Bear Down Wildcats

carolinacat wrote:

gumby wrote:Curry shot from the waist in eight grade. Dad broke down the shot over the summer. Stephen says he couldn't hit from outside the paint initially. But he stuck with it.

Too bad Dell wasn't Shakur's dad.

Worst. Looking. Shot. Ever.

I think someone on Lute's staff tried fixing Shakur's shot. Ended up making it worse, so Mustafa went back to his old form.

Miles Simon too had a funky rotation on his ball, and not surprisingly neither Shakur or Simon had more than a cup of coffee in the league.

Merkin wrote:

gumby wrote:Parker and Tolly, 2 for13 off the bench. Surprised at how poorly Tollefsen has shot.

Tollefsen has awful mechanics. Look how far out his right elbow is.

As TJ found out, it's a lot different trying to hit 3 point shots at this level.

He has some unwanted sway in his shot. Thats why you see him bricking open jumpers, but is able to fade off a screen and go straight into a three with better form (he cant sway left/right/back as much).

His overall shooting form is pretty ugly, but it obviously has worked in the past, just not under pressure.

Ive mostly seen him live so its hard to completely break down his mechanics that high up, outside of his footwork and his right elbow to the side (how has this never been addressed?), but I dont like his balance either aside from the footwork, he has a lean right before he goes into his shooting motion

UAEebs86 wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:To be fair, Dusan has been speaking/understanding english for under 2 years... just sayin.

What's the Serbian word for pass?

LOL!!! Everyone associated with the team needs to learn that word. "Assist" in Serbian might also be useful.

yikes

Hey Lute

I agree with the facial expressions of pretty much everyone in the first row.

I just had a horrible premonition: That the last possession of the last game of the season (NCAA tourney) where the last shot is by Tollefsen. Please no. No!

If memory serves, wasn't Tollefsen being touted as a skilled perimeter shooter while we recruited him?

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Flashing the "Wildcats" sign with both hands - pretty impressive.

carolinacat wrote:I just had a horrible premonition: That the last possession of the last game of the season (NCAA tourney) where the last shot is by Tollefsen. Please no. No!

Jamelle Horne style?

How do coaches allow top level players progress without fixing these kids shots early on?

Tollefsen's jumper makes JP Prince's jumper look beautiful.

And that is really hard to do.

Edit: Jamelle Horne did not even make Honorable Mention on the list of ugly jumpers for past Cats.

Frybry02 wrote:

carolinacat wrote:I just had a horrible premonition: That the last possession of the last game of the season (NCAA tourney) where the last shot is by Tollefsen. Please no. No!

Jamelle Horne style?

How do coaches allow top level players progress without fixing these kids shots early on?

Good question. Tollefsen obviously had success at USF, but that was against weak competition. Too late to try and change his shooting style now. That's something you address in the offseason. I just don't want the ball in his hands with the shot clock running out and our season on the line. Any other player needs to demand the ball and drive like a freight train into the paint to at least try and draw a foul.

carolinacat wrote:

Frybry02 wrote:

carolinacat wrote:I just had a horrible premonition: That the last possession of the last game of the season (NCAA tourney) where the last shot is by Tollefsen. Please no. No!

Jamelle Horne style?

How do coaches allow top level players progress without fixing these kids shots early on?

Good question. Tollefsen obviously had success at USF, but that was against weak competition. Too late to try and change his shooting style now. That's something you address in the offseason. I just don't want the ball in his hands with the shot clock running out and our season on the line. Any other player needs to demand the ball and drive like a freight train into the paint to at least try and draw a foul.

He should have never proceeded through HS with it being fixed early on

Really sucks that we'll likely be without Tarc for UNLV and the L.A. trip.

But as long as he comes back 100%, it's entirely worth it.

Big picture.

Frybry02 wrote:

carolinacat wrote:

Frybry02 wrote:

carolinacat wrote:I just had a horrible premonition: That the last possession of the last game of the season (NCAA tourney) where the last shot is by Tollefsen. Please no. No!

Jamelle Horne style?

How do coaches allow top level players progress without fixing these kids shots early on?

