UA & Pac-12 Basketball Thread

[carey]

Givony from DX said that Gordon was the MVP of the FIBA U19 Championship. Averaged 12 & 6 in only 18 min a game and shot 61% from the field.

 

[TJ]

Guy's a stud. Will be one-and-done so we gotta enjoy him while he's here

 

[Russ Smith]

Guy's a stud. Will be one-and-done so we gotta enjoy him while he's here

You never know and you can't really take much from a bunch of 50 point wins. Gordon actually had a little trouble scoring in the closer games but still apparently played good defense and rebounded well. Terrific talent, probably the best player to ever come out of the CCS(Central Coast Section). he finished up the alltime scoring and rebounding leader in CCS play, last time I heard Ron Reis was the alltime scorer but Gordon passed him.

There are some UA fans suggesting there are rumors Gordon might stay 2 years. My general inclination is if he does it will be seen as a negative against Miller that he couldn't put him in the NBA after one year. the family has been quite clear the plan was one and done. Aaron has said it repeatedly, he's even said he fully intends to go back to school and get his degree.

The advantage to staying 2 years is he avoids competing with Wiggins and Randle and maybe a Harrison twin etc so instead of going 4th or 5th he might go 1st or 2nd. The main issue is what's his NBA position, it's why he and his dad spent 2 years telling everyone he doesn't want to play the 4 in college, and it's why every interview with him now the first or second question is what position do you expect to play at Arizona. He could step right in at the 4 and be an all conference player, but he wants to play the 3 because he's about 6'7" and he thinks it's his NBA position. Miller's big challenge this year is going to be convincing Aaron to do what's best for the team, and convincing him it's not harming him. Derrick Williams played out of position and was the #2 pick. Now you have to convince Gordon the same thing can happen, you may have to play the 4 at times for the best of the team.

His dad and his HS coach just don't stop on this the local paper recently gave him some award and the interview with his dad and HS coach both turned into a PR piece for why Aaron should play the 3, and even some 2, at Arizona. UA fans have to hope it turns out the way Kyle Anderson did at UCLA where his family was CLEARLY not happy where he played, the but the kid just played without complaining and had a really good freshman year.

Smart money says he's one and done.

 

[TJ]

Smart money says he's one and done.

If he could've declared for the draft after HS this year, he would have been a Top 5 pick easily. Miller will work on his flaws and make him a better player. If God forbid he goes down a la Nerlins Noel, he'll still declare. Gordon is just that good.

 

[Russ Smith]

If he could've declared for the draft after HS this year, he would have been a Top 5 pick easily. Miller will work on his flaws and make him a better player. If God forbid he goes down a la Nerlins Noel, he'll still declare. Gordon is just that good.

Actually his HS coach said he'd have been a top 3 pick this year based on feedback he's gotten. This was of course a weak draft, next year will be a strong one but yeah he's really good.

I frankly think it's hard for just about any college coach to have much impact on a one and done. you can certainly help them but they either have it or they don't IMO.

 

[Lefty]

I am loving it right now. Alford not able to pull in the recruits. Josh Perkins, Jordan McLaughlin and Quentin Snider all say no to UCLA. I think Alford deserves an extension before his first game.
http://www.bruinsnation.com/2013/9/12/4724854/steve-alford-completely-whiffs-on-the-2014-pg-class

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Anyone who has ever watched basketball could have told you Alford would be a disaster at UCLA. Adams and Anderson will keep him afloat for a year or two but after that the only interesting thing in Westwood will be Bruin fan trying to convince people that Sean Miller is a bad coach.

 

[TJ]

I am loving it right now. Alford not able to pull in the recruits. Josh Perkins, Jordan McLaughlin and Quentin Snider all say no to UCLA. I think Alford deserves an extension before his first game.
http://www.bruinsnation.com/2013/9/12/4724854/steve-alford-completely-whiffs-on-the-2014-pg-class

Alford cant recruit and cant coach in the Tournament. He won't last long at UCLA.

 

[Lefty]

Meanwhile, Sean Miller has two 5-star recruits on campus this weekend, Stanley Johnson and Cliff Alexander.

 

[Russ Smith]

Alford cant recruit and cant coach in the Tournament. He won't last long at UCLA.

That's just it he will last long because the buyout is so big. that's why most UCLA fans I know hated that contract, it guarantees Alford a job even if he fails.

