Bear Down Wildcats

dovecanyoncat wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:35 pm

Siempre Verde wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:24 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:19 pm In the book No Country For Old Men McCarthy has a magnificent line about a pitcher: "It was like a ballplayer told me one time he said that if he had some slight injury and if it bothered him a little bit, nagged at him, he generally played better. It kept his mind focused on one thing instead of a hundred ...."

Our team is gonna sweep this tournament. Our point guard is gonna return. Our team is more than the sum of the roster.

What did you take to instill you with such optimism? I hope Prime Leaf isn’t out of it.

I never played organized sports. I worked on crews. Crews of Juggies. Crews of treeplanters. Grunts. Misfits. Assholes. Drunks. Outcasts. Men. The toughest were always the little guys, and the little guys always embodied, preserved, and recapitulated the relentless brutal heart of the crew. And every other man banked on it, believed in it, and bowed to it as the living edifice of crew.

Our next game will be our best game of the year.

Great job Dove. And there I was thinking your depth of thought consisted of Skullfucking and DIE. DIE. DIE.
I stand corrected. Bravo.

EastCoastCat wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:44 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:35 pm

Siempre Verde wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:24 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:19 pm In the book No Country For Old Men McCarthy has a magnificent line about a pitcher: "It was like a ballplayer told me one time he said that if he had some slight injury and if it bothered him a little bit, nagged at him, he generally played better. It kept his mind focused on one thing instead of a hundred ...."

Our team is gonna sweep this tournament. Our point guard is gonna return. Our team is more than the sum of the roster.

What did you take to instill you with such optimism? I hope Prime Leaf isn’t out of it.

I never played organized sports. I worked on crews. Crews of Juggies. Crews of treeplanters. Grunts. Misfits. Assholes. Drunks. Outcasts. Men. The toughest were always the little guys, and the little guys always embodied, preserved, and recapitulated the relentless brutal heart of the crew. And every other man banked on it, believed in it, and bowed to it as the living edifice of crew.

Our next game will be our best game of the year.

Great job Dove. And there I was thinking your depth of thought consisted of Skullfucking and DIE. DIE. DIE.
I stand corrected. Bravo.

Even my most vulgar and petty impulses are improved by Cormac McCarthy. As Longhorned said a long time ago, his is a wisdom inexhaustible.

Anyone remember which thread has those videos that break down the offense?
Or what that website is?
Or who posted it?
Thanks

Postmaster wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 9:10 pm Anyone remember which thread has those videos that break down the offense?
Or what that website is?
Or who posted it?
Thanks

RondaeShimmy wrote: Mon Feb 21, 2022 9:46 am

He posts a ton of videos on his Twitter that you should understand after watching the YouTube video

Thank you

Some things never change. My brother only shows up around this time each year to talk college hoops and to jinx us. About two months ago I let him know he was persona non grata this season. But right on time he texts me:

Big Brother: Now that both Oregon teams are out of the Pac-12 can you tell me why you're worried about Arizona?
Dove: Not listening. Not talking. You're concentrated evil.
Big Brother: But there's no way Oregon's going to the big dance either as a Duck of a fucking Beaver and none of my other teams are in this except for Gonzaga and you know how I feel about them so I'm gonna transfer my allegiance to UofA.
Big Brother: Is it the Bruins you're worried about?
Dove: I think I'll paint the ceiling blue.

Arizona is really, really, really fucking good. Look at how everyone's fulfilling their role. What they did on a back-to-back against maybe the most hot-shooting team we've seen all year....

I was a bit worried how they'd adjust without Kerr, but the guys really came together and got it done.

Once Kerr is back watch out America.

Best part about it is that we have 2 completely meaningless games and a 1v16 game to give our other ball handlers opportunity to improve and gain confidence, so if Kerr gets hurt again or gets in foul trouble in big games, the rest of the team can pick up the slack

U.P. Zona Fan wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:13 pm Best part about it is that we have 2 completely meaningless games and a 1v16 game to give our other ball handlers opportunity to improve and gain confidence, so if Kerr gets hurt again or gets in foul trouble in big games, the rest of the team can pick up the slack

I get what you’re saying but I wouldn’t call the P12 Tourney Championship a “meaningless game”…..I very much enjoy when we do well and win these things as the odds are against our winning a NC each year and we can be proud of every P12 Season & P12 Tournament Championship we get.