Good question. Tollefsen obviously had success at USF, but that was against weak competition. Too late to try and change his shooting style now. That's something you address in the offseason. I just don't want the ball in his hands with the shot clock running out and our season on the line. Any other player needs to demand the ball and drive like a freight train into the paint to at least try and draw a foul.

He should have never proceeded through HS with it being fixed early on

He was probably the best and tallest player on his team. So he likely played center, but would range outside and hit threes. Because he could hit them at a good enough clip, the coaches probably didn't stop him from taking them, and instead worked with him on post moves and the like and didn't bother to correct his shot.

Why is he throwing gang signs with both hands after the release?

KO just called Ristic "better than Tarczewski" after the Mizzou game.

I didn't know the Pac-12 studios had an open bar.

catgrad97 wrote:KO just called Ristic "better than Tarczewski" after the Mizzou game.

I didn't know the Pac-12 studios had an open bar.

I just posted about this in the Ristic thread. Man how did that guy ever coach this team? Biggest dope ever.

If KO was coaching this team, he'd be starting Zeus over Ristic, if he had the choice, and he'd be wrong to say otherwise.

He's too distanced from the nuances of coaching at this point and is putting too much stock into game optics.

I mean he's not wrong about Ristic being better than Zeus offensively, but he also said he's the superior defender, which I'm sure takes about 10 KO sized shots to come to that conclusion.

Chance had 10 rebounds. Even if he made some freshman mistakes, this accomplishment is praiseworthy.

agree -- 10 rebounds in 13 minutes.

simon, despite the fouls: 10 points, 4 rebs, 3 steals, 1 asst and aggressive on the floor. nice job.

Simon had a couple of VERY nice possessions on the defensive end. Couple times his head was in the clouds. Freshman stuff, hes gonna be good though

Looked good...

Chance Comanche 10 rebs 1 blk 13 mins

Justin Simon 10 pts 1 ast 4 reb 16 mins

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400813823" target="_blank

If you ignore our point guards, we shot 70% from 3.

catgrad97 wrote:KO just called Ristic "better than Tarczewski" after the Mizzou game.

I didn't know the Pac-12 studios had an open bar.

That's why Miller is a young coaching star and KO is in a studio, not a sideline.

Comanche and Simon looked good last night. The development of our young guys looks very promising right now. Even with a 1-10 from the PG spot, we did about everything else we wanted to.

Q: Coach, why didn't Jamelle Horne get into the game after how well he played last game?
KO: I forgot he was on the bench

That was enough for me when he took over for Lute.

Point guards have struggled on the perimeter for most of the year but the passing is coming along nicely.

Anyone wanna predict how many wins we get in the next 5 games?

I'm going to say 4-1 or 5-0. We'll sweep at home, and we're going to win at least 1 of 2 @ UCLA/ASSU. Probably like a 50-50 shot at winning both of them. I think we're going to really hit our stride, racking up easy wins at home, and now that it seems like our defense has stepped up, we're going to be more consistent. I'm hoping we shoot the ball well enough against ASU's zone, that's what scares me. If we lose to UCLA, I'll be mad, but if we lose to ASU I'm going to be pretty furious.

It's been too long since we've swept ASU in BBall.

qwertyus wrote:I'm going to say 4-1 or 5-0. We'll sweep at home, and we're going to win at least 1 of 2 @ UCLA/ASSU. Probably like a 50-50 shot at winning both of them. I think we're going to really hit our stride, racking up easy wins at home, and now that it seems like our defense has stepped up, we're going to be more consistent. I'm hoping we shoot the ball well enough against ASU's zone, that's what scares me. If we lose to UCLA, I'll be mad, but if we lose to ASU I'm going to be pretty furious.

It's been too long since we've swept ASU in BBall.

It wouldn't surprise me to see us get off to a rough start in Pac play. ASU always plays their best game of the season against us, and we're not at full strength. We should beat USC. UCLA is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, so winning on their home floor (which UK couldn't do) might be hard, especially with Tarc out.

And yeah, I think we win our remaining OOC games.

Beachcat97 wrote:Anyone wanna predict how many wins we get in the next 5 games?

Six.

