UA vs. UW

[TJ]

'nuff said

 

[Renz]

That was awesome to the Nth degree.

 

[Chaplin]

Top 10 baby! I say that only because so many of the top 10 teams lost this weekend.

 

[arthurracoon]

 

[Lefty]

That was a great game and for it to be on ESPN was huge. The entire country saw McKale rockin'.

You must be registered for see images

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Unreal.

We're back.

 

[Lefty]

http://azstarnet.com/sports/blogs/pascoe/article_90139176-3cc7-11e0-9e12-001cc4c03286.html

 

[Russ Smith]

Weird ending, live I thought goaltend but the replays were perfectly clear the ball was on the way up, great block.

The play before that I called the walk on MBA watching it live, I was amazed the announcers missed it, they said it was a foul, took them awhile to figure out the real call.

Then after the walk the inbounds off Momo, I actually thought it was an inbounds violation because it looked like like Hill took a step with both feet before he inbounded it, but on the replays they were focusing on how much time should be on the clock so they never gave us a good enough look to see if Hill really walked. If he did it would have been 3 instead of 2.2 so after the block there would still have been 1 second but still unlikely UW gets anything.

The really weird thing was until they changed the clock from 1.8 to 2.2 that genius Romar had IT inbounding the ball, that little time and was going to have his best offensive player inbound the ball?

I also thought he kept IT on the bench too much in the 2nd half, they got the lead with IT out and then Romar got greedy and kept him out too long, you had to assume UA would make another run and they did.

Really fun game to watch, I have to give UW credit hostile environment with UA shooting the lights out from 3 and they hung in there and nearly won, but in the end UA made the plays when they had to.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

This season just went from defying expectations to great to maybe something special?

With the roll they are on now and the way they are winning games, it bodes well come tournament time.

We'll see what happens but this is the best I have felt about a UA team against national competition since Salim was shooting threes and Channing was down low.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This season just went from defying expectations to great to maybe something special?

With the roll they are on now and the way they are winning games, it bodes well come tournament time.

We'll see what happens but this is the best I have felt about a UA team against national competition since Salim was shooting threes and Channing was down low.

UW is decent but a 1 point victory at home over an unranked team doesn't excite me as much as it apparently does others. I'll be more impressed if they can go into So Cal and sweep this week. This team has yet to show much on the road in addition to lacking significant non-conference victories. We know they can win at home but, for tourney readiness, they still have much to prove.

Steve

 

[Chaplin]

UW is decent but a 1 point victory at home over an unranked team doesn't excite me as much as it apparently does others. I'll be more impressed if they can go into So Cal and sweep this week. This team has yet to show much on the road in addition to lacking significant non-conference victories. We know they can win at home but, for tourney readiness, they still have much to prove.

Steve

Well, Washington WAS ranked a week earlier and had been the highest ranked Pac-10 team all year.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well, Washington WAS ranked a week earlier and had been the highest ranked Pac-10 team all year.

Sure. As mentioned, they're a decent team. They're good enough to make it to the Sweet 16 with a reasonable draw. That's the likely ceiling for the Cats also. Considering where they were a year ago, that's still a very impressive accomplishment.

Steve

 

[Arizona's Finest]

UW is decent but a 1 point victory at home over an unranked team doesn't excite me as much as it apparently does others. I'll be more impressed if they can go into So Cal and sweep this week. This team has yet to show much on the road in addition to lacking significant non-conference victories. We know they can win at home but, for tourney readiness, they still have much to prove.

Steve

Your missing my point entirely. The specific win against UW isn't that important. Its the way they are winning game after game, how they are doing it, and the attitude of the team and coaches as they move forward.

I don't want to throw out the "Team of Destiny" crap because it is so cliche, but there are certain seasons where teams have multiple last second wins, believeing in each other and gaining conifdence with each passing week. I think there is little debate that UA is playing their best ball at the end of the season.

Can that come to an abrupt halt? Absolutely. But right now the way this team is winning and buying in, the scary thing is their best ball maybe ahead of them. Its seems they are set up for something more special then just a good team thats playing well and its palatable with each win that unity and confidence keeps growing.

