Bubble watch

[Gaddabout]

So Lute Olson shows up for senior day and hugs all the players then goes back to his office and watches the game on TV while his door has posted guards. Soon-to-be ex-wife Christine sits in her courtside seats. CBS reports O'Neill and Olson are at odds and O'Neill won't return as an assistant next year if Olson returns as head coach.

I would think UA fans would want to scratch the post-season and do whatever they can to pry O'Neill out of basketball office. After 20 years of pristine stability, this is not how you want your HOF coach to go out.

 

[green machine]

So Lute Olson shows up for senior day and hugs all the players then goes back to his office and watches the game on TV while his door has posted guards. Soon-to-be ex-wife Christine sits in her courtside seats. CBS reports O'Neill and Olson are at odds and O'Neill won't return as an assistant next year if Olson returns as head coach.

I would think UA fans would want to scratch the post-season and do whatever they can to pry O'Neill out of basketball office. After 20 years of pristine stability, this is not how you want your HOF coach to go out.

I wouldn't mind if both were gone and a fresh, new face was brought in next year. I seriously doubt Lute would have done any better with this group of players.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Starting to sweat, yet Mao?

Actually whether or not this team accomplishes a marginal feat like getting the opportunity to get bounced in the 1st or 2nd round of the Tournament is pretty far down the list of my concerns involving UA Sports at the moment (we'll let you ASU fans get giddy over such trivial accomplishments). Things that will happen in the next few months will seriously affect not only the hoops program but also the rest of the athletic department for the foreseeable future. It's those decisions that have me sweating and seriously considering never investing a dime of my money or an ounce of my energy into my alma mater for quite a long time.

 

[AsUdUdE]

Actually whether or not this team accomplishes a marginal feat like getting the opportunity to get bounced in the 1st or 2nd round of the Tournament is pretty far down the list of my concerns involving UA Sports at the moment (we'll let you ASU fans get giddy over such trivial accomplishments). Things that will happen in the next few months will seriously affect not only the hoops program but also the rest of the athletic department for the foreseeable future. It's those decisions that have me sweating and seriously considering never investing a dime of my money or an ounce of my energy into my alma mater for quite a long time.

Bigger conerns huh...

Kind of like UofA actually playing in a College Football Bowl game... When was the last time they were able toplay in a a bowl

2002- 4-8
2003- 2-10
2004- 3-8
2005- 3-8
2006- 6-6
2007- 5-7

If your College BAsketball program doesn't even make it into the NCAA Tournament... thats got to be depressing.....

To me, if I was a UofA fan, I would be worrying about basketball, because that is the ONLY relevant thing in Tucson....

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Bigger conerns huh...

Kind of like UofA actually playing in a College Football Bowl game... When was the last time they were able toplay in a a bowl

2002- 4-8
2003- 2-10
2004- 3-8
2005- 3-8
2006- 6-6
2007- 5-7

If your College BAsketball program doesn't even make it into the NCAA Tournament... thats got to be depressing.....

To me, if I was a UofA fan, I would be worrying about basketball, because that is the ONLY relevant thing in Tucson....

Your reading comprehension is about par for the course for your college of choice. Decisions made in the next couple months will affect the next decade of UA Basketball and Football. Ten years of success or failure seriously outweighs whether or not this team makes the Tournament. Not to mention Arizona Basketball is judged by championships so any year we do not compete for one is considered down whether we get to the Dance or not. Therefore, my focus is on those questions not whether or not we're some #1 seed's second round fodder.

And for the record, ASU isn't relevant in basketball or football even with your new hires pretty much maxing out their potential this year.

 

[AsUdUdE]

Your reading comprehension is about par for the course for your college of choice. Decisions made in the next couple months will affect the next decade of UA Basketball and Football. Ten years of success or failure seriously outweighs whether or not this team makes the Tournament. Not to mention Arizona Basketball is judged by championships so any year we do not compete for one is considered down whether we get to the Dance or not. Therefore, my focus is on those questions not whether or not we're some #1 seed's second round fodder.

And for the record, ASU isn't relevant in basketball or football even with your new hires pretty much maxing out their potential this year.

Your just bitter that ASU is better in EVERY SPORT ... except Women's Softball, I hear you are pretty high on them... good for you...

