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Rough start at 4-4, but a tough schedules and most all the losses to tough teams. A big game against UCLA today...seems weird this isn't a conference game.

bwgood77 wrote:Rough start at 4-4, but a tough schedules and most all the losses to tough teams. A big game against UCLA today...seems weird this isn't a conference game.

Just not our year bro. We have a team full of excellent complimentary players but no true engine to drive it. I love Bradley but he's just not suited for the main role he's in. I kind of feel bad for Caleb. You can tell he's completely checked out.

KJ isn't the dude we thought he was...yet. I think he's playing with no confidence. The one bright spot from the loss, Veseer is way better than Krivas IMO. Even though he missed all those 3's at the end of the UCLA game he can stretch the floor and play just as physical down low.

I'll be surprised if we make the tournament this year

azcatz11 wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:Rough start at 4-4, but a tough schedules and most all the losses to tough teams. A big game against UCLA today...seems weird this isn't a conference game.

Just not our year bro. We have a team full of excellent complimentary players but no true engine to drive it. I love Bradley but he's just not suited for the main role he's in. I kind of feel bad for Caleb. You can tell he's completely checked out.

KJ isn't the dude we thought he was...yet. I think he's playing with no confidence. The one bright spot from the loss, Veseer is way better than Krivas IMO. Even though he missed all those 3's at the end of the UCLA game he can stretch the floor and play just as physical down low.

I'll be surprised if we make the tournament this year

Oh, they'll make the tourney for sure. This is one of those types of teams that had a ton of turnover due to people leaving for the NBA and scheduled a tough non conf schedule. Most of the games have been very close. Had we pulled out a couple of those that came down to the end and OT and were like 6-3, even though it only came down to a couple buckets or lucky breaks, you would probably have a different outlook.

Oklahoma is 10-0
UCLA is 9-1
Duke is 8-2 with the best player in the country
WV is 8-2
Wisconsin is 9-3

Most of their losses are to good teams.

It's tougher for teams that recruit well and have a lot of turnover in the draft in this day and age, because the teams stay young and inexperienced.

It's the vet teams with a bunch of solid seniors with maybe 1-2 top recruits that may get drafted early that excel, which has always made teams like Wisconsin tough due to so much more experience and chemistry to teams like us.

If you notice, the really big names, Duke, Kentucky, etc, haven't won championships for a decade or more and it's teams like UConn with vets, Baylor, Virginia, before that Villanova.

North Carolina won like 7 years with no big names...Justin Jackson their biggest. More of a vet team.

Kansas did win a few years ago against NC, but again, no big names that came out really early.

AZ will almost certainly make the tourney and finish top 3 big 12. This early schedule and tough losses will benefit them in the long run.

Not saying they will go far.

I was never really high on Love or Lewis. They are good, but a bit overrated. Pelle Larson was our best player last year.

Most of the teams that beat us our ranked, and the other two receive votes and are just out of the rankings. Wisconsin just dropped out after a few losses to solid teams.

Our BPI is 12

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi

azcatz11 wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:Rough start at 4-4, but a tough schedules and most all the losses to tough teams. A big game against UCLA today...seems weird this isn't a conference game.

Just not our year bro. We have a team full of excellent complimentary players but no true engine to drive it. I love Bradley but he's just not suited for the main role he's in. I kind of feel bad for Caleb. You can tell he's completely checked out.

KJ isn't the dude we thought he was...yet. I think he's playing with no confidence. The one bright spot from the loss, Veseer is way better than Krivas IMO. Even though he missed all those 3's at the end of the UCLA game he can stretch the floor and play just as physical down low.

I'll be surprised if we make the tournament this year

I remember Love and Bradley. Isn't Love the engine? Who else did you guys get in transfers? You still have Krivas and Veseer. That's a lot of returnees so team should be better this year. Kenpom's still got you guys ranked high at 21.

your starting guards aren't shooting the 3 good. not creating enough space. Could be the problem? I don't know just a quick glance at stats.

___Rand___ wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:Rough start at 4-4, but a tough schedules and most all the losses to tough teams. A big game against UCLA today...seems weird this isn't a conference game.

Just not our year bro. We have a team full of excellent complimentary players but no true engine to drive it. I love Bradley but he's just not suited for the main role he's in. I kind of feel bad for Caleb. You can tell he's completely checked out.

KJ isn't the dude we thought he was...yet. I think he's playing with no confidence. The one bright spot from the loss, Veseer is way better than Krivas IMO. Even though he missed all those 3's at the end of the UCLA game he can stretch the floor and play just as physical down low.

