Arizona Basketball 2016-2017 Season

[Dback Jon]

Saint Mary's isn't a cupcake team either. They're not upper-tier, but they are definitely dangerous, and they proved that tonight.

They had a top 15 RPI

They really should've been a four or a five seed at worst

 

[GatorAZ]

Got lucky tonight with some calls and the Gaels missing open looks.

Kadeem and Rawle were GD monsters tonight. Unfortunately Trier is off on both sides of the court right now.

 

[Shaggy]

Got lucky tonight with some calls and the Gaels missing open looks.

Kadeem and Rawle were GD monsters tonight. Unfortunately Trier is off on both sides of the court right now.

I agree. Down the stretch, seems the refs where calling some odd calls on St Mary.

 

[TJ]

Got lucky tonight with some calls and the Gaels missing open looks.

Kadeem and Rawle were GD monsters tonight. Unfortunately Trier is off on both sides of the court right now.

Trier's defense is suspect, but he owned the 2nd half with 14 points.

 

[TJ]

I agree. Down the stretch, seems the refs where calling some odd calls on St Mary.

There were a number of awful calls for both teams. This crew was very quick to call traveling. Also, Landale is a classic hacker and was only given 1 foul, despite mugging Dusan's all night.

 

[GatorAZ]

Rawle discolated his finger on his shooting hand and said there was a minor fracture as well. Of course.

 

[Russ Smith]

There were a number of awful calls for both teams. This crew was very quick to call traveling. Also, Landale is a classic hacker and was only given 1 foul, despite mugging Dusan's all night.

What? watch the 2nd half again, Ristic hit Landale in the head or face 5 times that I saw. Right hand hook shot goes in, left hand hits landale in face. Run down theother end hits him in face again. Landale walks, after the play Ristic clobbers Landale in the back of the head. They run down the other end, Landale complaining, gets hit again.then the bloody nose play. Then Markkanen is fouling the crap out of Landale and Pinder comes over and accidentally steps on Landale's foot and rolls his ankle. That kid is probably in the hospital for observation after the beating he took.

At the end of the game Allen fouled someone and you could read Bennetts lips talking to the ref saying "5 team fouls in an entire half is a joke."

Arizona is the better team and likely wins anyways but this was not a both teams got bad calls game. The key play in the game IMO was the 3rd foul on Pineau (sp) which was a complete phantom foul that gave Markkanen 2 FT's. A minute or so later he got his 4th on an over the back call and had to sit. The game was 44-44 when he went to the bench and UA was up 6 when he got back in. Bennett even got him back early because they were so much worse with him on the bench.

I will say this that steal and dunk by Kadeem Allen completely flipped the game. SM was up 2 with the ball and momentum, that was a huge play by Allen.

St Mary's was pounding the ball in the paint the whole game and shot 8 FT's, Markkanen shot 10 by himself. I have a bunch of friends who were in SLC for the weekend. They said the crowd was overwhelmingly UA fans but the last 5 minuts, audible on tv, you could hear all the non UA fans booing because of the refs, it actually drowned out the U of A chants at times.

 

[GatorAZ]

What? watch the 2nd half again, Ristic hit Landale in the head or face 5 times that I saw. Right hand hook shot goes in, left hand hits landale in face. Run down theother end hits him in face again. Landale walks, after the play Ristic clobbers Landale in the back of the head. They run down the other end, Landale complaining, gets hit again.then the bloody nose play. Then Markkanen is fouling the crap out of Landale and Pinder comes over and accidentally steps on Landale's foot and rolls his ankle. That kid is probably in the hospital for observation after the beating he took.

At the end of the game Allen fouled someone and you could read Bennetts lips talking to the ref saying "5 team fouls in an entire half is a joke."

Arizona is the better team and likely wins anyways but this was not a both teams got bad calls game. The key play in the game IMO was the 3rd foul on Pineau (sp) which was a complete phantom foul that gave Markkanen 2 FT's. A minute or so later he got his 4th on an over the back call and had to sit. The game was 44-44 when he went to the bench and UA was up 6 when he got back in. Bennett even got him back early because they were so much worse with him on the bench.