And as for your argument that your "focus" and judgement is based on Arizona winning Championships... exactly how many championships has UofA won, in their HISTORY? Correct me if I am wrong, but I counted 1, in the past 75 years...

So by YOUR OWN STANDARDS, the Arizona basketball program has been a HUGE disappointment.....

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

So conference championships don't count?

I could care less about ASU, their succes or failure has nothing to do with Arizona. I'm more worried about Livengood winning the power struggle that's currently happening in the UA athletic department and ensuring five more years of the KO/Stoops eras and another five more years thereafter of rebuilding. In which case my money and time would be diverted elsewhere.

 

[AsUdUdE]

So conference championships don't count?

I could care less about ASU, their succes or failure has nothing to do with Arizona. I'm more worried about Livengood winning the power struggle that's currently happening in the UA athletic department and ensuring five more years of the KO/Stoops eras and another five more years thereafter of rebuilding. In which case my money and time would be diverted elsewhere.

Gotcha.. Conference Championships do count... as do NIT appearnces as well, which you may be able to add to your resume next month as well...

 

[FArting]

Lunardi is going to be on Gambo and Ash in a couple of minutes.

 

[Lefty]

Your just bitter that ASU is better in EVERY SPORT ... except Women's Softball, I hear you are pretty high on them... good for you...

And as for your argument that your "focus" and judgement is based on Arizona winning Championships... exactly how many championships has UofA won, in their HISTORY? Correct me if I am wrong, but I counted 1, in the past 75 years...

So by YOUR OWN STANDARDS, the Arizona basketball program has been a HUGE disappointment.....

That's right, the UofA has one national title and ASU has zero in the major sports.

By the way, this is a UofA forum so I do not even know why you even come over here to post. ASU has their own forum.

 

[AsUdUdE]

That's right, the UofA has one national title and ASU has zero in the major sports.

By the way, this is a UofA forum so I do not even know why you even come over here to post. ASU has their own forum.

ok first... good point on the NC.... HOWEVER, if you include Baseball (widely considered a major sport), then ASU holds the advantage 5-4 for "major" national Titles ...

And I originally posted, what one could say was a pro-UofA comment on how IMO, UofA needs to win just 2 of their last 4 games to assure themselves of a spot..

Then MaoTosi made yet another Mao-type comment, so I responded..

Outside of Mao, I think there are some very good posts with good insight by many UofA fans, that I respect. For example you and ArizonasFinest....

But I apologize if I came off a bit brash and pompous...

 

[Renz]

Lunardi is going to be on Gambo and Ash in a couple of minutes.

What did he say? Lunardi was on The Mike Tirico Show today, but he never mentioned UofA.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

ok first... good point on the NC.... HOWEVER, if you include Baseball (widely considered a major sport), then ASU holds the advantage 5-4 for "major" national Titles ...

And I originally posted, what one could say was a pro-UofA comment on how IMO, UofA needs to win just 2 of their last 4 games to assure themselves of a spot..

Then MaoTosi made yet another Mao-type comment, so I responded..

Outside of Mao, I think there are some very good posts with good insight by many UofA fans, that I respect. For example you and ArizonasFinest....

But I apologize if I came off a bit brash and pompous...

Um, no.

1. Skkorp was the first Sun Devil to come to this thread to mouth off.

2. Then you came in and said some pretty generic stuff that anyone who follows college hoops already knows.

3. That was followed by another Sun Devil stirring the pot with me personally to which I responded.

4. Then you chimed in with some football joke that is a few months too late or early.

 

[AsUdUdE]

Um, no.

1. Skkorp was the first Sun Devil to come to this thread to mouth off.

2. Then you came in and said some pretty generic stuff that anyone who follows college hoops already knows.

3. That was followed by another Sun Devil stirring the pot with me personally to which I responded.

4. Then you chimed in with some football joke that is a few months too late or early.

... its NEVER too early for UofA football jokes....

 

[Skkorpion]

So Lute Olson shows up for senior day and hugs all the players then goes back to his office and watches the game on TV while his door has posted guards. Soon-to-be ex-wife Christine sits in her courtside seats. CBS reports O'Neill and Olson are at odds and O'Neill won't return as an assistant next year if Olson returns as head coach.

I would think UA fans would want to scratch the post-season and do whatever they can to pry O'Neill out of basketball office. After 20 years of pristine stability, this is not how you want your HOF coach to go out.