Hope we do take advantage of this injury like you state above. Bear Down.

Ok , not meaningless, but we are a 1 seed no matter the outcome and we play in 6 days regardless of outcome, so meaningless in the sense that it doesn't affect anything.

It is nice to win those games, yes.

AZCatGirl wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:25 pm

U.P. Zona Fan wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:24 pm They (Colorado)set a program record for made 3s? Did I hear that right?

You did.

Even though I didn't care if we lost, it's unbelievable how this team goes through a meat grinder and faces individual and collective career shooting nights and still manages dozens of ways to win.

There's maybe like 5 teams that win a similar game vs what Stanford and Colorado did.

Interestingly Scheer said Lloyd's assistants told him to crowd the paint to take away the 2pt shot and give them the 3 based on last game vs Colorado. That takes incredible balls to do.

Also scheer said the while other coaches he's talked to rave about the offense, they talk more about the defense because it's NBA defenses with 15+ looks in a game.

30, bitches.

30.

Tommy dropped a 30 spot season 1. Nobody expected that.

30 is nice

37…. Really nice

This was Lloyds 6th consecutive season with his team recording 30 plus wins.

Article from The Athletic on Georgia head coach job

The school just won a national title in football and is about to get a boost in conference revenue share when the SEC’s new media rights deal kicks in two years from now. Why not try to throw money at Baylor’s Scott Drew? The defending national champs have the money to ensure Drew stays, but make him say no. Kelvin Sampson is beloved at Houston, but Georgia can pay more. Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd is a West Coast guy who learned under Mark Few at Gonzaga and has reinvigorated the program in Tucson, but Brooks has money-whipped accomplished Pac-12 coaches into moving to Athens already. What’s one more?

Gonna hear lotsa of rumors offers….imo….Lloyd’s got his dream job.

Football school. Zero chance

Less than zero chance

His youngest is a senior at Foothills, but…..

I don’t think he’s looking to leave. Why leave? He can have it all here.

Going from Arizona to Georgia makes zero sense every which way you look at it.

Unless his dream job is becoming a football coach.

ZagCatFan wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 7:37 am This was Lloyds 6th consecutive season with his team recording 30 plus wins.

Article from The Athletic on Georgia head coach job

The school just won a national title in football and is about to get a boost in conference revenue share when the SEC’s new media rights deal kicks in two years from now. Why not try to throw money at Baylor’s Scott Drew? The defending national champs have the money to ensure Drew stays, but make him say no. Kelvin Sampson is beloved at Houston, but Georgia can pay more. Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd is a West Coast guy who learned under Mark Few at Gonzaga and has reinvigorated the program in Tucson, but Brooks has money-whipped accomplished Pac-12 coaches into moving to Athens already. What’s one more?

Gonna hear lotsa of rumors offers….imo….Lloyd’s got his dream job.

Lol nobody is leaving Arizona basketball for fucking Georgia basketball even if they can pay double. Money is far from Tommy's motivation either way.

Actually Sampson makes a hell of a lot of sense for the Georgia job.

We can’t improve our seed tonight. They can (from 4 to 3).

We already lost Kriisa, and Kier tweeked his ankle yesterday.

This might be the least I’ve looked forward to an az/ucla game ever. We already beat them this year. Will anyone remember winning yet another Pac tourney in ‘22? Maybe, but with this team’s high, high ceiling, the only games I’ll remember and care about begin next week.

If ucla wins, maybe Mini Mick can use the trophy as a stool at take-out counters.

I have never loved a Cats team more!!!!!!

LETS WIN THIS WHOLE FUCKING THING!!!!!

Do you realize how fucking good this team is?

So fucking great

Crazy shit happens in the tournament- whatever happens..... this is just an amazing group of bad mother-fuckers!

BTFD!!!!

I'll be so disappointed if we don't get a final 4

Jesus. Best I've felt about AZ hoops in a long, long time.

Bitch-slapped ucla without Kriisa?! Seriously??

Did any team in the country look better than AZ this past week?

Love this coach, love this team, and can't wait for next week.

Blue tongue Terry, thank you!
Benn as Fuck! thank you!
Cool as ice Pelle, thank you!
Kiiiiiiiiiiiii, thank you!
Sky high C lo, thank you!
Bat away Ballo, thank you!
Keyser Soze, thank you!
Big Balls Croc, thank you!
Adamant Baller, thank you!
Tommy Boy, thank you!