I will say this that steal and dunk by Kadeem Allen completely flipped the game. SM was up 2 with the ball and momentum, that was a huge play by Allen.

St Mary's was pounding the ball in the paint the whole game and shot 8 FT's, Markkanen shot 10 by himself. I have a bunch of friends who were in SLC for the weekend. They said the crowd was overwhelmingly UA fans but the last 5 minuts, audible on tv, you could hear all the non UA fans booing because of the refs, it actually drowned out the U of A chants at times.

You have to get a bit lucky in this tournament. Rarely does a team go untested thru everybody and not catch some breaks...

Look at Howland's F4 runs:
06' - Gonzaga implodes
07' - barely getting past Indiana in the 2nd rd in maybe the ugliest game in history
08' - Nearly going down as a 1-seed to A&M

 

[Russ Smith]

You have to get a bit lucky in this tournament. Rarely does a team go untested thru everybody and not catch some breaks...

Look at Howland's F4 runs:
06' - Gonzaga implodes
07' - barely getting past Indiana in the 2nd rd in maybe the ugliest game in history
08' - Nearly going down as a 1-seed to A&M

of course I totally agree. I was just kind of stunned someone would suggest Landale was the one dishign out the mugging yesterday, he got the crap beaten out of him by UA the whole game.

I'm not a huge SM fan, my understanding is the NCAA is already looking at them again over the latest flock of Aussie players, including Landale. Bennett didn't get the Cal job the last time around because SM was in NCAA trouble, he's up for the Cal job now and this latest stuff may cost him the job again. He's figured out if you're a control freak offensive coach it's much tougher to coach American kids than go overseas, get a bunch of kids from Aussie academies who all know each other and put them in your system. When the NCAA put a show cause on hsi last assistant who was getting those kids, he responded by hiring a former Aussie player to start up a new pipeline. Good coach but it works largely because half his roster is guys who grew up in basketball academies so his system is something they're used to, I think at somewhere like Cal it'd be hard to use that plan and it's not clear to me he can get American kids with handlers and AAU hanger ons to send him kids that will play like that. Monty couldn't do it at Cal and he's a much better coach than Bennett is.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Pains me to say this, but UofA is probably the best team left in the tourney. I'm sure UCLA or Oregon would like another shot at them, but this might be the Wildcats year.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah... I love Zona's chances this year.

And side note... the Suns NEED LONZO BALL. That kid alongside Booker will be a terrifying backcourt for a decade.

 

[TJ]

You have to get a bit lucky in this tournament. Rarely does a team go untested thru everybody and not catch some breaks...

Look at Howland's F4 runs:
06' - Gonzaga implodes
07' - barely getting past Indiana in the 2nd rd in maybe the ugliest game in history
08' - Nearly going down as a 1-seed to A&M

Jim Boeheim has been considered one of the elites for ages. He's been coaching at Syracuse since 1976. 41 years. He got his first and only championship in 2003.

The tournament is a bitch.

 

[TJ]

Yeah... I love Zona's chances this year.

And side note... the Suns NEED LONZO BALL. That kid alongside Booker will be a terrifying backcourt for a decade.

Xavier should not be a problem for Arizona, unless it looks ahead to the E8. I'm still debating if I want WVU or Gonzaga after that.

It's worth noting that Butler, UCLA, Oregon, and Gonzaga are all in the Sweet 16. These are the only four teams that beat Arizona this year.

As for Ball. Yes, please.

 

[GatorAZ]

Pains me to say this, but UofA is probably the best team left in the tourney. I'm sure UCLA or Oregon would like another shot at them, but this might be the Wildcats year.

They might be given Nova and Duke are out. Those were two of the top-6 according to Vegas with the best odds to win it all. Kentucky and Kansas have been the most impressive while AZ, UNC and Gonzaga are just getting bye.