That situation is a very strange one. In fact, the whole thing has been a total mess for a while and just keeps getting more weird.

If Bayless is gone next year and O'Neill is gone too, how many recruits will decommit and how many new ones will come to play for a guy in his 70s, who threw his chosen successor and star recruiter under the bus?

Does UA even have an athletic director? Or is he on taxpayer supported unpaid leave too?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

That situation is a very strange one. In fact, the whole thing has been a total mess for a while and just keeps getting more weird.

If Bayless is gone next year and O'Neill is gone too, how many recruits will decommit and how many new ones will come to play for a guy in his 70s, who threw his chosen successor and star recruiter under the bus?

Does UA even have an athletic director? Or is he on taxpayer supported unpaid leave too?

It's kind of funny how you pretend to know what's going on.

The only things you have right in this post is UA's lack of an athletic director and the situation being a mess. Everything else is about 100% incorrect.

 

[Lefty]

That situation is a very strange one. In fact, the whole thing has been a total mess for a while and just keeps getting more weird.

If Bayless is gone next year and O'Neill is gone too, how many recruits will decommit and how many new ones will come to play for a guy in his 70s, who threw his chosen successor and star recruiter under the bus?

Does UA even have an athletic director? Or is he on taxpayer supported unpaid leave too?

The players from #2 recruiting class for next year have signed their LOI's and will be here. They signed thinking Lute would be the coach. Bayless is gone but I think Chase will be back, he is very close with Lute.

I think the worst case scenario for the Cats is for O'Neil to replace Lute. There will be many coaches who would love the opportunity to coach the UofA. I still hope they could get Mark Few to be the next coach.

I will say this has got to be the toughest year for UofA fans. From Lute taking his leave of absence to Bayless' injury to Wise's injury. The good news is that Nic and Breilmeir might play this week in Oregon.

Finally, Lunardi is going to be on Tucson radio in the next few minutes. I'll post what he says. I do know he has the Cats a #9 seed in his latest bracketology.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Ok everyone back to common sense 101...

Just imagine what would happen if Lute sat anywhere in public view let alone court side at McKale. He has been staying out of the spotlight and living behind the scenes all year long, so why would that change for UA's biggest game of the year?

Also, keep in mind every recruit but Withey committed to Lute, not KO. Withey came onboard late, but he knows Lute extremely well. In fact all of the guys said they would be ok playing for KO, not the other way around.

Livingood needs to be booted out of Tucson, I am just sad that if it happens this year it took something like this to get him out...

Either way UA makes the tournament with a win @ OSU, in fact they probably get to play OSU twice in the next 3 games. None of that really matters, because they are thin with Wise anyway. Even if they win a game or two it only takes 5 fouls to one player to disrupt this team, you could even make the case for 4 fouls.

 

[Lefty]

Lunardi says he has the Cats #9 seed right now. He says their quality loses(UCLA, Kansas and Memphis) will come into play. He also said the committee will look at the injuries to Bayless and Wise. The Cats are 14-4 with Bayless and Wise healthy.

He mentioned they will need to get two more wins, which includes the Pac-10tournament. He said the UofA's strength of schedule plays a big factor, which favors them.

As for the Pac-10, he thinks they should get six teams in. He thinks ASU needs to win one of the their next two games because if they get swept by the Oregon schools, they will be in trouble due to their weak strength of schedule.

 

[AsUdUdE]

Stupid Wildcats.. the one game I actually want them to do well, they suck...

I swear if the Cats get in over ASU when ASU finished 5th in the PAC-10, swept UofA, and have a better overall record... I am going to be PISSED

Furthermore... UofA is 0-4 verses ASU and Oregon.. the two teams that finished ahead of them in the Standings, and basically 3 teams fighting for two spots....

UofA belongs in the NIT, PERIOD...

 

[General Chaos]

Stupid Wildcats.. the one game I actually want them to do well, they suck...

I swear if the Cats get in over ASU when ASU finished 5th in the PAC-10, swept UofA, and have a better overall record... I am going to be PISSED

Furthermore... UofA is 0-4 verses ASU and Oregon.. the two teams that finished ahead of them in the Standings, and basically 3 teams fighting for two spots....

UofA belongs in the NIT, PERIOD...

Don't even talk about overall record. 6 of the U of A's 13 losses are to current top 10 teams.

