U Of A!!!

[Black Jesus]

The cats are not playing to their potential by any means, but it was big to see them win at ASU today... How about Budinger? Did anyone see that Dunk from the inbound? His head might have been above the rim...

 

[Lefty]

The cats are not playing to their potential by any means, but it was big to see them win at ASU today... How about Budinger? Did anyone see that Dunk from the inbound? His head might have been above the rim...

Chase will be a top-10 pick in the 2008 draft. He has already said he will be back next year. The guy has a 42 inch vertical.

 

[TJ]

Only beating ASU by 3 is a major disappointment. I ought to change my Avatar

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I'm not going to celebrate too much over a W against a insignificant program like Arizona State but there are a couple positives. The win ensured our 23rd consecutive tournament (which we probably won't do much in) and it shuts up the delusionists in Tempe that for some reason had gotten cocky despite a 1-14 conference record.

 

[Black Jesus]

the problem is Ivan Radenovic... He has a great jumper and has good size, but he has trouble finishing in the post and if he doesnt catch and shoot, he usually turns it over or makes a bad decision... Chase's vertical has been measured as high as 47 at different points of his high school. But he had some rebounds today that were very impressive. U of A should have won by 20 but, with the slow it down game that ASU plays, U of A struggled a bit at certain points. We should do okay in the Tourney, i am predicting sweet 16.

 

[Espo]

Only beating ASU by 3 is a major disappointment. I ought to change my Avatar

Amen. The only acceptable thing for the UofA program is a national championship caliber team. You wouldn't hear Duke or UNC fans celebrating about beating a team who is 1-15 in their conference.

 

[HooverDam]

If I'm a UA fan, I'd also be disappointed that repeated top recruiting classes can only win against ASU by 3. The UA players seemed to play with very little heart (or perhaps theirs just looked small compared to ASUs), though this could've been because they probably (rightly) felt like they could flip a switch and get the win when they needed to.

Also, Redenovich is terrible. He looks so damned lost on the court, every time he got the ball he just seemed scared and confused. He had one or two nice plays, but mostly he seems lost. I haven't watched UA much this season, is that common for him, or does he perhaps just have a confused looking face?

 

[Russ Smith]

the problem is Ivan Radenovic... He has a great jumper and has good size, but he has trouble finishing in the post and if he doesnt catch and shoot, he usually turns it over or makes a bad decision... Chase's vertical has been measured as high as 47 at different points of his high school. But he had some rebounds today that were very impressive. U of A should have won by 20 but, with the slow it down game that ASU plays, U of A struggled a bit at certain points. We should do okay in the Tourney, i am predicting sweet 16.

I've never read 47 but I wouldn't doubt it, he can really get up. The one problem Chase has is he's a 2 foot jumper so he needs to gather himself, but once he does, he sure can jump.

If he learns to play even average defense he'll be a great player. The other thing is he needs to work on his range, right now he's shooting 37% on 3's which isn't bad at all but with his stroke he really should be better, and he seems to always miss short in the games I see.

 

[Trey]

The win ensured our 23rd consecutive tournament (which we probably won't do much in) and it shuts up the delusionists in Tempe that for some reason had gotten cocky despite a 1-14 conference record.

Don't know any ASU fans that thought they would win, much less any that got cocky. But at least that didn't stop you from making words up out of thin air.

 

[Mulli]

Don't know any ASU fans that thought they would win, much less any that got cocky. But at least that didn't stop you from making words up out of thin air.

Well, he did make up a Mao Tosi Fan Club.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

If he learns to play even average defense he'll be a great player. The other thing is he needs to work on his range, right now he's shooting 37% on 3's which isn't bad at all but with his stroke he really should be better, and he seems to always miss short in the games I see.

When your offense is running through low basketball IQ players like Mustafa Shakur and Ivan Radenovic you can't realistically expect to get too many good looks. I'm guessing the offense will be ran through Chase next year with Bayless at the point, similar to the offense Pac-10 fans saw with Walton and Igoudala with Chase coming off screens to the elbow and either shooting or making a play.

The biggest thing this offseason for the staff in my opinion is to get hese guys used to playing through contact. A lot of the defense played in the Pac-10 this year would've drawn countless whistles in past years and Arizona has to adjust.

 

[Skkorpion]

That game illustrated a trend that will continue:

1. Under Sendek, kids play hard and overachieve. Just wait 'till ASU gets some better talent.
2. Under an ageing Lute, UA players are becomming undisciplined and don't play as hard as past Lute teams played.

For an ASU fan, that was a great game to watch. I was screaming at the tube the whole second half.

The worm is turning.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Don't know any ASU fans that thought they would win, much less any that got cocky. But at least that didn't stop you from making words up out of thin air.

How about these?

The worm is turning.

But in 2 or 3 years ASU basketball will be a force to be recond with and it will be a breeze to go to Tuscum and beat the MildRats.

 

[Skkorpion]

The cats are not playing to their potential by any means, but it was big to see them win at ASU today... How about Budinger? Did anyone see that Dunk from the inbound? His head might have been above the rim...

