Arizona Hoops 2023-2024 - Getting Up from the Mat After Princeton

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Russ Smith]

Yeah I'm sure the UA sites get it too but Mick has been raving about UA and he loves KJ Lewis, called him a future 10 year pro. Love is a better player now but what people love about Lewis is he's such a great rebounder for his size. He was IMO the guy who broke the game open last night when he came in and hit a couple of 3's. Unless he's quite a bit smaller than listed I think he has a nice NBA future

 

[GatorAZ]

Probably not that hot yet. There's a bunch of Louisville rumors but I'm not buying those his daughter loves LA he seems to as well.

This year basically was the team is so young and when they were recruiting they had a terrible NIL, as Jefferson said last night, so they just kept losing kids they thought they had. They had Dixon Waters verbally committed but SDSU promised him a starting spot, Mick wouldn't because it would have upped his NIL. They had Cam Spencer literally booked on a flight to LA to commit and then he called and said I have a big NIL from UCONN and didn't get on the flight. That's why he went all in the Euros he didn't have to compete with other schools in a bidding war. The problem is basically all the Euros were overrated. Mick said 2 days ago that all the Euros that came in were completely shocked at how physical college ball is and it's been a huge adjustment. If that's 1-2 guys it's manageable, but they were counting on Berke, Mara, Vide and Fibleuil to all be major rotation guys if not some of them starters, none of them panned out.

Have to agree with Mick, very impressive UA team, best rotation of guards they've had in ages. Johnson has been a huge pickup he covers lots of the things Ballo sometimes doesn't do. The big surprise to me this year and kudos to the staff, was how well Caleb Love fit. I knew he could play, he killed UCLA 2 years ago, but he was such a selfish me first guy at UNC I didn't see this year happening. He's the POY in the conference and it was a huge risk that paid off to take him

Cronin did a hell of a job developing the players he inherited but it’s hard to imagine their current roster besides Bona and Andrews buying into his system. Guys like Jaquez and Campbell were dogs. Looking at their incoming class for 24’ makes it seem like NIL is a problem.

 

[Russ Smith]

Cronin did a hell of a job developing the players he inherited but it’s hard to imagine their current roster besides Bona and Andrews buying into his system. Guys like Jaquez and Campbell were dogs. Looking at their incoming class for 24’ makes it seem like NIL is a problem.

From what we're told it sounds like Fibleuil the French kid and Mara have the biggest NIL's. Fibleuil they had to outbid Gonzaga and the G League. Mara was to get him to not stay in Spain. It's much better but when the bulk of the incoming recruits were being recruited, UCLA had a bad NIL situation.

My guess is you're going to see big turnover on the roster with more NIL they will be active in the transfer portal and get some of them this year. They were way behind the curve on NIL ironically it was Duke trying to steal Bona, and then Mara with NIL that I think woke UCLA up hey we have to allow our boosters to do this Men Of Westwood collective or we're going to lose all our players.

Also as they said on the telecast there's talk that UCLA and UA will try and schedule games in the future.

 

[Ronin]

Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love named to Wooden Award ballot

Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love was one of 15 players named to the Wooden Award National Ballot on Saturday.

arizonasports.com

 

[Russ Smith]

I apologize for jinxing you guys

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Loved this team early in season, but it’s giving me flashbacks to all of the recent early out squads. Tommy gonna have to prove to me that he’s more than a regular season record padder.

 

[gimpy]

Aaahhh! What happened to the U?
, go (<- is this a UA Wildcat?)

 

[TJ]

This team pisses me off. Normally, the Thursday or Friday of the first round I’m chill, but even a 15-seed has me worried

 

[Chaplin]

Current draw on ESPN has us as #2 in the West. Even with Tenessee at #1, I like the draw there.

 

[TJ]

We’re not getting out of the first weekend. This team has no sense of urgency and is completely clueless in the face of adversity

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We’re not getting out of the first weekend. This team has no sense of urgency and is completely clueless in the face of adversity

Agreed pretender.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Don't get your hopes up. The first weekend frightens me. They haven't convinced me that they can consistently stay engaged in game.

Funny note: Arizona hasn't beaten a tournament team in 2024

Man… is that note true? I thought they had some really good non-conference Ws. Did those teams we beat just end up also-rans?

Appreciate the response tho. Better to have no expectations with any Arizona sports team at this point and be pleasantly surprised then angry as usual.

 

[Cheesebeef]

So, what’s missing here? Dynamic PG play? That was always the fuel that fired great Zona clubs.

 

[TJ]

So, what’s missing here? Dynamic PG play? That was always the fuel that fired great Zona clubs.

If you'd ask me what one thing we could change that would improve this team's chances of a Final Four, this is what I would say. The point guard play has been maddening all season. Kylan Boswell started off the year great, especially against Duke, and then he turned into a turtle for about a month until Tommy ripped into him against Washington. When Boz misses his first shot of the game, you know it's gonna be a long night. His confidence and focus have waned big time all season. He either looks like he's unsure of himself, or he looks disinterested. I've said for about a month now that Jayden Bradley should be starting in place of Boswell. While not as offensively dynamic, he is worlds better on defense, a mature leader, and a sneaky good penetrator. I hope Bradley is our starter next season with a solid back up PG. I honestly don't want Boswell here anymore. There are also some off-the-court things that I've heard that give me pause about his long-term viability as our point guard.

There are other things that I'd change like Pelle's consistency, Krivas's lack of aggressiveness and KJ Lewis fouling like Mark West, but steady point guard play is paramount.

 

[Chaplin]

Man… is that note true? I thought they had some really good non-conference Ws. Did those teams we beat just end up also-rans?

Appreciate the response tho. Better to have no expectations with any Arizona sports team at this point and be pleasantly surprised then angry as usual.

He was talking about 2024 only, not the whole season, which includes 2023.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

He was talking about 2024 only, not the whole season, which includes 2023.

Yeah that’s a dumb stat.

The key thing as if with any Arizona sports team is to keep expectations insanely low and if anything good happens then it’s all gravy.

 

[GatorAZ]

Sweet 16 or bust

 

[Dback Jon]

At least you don’t have to worry about Princeton this year

 

[Carolinacacti]

This team go as far as Love takes it. Might not be far

 

[TJ]

Holy crap that draw is incredible. It’s a shame we’re playing like dog crap

 

[Chaplin]

Holy crap that draw is incredible. It’s a shame we’re playing like dog crap

Yep that team that played Duke early could steamroll through that bracket.

 

[Dback Jon]

Arizona got handed a great draw. By far the weakest region top to bottom.

Absolutely no reason not to make at least the Elite 8