Bear Down Wildcats

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... ay-arizona" target="_blank

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:I need a realistic assessment of Baker's impact. He brings depth to the guard position, but what else?

He is a decent ballhandler, so when Nico is sitting, he can assist with bringing the ball up. He was a very good 3 point shooter in HS, so most expect that the 31% at Kentucky will go up. He is a steady defender.

I would expect a solid rotation player. I don't think it's unrealistic to think he can immediately start next to Nico and Green. A steady, all around guy fits well next to them.

The most notable thing about Baker, IMO, is he lacks the deficiencies some of our other wing options have. Smith can't dribble or finish. Doutrive is a question mark on D and from 3. Hazzard is tiny. Baker doesn't have a ton that stands out, but he doesn't have a real weakness either.

Awesome breakdown, Spiff! Thank you!

UofAlum05 wrote:Word around the program is that Baker is our best player currently.

I feel like we've heard that about a few people this preseason.

Beachcat97 wrote:I need a realistic assessment of Baker's impact. He brings depth to the guard position, but what else?

Defense, switchability and size at the two. Another ball handler who can run the point in a pinch so we arent relying on Doutrive and Hazzard.

What a break!!

Just keeping my expectations in check, I think of this like having Stone Gettings - he’s a well coached, all around player who adds shooting and playmaking. That he’s a two guard, probably our biggest downside question mark position right now, is just ideal. Worst case for us he’s another roll of the dice, another bite at the apple at having a high quality starting two guard. That’s very fortunate news.

Jefe wrote:3 years of eligibility? He's a redshirt soph and 21?!

He has to appeal to get that 3rd year, but I imagine if he decides to do so he would get it.

TucsonClip wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:I need a realistic assessment of Baker's impact. He brings depth to the guard position, but what else?

Defense, switchability and size at the two. Another ball handler who can run the point in a pinch so we arent relying on Doutrive and Hazzard.

Also some in the program think he's honestly the best player on the team right now or at the very least damn close to it. Not best prospect mind you, but best current player.

ChooChooCat wrote:

TucsonClip wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:I need a realistic assessment of Baker's impact. He brings depth to the guard position, but what else?

Defense, switchability and size at the two. Another ball handler who can run the point in a pinch so we arent relying on Doutrive and Hazzard.

Also some in the program think he's honestly the best player on the team right now or at the very least damn close to it. Not best prospect mind you, but best current player.

This is nuts. Even if Baker is one of our best three players, it's crazy how much of an impact this news could have on our season. Here's wishing Baker an injury-free, productive first season in Tucson. BTFD!

Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

LOL

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

I saw (saw, my KU educated friend) LaMello Ball play in high school and he was the worst player on the court who thought he was the best. Now they tell me he may be a #1 pick in the NBA draft and nothing in the world makes sense anymore. So don’t worry too much about it.

ByJoveByJingle wrote:

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

I saw (saw, my KU educated friend) LaMello Ball play in high school and he was the worst player on the court who thought he was the best. Now they tell me he may be a #1 pick in the NBA draft and nothing in the world makes sense anymore. So don’t worry too much about it.

It's Lame Llo.

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

I can appreciate this level of trolling fuegs. Nice work. Because if he doesn’t play you can say you were right. If he does play you can say that Arizona must not have been as talented as everyone predicted. And if he plays well you can just say nothing at all. Pretty smart.

Everyone else might think you’re a mouth-breathing wet brain but I can appreciate the mental effort it must have taken you to come up with a mid-level troll like this. I’m just hopeful that the you’re not too mentally drained to do your usual Friday afternoon word search. Maybe try to take a nap first. Don’t want you getting a headache.

enfuego wrote:Seen Baker play. He won't get off the bench.

Never seen enfuego work. He won't get off his mother's couch.

Just from red-blue: I really liked him as a floor general. Has a bit of TJ in him with leadership/tenacity/energy/BBIQ. Also thought he was an above average playmaker. Not spectacular in any way, but efficient and sly with the ball in his hands. He doesn't feel like a soph..he feels like a RS Junior (and that's a compliment).

threenumberones wrote:Just from red-blue: I really liked him as a floor general. Has a bit of TJ in him with leadership/tenacity/energy/BBIQ. Also thought he was an above average playmaker. Not spectacular in any way, but efficient and sly with the ball in his hands. He doesn't feel like a soph..he feels like a RS Junior (and that's a compliment).

