Arizona State Basketball Thread 2008-2009

[Mulli]

No thread?

3-1 in Pac 10?

Yay!!!

 

[Russ Smith]

All I can say is beat USC on Thursday. Love to see them get off 1-3.

 

[Gaddabout]

Everyone's banged up. ASU's limping into the heart of the conference season.

 

[TheKid_1]

down 11 with a minute left. HORRIBLE FREAKING LOSS! This is ridiculous.

 

[Mathew81]

Absolutely terrible game. Harden only had 4 and those were from the line. Kuksiks was the only one hitting shots and that was only in the 1st half.

 

[Russ Smith]

Absolutely terrible game. Harden only had 4 and those were from the line. Kuksiks was the only one hitting shots and that was only in the 1st half.

how in the hell did Hackett do that, were they playing a box and one or something or what? Harden took 3 shots in the first half.

I figure he'll be REALLY hyped up for UCLA on Saturday after that game.

 

[Gaddabout]

Harden is dinged up in three places. He's playing through some injuries and probably should have sat out that game.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Harden is dinged up in three places. He's playing through some injuries and probably should have sat out that game.

Most of the team is pretty dinged up. Why Abbott continues to play is beyond me. He clearly is struggling with his injured thumb. Why not sit him for a month so he's 100% when it actually matters?

 

[PoolBoy]

tough loss. BIG game against UCLA tomorrow. a win will makeup for everything.

 

[TheKid_1]

GREAT WIN!! I am stoked!

 

[HooverDam]

Great win by the Sun Devils today, their defense was insanely good for that 13 minute stretch to end the game, they suffocated UCLA. ASUs offense didn't look hot either (Rik went cold and I dont think they made a 3 in the 2nd half or OT), but a wins a win!

Also, whoever drew up UCLAs final 'play' out to be flogged. Whats the thinking there "well, we're down three, lets just pass it around like lethargic lumps and not even take a shot"

 

[Mulli]

quality win Baby!!!

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Ben Howland is the defensive version of Roy Williams (and formerly Lute Olson), both essentially ignore the other side of the ball and always think their strength can save them in the end. Once UCLA had the lead Howland tried to take the air out of the ball thinking his defense would come to the rescue which of course it did not. I've seen UCLA's set offense and passing the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds it is not.

It'll be another disappointing exit this March for the Bruins before they rebuild in 2009-2010 (Collison, Aboya, Shipp, and probably Holiday are gone). You need to be able to put the ball in the hoop to run the table no matter how good you are defensively and Howland still can't get his guys to do it at a consistent level.

Nice W for ASU, I wish Arizona played half as hard.

 

[HooverDam]

^Indeed Howlands prevent offense was bizarre. UCLA obviously has better athleticism and talent than ASU, so why go to a Princeton-ish take the air out of the ball type strategy? When they got up by 11 on ASU they should've put the petal to the metal but instead they just tried to run down the clock.

Their strategy to be physical with ASU always may have been flawed. Obviously they wanted to take Harden away (and they did a good job for most of the game) and force turnovers from ASUs less than great PGs, but ASU being in the penalty so early is what kept them alive even though they were something like 3-17 from 3.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Look no further than who has played ASU best this season - Baylor and Cal, two high-octane teams that come at you in waves. ASU is not very athletic outside of Harden and has almost no bench, like the two teams above the smart way to attack the Devils is playing the game at a fast pace to utilize your athletic advantage and wear out the limited ASU depth.

 

[HooverDam]

^Im not sure Baylor or Cals athleticism or speed was really the key to those games. I think the key was they had 3 or 4 guys who could really shoot the 3 (even from NBA range plus), and rotated the ball super quickly. It seems to me if you can get the ball moving quicker than ASUs zone, and then drain 3's, thats ASUs major weakness.

 

[Ryanwb]

Look no further than who has played ASU best this season - Baylor and Cal, two high-octane teams that come at you in waves. ASU is not very athletic outside of Harden and has almost no bench, like the two teams above the smart way to attack the Devils is playing the game at a fast pace to utilize your athletic advantage and wear out the limited ASU depth.

Yes, the team has some galoopas who can't get up and down the court. I love Pendergraph but he can't create shots and he has zero inside moves. Ty Abbott shows some flashes

 

[Ryanwb]

^Im not sure Baylor or Cals athleticism or speed was really the key to those games. I think the key was they had 3 or 4 guys who could really shoot the 3 (even from NBA range plus), and rotated the ball super quickly. It seems to me if you can get the ball moving quicker than ASUs zone, and then drain 3's, thats ASUs major weakness.

Honestly, ASU has a huge problem with transition defense. They are effective when they can set up their defense but they do get beat by fast players and can't keep up when the game speeds up. The Baylor game was a perfect example, they broke down in the second half and got beat because of it

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

We're probably talking about the same thing and I didn't see the Cal game but Baylor was effective here and there by using their speed to push the ball and get good shots before ASU could establish their zone. I imagine such was the case against Cal as well considering how Monty runs his system.

And once in the halfcourt, teams that shoot the 3 well will always be a thorn in the side of a zone defense. If you have an elite full court guard (Randle, Jarrells) that can get past a defender it spells big trouble most of the time.

 

[PoolBoy]

huge win today!

 

[ajcardfan]

Look no further than who has played ASU best this season - Baylor and Cal, two high-octane teams that come at you in waves. ASU is not very athletic outside of Harden and has almost no bench, like the two teams above the smart way to attack the Devils is playing the game at a fast pace to utilize your athletic advantage and wear out the limited ASU depth.

Well, it could be worse. We could have UofA's team.

 

[Mathew81]

Great win to get a split in LA (not the split I was imagining). What the hell was up with the CBS announcer calling Kuksiks "Ruksiks" all game long?

 

[HooverDam]

Great win to get a split in LA (not the split I was imagining). What the hell was up with the CBS announcer calling Kuksiks "Ruksiks" all game long?

It was extra annoying because his partner even corrected him!

 

[PoolBoy]

Well, it could be worse. We could have UofA's team.

or simply, we could have jamelle horne. he fouled in a tie game AGAIN. unreal!

 

[FArting]

ASU plays U of A today at 7:30pm on FSN AZ.

Go Devils