2014 Arizona Basketball

[AzStevenCal]

Indeed. Should stay in the West, but could draw WISC in our bracket. Oy....

I wouldn't mind another shot at Wisconsin (assuming...), not that they'd be an easy out but it would be nice to face them with Ashley healthy. I'd rather be the 2 seed behind them than the 1 seed with either Virginia or Duke joining us.

Steve

 

[GatorAZ]

My worst case scenario is Wisky 1, AZ 2 and Gonzaga 3. Playing those two b2b would be tough. I'd rather see Kansas in the S16.

 

[Lefty]

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[Lefty]

Pretty interesting stuff that Greg Hansen wrote about Alford. Here is what he wrote.

Alford delegated with game on the line

If you get a chance to watch a replay of Friday’s Arizona-UCLA semifinal game, pay attention to the Bruins’ timeout huddle with 1:33 remaining, with Arizona leading 61-59. Assistant coach Ed Schilling did all of the instruction in the huddle as head coach Steve Alford watched. Schilling is a John Calipari disciple from UMass and Memphis who spent his last two seasons before UCLA by coaching a high school team in Indianapolis. In all my years of watching Lute Olson, Mike Montgomery and Ralph Miller — the three leading coaches in Pac-10/Pac-12 history — I never saw one of them give a timeout session over to an assistant coach. The elite coaches just don’t do that.

 

[AZCrazy]

My worst case scenario is Wisky 1, AZ 2 and Gonzaga 3. Playing those two b2b would be tough. I'd rather see Kansas in the S16.

Doesn't matter. Gotta beat 'em all directly or indirectly. Go win 6!

 

[TJ]

Pretty interesting stuff that Greg Hansen wrote about Alford. Here is what he wrote.

Alford delegated with game on the line

If you get a chance to watch a replay of Friday’s Arizona-UCLA semifinal game, pay attention to the Bruins’ timeout huddle with 1:33 remaining, with Arizona leading 61-59. Assistant coach Ed Schilling did all of the instruction in the huddle as head coach Steve Alford watched. Schilling is a John Calipari disciple from UMass and Memphis who spent his last two seasons before UCLA by coaching a high school team in Indianapolis. In all my years of watching Lute Olson, Mike Montgomery and Ralph Miller — the three leading coaches in Pac-10/Pac-12 history — I never saw one of them give a timeout session over to an assistant coach. The elite coaches just don’t do that.

This doesn't surprise me.

 

[Russ Smith]

Pretty interesting stuff that Greg Hansen wrote about Alford. Here is what he wrote.

Alford delegated with game on the line

If you get a chance to watch a replay of Friday’s Arizona-UCLA semifinal game, pay attention to the Bruins’ timeout huddle with 1:33 remaining, with Arizona leading 61-59. Assistant coach Ed Schilling did all of the instruction in the huddle as head coach Steve Alford watched. Schilling is a John Calipari disciple from UMass and Memphis who spent his last two seasons before UCLA by coaching a high school team in Indianapolis. In all my years of watching Lute Olson, Mike Montgomery and Ralph Miller — the three leading coaches in Pac-10/Pac-12 history — I never saw one of them give a timeout session over to an assistant coach. The elite coaches just don’t do that.

They do that regularly because Schilling is the guy in charge ofthe defense.

UCLA was down 2, UA had the ball, so Schilling was organizing the defense. UA called the TO not UCLA so Alford presumably let the guy in charge of defense do his job.

I'm not an alford fan at all but Hansen didn't exactly do his homework. First off Schilling coached at Park Tudor HS for 4 years not 2, prior to UCLA. Of course Schilling was also working for Adidas Nations and preparing kids for the nBA draft. And Schilling also was the HEAD COACH at Wright State for 6 seasons, and also was an assistant in the NBA under Calipari. Schilling has more coaching experience than anybody on Arizona's bench other than Sean Miller. Schilling at Wright State beat Michigan State when they were the 6th ranked team in the country, later that same season MSU won the national title.

Schilling is not the problem with Alford's staff, Grace and Broussard are.

It's not like UCLA lost that game because of that sequence, UCLA got the stop, the problem is Johnson got an offensive board and got fouled. Then they did it again but that time out of a UCLA timeout, Johnson hit a dagger 3 to ice the game.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Offensively we have really hit our stride. If Ashley and York keep playing the way they have last month, we wont be beat. Including Kentucky.

Either way its going to be a ride. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[TJ]

Let's get it started

 

[Russ Smith]

Offensively we have really hit our stride. If Ashley and York keep playing the way they have last month, we wont be beat. Including Kentucky.

Either way its going to be a ride. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I think UK is going to win it all but if I had to pick who might beat them I'd put Wisconsin, UVA and Duke all ahead of UA. Wisconsin because kaminsky is such a tough matchup and because they don't turn it over. UVA the defense is so good and the pace will frustrate UK. Duke because they have a great big, and they can get hot shooting the ball(not good defense though).