Baker is a third year player - got to believe we're enjoying the fruits of his labors from two years of practice/training/play with Kentucky.

ChooChooCat wrote:

TucsonClip wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:I need a realistic assessment of Baker's impact. He brings depth to the guard position, but what else?

Defense, switchability and size at the two. Another ball handler who can run the point in a pinch so we arent relying on Doutrive and Hazzard.

Also some in the program think he's honestly the best player on the team right now or at the very least damn close to it. Not best prospect mind you, but best current player.

Considering both ends of the floor, this wouldnt be too big of a surprise.

My friend enfuego is back. Looks like Kansas is taking a very risky approach with the NCAA. Ask USC how that worked out. Bill Self and Townsend both on tape and having a history of players that have broken the rules. Someone here predicted that Kansas would be hammered more than Arizona and Self making sure that will be true.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Jefe wrote:3 years of eligibility? He's a redshirt soph and 21?!

He has to appeal to get that 3rd year, but I imagine if he decides to do so he would get it.

Whens the last time we had a 24 year old?

Jefe wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Jefe wrote:3 years of eligibility? He's a redshirt soph and 21?!

He has to appeal to get that 3rd year, but I imagine if he decides to do so he would get it.

Whens the last time we had a 24 year old?

It's been 21 years since I've had a 24 year old.

Finally get some good news with Baker and now DD is suspended indefinitely. Wtf?!? Choo, any idea what he did?

Here we go again....

JFC

Lol of course we get Baker cleared then since it's Arizona and we can't have anything nice we immediately have 2 players injured or suspended.

Alieberman wrote:

Here we go again....

Is this a "Duke" indefinite, or a real one?

It's not like he has a history of kicking other players...

ASUHATER! wrote:Lol of course we get Baker cleared then since it's Arizona and we can't have anything nice we immediately have 2 players injured or suspended.

And the worst news of all, Dylan Smith is starting.

SunnyAZ wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:Lol of course we get Baker cleared then since it's Arizona and we can't have anything nice we immediately have 2 players injured or suspended.

And the worst news of all, Dylan Smith is starting.

Baker has already shown he is better than Dylan in 3 minutes tonight. Hopefully this isn't a long suspension for DD but Dylan already has too many minutes tonight

After 1 game thoughts:

Jeter needs to stay healthy.
Ira needs to get lots of minutes.
Baker is going to be a key component of this team
Green is going to be very good.
Nico has a lot to work on
Hazzard is going to need to hit 3s consistently
We need DD to play just to get Dylan Smith off the court

We need to get better. Chico is usually a pretty decent test, and it's good they made us compete and improve.

Hopefully, the abysmal shooting irons itself out a bit.

We’ll shoot better and Smith will play less. I saw a lot to like.

Would like to see us playing at Nico and Josh’s pace rather than Chase’s but that’ll come with Nico hitting shots.

First game thoughts:

1) 3 pt. shooting stunk
2) Free throw shooting stunk even more
3) Mannion had a case of first game Yips
4) We played a lot of Matador defense....way too much reaching and not playing with their feet
5) We failed to close out on shooters
6) We had poor shot selection
7) For the minutes he played Koloko was the best of the frosh (who would have thought that?)

All in all it was a good game to get a tape to show the team. Lots of work ahead for Miller and the team.

The Cats need to improve fast. Illinois comes to town next Sunday and they are much bigger (they have a 7 foor 290 pound frosh center) and more athletic. That game is a must of we want to sniff the NCAA tourney as an upper seed.

This is not the “out the gate” tear I was hoping for. Sounds like this team is a long way off from doing anything remotely special. I didn’t see the game, so this is just based on others’ posts in the in-game thread. Nico can’t shoot? Wtf? Didn’t see anything written about Zeke. Did he even play? And Doutrive suspended? Like, for how long?

Beachcat97 wrote:This is not the “out the gate” tear I was hoping for. Sounds like this team is a long way off from doing anything remotely special. I didn’t see the game, so this is just based on others’ posts in the in-game thread. Nico can’t shoot? Wtf? Didn’t see anything written about Zeke. Did he even play? And Doutrive suspended? Like, for how long?

Zeke our with sprained ankle but Miller said not serious and expects him back next week.

