Arizona Basketball 2016-2017 Season

[TJ]

I will ask the same question I asked last year - what finish will NOT be a disappointment? Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4, Championship Game or winning it all? (Just assuming not getting to Sweet 16 would automatically be a disappointment).

Arizona has the talent and coaching to win it all, but only one team can win a championship each year; and in the NCAAs, anything can happen. By their pedigrees and expectations, Bill Self, Cal, boehiem , and other elites should've won more than they have.

 

[Russ Smith]

Once you get to the FF anything can happen. I was surprised UA didn't get there this year given Xavier had 14 losses and was without Sumner but in the end that zone with Kadeem's hand injury just was too much. UA couldn't get anything but 3's and they didn't have enough shooters to shoot them out of the zone and lost. Really the only "bad" loss UA had all year.

Miller certainly has the talent on the roster to get to the FF this year, once you get there the best team doesn't always win.

I do think adding Romar and Miller supposedly working on his "rage" issues might pay off. As others have said I do think that sometimes Miller is so vocal with his team that they get a little gunshy and it hurts them in the really big games in the tourney. Miller himself indicated in self anaylysis he thinks that may have been a reason why they haven't gotten to the FF and he's working on it. Add in Romar as a go between for players and it may pay off.

 

[GatorAZ]

Once you get to the FF anything can happen. I was surprised UA didn't get there this year given Xavier had 14 losses and was without Sumner but in the end that zone with Kadeem's hand injury just was too much. UA couldn't get anything but 3's and they didn't have enough shooters to shoot them out of the zone and lost. Really the only "bad" loss UA had all year.

Miller certainly has the talent on the roster to get to the FF this year, once you get there the best team doesn't always win.

I do think adding Romar and Miller supposedly working on his "rage" issues might pay off. As others have said I do think that sometimes Miller is so vocal with his team that they get a little gunshy and it hurts them in the really big games in the tourney. Miller himself indicated in self anaylysis he thinks that may have been a reason why they haven't gotten to the FF and he's working on it. Add in Romar as a go between for players and it may pay off.

Last year's team was definitely overrated. No PG and limited athleticism on the wing. It's rare you see a borderline top-20 Kenpom team with a two seed. We should've definitely handled Xavier but would've lost to Gonzaga with Karnowki and Collins likely going off.

I don't think we've had a team good going into a season since 2003 with Gardner, Stoudamire, Iguodala, Frye and Luke Walton. That team got bounced by a horrible UCLA team in the conference tourney and nearly lost to Gonzaga in the 2nd rd so they weren't playing well at the right time.

 

[Russ Smith]

Last year's team was definitely overrated. No PG and limited athleticism on the wing. It's rare you see a borderline top-20 Kenpom team with a two seed. We should've definitely handled Xavier but would've lost to Gonzaga with Karnowki and Collins likely going off.

I don't think we've had a team good going into a season since 2003 with Gardner, Stoudamire, Iguodala, Frye and Luke Walton. That team got bounced by a horrible UCLA team in the conference tourney and nearly lost to Gonzaga in the 2nd rd so they weren't playing well at the right time.

Yeah but those KenPom numbers were including half a year missed by Trier and the games missed by PJC. UA was hot at the right time coming into the tournament but cooled off. 11 of the last 12 games were wins the lone loss UCLA and you avenged that in the conf tourney. But UA's shooting fell off I suspect both Allen being hurt and then Alkins getting hurt. You could see it in the St Mary's game it was much closer than it needed to be. I said Allen I meant Alkins of course but I think the hand injury was a big problem it took away one outside threat. Allen wasn't 100% either I think his was a leg injury IIRC.

I also think Kobi's inability to mentally cope with Trier taking so many minutes was a big issue ,Kobi off the bench could have been terrific instant offense but he was so up and down and I think largely because he didn't like the minutes he was getting.

At full strength UA had only 2 losses and one of those was that insanely hot 3 point game by oregon.