I don't know anything about Xavier but both Gonzaga and West Virginia seems like bad matchups. Gonzaga has a great big guy and three pt shooters while WVU can hassle us full court. Not sure to root for in that first game.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

WVis my biggest worry. The cats don't have good enough ballhandlers to consistently beat the press

 

[GatorAZ]

WVis my biggest worry. The cats don't have good enough ballhandlers to consistently beat the press

Agreed. I think PJC can handle it fine and Allen has improved that part of his game but they have trouble inbounding it and panic when pressured. West Virginia is probably a 2-3 seed caliber team. They lost 3 games in OT including at Kansas where they blew a late lead.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Xavier should not be a problem for Arizona, unless it looks ahead to the E8. I'm still debating if I want WVU or Gonzaga after that.

It's worth noting that Butler, UCLA, Oregon, and Gonzaga are all in the Sweet 16. These are the only four teams that beat Arizona this year.

As for Ball. Yes, please.

I want the Zags. I never like Zona being the favorite in an Elite 8 game.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Jim Boeheim has been considered one of the elites for ages. He's been coaching at Syracuse since 1976. 41 years. He got his first and only championship in 2003.

The tournament is a bitch.

I feel like Boeheim is without a doubt the most overrated coach in college basketball history.

 

[GatorAZ]

I feel like Boeheim is without a doubt the most overrated coach in college basketball history.

I dunno... He and Lute both have 5 FF's and a championship on their resumes.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I feel like Boeheim is without a doubt the most overrated coach in college basketball history.

I disagree. The cuse Hoya rivalry was one of the historic best in college hoops. Great recruiter. The cuse zone rattled a LOT of teams. Maybe fell short a lot of years, but also made a bunch of final fours.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I dunno... He and Lute both have 5 FF's and a championship on their resumes.

Yeah... I just remember one too many of his highly rated squads falling flat on their face in the first round when that was unheard of.

Then again... I guess that happened a couple times to Lute also. I still hate Santa Clara to this day and don't even get me started on ETSU.

Maybe I'm too hard on Boehim...

 

[Russ Smith]

If Miller can't make the FF this year with this squad and this bracket outcome he's got some explaining to do. Xavier is too small to guard them. I think WVU can bother them with the press as mentioned. Zags barely beat UA without PJC or Trier so unlikely they win the rematch if that's the game. Duke out, ND out so the tough matchups with teams that spread you out and create mismatches are gone. Florida is good but missing a key guy, Wisconsi, don't think they're Miller's kryptonite this year not enough talent this year.

UA's size has been such a factor so far in the dance.

 

[GatorAZ]

If Miller can't make the FF this year with this squad and this bracket outcome he's got some explaining to do. Xavier is too small to guard them. I think WVU can bother them with the press as mentioned. Zags barely beat UA without PJC or Trier so unlikely they win the rematch if that's the game. Duke out, ND out so the tough matchups with teams that spread you out and create mismatches are gone. Florida is good but missing a key guy, Wisconsi, don't think they're Miller's kryptonite this year not enough talent this year.

UA's size has been such a factor so far in the dance.

The score might've been close but Gonzaga completely controlled that game. I didn't feel like Arizona was ever really in it.

I think WVU takes out Gonzaga and AZ gets past Xavier despite the zone. AZ could make a F4 run playing a 15, 7, 11 and 4. Also a semifinal matchup would be vs the East where 1 and 2 are already gone. Things setting up nicely. *knock on wood*

 

[DWKB]

The score might've been close but Gonzaga completely controlled that game. I didn't feel like Arizona was ever really in it.

I think WVU takes out Gonzaga and AZ gets past Xavier despite the zone. AZ could make a F4 run playing a 15, 7, 11 and 4. Also a semifinal matchup would be vs the East where 1 and 2 are already gone. Things setting up nicely. *knock on wood*

Be careful what you wish for with WVU and the short turn around game. I HATE playing WVU with that messy hack-a-thon constant annoyance of a press.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Be careful what you wish for with WVU and the short turn around game. I HATE playing WVU with that messy hack-a-thon constant annoyance of a press.

Agreed. WVU is my worst case scenario. I wish we flip flopped when we would play WVU and Xavier bc then we would have had a few days to prepare for breaking the press instead of two day turnaround.