Alieberman wrote:After 1 game thoughts:

Jeter needs to stay healthy.
Ira needs to get lots of minutes.
Baker is going to be a key component of this team
Green is going to be very good.
Nico has a lot to work on
Hazzard is going to need to hit 3s consistently
We need DD to play just to get Dylan Smith off the court

Koloko makes losing Jeter much easier if he's out at any point this season.
Nnaji will start over Lee, but Lee will play plenty.
Yes Baker will, he's good at every thing.
Game has to slow down for Green, but yes he's legit.
Nico will be fine.
Hazzard is a dog, he should always play more than Dylan.
We need DD to play for much more than that.

Josh Green played well. He attacked the rim for easy buckets, played great D, and generally played with energy and fearlessness. Let’s not chicken little the incoming class.

Nico is settling in. The endgame of that is that he’ll be settled in at some point and we’ll enjoy some really fantastic point guard play.

We’re fortunate to have Jeter and Lee who can score efficiently in the post when the shots aren’t falling. They’re upperclassmen and they know where their spots are - that’s a great lift to our floor.

The group of Baker, Hazzard, and Gettings looked really solid and composed - that’s three veteran players that play the right way. Not our highest ceiling players but again they’re a big lift to our floor.

Guys are still figuring out the packline - that’s expected. They’ve played a different scheme for years and now have to play Miller’s precise scheme precisely against higher level competition. They’ll get better and our perimeter defense will improve.

I’m not nearly as despondent as others... I enjoyed the game last night and (clearly) took a lot of positives out of it. Tighten up the D, drop Smith from the rotation, add Nnaji and Doutrive, and look forward to Nico settling in. Good things to come.

If...and it’s a huge if...Nico’s development is slower than anticipated and it turns out he’s not OAD, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, not with how next year’s roster is looking.

This post could age quickly, though, if he flips the switch and starts dominating over the next couple months.

YoDeFoe wrote:Josh Green played well. He attacked the rim for easy buckets, played great D, and generally played with energy and fearlessness. Let’s not chicken little the incoming class.

Nico is settling in. The endgame of that is that he’ll be settled in at some point and we’ll enjoy some really fantastic point guard play.

We’re fortunate to have Jeter and Lee who can score efficiently in the post when the shots aren’t falling. They’re upperclassmen and they know where their spots are - that’s a great lift to our floor.

The group of Baker, Hazzard, and Gettings looked really solid and composed - that’s three veteran players that play the right way. Not our highest ceiling players but again they’re a big lift to our floor.

Guys are still figuring out the packline - that’s expected. They’ve played a different scheme for years and now have to play Miller’s precise scheme precisely against higher level competition. They’ll get better and our perimeter defense will improve.

I’m not nearly as despondent as others... I enjoyed the game last night and (clearly) took a lot of positives out of it. Tighten up the D, drop Smith from the rotation, add Nnaji and Doutrive, and look forward to Nico settling in. Good things to come.

Thanks for this. Articulates my own sense better than I could.

It's a brand new team playing without two of its starters last night. I saw a lot more good stuff than bad stuff considering the circumstances and the point of the season we're in.

You know the thing I liked the least about last night was Miller’s post game comments and analysis on taking fewer threes and playing through the post. Which is great at times (like when your shots aren’t dropping) but I hope Miller buys into the value of being aggressive from range. Jeter isn’t a great passer out of the post and neither is Lee. If the ball goes into them, they’re finishing the play. We didn’t need to bring in Nico Mannion to make post entry passes (don’t mention PJC here please).

Maybe we could make the Elite Eight again if everything breaks our way.

PieceOfMeat wrote:Maybe we could make the Elite Eight again if everything breaks our way.

It's a nice ceiling if you're ASU.

I HATE way to early predictions...AND I think Kenpom is a bit of a farce because he makes up categories in his data that are waaaay to susceptible to second order effects (which is bad science)...but he list UA as a 6 seed and Oregon and Colorado as the only other two teams in the tourney...which sounds about right...although I think Washington might surprise a few(who he list in last four out)...

Anyway:

Here ya go Kenpom Preseason Bracket

Nico had a great drive to the basket off the dribble, just totally blew away the defense. He will get much better with experience.

Dylan Smith now with the gold jersey...yiiiiiiiiiikes

Doutrive out for NAU, but is practicing.


https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... YYkAEBxZzo" target="_blank

16. Arizona Wildcats

Nico Mannion, Josh Green and the star-studded freshman class will get most of the attention. A potential wild card among the newcomers: Max Hazzard, who led UC Irvine in scoring last season en route to an NCAA tournament upset over Kansas State. Arizona struggled last season due to a lack of talent. That won't be the case this season.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... -preseason