Beachcat97 wrote:

qwertyus wrote:I'm going to say 4-1 or 5-0. We'll sweep at home, and we're going to win at least 1 of 2 @ UCLA/ASSU. Probably like a 50-50 shot at winning both of them. I think we're going to really hit our stride, racking up easy wins at home, and now that it seems like our defense has stepped up, we're going to be more consistent. I'm hoping we shoot the ball well enough against ASU's zone, that's what scares me. If we lose to UCLA, I'll be mad, but if we lose to ASU I'm going to be pretty furious.

It's been too long since we've swept ASU in BBall.

It wouldn't surprise me to see us get off to a rough start in Pac play. ASU always plays their best game of the season against us, and we're not at full strength. We should beat USC. UCLA is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, so winning on their home floor (which UK couldn't do) might be hard, especially with Tarc out.

And yeah, I think we win our remaining OOC games.

...So the next 6 games? The next 5 is just NAU, UNLV, LBSU, ASSU, and UCLA.

I still feel like ASSU's offense is pretty bad, but they always seem to make lots of BS shots against us.

UCLA is pretty hot, but they took a while to get going, just like us. They should pick up at least one more loss vs. UNC before playing us, and may struggle against UW (always tough to tell with Romar teams). I think Welch is going to be a problem without Zeus, so hopefully Comanche can step up and we can wear them down. With an Alford coached team, they could go hot and hit all those shots they chuck up, or they could go cold. I think our depth, depth that will be getting experience in the next couple of games, will be the source of the wear-down. I mean, yeah, that's not going out on a limb, but we're playing even more people (Simon, Comanche) than we were earlier in the year, and that'll only help us against UCLA. We'll just go with the hot hand offensively/defensively.

We will beat long beach and nau. Should beat UNLV and USC. Toss ups against Asu and UCLA. I think we go 4-2. But in our next eight games after that only two of them are against the top half of the conference. We could lose two of our next five and then go to 8-1 after that

Two or three losses over the next dozen games, with more sweating sooner than later. Think we're better built for the conference grind than the rest. Of course, injuries change things. How is Prince Ali?

Nonetheless, every loss will be "unacceptable!"

gumby wrote:Two or three losses over the next dozen games, with more sweating sooner than later. Think we're better built for the conference grind than the rest. Of course, injuries change things. How is Prince Ali?

Nonetheless, every loss will be "unacceptable!"

Disagreed. I'm expecting somewhere between 4 and 7 conference losses this season, given how the rest of the Pac has improved and given our injury situation. So losses are indeed expected. We just need to get healthy by March because I do think this team can make a run in the tourney.

andrew jones to texas.

I have not analyzed the schedule but I could see a worse case of 6 conference losses given the high level of intensity we bring out in other teams.

Our home court winning streak will be tested starting with UNLV. Time for the fans to step up and define home court advantage

Think we go 5-1 over the next six, with a loss at UCLA. We looked pretty solid last night, I dont care how shitty people say Missouri is. They hung with Xavier for a whole half before they started shooting themselves in the foot, on the road. UCLA is going to defend us the same way they did Kentucky and we will need Trier and Gabe to be on from deep. Welsh is probably going to eat Dusan alive. If it were me I would put Anderson/Chance/Tollefsen on Welsh to give us a better chance away from the basket and put Dusan on Parker as much as I could. Hopefully we can get Parker in some foul trouble and make things a little easier on us.

rgdeuce wrote:Think we go 5-1 over the next six, with a loss at UCLA. We looked pretty solid last night, I dont care how shitty people say Missouri is. They hung with Xavier for a whole half before they started shooting themselves in the foot, on the road. UCLA is going to defend us the same way they did Kentucky and we will need Trier and Gabe to be on from deep. Welsh is probably going to eat Dusan alive. If it were me I would put Anderson/Chance/Tollefsen on Welsh to give us a better chance away from the basket and put Dusan on Parker as much as I could. Hopefully we can get Parker in some foul trouble and make things a little easier on us.

Tolly on Welsh is a recipe for disaster, imo. When Welsh goes out, put Tolly in to give Chance/Anderson a breather.