You nearly beat Gonzaga without Trier and PJC so even though they were better later on I think that game was going to be a tossup.

But that's the tournament one bad shooting game can kill you.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

It was obviously Miller's temperament that caused Jamelle Horne to barely miss a wide open 3 in '10, Ashley to get hurt in '14, and Sam Dekker to have the game of his life in '15.

 

[Lefty]

I heard Cameron Miller is going to walk on this upcoming year.

 

[Russ Smith]

It was obviously Miller's temperament that caused Jamelle Horne to barely miss a wide open 3 in '10, Ashley to get hurt in '14, and Sam Dekker to have the game of his life in '15.

Hey talk to Miller he's openly admitted he's spending time this offseason working on that because he believes it might play a role in how his team functions in the postseason. There's a perception that his team gets tight in big games, right or wrong it's there enough that even he publicly acknowledged he's considering it.

Personally I think it's played some role, it's also played a role on why his teams are consistently so good on defense I think his coaching style CLEARLY works better on defense than offense and that's what he's looking into now, can I change things about my style that will help the offense without harming the defense. I think that's a big reason why he hired Romar.

 

[Russ Smith]

Still not at your level, probably not even USC, but holiday and Welsh are both coming back so that's good. Everyone was reporting MJ Walker to UCLA tomorrow but I think that was based on erroneous reports Holiday was staying in the draft, doubt we get Walker too.

 

[GatorAZ]

Still not at your level, probably not even USC, but holiday and Welsh are both coming back so that's good. Everyone was reporting MJ Walker to UCLA tomorrow but I think that was based on erroneous reports Holiday was staying in the draft, doubt we get Walker too.

That puts UCLA back in as a tourney team and they won't need to rely on Ali/Hill as much now. Alford would've been on the hot seen had it been a down year.

 

[Russ Smith]

That puts UCLA back in as a tourney team and they won't need to rely on Ali/Hill as much now. Alford would've been on the hot seen had it been a down year.

We don't have the experience you guys do beyond Holiday and Welsh(and GG I guess) but if Jerry Meyer can be believed he's still saying Walker will announce for UCLA tomorrow.

So we'd certainly be competitive with SC, and a notch below UA due to lack of experience. If that happens that's 3 McD's AA's in the same class.

 

[GatorAZ]

We don't have the experience you guys do beyond Holiday and Welsh(and GG I guess) but if Jerry Meyer can be believed he's still saying Walker will announce for UCLA tomorrow.

So we'd certainly be competitive with SC, and a notch below UA due to lack of experience. If that happens that's 3 McD's AA's in the same class.

I'm a big fan of Wilkes and he'll give them a booth athletically. I'm not that high on Riley but playing with Welsh will take some of the responsibility off him to produce right away. Hands is flashy but shouldn't be near the floor general Lonzo is and Holiday seems like more of a combo guard.

The PAC looked like it was going to be down a few weeks ago but Arizona, UCLA and USC could've been ravaged worse by the NBA than they ended up being. Oregon got hit hard but they'll probably get Cam now. Should be very competitive at the top.

 

[Lefty]

Looks like the UofA will not travel to LA next year and the Washington schools will not be traveling to Arizona .

 

[GatorAZ]

Looks like the UofA will not travel to LA next year and the Washington schools will not be traveling to Arizona .

Is this a rotational thing or does the conference not care about marquee games?

Arizona will probably be favored in every game now.

 

[TJ]

Is this a rotational thing or does the conference not care about marquee games?

Arizona will probably be favored in every game now.

Yeah, rotational.

Huge we skip the LA trip (sucks for me b/c I cant go to any of the games)

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm a big fan of Wilkes and he'll give them a booth athletically. I'm not that high on Riley but playing with Welsh will take some of the responsibility off him to produce right away. Hands is flashy but shouldn't be near the floor general Lonzo is and Holiday seems like more of a combo guard.