 

[Renz]

This is a pretty good summation of UofA, UO & ASU going into the conference tourney, IMO:

Work left to do:

Arizona [17-12 (8-9), RPI: 26, SOS: 2] The Wildcats went 3-7 down the stretch of Pac-10 play to finish under .500, which is not a great place to be. They got Nic Wise back this week, but still couldn't handle Oregon on the road. The Cats went 0-6 against the RPI Top 25 but were 10-5 against the rest of the Top 100, which is a huge number of games and wins in that category. Assuming they beat the Beavers in the 7-10 game in the Pac-10 tourney, they probably will be fine, even at 8-10, although beating Stanford would really make things a lot easier on everyone. They also should get some consideration for injuries. Nonetheless, let's drop them down a level until things clarify themselves. Their best nonconference win looked like it was over Texas A&M, but that is looking dicier by the day. It might be better to focus on the road wins at UNLV and Houston.

Oregon [17-12 (8-9), RPI: 57, SOS: 23] The Ducks did what they needed to do, sweeping the Arizona schools to get to .500 in the league and finish ahead of Arizona after sweeping the Wildcats. The Ducks remain 1-7 against the top four teams in the league, which isn't a great indicator of any upside, but the profile is improving. They'll get another chance at an "up" win in league play against Washington State in the Pac-10 quarters. Oregon needs to win that game. Kansas State and Utah were their best nonconference wins, but the Ducks also lost at Saint Mary's, Nebraska and Oakland.

Arizona State [18-11 (8-9), RPI: 71, SOS: 63] The Sun Devils missed a chance to KO Oregon, but got the back end of the trip against the bottom-feeding Beavers to finish at .500 in league play. They have several very good wins over Xavier, Stanford, USC and a sweep of Arizona, but the RPI/SOS combo suggests that the Sun Devils need a quarterfinal win over USC in the Pac-10 tourney to feel good about their chances.

 

[Lefty]

Stupid Wildcats.. the one game I actually want them to do well, they suck...

I swear if the Cats get in over ASU when ASU finished 5th in the PAC-10, swept UofA, and have a better overall record... I am going to be PISSED

Furthermore... UofA is 0-4 verses ASU and Oregon.. the two teams that finished ahead of them in the Standings, and basically 3 teams fighting for two spots....

UofA belongs in the NIT, PERIOD...

If that happens the only people the Sum Devils can blame is themselves. Every year they schedule cupcakes for their non-conference games. Maybe go out and play a Kansas, Texas or North Carolina or two on the road. Even if you lose, it's looks better than beating South Utah State at home by 20.

Anyone who has followed college baskeball knows it's all about RPI and SOS. Just look back a few years ago with Georgia. They played the hardest schedule but loss 14 games. They still made the tournament.

If ASU beats USC then they will not have to worry.

 

[AsUdUdE]

If that happens the only people the Sum Devils can blame is themselves. Every year they schedule cupcakes for their non-conference games. Maybe go out and play a Kansas, Texas or North Carolina or two on the road. Even if you lose, it's looks better than beating South Utah State at home by 20.

Anyone who has followed college baskeball knows it's all about RPI and SOS. Just look back a few years ago with Georgia. They played the hardest schedule but loss 14 games. They still made the tournament.

If ASU beats USC then they will not have to worry.

Then will someone PLEASE EXPLAIN how Kentucky loses by 41 points and RISES TWO SPOTS.... While Arizona State Wins by 13 on the road and drops 3 spots...

How the HELL does that work? How does a team lose by 41 points, and the system says "they are a better team today than they were yesterday"

I suppose the same people that support the RPI support the BCS, but that doesn't make it make any more sense.....

Does someone have a legit explaination for this?

 

[Lefty]

Then will someone PLEASE EXPLAIN how Kentucky loses by 41 points and RISES TWO SPOTS.... While Arizona State Wins by 13 on the road and drops 3 spots...

How the HELL does that work? How does a team lose by 41 points, and the system says "they are a better team today than they were yesterday"

I suppose the same people that support the RPI support the BCS, but that doesn't make it make any more sense.....

Does someone have a legit explaination for this?

The Cats beat Oregon State by 40 and dropped in the RPI. When you play a bad team, your RPI drops, even if you win. If you play a team like Duke and lose, your RPI will go up. Playing a bunch of cupcakes does not benefit a team.