Alford blew the whole thing when he took over and decided he wanted Perkins more than McLaughlin. He told the dad that, the dad said it publicly, and McLaughlin was never the same with respect to UCLA. So in July UCLA backs off Perkins like several other schools did, and Alford assumes he'll just slide right back over and get Mclaughlin but the kid didn't go for it. Huge blunder.

He nearly got lucky on Snider but in the end the kid chose to be a backup PG as a freshman at Illinois, over starting as a freshman for Alford. Distance appears to be a big part of it, apparently the kid told several UCLA players on his visit he was coming to UCLA, but the family wanted him closer to home. Which is why you close on the local kid, McLaughlin, months ago.

My guess is UCLA will make at least one staff change next year, probably promote Edney to an assistant so they have someone with local ties.

I also won't be shocked if Alford takes Isaac Hamilton now which I really don't want to see.

He has the talent to have a pretty good team this year with PG and defense being issues, but next year he's looking at 7-8 kids right now.

 

[Russ Smith]

Meanwhile, Sean Miller has two 5-star recruits on campus this weekend, Stanley Johnson and Cliff Alexander.

You have a great shot at Stanley but Alexander would be a huge surprise. I doubt Victor would stick with UA if you get Alexander.

Apparently Snider is really tight with Alexander and has already stated he is trying to get him to Illinois. He just announced Illinois not Louisville gets his last visit.

Illinois is one over the scholarship limit right now next year so they have to run a kid off to get Snider, so they'd have to run 2 off to get Alexander too.

Miller can clearly recruit.

 

[DWKB]

Alexander is going to Kansas

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI rumor is UCLA just got a "commit" from a 5 star, but personally not too thrilled.

The rumor is UCLA has admitted Isaac Hamilton, he's going the Vanderdoes route and hoping the NCAA changes its mind and lets him play this year, if not he sits out the year since Floyd won't release him from his LOI at UTEP.

Really didn't want the kid he has a bad reputation, high maintenance. Great shooter but doesn't guard or pass the ball just seems like a bad decision IMO but I guess we'll see.

Alford needs bodies so I guess that's the idea, he'll have one more body next year and maybe this year if the NCAA reverses their decision on his appeal.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Alexander is going to Kansas

Just like Tarc and Turner, right?

Im kidding i know this is just a visit for visits sakes, but always good to have a 5 star out on campus and talking good about the program.

Im more then happy with PJC, Victor, and hopefully SJ and Justice. You can have Alexander and Wiggins.

Although I do want Wiggins to be a Phoenix Sun next year so.....

 

[DWKB]

Just like Tarc and Turner, right?

Im kidding i know this is just a visit for visits sakes, but always good to have a 5 star out on campus and talking good about the program.

Im more then happy with PJC, Victor, and hopefully SJ and Justice. You can have Alexander and Wiggins.

Although I do want Wiggins to be a Phoenix Sun next year so.....

Yeah, considering the way things played out with Turner and Chol (we'll see about Tarc) I'm kinda glad when we lose out to AZ on a recruit

As long as we keep winning Conference titles and going to FFs every couple of years I'm ok with us losing some recruitment competitions.

 

[Russ Smith]

Alford does it again, Trevon Blueitt decommits from UCLA. Rumor is UCLA is after another 14 wing and Blueitt wasn't happy. We're all guessing that other wing is Daniel Hamilton.

2 surprises this week first Chatman to Michigan, which allegedly stunned UA coaches, and then Blueitt and UCLA wanted to keep him they just couldn't.

 

[Lefty]

Alford does it again, Trevon Blueitt decommits from UCLA. Rumor is UCLA is after another 14 wing and Blueitt wasn't happy. We're all guessing that other wing is Daniel Hamilton.

2 surprises this week first Chatman to Michigan, which allegedly stunned UA coaches, and then Blueitt and UCLA wanted to keep him they just couldn't.

Michael Humphrey drops UCLA and has narrowed his schools to the UofA and Stanford. Chatman to Michigan did not surprise me, the kid visited Michigan twice and he loved his visits. If Miller can get Winslow that will be fine with me.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It's probably about time to start another thread like this for the new season as our Red Blue Scrimmage is just 8 days away. I'm really getting excited for this season despite the fact I'll have to hang out at a local sports bar way more often than I'd like. I sure wish Larry Scott would swallow his ego and make the same deal with Direct TV that all the other conferences agreed to. I'd much rather enjoy AG, McConnell, Johnson, Ashley, RH-J, Tarq, Mayes, York and company from the comfort of my living room than on a bar stool surrounded by mostly UCLA fans. Oh well, at least they're not Duke fans.