Can I give you a bunch of stats to tell you what I am feeling watching the team? No. Its defintely just the way I have watched the team progress.

But there are alot of people in Tucson realizing this is a talented and tough team thats extremely well coached. And the players are starting to believe too.

We'll see what happens but I am enjoying this ride so far.

 

[Russ Smith]

If you're a UA fan you have to like the trend that in games they could easily lose they find a way to win. 3 OT's with cal they pull it out. Blow big lead against UW, fall behind, but in the end pull it out.

That's why they're the best team in the conference right now UCLA was in the exact same situation against Cal, getting to OT on a total fluke shot so they had all the momentum, but the lost. that's the difference UCLA has won many close games but they couldn't win one they had to have to stay in the race for 1st place, UA found a way to win theirs.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

If you're a UA fan you have to like the trend that in games they could easily lose they find a way to win. 3 OT's with cal they pull it out. Blow big lead against UW, fall behind, but in the end pull it out.

That's why they're the best team in the conference right now UCLA was in the exact same situation against Cal, getting to OT on a total fluke shot so they had all the momentum, but the lost. that's the difference UCLA has won many close games but they couldn't win one they had to have to stay in the race for 1st place, UA found a way to win theirs.

I hate to tell you this Russ but it isn't better talent.

Its better coaching.

I'll take Miller head to head against just about anyone in the country now in terms of getting players to buy in and stressing the little things. He's amazing in his preperation and in-game as well.

We are VERY lucky to have him.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The UCLA vs. Arizona talent question is a tough one to answer. Obviously Arizona has the best player on the floor in Derrick Williams but it's hard to argue that from there the best players would not be Tyler Honeycutt, Reeves Nelson, and Malcolm Lee in some order and then probably Josh Smith.

I can't put Miller over Howland because of the three straight Final Four's but even UCLA fans will tell you that this crop of Bruins in no way shape or form has bought into Ben Ball like the 2005-2008 teams did or the 2010-2011 Arizona Wildcats have bought into Sean Miller's style of hoops.

 

[Russ Smith]

I hate to tell you this Russ but it isn't better talent.

Its better coaching.

I'll take Miller head to head against just about anyone in the country now in terms of getting players to buy in and stressing the little things. He's amazing in his preperation and in-game as well.

We are VERY lucky to have him.

I didn't say it was better talent I said you had a better team.

the problem UCLA has is their most talented players all have major flaws right now that hold the team back. Smith needs another offseason of conditioning and then next year could be awesome. Right now he's great sometimes and blowing layups other times because he's too heavy.

Nelson is great when he wants to be but he takes too many plays off, defense has gotten better but in case people missed it, the pac 10 has him scouted now, since ASU 6 games, double digit points only twice, everyone is backing off daring him to shoot or drive in and get the charge. Cal did it perfectly.

And Honeycutt is a mess, no defense, no effort, hunting for 3's and trying to block shots from behind, turnover machine, 0 boards 0 assists in 43 minutes in the Cal loss.

The coaching aspect there is that Howland is playing those guys too many minutes when they aren't playing hard, he's not sitting them when he should. If you saw the Cal game Brendan Lane came in and after really struggling for the first 8-9 games of the conference season he had his 3rd consecutive solid game. 7 points in about 2 minutes, 2 putbacks against the zone and then a 3, looked great, and then sat the rest of the game and OT for Nelson and Smith. It was Howland playing the percentages that Lane wouldn't keep it up instead of playing the matchups that if Cal kept defending Lane the way they were guarding Nelson or Smith, he could make the shots they can't make.

I think Miller is doing a terrific job, he's got the best player in the conference and has everyone around him playing as a team. UCLA has 2 kids in particular Nelson and Honeycutt that just aren't very coachable.

I think he's actually done very well to have them 19-8 given what he's had to deal with and only 9 scholarship players.