Lloyd has won 3 of his last 4 games against UCLA.

GET USE TO IT CAT FANS!

31 wins before the tournament starts is pretty /swoon

What is crazy to me is in 2 weeks, or maybe 2 weeks and a day, we will know the fate of this team against the illogical, but cultural, measurement of the Final Four. The FF is not a title, and is but one game better than an E8, yet a marketing gimmick (an effective one) makes this one extra round capable of making or breaking players and coaches. It's not the championship...it's just 4 wins instead of 3, yet that one win is glorified to all hell, while a more important 5th win is about as sexy as the 3rd, and no match for the 4th.

In college baseball and softball, with fewer teams, the magic success line is 8. In football, with far fewer teams, it is a moving line. But hoops...Miller was a failure to some because he lost 3 E8 games in 5 years, not a success because he went 3-1 in 3 tournaments in 5 years.

Opinion be damned, it IS the cultural gate for elite success. It is that extra trip, the extra week. So, fuck it...let's get to New Orleans, damnit! It's exponential difference in impact from the E8 might be illogical, but my 2001 Final Four shirt has been retired for preservation, so I need a new one.

Final Four rant aside, to the initial point...it is both crazy and sad that in 2 weeks, we will, essentially, know this team's fate. Just as we are really getting to know them, and love them in this form, it's done. This team has the chance to be near 1988 level beloved, for what they mean in returning us to this level. I will still hold this team up high if they don't get that FF, but holy shit, what a story if they do.

No more elite 8 games in LA please. I forgot it's been that bad there. We lost elite 8 games either in Anaheim or LA in 1998, 2003, 2011, 2014 and 2015.

Beachcat97 wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 9:54 pm Bitch-slapped ucla without Kriisa?! Seriously??

Did any team in the country look better than AZ this past week?

Not just without Kriisa, but also with our backup PG in serious foul trouble and our SF as our primary ballhandler and playmaker.

This team is tough and resilient. There are no excuses. It’s win or go the fuck home and they DO NOT WANT THIS SEASON TO END.

They gave up 76 points, but the defense was still really good.

Jacquez 18 points on 17 shots
Juzang 16 points on 15 shots
Campbell 14 points on 15 shots
Bernard 19 points on 13 shots

Compare that to Benn who had 27 on 14 shots. This team makes you work and forces you to make tough shots, while getting really good, efficient shots on offense.

You just described CTL’s philosophy.

20 assists on 27 made shots.

Tommy Lloyd Basketball ladies & gentlemen.

Beats hell outta iso-centric jump shooter bully ballers.

EVCat wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 2:52 am What is crazy to me is in 2 weeks, or maybe 2 weeks and a day, we will know the fate of this team against the illogical, but cultural, measurement of the Final Four. The FF is not a title, and is but one game better than an E8, yet a marketing gimmick (an effective one) makes this one extra round capable of making or breaking players and coaches. It's not the championship...it's just 4 wins instead of 3, yet that one win is glorified to all hell, while a more important 5th win is about as sexy as the 3rd, and no match for the 4th.

In college baseball and softball, with fewer teams, the magic success line is 8. In football, with far fewer teams, it is a moving line. But hoops...Miller was a failure to some because he lost 3 E8 games in 5 years, not a success because he went 3-1 in 3 tournaments in 5 years.

Opinion be damned, it IS the cultural gate for elite success. It is that extra trip, the extra week. So, fuck it...let's get to New Orleans, damnit! It's exponential difference in impact from the E8 might be illogical, but my 2001 Final Four shirt has been retired for preservation, so I need a new one.

Final Four rant aside, to the initial point...it is both crazy and sad that in 2 weeks, we will, essentially, know this team's fate. Just as we are really getting to know them, and love them in this form, it's done. This team has the chance to be near 1988 level beloved, for what they mean in returning us to this level. I will still hold this team up high if they don't get that FF, but holy shit, what a story if they do.

Beyond just winning more games, the other part about the Final Four is that it's the four regional winners.

Looking forward to the tourney. There are always match up problems but I think the biggest match up problem might be Arizona.