The PAC looked like it was going to be down a few weeks ago but Arizona, UCLA and USC could've been ravaged worse by the NBA than they ended up being. Oregon got hit hard but they'll probably get Cam now. Should be very competitive at the top.

oregon has a chance at Johnson and they are also in there with Bowen too although it sounds like Texas may now lead.

I love Riley because he's the perfect guy he can't go pro early he's not tall enough, but he'll be a good not great college player. I see him like Devin Williams that played at West virginia. UCLA played against him in Australia last summer, not a great athlete but big strong guy.

Hands is not a PG either IMO, combo, replacing Lonzo is going to be tough but UCLA will eventually be MUCH better on defense with better athletes. I love Wilkes but not a one and done level guy, he is a true 3 and big enough to play the 4 too so he'll cause some matchup issues against smaller 3's.

I think it's UA, then USC and UCLA fighting for 2nd and we'll see on Oregon too many moving pieces to know yet how good they'll be.

 

[Russ Smith]

MJ Walker just picked Florida State. It wasn't as long as the Tony Parker one but maybe more ridiculous. He walked away from the table, then took off his suit with his back to the cameras so all you could see was a black t shirt. Then he faked turning around twice, then they did a count down, then he turned around covering the name. And finally he revealed Florida State.

According to Rothstein, UCLA is still in it for Bowen but I don't think that's really true.

 

[Russ Smith]

Bagley left Sierra Canyon, one rumor had him going to Mater Dei but latest rumor is he might go back to Arizona and go to Shadow Mountain.

Also lots of speculation he's going to bypass college altogether, that they decided not to reclassify because the easier move was one last year of HS, play pro 1 year in China or somewhere and then go to the draft.

 

[GatorAZ]

Bagley left Sierra Canyon, one rumor had him going to Mater Dei but latest rumor is he might go back to Arizona and go to Shadow Mountain.

Also lots of speculation he's going to bypass college altogether, that they decided not to reclassify because the easier move was one last year of HS, play pro 1 year in China or somewhere and then go to the draft.

This situation seems like a mess. He should've stayed at Corona and reclassified at some point.

He probably would've ended up at a Nike school like Kentucky. Seemed like AZ was never in front of that recruitment for whatever reason.

 

[overseascardfan]

Bagley left Sierra Canyon, one rumor had him going to Mater Dei but latest rumor is he might go back to Arizona and go to Shadow Mountain.

Also lots of speculation he's going to bypass college altogether, that they decided not to reclassify because the easier move was one last year of HS, play pro 1 year in China or somewhere and then go to the draft.

I don't know why kids do the overseas thing. They get paid but coaches aren't showcasing kids that are only there one year supplanting veterans on the team so these kids don't stand out that year. Look at Terrence Ferguson as the latest example, his stock didn't improve, he still looks like a late first round pick, maybe if he played college ball he could have had more exposure and could have improved his draft stock.

 

[Russ Smith]

This situation seems like a mess. He should've stayed at Corona and reclassified at some point.

He probably would've ended up at a Nike school like Kentucky. Seemed like AZ was never in front of that recruitment for whatever reason.

Some think if he goes back to Arizona it bodes well for UA in the recruitment but again, it sounds more and more like college is not his first priority.

My guess is the schools recruiting him will continue to do so but I fully expect UCLA to really go hard after Jordan Brown and I assume UA and others will too.

It's pretty interesting it's quite likely Bagley and Bol will be 1 and 2 in the next rankings for the class, but right now it looks like neither kid is going to play in college. Bol apparently even after a year at Mater Dei is going to have academic qualifying issues, and with Bagley it appears he could qualify but might just not want to spend 8 months in college.

Bagley says he wants to commit early, if you're UK that's fine but for UCLA or Arizona it's a dicey thing, take a commit from him, lose any chance at Jordan Brown and then wind up with Bagley skipping college.