I'll be surprised if we make the tournament this year

I remember Love and Bradley. Isn't Love the engine? Who else did you guys get in transfers? You still have Krivas and Veseer. That's a lot of returnees so team should be better this year. Kenpom's still got you guys ranked high at 21.

your starting guards aren't shooting the 3 good. not creating enough space. Could be the problem? I don't know just a quick glance at stats.

Love shot it well in the last game against TCU (5-11 from 3) and scored 33 points. We will see how they do against Cincy, who just got upset by Kansas St themselves.

AZ has 3 losses against top 15 teams, and another one to West Virginia who is unranked for some reason but is 10-2 and just beat Kansas and also already beat Gonzaga). The other loss was to Wisconsin, who they usually lose to regardless.

So I'm not too worried yet, but Cincy is ranked 16th and coming off an upset loss so tomorrow's game could be a tough one.

bwgood77 wrote:

___Rand___ wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:
Just not our year bro. We have a team full of excellent complimentary players but no true engine to drive it. I love Bradley but he's just not suited for the main role he's in. I kind of feel bad for Caleb. You can tell he's completely checked out.

KJ isn't the dude we thought he was...yet. I think he's playing with no confidence. The one bright spot from the loss, Veseer is way better than Krivas IMO. Even though he missed all those 3's at the end of the UCLA game he can stretch the floor and play just as physical down low.

I'll be surprised if we make the tournament this year

I remember Love and Bradley. Isn't Love the engine? Who else did you guys get in transfers? You still have Krivas and Veseer. That's a lot of returnees so team should be better this year. Kenpom's still got you guys ranked high at 21.

your starting guards aren't shooting the 3 good. not creating enough space. Could be the problem? I don't know just a quick glance at stats.

Love shot it well in the last game against TCU (5-11 from 3) and scored 33 points. We will see how they do against Cincy, who just got upset by Kansas St themselves.

AZ has 3 losses against top 15 teams, and another one to West Virginia who is unranked for some reason but is 10-2 and just beat Kansas and also already beat Gonzaga). The other loss was to Wisconsin, who they usually lose to regardless.

So I'm not too worried yet, but Cincy is ranked 16th and coming off an upset loss so tomorrow's game could be a tough one.

Looks like Bradley hasn't improved his shooting. That's why he lost playing time in Bama even though he was a good defender. Let's hope Love is consistent because there doesn't seem to be that 3 point threat amongst starters. As for tourny, Big12 is a tough conference usually. So your chances are going to depend on finishing in the top 6/7 spots in the conference. I don't know how tough the rest of the conference will be this year until I've seen them play - I don't trust any of the rankings except maybe Kenpom. I know Cyclones, Cougars and Jayhawks will be tough. Baylor is usually good but I haven't seen them play. Pray that the rest of the teams are weak.

___Rand___ wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:

___Rand___ wrote:
I remember Love and Bradley. Isn't Love the engine? Who else did you guys get in transfers? You still have Krivas and Veseer. That's a lot of returnees so team should be better this year. Kenpom's still got you guys ranked high at 21.

your starting guards aren't shooting the 3 good. not creating enough space. Could be the problem? I don't know just a quick glance at stats.

Love shot it well in the last game against TCU (5-11 from 3) and scored 33 points. We will see how they do against Cincy, who just got upset by Kansas St themselves.

AZ has 3 losses against top 15 teams, and another one to West Virginia who is unranked for some reason but is 10-2 and just beat Kansas and also already beat Gonzaga). The other loss was to Wisconsin, who they usually lose to regardless.

So I'm not too worried yet, but Cincy is ranked 16th and coming off an upset loss so tomorrow's game could be a tough one.

Looks like Bradley hasn't improved his shooting. That's why he lost playing time in Bama even though he was a good defender. Let's hope Love is consistent because there doesn't seem to be that 3 point threat amongst starters. As for tourny, Big12 is a tough conference usually. So your chances are going to depend on finishing in the top 6/7 spots in the conference. I don't know how tough the rest of the conference will be this year until I've seen them play - I don't trust any of the rankings except maybe Kenpom. I know Cyclones, Cougars and Jayhawks will be tough. Baylor is usually good but I haven't seen them play. Pray that the rest of the teams are weak.

Yes, the Big 12 is always tough. Removing Oklahoma and Texas helps reduce toughness, but then adding AZ and the other PAC 12 teams balances that back out a bit.

But looking at the standings, most all the teams have overall good records, but I'd venture to say none have played as tough a schedule as AZ, with the exception of maybe West Virginia. I really don't mind losses to really good teams early in the season, as I think it builds character with a team and prevents them from becoming overconfident.

