UNC @ UofA

[Skkorpion]

Amazing. It should not be assumed that Lute's retirement will automatically yield a gusher of superior candidates salivating for the job. I hope Lute hangs on just like Joe Paterno is doing.

 

[Future1984]

UNC

just scored again.


UOFA SUCKS

 

[Mrh182]

UNC

just scored again.


UOFA SUCKS

Hey Sundevil.... I'll listen to your opinion on college basketball the day ASU's team pulls a win out when the school isn't named after a toothpaste or part of as girl scout club.

Meanwhile, U of A has the #1 SOS in the NCAA and had a poor game against one of the best teams in the country.

Enjoy going winless in the pac10

 

[Lefty]

People continue to say that next year is your year. I don't see that coming to fruition at all. You are losing Shakur, Radenovic, Walters (who cares), Williams is as good as gone, and Budinger could leave as well (although he needs at least another year to figure out how to play defense).

Bayless will no doubt be an upgrade at PG for you next year. After that I'm unsure of your other incoming recruits and whether they will be able to contribute at a big level. Your bench is extremely thin this year so I find it hard to believe that they can be counted on next year to immediately contribute.

It could be a good time for Lute to step away and turn the reins over. It might be time to go through a rebuilding phase in tucson which at lutes age, I find it hard to believe that he'd want to spend the next 1,2,3 seasons doing that. uofa will clearly be able to land a big hire who can sort through that process

I'm thinking Lute will stay at least one more year(for Chase and Bayless). By the way, Walters returns next year because he is taking a medical redshirt this year. I don't know how much he will help. Besides Bayless, Horne from San Diego is a big-time player who will see plenty of minutes. Also, Jordan Hill is quickly becoming a force for the Cats. He should only get better. How well everyone gells together will be the key.

As for Lute's replacement, there are two guys I would be thrilled to replace Lute and they are Gillespie at Texas A&M or Few at Gonzaga.

As for yesterday's game, I went to it. I got to McKale 45 minutes before tipoff and the place was electric. The student section was full and they were jumping up and down, making a lot of noise. It was a great college atmosphere and even Hansbrough mentioned it after the game.

As for the game, I have never seen a team shoot so poorly. I don't know if they were nervous or if the 11:00AM tipoff had anything to do with it, but you could tell from the beginning, it was going to be tough to win. North Carolina is a legitimate Final Four team. They might be young but they have a load of talent. Very scary team.

 

[devilfan02]

Amazing. It should not be assumed that Lute's retirement will automatically yield a gusher of superior candidates salivating for the job. I hope Lute hangs on just like Joe Paterno is doing.

Take the blinders off, uofa will have plenty of superior candidates to choose from. I bet Few gets the job simply cause his name has circulated as the sucessor to Lute. Where there's an established program, there's plenty of big time coaches wanting to coach there..... even if it means living in tucson (and trying to recruit kids there).

The only way I see their basketball program taking a major step back is if blue chip players steer clear of Tucson due to Lute being gone. Lute's known for developing NBA caliber players every year which is a draw for recruits. If the next coach fails to bring that dimension to the table, the typical lute recruits will fall elsewhere

 

[KingofCards]

You are confusing man.

You are a Devils and Cats fan?

 

[devilfan02]

You are confusing man.

You are a Devils and Cats fan?

I hate uofa with a passion but I'm also realistic. To say they won't have a number of "superior candidates" to choose from when lute steps down is ignorant.

Trust me, I want nothing more then for their basketball program to crumble, leaving them with nothing but a softball team to cheer for. However, as an ASU fan it's completely useless for me to run my mouth about their struggles in basketball. We don't even have a rivalry with them when it comes to basketball (cause we're so bad) and you have to give them their respect. I can only hope that one day we find a lute-type coach who can turn the Devils into an elite program. I'd only look like an idiot if I came on this board and rubbed in their embarrassing loss to UNC. We can't even beat Portland St and NAU let alone get a team like UNC on our schedule.

Sendek has us headed in the right direction and we could have a legitimate shot to get to the tourny in 1-2 seasons. Any ASU fan knew this year was gonna be one of the worst in Devil Basketball history. Until we can be regularly competitive with au, you won't see me running my mouth on their basketball board.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Amazing. It should not be assumed that Lute's retirement will automatically yield a gusher of superior candidates salivating for the job. I hope Lute hangs on just like Joe Paterno is doing.

Hilarious as usual Skkorp, letting your allegiances guide your opinions instead of reality. If ASU, a basketball program with no tradition or talent pipelines that has to practice at high school gyms in Glendale can hire a proven ACC head coach with track record of marginal success, then Arizona with all their McD's All Americans and two decades of beoing the elite program on the West Coast can get a big name. If Lute were to step down (don't think he will) then I'm guesing Mark Few, Billy Gillispie, and Jamie DIxon wouldbe the top candidates were Livengood decided to stay out of the Lute tree and one of them would bite.

And by the way, Joe Paterno was one play away from going undefeated last year.

 

[overseascardfan]

Lack of depth, no frontcourt, and lack of defense are the problems w/ U of A. All of UNC's frontcourt and a couple of reserves scored in double figures. Imagine if we would have got Stephenson & Thompson, 08's recruiting class needs to bring in some talented big men because we are going to continue to struggle without them.

 

[Skkorpion]

Maotosi, reality doesn't support you.

1. Joe Paterno went 9-4, 5-3 in Big Ten play and lost to Notre Dame 41-14. That's hardly one play away from being undefeated.

2. Now for basketball. I think most players choose where to go based on which coach they wish to play for, not which school they wish to attend. The list of schools whose programs fell on hard times after losing a great coach is long. And some of those schools had long histories of winnning.

A few that come to mind: UCLA, Marquette, Memphis State, South Carolina, Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, UNLV, Purdue, Kansas State, DePaul and many others I can't think of right now.

Who was UA's best coach before Lute? Snowden? Was that his name? Wasn't the program just middle-of-the-road in a weak WAC? So UA is really a one coach program, not exactly a tradition-rich Kansas, is it?

Look, I'm not trying to ridicule you or start a fight. I went to school when Notre Dame, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure regularly ranked in the top 16 and made the NCAA tournament when it only had 16 teams in it, if I recall.

The point is that just because Lute is a great coach means absolutely nothing about UA's future hoops success.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The point is that just because Lute is a great coach means absolutely nothing about UA's future hoops success.

Of course not, who they hire to become the next head coach will be the most important factor of many that decides the future of the Arizona basketball program. However Lute putting together a West Coast power for the last twenty years makes the job a helluva lot easier for his replacement.

That isn't to say that whoever replaces him will be successful. If they promote an unqualified Lute assistant because he would've wanted it that way (see DePaul, Georgetown, St. John's) or get tagged with NCAA violations (see Arkansas, UNLV) then obviously they will be in trouble. But for all your examples (UCLA, Marquette, Memphis State, and South Carolina do not apply for a multitude of reasons) I can name plenty of schools that replaced a legend and turned out okay.

Denny Crum left Louisville a disaster and ended up with Rick Pitino. Lou Henson was replaced at Illinois by Lon Kruger who jumpstarted the Florida program that Donovan took to the next level. Jud Heathcote was replaced at Michigan State by Tom Izzo. EVen the programs you mentioned that have fallen into the abyss still get "big-name" coaches to come to them in spite of detractions such as conference alignment and other things such as the Steve Lavin effect.

 

[Espo]

Why UofA Student Section is better than ASU's

http://www.azsportshub.com/and-the-best-sign-award-goes-to/
Thats just hands down funny. It made getting our asses kicked a little bit better.