 

[TJ]

Talent + Team Chemistry + Great Coaching = Winning formula

Cats have it all

 

[Russ Smith]

Talent + Team Chemistry + Great Coaching = Winning formula

Cats have it all

Oh I agree I'm just saying I don't think UCLA's issue is coaching I think the issue is they've done a poor job of judging the mental makeup of some of the kids they've recruited. howland is having to do way too much psychology with Nelson and Honeycutt and after the colossal busts of the 08 class mostly on character, it really is a concern that 2 guys from the next class appear to have similar issues.

Nelson is improving, I can rationalize him somewhat but Honeycutt is getting worse.

I don't think you can coach work ethic and will to win, its' there or it's not and UA has done a better job of finding kids who hate to lose than UCLA has recently.

I blame AAU they play too many games and they learn to not hate losing and it's tough to get past that when they get to college.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Your missing my point entirely. The specific win against UW isn't that important. Its the way they are winning game after game, how they are doing it, and the attitude of the team and coaches as they move forward.

I don't want to throw out the "Team of Destiny" crap because it is so cliche, but there are certain seasons where teams have multiple last second wins, believeing in each other and gaining conifdence with each passing week. I think there is little debate that UA is playing their best ball at the end of the season.

Can that come to an abrupt halt? Absolutely. But right now the way this team is winning and buying in, the scary thing is their best ball maybe ahead of them. Its seems they are set up for something more special then just a good team thats playing well and its palatable with each win that unity and confidence keeps growing.

Can I give you a bunch of stats to tell you what I am feeling watching the team? No. Its defintely just the way I have watched the team progress.

But there are alot of people in Tucson realizing this is a talented and tough team thats extremely well coached. And the players are starting to believe too.

We'll see what happens but I am enjoying this ride so far.

I guess I'm still missing your point. I look at these victories and I recognize the tremendous job that Miller is doing but I see a team that is perhaps overachieving but not one that has arrived. They play great defense at times but they have too many defensive lapses. Far too often, UW scored with ease on straight line drives to the hoop.

This is the kind of team that if it stayed together for four years at a school like Xavier they could make a final 4 run but I don't think they have the talent to get there just yet. They have one exceptional player and 10 others that are decent college players. They're showing a lot more maturity now than earlier in the season but for the most part, it's been at home. I want to see how they do in So Cal this week to see if they've really turned the corner or if they've just taken advantage of their schedule.

Steve

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I guess I'm still missing your point. I look at these victories and I recognize the tremendous job that Miller is doing but I see a team that is perhaps overachieving but not one that has arrived. They play great defense at times but they have too many defensive lapses. Far too often, UW scored with ease on straight line drives to the hoop.

This is the kind of team that if it stayed together for four years at a school like Xavier they could make a final 4 run but I don't think they have the talent to get there just yet. They have one exceptional player and 10 others that are decent college players. They're showing a lot more maturity now than earlier in the season but for the most part, it's been at home. I want to see how they do in So Cal this week to see if they've really turned the corner or if they've just taken advantage of their schedule.

Steve

Im being general on purpose on what outcome will ultimately be considered a "success" at the end of the year. This team just has great makeup and no real weakness so in my mind it sets up for something special.

Again its not the record or the standings that tell me this, or even that they are the favorite to win the conference now.

Its just the feel for the team and the way the program is in general.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Im being general on purpose on what outcome will ultimately be considered a "success" at the end of the year. This team just has great makeup and no real weakness so in my mind it sets up for something special.

Again its not the record or the standings that tell me this, or even that they are the favorite to win the conference now.

Its just the feel for the team and the way the program is in general.

I guess I'm probably reading more into this than you're intending. I think this is a fun team that has greatly exceeded expectations but, for example, I don't get the same feel off of them that I did back when the Cats won the Championship. That year, they finished up with two losses in Northern California and many people just wrote them off. I saw a team that was clearly peaking and had those games been at neutral sites or reffed by unbiased professionals, they would have won both games.

I'm not suggesting I expected a championship run but they clearly had an air about them that I've yet to see from this group. The supporting cast has come up big a couple of times recently which does bode well but again, it's been at home. Wins, or even close losses, this week will tell a lot about how far they've come.

Steve