Steve

 

[ozzfloyd]

UA's scrimmage is sold out at 14.5k + tickets sold ($8 each). I wonder how many people show up for ASU's free scrimmage? Over/Under 1k?

 

[Mulli]

UA's scrimmage is sold out at 14.5k + tickets sold ($8 each). I wonder how many people show up for ASU's free scrimmage? Over/Under 1k?

Low hanging fruit...

 

[overseascardfan]

I'm just looking to get caught up but with UA losing out on Chatman does that mean UA doesn't think SJ or Winslow will end up in Tucson next year? I keep reading rumors that Winslow will probably end up in Durham next year as he is visiting Duke the same weekend as Okafor & Jones. I've heard rumors Winslow and Johnson may be a package but SJ's mom said that is not necessarily true.

My real question is how big will UA's class be? The have PJC & Victor, they have a great shot at Humphrey, with SJ & Winslow still up for grabs. Is there anyone else in the picture in case Johnson, Winslow & Humphrey go elsewhere? Is ARZ still in on Peyton Dastrup? Lastly on Arizona Scout 5-star PG JaQuan Lyles is scheduled to visit UA, why would UA be interested when they have PJC?

 

[Russ Smith]

Michael Humphrey drops UCLA and has narrowed his schools to the UofA and Stanford. Chatman to Michigan did not surprise me, the kid visited Michigan twice and he loved his visits. If Miller can get Winslow that will be fine with me.

Gershon has been saying Humphrey to UA or Stanford for weeks so that wasn't a surprise. He was also saying UA was the leader for Chatman right up until he picked Michigan. 247 had 76% picking him. The UA "insiders" on Scout.com all said it surprised the staff they thought he was going to commit to UA because his dad is buds with Stoudamire.

Really talented kid too bad nobody on the West Coast got him. Might ultimately be better than Johnson or Winslow, both of them are very strong for their age so physically dominant now, but less upside, Chatman is rail thin and didn't even play last year sitting out as a transfer in LA.

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm just looking to get caught up but with UA losing out on Chatman does that mean UA doesn't think SJ or Winslow will end up in Tucson next year? I keep reading rumors that Winslow will probably end up in Durham next year as he is visiting Duke the same weekend as Okafor & Jones. I've heard rumors Winslow and Johnson may be a package but SJ's mom said that is not necessarily true.

My real question is how big will UA's class be? The have PJC & Victor, they have a great shot at Humphrey, with SJ & Winslow still up for grabs. Is there anyone else in the picture in case Johnson, Winslow & Humphrey go elsewhere? Is ARZ still in on Peyton Dastrup? Lastly on Arizona Scout 5-star PG JaQuan Lyles is scheduled to visit UA, why would UA be interested when they have PJC?

UA fans insist they're not actually recruiting Lyle, he says he's visiting they say he's lying. The first visit was rescheduled and it's been reported by Goodman and others UA isn't recruiting the kid but who knows. the problem is the kid wants to play PG and UA doesn't want to piss off PJC, but they want his buddy Cliff Alexander so they don't want to piss off Cliff by blowing off Lyle.

in the end they probably don't get either and are fine with PJC. Lyle is apparently a real head case, UCLA recruited him when Alford first got hired then when he picked Louisville all the rumors came out about him fighting teammates and stuff.

That one AAU team has had 4 kids from Indiana commit and decommit now, getting kind of crazy.

 

[DWKB]

UA fans insist they're not actually recruiting Lyle, he says he's visiting they say he's lying. The first visit was rescheduled and it's been reported by Goodman and others UA isn't recruiting the kid but who knows. the problem is the kid wants to play PG and UA doesn't want to piss off PJC, but they want his buddy Cliff Alexander so they don't want to piss off Cliff by blowing off Lyle.

in the end they probably don't get either and are fine with PJC. Lyle is apparently a real head case, UCLA recruited him when Alford first got hired then when he picked Louisville all the rumors came out about him fighting teammates and stuff.

That one AAU team has had 4 kids from Indiana commit and decommit now, getting kind of crazy.

UA doesn't have to worry about pissing off Alexander anymore. He's dropped them.

 

[Russ Smith]

UA doesn't have to worry about pissing off Alexander anymore. He's dropped them.

Yeah it didn't seem like they were really in it for him other than he said he liked the weather.

KU just got Oubre, looks like Self is really on a roll has a great class this year and one next year lining up that looks pretty damn good too.

In other news, how many times does a kid have to say I'm just being humble before it becomes obvious he doesn't really know what the word means, but has clearly had some people telling him to quit talking about himself so much?