I think UA is good enough to get to the finals and win, i just don't think they matchup well with UK.

Of course my opinion of UK is skewed by the way they destroyed UCLA compared to UCLA being in both games with UA.

I do think this is the year Miller should make the FF, got a favorable draw and has the talent.

 

[Chaplin]

I think UK is going to win it all but if I had to pick who might beat them I'd put Wisconsin, UVA and Duke all ahead of UA. Wisconsin because kaminsky is such a tough matchup and because they don't turn it over. UVA the defense is so good and the pace will frustrate UK. Duke because they have a great big, and they can get hot shooting the ball(not good defense though).

I think UA is good enough to get to the finals and win, i just don't think they matchup well with UK.

Of course my opinion of UK is skewed by the way they destroyed UCLA compared to UCLA being in both games with UA.

I do think this is the year Miller should make the FF, got a favorable draw and has the talent.

You're in the minority. Most national publications and pundits place Arizona as the #1 contender vs. Kentucky.

 

[TJ]

I think UK is going to win it all but if I had to pick who might beat them I'd put Wisconsin, UVA and Duke all ahead of UA. Wisconsin because kaminsky is such a tough matchup and because they don't turn it over. UVA the defense is so good and the pace will frustrate UK. Duke because they have a great big, and they can get hot shooting the ball(not good defense though).

I think UA is good enough to get to the finals and win, i just don't think they matchup well with UK.

Of course my opinion of UK is skewed by the way they destroyed UCLA compared to UCLA being in both games with UA.

I do think this is the year Miller should make the FF, got a favorable draw and has the talent.

Disagree, and so do most of the pundits.

Generally, no team matches up well against a team with 9 McD's AAs, but Zona has the size and talent to do so.

 

[Russ Smith]

You're in the minority. Most national publications and pundits place Arizona as the #1 contender vs. Kentucky.

UA might be the 2nd best team, I have no idea, I just don't think they match up well with UK.

I think to beat UK it's going to take something odd like a very odd pace(like UVA) or an odd style of play(Wisconsin) or just a rare case where the other team has a big better than any of UK's and can keep UK from dominating the paint like they do.

Basketball is about matchups, I don't think UCLA is significantly better than Oregon or Utah but both UCLA/UA games were close while UA effectively handled Oregon 3 times and Utah twice, UCLA just matches up better with UA than Oregon or Utah did.

To be fair I'm not expecting anybody to beat UK, basketball is so watered down right now that a team like UK just looks damn near unbeatable.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

UA might be the 2nd best team, I have no idea, I just don't think they match up well with UK.

I think to beat UK it's going to take something odd like a very odd pace(like UVA) or an odd style of play(Wisconsin) or just a rare case where the other team has a big better than any of UK's and can keep UK from dominating the paint like they do.

Basketball is about matchups, I don't think UCLA is significantly better than Oregon or Utah but both UCLA/UA games were close while UA effectively handled Oregon 3 times and Utah twice, UCLA just matches up better with UA than Oregon or Utah did.

To be fair I'm not expecting anybody to beat UK, basketball is so watered down right now that a team like UK just looks damn near unbeatable.

Wow. They dont matchup well? Then who does?

We have the bigs to match up (Zeus and Ashley)
We have a SR PG (TJ)
We have Depth in case there is foul trouble (Dusan, York, Pitts)
We have the wings to guard Harrison twins (RHJ and SJ)
We have the One on One Wing who can take it to the bastket or shoot in big moments (Johnson)
We play Sensational Defense and Rebound Well (#3 and #2 in the Nation respectively)
We have the better in game and pre game Coach (Miller)
We have NBA talent through the roster and I would say the best starting 5 in the Nation.

Viewing the world through UCLA eyes I guess. UCLA is a conference team, who has good talent, and they played a zone with Looney at the top. UK doesnt play a zone so we are good there. And UCLA went 0-2.

Matchups are not linear. And Arizona has yet to lose against a top opponnent. Their only losses are against scrub teams they didnt get up for and let hang around who made some great shots at end of game. And all on the road. None of that is happening against Kentucky.

This is the best article stating EXACTLY what I said in the post above:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchla...-that-can-beat-kentuckys-undefeated-wildcats/

But hey UCLA played them tough so who knows????

 

[overseascardfan]

Game against OSU tomorrow should be a good one with 2 Top 5 draft prospects in Johnson and Russell leading their respective teams. Rondae will draw the assignment on Russell most likely. Man this is the most exciting time of the year, I'm an ASU alum but I hope UA can go all the way as I can't stand Cal or Coach K.

 

[Russ Smith]

Wow. They dont matchup well? Then who does?