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't know why kids do the overseas thing. They get paid but coaches aren't showcasing kids that are only there one year supplanting veterans on the team so these kids don't stand out that year. Look at Terrence Ferguson as the latest example, his stock didn't improve, he still looks like a late first round pick, maybe if he played college ball he could have had more exposure and could have improved his draft stock.

I think it depends on the kid. Ferguson had no choice he wasn't qualifying that's at least what everyone believes to be the case.

Bagley is so good he doesn't really need to be showcased. He missed essentially his entire soph season in HS after transferring and nobody cared, played his junior year and now if he transfers within California he'll sit until January, if he goes to Arizona he doesn't have to sit. But honestly he could not play at all his senior year and still be the best player in the class. A year in China isn't going to change that. As long as he doesn't get hurt, he's the first overall pick in his draft IMO.

I'm sure it's the dad. He's paid by Nike now, he figures I could send him to UK but that's just another elite kid at UK. UCLA isn't Nike and then he has to pretend to be a student for 8 months at either school. Or I can send him to China or wherever, get paid.

Sierra Canyon was sort of a disaster so I can't fault him for pulling him out of there. That team had too many egos and the coaches had issues too, one of which was Bagley's father.

 

[Russ Smith]

Todays hot rumor is Bagley will relocate to Seattle and play for Brandon Roy but at Garfield HS not Nathan Hale HS where Roy coached the Porter brothers last year. not clear to me who that rumor would benefit if true, Romar is not at UW he's at UA so if he's going to steer Bagley to UA, why put him in Seattle unless he thinks Roy is the perfect guy to coach him and his brother before college?

But it's looking more and more like Bagley's not staying in California.

 

[TJ]

Todays hot rumor is Bagley will relocate to Seattle and play for Brandon Roy but at Garfield HS not Nathan Hale HS where Roy coached the Porter brothers last year. not clear to me who that rumor would benefit if true, Romar is not at UW he's at UA so if he's going to steer Bagley to UA, why put him in Seattle unless he thinks Roy is the perfect guy to coach him and his brother before college?

But it's looking more and more like Bagley's not staying in California.

If Bagley wasn't so dominant, I'd say forget his ass. Christ, I hate this drama. Dude would've been fine staying at CDS.

 

[Russ Smith]

If Bagley wasn't so dominant, I'd say forget his ass. Christ, I hate this drama. Dude would've been fine staying at CDS.

I'm in the same boat with UCLA but as you said he's just so damn good you have to be willing to deal with the circus in case he actually does play 1 year in college.

I'd be awfully tempted if I were Alford to just go all in on Jordan Brown and try to get him to commit but he's in a real pickle. For months now the rumor has been in LA, Bagley is going to UCLA, he may even reclass to 17 and come this year. So if Alford winds up just saying forget it and goes after Brown, he'll never hear the end of it from UCLA fans for not waiting for Bagley. Especially if he doesn't actually get Brown.

So he's sort of stuck he HAS to wait on Bagley.

From what you read it seems to me if I had to put money on it I think 1 or both of Bol and Bagley will skip college.

 

[TJ]

I'm in the same boat with UCLA but as you said he's just so damn good you have to be willing to deal with the circus in case he actually does play 1 year in college.

I'd be awfully tempted if I were Alford to just go all in on Jordan Brown and try to get him to commit but he's in a real pickle. For months now the rumor has been in LA, Bagley is going to UCLA, he may even reclass to 17 and come this year. So if Alford winds up just saying forget it and goes after Brown, he'll never hear the end of it from UCLA fans for not waiting for Bagley. Especially if he doesn't actually get Brown.

So he's sort of stuck he HAS to wait on Bagley.

From what you read it seems to me if I had to put money on it I think 1 or both of Bol and Bagley will skip college.

From what I've heard, Bol Bol has awful grades and might not even qualify. Bagley's grades are fine, but he might just want to get paid now.


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