Longhorned wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 7:48 am

EVCat wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 2:52 am What is crazy to me is in 2 weeks, or maybe 2 weeks and a day, we will know the fate of this team against the illogical, but cultural, measurement of the Final Four. The FF is not a title, and is but one game better than an E8, yet a marketing gimmick (an effective one) makes this one extra round capable of making or breaking players and coaches. It's not the championship...it's just 4 wins instead of 3, yet that one win is glorified to all hell, while a more important 5th win is about as sexy as the 3rd, and no match for the 4th.

In college baseball and softball, with fewer teams, the magic success line is 8. In football, with far fewer teams, it is a moving line. But hoops...Miller was a failure to some because he lost 3 E8 games in 5 years, not a success because he went 3-1 in 3 tournaments in 5 years.

Opinion be damned, it IS the cultural gate for elite success. It is that extra trip, the extra week. So, fuck it...let's get to New Orleans, damnit! It's exponential difference in impact from the E8 might be illogical, but my 2001 Final Four shirt has been retired for preservation, so I need a new one.

Final Four rant aside, to the initial point...it is both crazy and sad that in 2 weeks, we will, essentially, know this team's fate. Just as we are really getting to know them, and love them in this form, it's done. This team has the chance to be near 1988 level beloved, for what they mean in returning us to this level. I will still hold this team up high if they don't get that FF, but holy shit, what a story if they do.

Beyond just winning more games, the other part about the Final Four is that it's the four regional winners.

I get that, but the 4th win is more celebrated than the 5th. It is still an artificial construct...the regions aren't regional at all, so it's just 4 wins. Could as easily be 2 regions of 32 or 16 regions of 4...there is no reason for it other than it had to be something. I want another Final Four as well as anyone. But it's still just a point in the overall tournament

Seth Davis piece.

The team also bonds during weekly meetings referred to “PG Monday.” The “PG” stands for personal growth, and it’s a ritual Lloyd brought with him from Gonzaga. Coaches do not attend the sessions. Rather, the discussions are facilitated by members of the support staff, who get things rolling by showing videos of Steve Nash or Kobe Bryant, or of two animals fighting in the wild, and then let the players take things wherever they want. “I think they really learn how similar they are to each other,” says Rem Bakamus, a former walk-on at Gonzaga who serves as Arizona’s director of player development. “Maybe their stories or upbringings are different, but they’re all going through the same thing as young college athletes. They form relationships by learning about each other’s struggles.”

https://theathletic.com/3180424/2022/03 ... l-players/

EVCat wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 5:51 pm

Longhorned wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 7:48 am

EVCat wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 2:52 am What is crazy to me is in 2 weeks, or maybe 2 weeks and a day, we will know the fate of this team against the illogical, but cultural, measurement of the Final Four. The FF is not a title, and is but one game better than an E8, yet a marketing gimmick (an effective one) makes this one extra round capable of making or breaking players and coaches. It's not the championship...it's just 4 wins instead of 3, yet that one win is glorified to all hell, while a more important 5th win is about as sexy as the 3rd, and no match for the 4th.

In college baseball and softball, with fewer teams, the magic success line is 8. In football, with far fewer teams, it is a moving line. But hoops...Miller was a failure to some because he lost 3 E8 games in 5 years, not a success because he went 3-1 in 3 tournaments in 5 years.

Opinion be damned, it IS the cultural gate for elite success. It is that extra trip, the extra week. So, fuck it...let's get to New Orleans, damnit! It's exponential difference in impact from the E8 might be illogical, but my 2001 Final Four shirt has been retired for preservation, so I need a new one.

Final Four rant aside, to the initial point...it is both crazy and sad that in 2 weeks, we will, essentially, know this team's fate. Just as we are really getting to know them, and love them in this form, it's done. This team has the chance to be near 1988 level beloved, for what they mean in returning us to this level. I will still hold this team up high if they don't get that FF, but holy shit, what a story if they do.

Beyond just winning more games, the other part about the Final Four is that it's the four regional winners.

I get that, but the 4th win is more celebrated than the 5th. It is still an artificial construct...the regions aren't regional at all, so it's just 4 wins. Could as easily be 2 regions of 32 or 16 regions of 4...there is no reason for it other than it had to be something. I want another Final Four as well as anyone. But it's still just a point in the overall tournament

That's very true. And I might be the last poster here who still values the regular season conference championship more than the good/bad luck roll-of-the-dice, one-and-out NCAA tournament. I basically have zero regard for Oregon State's run last year. And I don't think Sean Miller fell short in any way at Arizona, even while recognizing that one more win in either Elite Eight would have saved everything for reasons I don't agree with.