I really think they need to gradually get Carter Bryant more involved. I believe he is their highest profile recruit, but many of the other players are upper classmen while he is a freshman.

They also have a freshman 7 footer. Both of these guys are 4 star recruits. And then they have 3 4 star transfers, so they have a lot of new players that are very talented, but they haven't played together for long and had time to develop a lot of chemistry.

They had like 4 talented players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer in Pelle Larson, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, and Kylan Boswell.

https://247sports.com/college/arizona/season/2024-basketball/commits/

bwgood77 wrote:

___Rand___ wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:
Love shot it well in the last game against TCU (5-11 from 3) and scored 33 points. We will see how they do against Cincy, who just got upset by Kansas St themselves.

AZ has 3 losses against top 15 teams, and another one to West Virginia who is unranked for some reason but is 10-2 and just beat Kansas and also already beat Gonzaga). The other loss was to Wisconsin, who they usually lose to regardless.

So I'm not too worried yet, but Cincy is ranked 16th and coming off an upset loss so tomorrow's game could be a tough one.

Looks like Bradley hasn't improved his shooting. That's why he lost playing time in Bama even though he was a good defender. Let's hope Love is consistent because there doesn't seem to be that 3 point threat amongst starters. As for tourny, Big12 is a tough conference usually. So your chances are going to depend on finishing in the top 6/7 spots in the conference. I don't know how tough the rest of the conference will be this year until I've seen them play - I don't trust any of the rankings except maybe Kenpom. I know Cyclones, Cougars and Jayhawks will be tough. Baylor is usually good but I haven't seen them play. Pray that the rest of the teams are weak.

Yes, the Big 12 is always tough. Removing Oklahoma and Texas helps reduce toughness, but then adding AZ and the other PAC 12 teams balances that back out a bit.

But looking at the standings, most all the teams have overall good records, but I'd venture to say none have played as tough a schedule as AZ, with the exception of maybe West Virginia. I really don't mind losses to really good teams early in the season, as I think it builds character with a team and prevents them from becoming overconfident.

I really think they need to gradually get Carter Bryant more involved. I believe he is their highest profile recruit, but many of the other players are upper classmen while he is a freshman.

They also have a freshman 7 footer. Both of these guys are 4 star recruits. And then they have 3 4 star transfers, so they have a lot of new players that are very talented, but they haven't played together for long and had time to develop a lot of chemistry.

They had like 4 talented players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer in Pelle Larson, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, and Kylan Boswell.

https://247sports.com/college/arizona/season/2024-basketball/commits/

Loss of Larson to graduation hurts. Ballo loss isn't as bad because you have backup centers. Boswell was ass last year so that doesn't hurt. But the core players from last year are there. They should be playing better despite lacking shooting. We'll see if they shape up during conference play. And they'll need to.

bwgood77 wrote:

___Rand___ wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:
Love shot it well in the last game against TCU (5-11 from 3) and scored 33 points. We will see how they do against Cincy, who just got upset by Kansas St themselves.

AZ has 3 losses against top 15 teams, and another one to West Virginia who is unranked for some reason but is 10-2 and just beat Kansas and also already beat Gonzaga). The other loss was to Wisconsin, who they usually lose to regardless.

So I'm not too worried yet, but Cincy is ranked 16th and coming off an upset loss so tomorrow's game could be a tough one.

Looks like Bradley hasn't improved his shooting. That's why he lost playing time in Bama even though he was a good defender. Let's hope Love is consistent because there doesn't seem to be that 3 point threat amongst starters. As for tourny, Big12 is a tough conference usually. So your chances are going to depend on finishing in the top 6/7 spots in the conference. I don't know how tough the rest of the conference will be this year until I've seen them play - I don't trust any of the rankings except maybe Kenpom. I know Cyclones, Cougars and Jayhawks will be tough. Baylor is usually good but I haven't seen them play. Pray that the rest of the teams are weak.

Yes, the Big 12 is always tough. Removing Oklahoma and Texas helps reduce toughness, but then adding AZ and the other PAC 12 teams balances that back out a bit.

But looking at the standings, most all the teams have overall good records, but I'd venture to say none have played as tough a schedule as AZ, with the exception of maybe West Virginia. I really don't mind losses to really good teams early in the season, as I think it builds character with a team and prevents them from becoming overconfident.

I really think they need to gradually get Carter Bryant more involved. I believe he is their highest profile recruit, but many of the other players are upper classmen while he is a freshman.