We have the bigs to match up (Zeus and Ashley)
We have a SR PG (TJ)
We have Depth in case there is foul trouble (Dusan, York, Pitts)
We have the wings to guard Harrison twins (RHJ and SJ)
We have the One on One Wing who can take it to the bastket or shoot in big moments (Johnson)
We play Sensational Defense and Rebound Well (#3 and #2 in the Nation respectively)
We have the better in game and pre game Coach (Miller)
We have NBA talent through the roster and I would say the best starting 5 in the Nation.

Viewing the world through UCLA eyes I guess. UCLA is a conference team, who has good talent, and they played a zone with Looney at the top. UK doesnt play a zone so we are good there. And UCLA went 0-2.

Matchups are not linear. And Arizona has yet to lose against a top opponnent. Their only losses are against scrub teams they didnt get up for and let hang around who made some great shots at end of game. And all on the road. None of that is happening against Kentucky.

This is the best article stating EXACTLY what I said in the post above:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchla...-that-can-beat-kentuckys-undefeated-wildcats/

But hey UCLA played them tough so who knows????

UCLA was in man most of the 2nd half against UA when they had the lead. The zone helped them catch up but they were in man much of that game.

I've seen every UCLA game this year except UNC, nobody came close to UK in terms of opposition, not even close they were 20+ points better than anybody UCLA played.

If they don't win a national title Calipari should give his salary back.

 

[GatorAZ]

I never get nervous because of TJ. He's the glue.

 

[TJ]

The key to the game was York hitting all of those threes. That OSU zone was suffocating the offense and those triples got them to open up the lanes.

The cool thing is we've played like crap the past two games and still have won by a combined margin of 36 points. Gonna need to play better against Xavier.

 

[Chaz]

What a great run. TJ is the heart and soul of this team. So fun to watch him dissect the opponent and at the same time keep his team together and focused.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Did TJ ever come out of the game, even for a minute? Seriously, I don't recall ever seeing him on the bench!!

 

[TJ]

Did TJ ever come out of the game, even for a minute? Seriously, I don't recall ever seeing him on the bench!!

He sat for one minute

 

[Gee!]

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is going to be a special player in the NBA. I hope the Suns can get him.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

UCLA was in man most of the 2nd half against UA when they had the lead. The zone helped them catch up but they were in man much of that game.

I've seen every UCLA game this year except UNC, nobody came close to UK in terms of opposition, not even close they were 20+ points better than anybody UCLA played.

If they don't win a national title Calipari should give his salary back.

My point is teams and how they matchup with sorry ass UCLA is not the be all end all. We won't be getting run off the floor by Kentucky. Not even to mention that UCLA game 5 or 6 is different then UCLA now and 5-10 games ago. But I digress my boys will show it on the court. Write it down right now though. They get their shot UA will beat Kentucky. And they'll be some bs rationalization when it happens and I'll just laugh. Our HC is gonna run circles behind roll out the ball Uncle Cal...

 

[Russ Smith]

My point is teams and how they matchup with sorry ass UCLA is not the be all end all. We won't be getting run off the floor by Kentucky. Not even to mention that UCLA game 5 or 6 is different then UCLA now and 5-10 games ago. But I digress my boys will show it on the court. Write it down right now though. They get their shot UA will beat Kentucky. And they'll be some bs rationalization when it happens and I'll just laugh. Our HC is gonna run circles behind roll out the ball Uncle Cal...

And my point is if you watch every game a team plays you have a reasonable way of rating how good the teams they played were.

UCLA didn't belong on the same floor with UK, UCLA was in both games with UA and neither of those was some fluke great shooting game or something. UCLA didn't match up with UK, they did match up with UA.

I know you fully believe what you're writing I'm just saying based on what I've seen of those 2 teams, UK is a bad matchup for UA. A big part of your offense is offensive rebounds that typically don't happen against UK.

You guys keep talking about zones and not having to worry about that against UK, do you know why? Because you don't have to play zone when you have all those shot blockers in the back protecting the rim. UK defends the 3 very well because they're so long, and because the guards never have to worry about getting beat because of all the shot blockers in the back.

They don't not zone because Calipari can't coach, they don't zone because they don't have to, they're so good in man why bother to play zone.

I suspect if you play them you will lose and you'll be the one here rationalizing why it didn't happen the way you said it would. NOt because I think UA is a bad team or poorly coached, but because I think UK is just that much better than anybody else this year.

 

[splitsecond]

You are high as a kite if you think a team run by Bryce Freakin Alford can be an analogy for how well Arizona could do against UK or any team for that matter. UCLA plays Arizona like it's their national championship every year and for some reason they let them get the best of them. That doesn't change the physical matchups on an individual level. Has to be one of the worst analogies I've ever seen.