Tolly on anyone isn't fun. He is getting marginally better defensively though, and I think he is a much better option than Dusan, who doesn't have the foot speed to follow him out on the perimeter, doesn't have the foot speed to close out, doesn't have the IQ to effectively guard a pick and pop, frequently does not know where he needs to be on the floor, etc. How many big men has he had to guard that can legit stretch the floor?

qwertyus wrote:

rgdeuce wrote:Think we go 5-1 over the next six, with a loss at UCLA. We looked pretty solid last night, I dont care how shitty people say Missouri is. They hung with Xavier for a whole half before they started shooting themselves in the foot, on the road. UCLA is going to defend us the same way they did Kentucky and we will need Trier and Gabe to be on from deep. Welsh is probably going to eat Dusan alive. If it were me I would put Anderson/Chance/Tollefsen on Welsh to give us a better chance away from the basket and put Dusan on Parker as much as I could. Hopefully we can get Parker in some foul trouble and make things a little easier on us.

Tolly on Welsh is a recipe for disaster, imo. When Welsh goes out, put Tolly in to give Chance/Anderson a breather.

Tolly can't guard Welsh. It's gotta be Ristic, Chance, and Anderson. And they also have Parker.

I think UCLA's finally gonna win a regular season game against us, which they haven't done since three seasons ago. If Tarc were in there, it'd be different because he can check Welsh. But with the way they've been shooting, I think they're simply going to outscore us. Maybe 85-75.

I really like us in big games under Miller (Wisconsin's air raid of last year considered). I'm more worried about dropping a Thursday night game to an off brand. I think we will beat UCLA in Pauley...we can run with them, and our perimeter shooting is starting to shake itself out (who can, who shouldn't, those who can making them, etc). I also don't see Pauley as much of an environment...it is almost a neutral site game. Cal on the road, despite their struggles, concerns me because they turn bonkers when we come to town, and underachieving top level talent always figures out the script when they see Arizona on the chest. They promptly go back to underachieving when we leave, but how many times have we seen highly rated busts play well against us? The one exclusion to this seems to be UCLA, probably because their players never see themselves as underdogs to us, thus have no chip on the shoulder, even when they clearly should.

I am worried about UNLV this week. It's a bad time historically (pre-break) for a team with all out-of-area talent, and we are still banged up, regardless of who is playing. I think McKale Magic gets us through, but I am more nervous than I maybe should be...

Merkin wrote: I think someone on Lute's staff tried fixing Shakur's shot. Ended up making it worse, so Mustafa went back to his old form.

Miles Simon too had a funky rotation on his ball, and not surprisingly neither Shakur or Simon had more than a cup of coffee in the league.

On the first day of classes in 2004(?) I saw Mustafa Shakur getting a ride on a golf cart to the Modern Languages building. When he get off the cart he said, "oww, I just sat on my balls." Thought I would share one of my fondest memories as a student on a slow day on the boards.

rgdeuce wrote:

Merkin wrote: I think someone on Lute's staff tried fixing Shakur's shot. Ended up making it worse, so Mustafa went back to his old form.

Miles Simon too had a funky rotation on his ball, and not surprisingly neither Shakur or Simon had more than a cup of coffee in the league.

On the first day of classes in 2004(?) I saw Mustafa Shakur getting a ride on a golf cart to the Modern Languages building. When he get off the cart he said, "oww, I just sat on my balls." Thought I would share one of my fondest memories as a student on a slow day on the boards.

So he sat on his balls the whole ride over?

Not sure. I assumed it was done getting off.

Did he step on the parking spot stripe when he got out?

Merkin wrote:Did he step on the parking spot stripe when he got out?

I got it!

rgdeuce wrote:Not sure. I assumed it was done getting off.

Let's leave his sex life out of this.

rgdeuce wrote:

Merkin wrote: I think someone on Lute's staff tried fixing Shakur's shot. Ended up making it worse, so Mustafa went back to his old form.

Miles Simon too had a funky rotation on his ball, and not surprisingly neither Shakur or Simon had more than a cup of coffee in the league.

On the first day of classes in 2004(?) I saw Mustafa Shakur getting a ride on a golf cart to the Modern Languages building. When he get off the cart he said, "oww, I just sat on my balls." Thought I would share one of my fondest memories as a student on a slow day on the boards.

That explains a lot of the Illinois game.