I disagree, the cats are playing to their potential. They just aren't as good as past teams.

Budinger truly is a superior talent.

 

[Mulli]

How about these?

Who is it that is destroying UofA Basketball?

 

[Skkorpion]

Who is it that is destroying UofA Basketball?

Mao thinks it's the assistant coaches. He's in denial.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Mao thinks it's the assistant coaches. He's in denial.

No, I've put plenty of blame on Lute considering he hires and fires the assistant coaches and has allowed them to get much more responsibility when it comes to the direction of the program. However Lute is unfireable and the assistants are not so who goes to the chopping block first is pretty easy to figure out.

Next year will be very telling for the Arizona Basketball. Some think the problems lie with Mustafa Shakur who has provided little but non-existent leadership and erratic play during the course of his Wildcat career. Others (such as myself) think the rise of people like Josh Pastner and others within the program changed Arizona's recruiting style to where basketball IQ and intangibles are cast aside in favor of athleticism and measurables creating the mess we currently see.

 

[Russ Smith]

When your offense is running through low basketball IQ players like Mustafa Shakur and Ivan Radenovic you can't realistically expect to get too many good looks. I'm guessing the offense will be ran through Chase next year with Bayless at the point, similar to the offense Pac-10 fans saw with Walton and Igoudala with Chase coming off screens to the elbow and either shooting or making a play.

The biggest thing this offseason for the staff in my opinion is to get hese guys used to playing through contact. A lot of the defense played in the Pac-10 this year would've drawn countless whistles in past years and Arizona has to adjust.

Yep I've made that argument on UCLA boards all year. The best thing to happen in this conference is that schools like WSU and Stanford and USC are all playing a physical brand similar to UCLA this year. When everyone does it, the refs can't call as many fouls and that can only help UCLA on defense.

I agree on the point about recruiting too, it seems quite obvious that UA has fundamentally changed what type of recruit they go after. That's why that comment by Lute about the style of play at UCLA and USC helps UA in recruiting seemed odd. Marques even called him out on it yesterday saying "I think kids like winning."

Lute's a lot better at this than say Romar. Preseason even marques had UA first, UW second, UCLA third. Romar has had some injuries to Hawes etc but basically his team is struggling because they play no defense and have no guard play. He's a phenomenal recruiter, but his coaching so far leaves something to desire. Kids at least have a body of evidence to suggest Lute knows how to win, Romar at the moment appears to be more of a let the kids play kind of coach. I suspect we'll find out soon with kids like Holliday and Gordon if UW's collapse this year is going to hurt recruiting.

FYI apparently Babbitt is announcing this week or weekend and late rumor is he's going to Ohio State. Apparently his grandparents live in Ohio. UCLA and UA are still in the hunt but the rumor is Howland is making a big push for Drew Gordon because he thinks Babbitt is going to TOSU.

 

[Renz]

The worm is turning.

Lute is 43-6 against ASU. I'll start worrying if Sendek actually wins one against the Cats.

 

[Mulli]

Lute is 43-6 against ASU. I'll start worrying if Sendek actually wins one against the Cats.

Just one?

 

[Trey]

How about these?
Quote:

The worm is turning.

Quote:
But in 2 or 3 years ASU basketball will be a force to be recond with and it will be a breeze to go to Tuscum and beat the MildRats.

Some fans predict their team will be better a few years down the road, and all of a sudden they're cocky? If some fans were screaming about how much you sucked and that we were going to kick your A$$, I'd agree with you. Thinking the new coach will turn things around is not arrogance.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

If some fans were screaming about how much you sucked and that we were going to kick your A$$, I'd agree with you.

Um, did you read the quotes? That is pretty much exactly what Skkorp and Future are suggesting. In my eyes, ASU still has to surpass NAU as a basketball program (not to mention Oregon State, Oregon, Washington, Stanford, California, Gonzaga, UNLV, Nevada, and New Mexico State) before we can start having these conversations. Remember ASU nor Herb Sendek has ever won even a share of a major conference title and Arizona has eleven in the last twenty five years and is only two years removed from their last so let's try to crawl before we walk here. You guys sound like UA Football fans circa 2004.

 

[Mulli]

Wasn't the worm turning quote from after the game?

 

[Trey]

Um, did you read the quotes?

Yes, I did. I guess we're just looking at them differently. I'm seeing fans who are realistic about the current state of the program, while predicting progress for the future. You just saw your team beat an "insignificant program" by only three points, and are getting riled up by the mild comments suggesting it wasn't a fluke. Rivalries do that, I guess.

 

[devilfan02]

I'm not going to celebrate too much over a W against a insignificant program like Arizona State but there are a couple positives. The win ensured our 23rd consecutive tournament (which we probably won't do much in) and it shuts up the delusionists in Tempe that for some reason had gotten cocky despite a 1-14 conference record.

What are you talking about??????? Show me one ASU fan who is cocky over our basketball season.......

You thinking the assistant coaches are the cause of the problem down in the dump is dillusional.