ZagCatFan wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:25 am Seth Davis piece.

The team also bonds during weekly meetings referred to “PG Monday.” The “PG” stands for personal growth, and it’s a ritual Lloyd brought with him from Gonzaga. Coaches do not attend the sessions. Rather, the discussions are facilitated by members of the support staff, who get things rolling by showing videos of Steve Nash or Kobe Bryant, or of two animals fighting in the wild, and then let the players take things wherever they want. “I think they really learn how similar they are to each other,” says Rem Bakamus, a former walk-on at Gonzaga who serves as Arizona’s director of player development. “Maybe their stories or upbringings are different, but they’re all going through the same thing as young college athletes. They form relationships by learning about each other’s struggles.”

https://theathletic.com/3180424/2022/03 ... l-players/

Holy Shit that is awesome. I never heard that before.

How can I love these guys anymore?

RondaeShimmy wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 7:21 am

ZagCatFan wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:25 am Seth Davis piece.

The team also bonds during weekly meetings referred to “PG Monday.” The “PG” stands for personal growth, and it’s a ritual Lloyd brought with him from Gonzaga. Coaches do not attend the sessions. Rather, the discussions are facilitated by members of the support staff, who get things rolling by showing videos of Steve Nash or Kobe Bryant, or of two animals fighting in the wild, and then let the players take things wherever they want. “I think they really learn how similar they are to each other,” says Rem Bakamus, a former walk-on at Gonzaga who serves as Arizona’s director of player development. “Maybe their stories or upbringings are different, but they’re all going through the same thing as young college athletes. They form relationships by learning about each other’s struggles.”

https://theathletic.com/3180424/2022/03 ... l-players/

First, that's a really smart exercise.

Second, it says a lot about Kerr and Tubelis. That's a great attitude. There probably is something to the European system doing a lot less to cater to players egos. I remember when Brandon Jennings opted out to go to Italy, he had a rude awakening.

It's why I'll forever give Miller and Lloyd a ton of props for this season. Our starters are talented, low ego players, and Miller pulled them in the depth of scandal with zero admin support. Lloyd then took over seamlessly and enabled those players to make the leap to that next level.

Playing with and against adults on national teams probably puts your ego in check and engenders a team-first attitude.

Chicat wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 9:55 am Playing with and against adults on national teams probably puts your ego in check and engenders a team-first attitude.

i cant state this importance and factor enough in how much it helps all the guys that get the opportunity to train, compete, and play consistently against men.

Here's what I'm gonna say now. I love the Wildcats again. I love Miller still but the past few years have been brutal and not fun and I stopped caring. And honestly our style of ball was not fun to watch! I love the international guys, our style of play, their swag. And love championships. Swept the conference this year hell yeah. I believe AZ can win it all but Ive seen so much crazy shit over the years you just never know. But I just want to say I am in love with Arizona basketball again. What a great fun season! Wishing the boys luck on this ride because they will need a bounce or two. I'm here for all of it!

To Chicat's point, that's part of the reason why the 2016-17 team was my favorite, until it was replaced by this year's team. I remember seeing a recent interview of Dusan by some Wildcat podcast. And I was just thoroughly impressed by the way Dusan spoke of the program and the way that he carried himself. First rate. The maturity they bring to the game is really refreshing.

I think its the reason why I'm pivoting a bit on recruiting. I usually get excited about top recruiting classes but after looking at the fallout with teams like Duke and Kentucky and our problems with primadonnas like Akot and Doutrive, I've changed my stance. Last years and this years team is a great model for moving forward. I'm less about getting highly rated players than getting the 'right' guy. Sometimes that guy is a five star, but most often it isn't. Look at this year. Most of our guys are mid to low rated four stars who developed faster than expected. Our three stars guys (Larsson and Koloko) have developed quickly and have NBA talent as well.

Going forward I think Lloyd should focus on deep scouting (international and domestic) so they can find the hidden gems that really build a program. And as great as this year's team is, if only Mathurin leaves we have a chance to be better next year. If we hit the transfer market and fortify the pg position and find a solid combo forward we will be odds on favorites to make a deep run next year as well. This year proves that the Gonzaga model works and the results speak for themselves (high floor teams, usually sweet sixteen or higher).