Arizona defeats ASU

[General Chaos]

80-69

Wildcats used their size to dominate the game in the paint. Derrick Williams was lights out as usual. Arizona vs. Washington Thursday night will be a huge game!

Go Cats!!!!

 

[Lefty]

Nice win by the Cats. 4-1 start is not bad but the next two games in Washington are huge. Derrick Williams is playing unbelievably.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

The one thing to me that is very exciting is the future for this program. You watch this year and lets be candid - there is no second player after Williams. Williams is spectacular but from game to game he needs a secondary player and eventually when we get beat, it will be for that reason.

Saying that this team plays GREAT man to man defense and rebounds well. They play hard most of the time and they have a up and down offense. Once they get the players this is going to be a multiple Final Four (hopefully National Championship) type team.

If Williams stays with Turner and Johnson coming, it could be as soon as next year.

With all that has gone wrong in Sports for the AZ fan over the past year, I can at least say this. Thank God for Sean Miller.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

As if now Williams is planning on coming back. The NBA being in lockout certainly would help.

And yeah, adding the incoming class to everyone else would be a top 10 team.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Not much to separate the teams other than Williams. Not sure what to think about Williams, he puts up good numbers, and looks good, but if he's only 6'7, maybe his ceiling is Blair/Hayes/Bass? I'd be interested to see how he does against a front line other than ASU's pathetic crew.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

He rolled up the Morris twins at Kansas. Won Pac-10 Freshman of the Year last season and will finish at worst second in the Conference POY race this year. You beat up on more than ASU's horrid frontcourt players to belong in those conversations.

Considering Miller beat Sendek head to head in the Williams recruiting battle and Arizona is 15-3 and ASU is 9-8 I'd say it's a bit deeper than the the fortuitous circumstances that helped us get Derrick Williams separating the two teams. Arizona is younger, more talented, recruits better, and supports the program better than ASU and that margin only increases with our incoming 2011 class.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

He rolled up the Morris twins at Kansas. Won Pac-10 Freshman of the Year last season and will finish at worst second in the Conference POY race this year. You beat up on more than ASU's horrid frontcourt players to belong in those conversations.

Considering Miller beat Sendek head to head in the Williams recruiting battle and Arizona is 15-3 and ASU is 9-8 I'd say it's a bit deeper than the the fortuitous circumstances that helped us get Derrick Williams separating the two teams. Arizona is younger, more talented, recruits better, and supports the program better than ASU and that margin only increases with our incoming 2011 class.

Oh, I'm well aware of the fact that U of A's long term prospects are brighter than that of ASU. That being said, the talent difference between the two teams is minimal outside of Williams. Nobody else on U of A's squad really impressed me that much. Maybe the touted 11 class will really put U of A back on the map, but then again, some of these guys could be misses as well. (See Mustafa Shakur, more recently Keala King, allegedly the best player in California)

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Oh, I'm well aware of the fact that U of A's long term prospects are brighter than that of ASU. That being said, the talent difference between the two teams is minimal outside of Williams. Nobody else on U of A's squad really impressed me that much. Maybe the touted 11 class will really put U of A back on the map, but then again, some of these guys could be misses as well. (See Mustafa Shakur, more recently Keala King, allegedly the best player in California)

Few things...

I think Parrom and Solo Hill are borderline NBA players when all is said and done especially KP. Although you could say the same for Lockett and Felix I guess. I think Momo (who's dead average) is better than McMillan though and Arizona's bench is much, much superior.

Whoever rated Keala King as the best HS player in California is borderline nuts, King was the third best player on his own high school team.

Shakur really wasn't horrid in retrospect. He just appeared so because he was so poorly rated out of high school, had the unfortunate timing of folllowing Gardner/Terry/Bibby/Stoudamire/Geary/Kerr, and and came along when Lute had begun to lose it and Howland picked it up. His career would be looked at much differently had he gone to say ASU where his career numbers are much superior to those of say a Derek Glasser. Shakur was mediocre. Bejerano and Keala are terrible.

 

[Russ Smith]

Not much to separate the teams other than Williams. Not sure what to think about Williams, he puts up good numbers, and looks good, but if he's only 6'7, maybe his ceiling is Blair/Hayes/Bass? I'd be interested to see how he does against a front line other than ASU's pathetic crew.

All true and that's precisely why Williams was rated behind guys like Reeves Nelson, Brendan Lane, Mike Moser et al and yet he's turned out to be a vastly better player than any of them. Nelson is the only one even close and it's not very close, Nelson doesn't play defense, Williams does.

He plays bigger than he is, he has long arms, good hops, gets off his feet extremely quickly, can rejump without gathering himself, has great balance and an uncanny knack for finishing through contact.

I think he has a chance to be a similar player to Paul Millsap who was also thought to be too small. H'es one of those kids like Arron Afflalo was that the more people tell him what he can't do, the harder he works to prove them wrong. Williams improvement year over year has been astounding, he's much bigger and stronger now than when he arrived at UA, he didn't have that outside shot in HS.

It would be great for the Pac 10 if he came back, I think the lockout is the main question there are a lot of kids like him and Honeycutt who would do themselves a big favor coming back but when they hear first round draft pick it's tough to turn that down.

If he does go pro at least UA is getting his best effort night in night out, I can't say the same for UCLA with Honeycutt he seems to be auditioning for scouts.

The non UCLA players in the Pac 10 I really like are guys like Williams, Vucevic at USC and Gutierrez at Cal, they're all kids who are much better than people said they would be because they work hard.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

I wouldnt say Williams plays defense, because hes terrible at it. However, he does put in some effort on that end which is more than you can say about some all conference types around the nation.

In my opinion, the lockout could help Williams as much as it could hinder him. Those around the program understand Williams loves college and is having a great time, not to mention the potential we have next year.

However, while the lockout could certainly jeopardize anyone's plans to go pro this year, it also can improve their draft stock. The question these kids need to ask themselves is this. Would you risk being locked out for half the season (meaning no pay check) or just stay in school for another year, but enter in a much stronger draft class the next summer?

I would put my money on Williams coming back, but it sure would be hard to turn down being a top 10 pick (assuming a lot of guys stick around and avoid the lockout).

 

[Arizona's Finest]

FWIW Derrick had a quote thiws past weekend speaking about Josiah Turner as the "missing piece". Alot could change between now and May but I think if you made him make a decision now, hes staying.

If Williams comes back things will be back to status quo in Tucson.