference.

[AZCatGirl]

That does look pretty tough. Just focus on the rim. Free throws are all about muscle memory.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marchmadnessmbb ... 8327131438

Now THAT'S a real distraction. All without a dumb gimmick too.

[Alieberman]

Just saw that ESPN Gameday is going to Iowa St vs TCU game Saturday... instead of to Tucson for Texas Tech at Arizona... why?!!!!

[UAdevil]

[Chicat]

Just saw that ESPN Gameday is going to Iowa St vs TCU game Saturday... instead of to Tucson for Texas Tech at Arizona... why?!!!!

Gameday STILL owes us an apology for how they railroaded CSM.

[AZCatGirl]

Much like at ASU we only missed ONE free throw all night. (I'm not counting when the walk-ons came in). That's so huge in a tough league like this and will be even bigger if we can keep up that consistency in March.

Also so damn proud of this team for not letting up after the emotional week we had last week. Keep it up boys!

[cats101]

Big game on Saturday. Redemption for sure

[84Cat]

Big game on Saturday. Redemption for sure

Yep, both teams have been playing well too

[CalStateTempe]

Big game after big game in the big12.

I love it!

[Chicat]

This is a very different team than it was in December. So much tougher and so much more together. All the credit to the players and coaches. I had notched this as a down year. They didn’t.

[AZCatGirl]

Big game after big game in the big12.

I love it!

And no morgues in sight. So refreshing to play in loud stadiums.

[KaibabKat]

These guys are now playing for 40 minutes a game without any real letups. Nice to see.

[azgreg]

That does look pretty tough. Just focus on the rim. Free throws are all about muscle memory.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marchmadnessmbb ... 8327131438

Turned out to not be a distraction afterall.

[Alieberman]

Hell of a turnaround for this team over the last month

[TheCat]

Oh ye of little faith. You lose 80% of your starters it will take some time. This team lives on the razors edge but just keep plugging along.

[FreeSpiritCat]

I just watched the game. And I read the thread. I understand the heat of the moment but fans here are too hard on this team. I see toughness, even when we were struggling. I like the team. The first 6 are great. But ADO and Townsend leave a lot to be desired. ADO can be an asset if he hits his shots. I don't find he can help the team otherwise other than eating a few minutes. Townsend can make a few shots but I see more negatives than positives. Use him sparingly. Still... the first 6 players are really good and can take us far, and they haven't peaked yet, especially Bryant. I like that Love is playing more intelligent. He is driving to the hoop more, and taking low percentage shots less.

I do not believe the Cats have peaked yet and can become better. The game on Saturday is special. The 3 best teams in the league are Houston, Arizona, and Texas Tech (what happened to Iowa State?). I also want to say I loved the atmosphere at BYU. I love passionate fans and it can only help the team come tourney time. Again, I am so happy we joined the Big 12.

Last take. I'm extremely dissapointed with the officiating. Stop it with the unwarranted extreme technical fouls.

[pc in NM]

I just watched the game. And I read the thread. I understand the heat of the moment but fans here are too hard on this team. I see toughness, even when we were struggling. I like the team. The first 6 are great. But ADO and Townsend leave a lot to be desired. ADO can be an asset if he hits his shots. I don't find he can help the team otherwise other than eating a few minutes. Townsend can make a few shots but I see more negatives than positives. Use him sparingly. Still... the first 6 players are really good and can take us far, and they haven't peaked yet, especially Bryant. I like that Love is playing more intelligent. He is driving to the hoop more, and taking low percentage shots less.

I do not believe the Cats have peaked yet and can become better. The game on Saturday is special. The 3 best teams in the league are Houston, Arizona, and Texas Tech (what happened to Iowa State?). I also want to say I loved the atmosphere at BYU. I love passionate fans and it can only help the team come tourney time. Again, I am so happy we joined the Big 12.

Last take. I'm extremely dissapointed with the officiating. Stop it with the unwarranted extreme technical fouls.

At the strat opf the game (4 minutes, ADO had 2 rebopunds, 2 assists, and a steal & block that he didn't receive credit for - he was the most positively commented upon player during that stretch...

IMNSHO BOTH ADO and Townsend are 1) critical to this team, and integral parts on our 8-man rotation.

If Townsend has to sit Saturday because of concussion protocol, we're screwed and will struggle!!

[g32knights]

It is so refreshing to play away games in front of great crowds and have every game be super competitive and intense.

No more playing mausoleums like Corvallis.