They also have a freshman 7 footer. Both of these guys are 4 star recruits. And then they have 3 4 star transfers, so they have a lot of new players that are very talented, but they haven't played together for long and had time to develop a lot of chemistry.

They had like 4 talented players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer in Pelle Larson, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, and Kylan Boswell.

https://247sports.com/college/arizona/season/2024-basketball/commits/

Did you see the game? I think it's pretty clear at this point it's addition by subtraction with Krivas being out the year. Veesar does everything better except maybe rebound. Bryant had a really good game. I'm not saying this is likely to happen but he can easily be our best player by the time the year is over. If KJ gets his confidence up...I think this team could maybe do something like a Sweet 16 ceiling but it would take a lot.

Everyone on Twitter is saying never to play Awaka + Trey together and I agree with that. I actually think both of them suck but especially Awaka. He has stone hands and no finishing ability. Trey doesn't suck but he's too little for this level of competition.

Anyways, glad we got the W but I fear it's still going to be a long season

azcatz11 wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:

___Rand___ wrote:
Looks like Bradley hasn't improved his shooting. That's why he lost playing time in Bama even though he was a good defender. Let's hope Love is consistent because there doesn't seem to be that 3 point threat amongst starters. As for tourny, Big12 is a tough conference usually. So your chances are going to depend on finishing in the top 6/7 spots in the conference. I don't know how tough the rest of the conference will be this year until I've seen them play - I don't trust any of the rankings except maybe Kenpom. I know Cyclones, Cougars and Jayhawks will be tough. Baylor is usually good but I haven't seen them play. Pray that the rest of the teams are weak.

Yes, the Big 12 is always tough. Removing Oklahoma and Texas helps reduce toughness, but then adding AZ and the other PAC 12 teams balances that back out a bit.

But looking at the standings, most all the teams have overall good records, but I'd venture to say none have played as tough a schedule as AZ, with the exception of maybe West Virginia. I really don't mind losses to really good teams early in the season, as I think it builds character with a team and prevents them from becoming overconfident.

I really think they need to gradually get Carter Bryant more involved. I believe he is their highest profile recruit, but many of the other players are upper classmen while he is a freshman.

They also have a freshman 7 footer. Both of these guys are 4 star recruits. And then they have 3 4 star transfers, so they have a lot of new players that are very talented, but they haven't played together for long and had time to develop a lot of chemistry.

They had like 4 talented players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer in Pelle Larson, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, and Kylan Boswell.

https://247sports.com/college/arizona/season/2024-basketball/commits/

Did you see the game? I think it's pretty clear at this point it's addition by subtraction with Krivas being out the year. Veesar does everything better except maybe rebound. Bryant had a really good game. I'm not saying this is likely to happen but he can easily be our best player by the time the year is over. If KJ gets his confidence up...I think this team could maybe do something like a Sweet 16 ceiling but it would take a lot.

Everyone on Twitter is saying never to play Awaka + Trey together and I agree with that. I actually think both of them suck but especially Awaka. He has stone hands and no finishing ability. Trey doesn't suck but he's too little for this level of competition.

Anyways, glad we got the W but I fear it's still going to be a long season

I was going to post in this thread last night, but again, that was a little too close for comfort. Reminded me of the UCLA game. Still, the 3 losses are to top 15 teams and honestly I feel WV should be like top 15. And finally beat a top 16 team. They are getting better. Caleb Love is too streaky though which won't bode well for the tourney (which I expect them to make). Like 8 teams will make it from the Big 12 and there is no way they won't, in my opinion.

I feel they will improve throughout the year. Did you see they signed LeBron's younger son? I guess he's not nearly as high rated as Bronny, but it will be interesting, and they also got another top tier recruit, I think a 5 star one.

I think the main key to their team this year is to get Carter Bryant to become their star. He is probably their best player or at least most talented, and seems to be a good clutch 3 pt shooter, but is a freshman among upper classmen.

bwgood77 wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:
Yes, the Big 12 is always tough. Removing Oklahoma and Texas helps reduce toughness, but then adding AZ and the other PAC 12 teams balances that back out a bit.

But looking at the standings, most all the teams have overall good records, but I'd venture to say none have played as tough a schedule as AZ, with the exception of maybe West Virginia. I really don't mind losses to really good teams early in the season, as I think it builds character with a team and prevents them from becoming overconfident.

I really think they need to gradually get Carter Bryant more involved. I believe he is their highest profile recruit, but many of the other players are upper classmen while he is a freshman.

They also have a freshman 7 footer. Both of these guys are 4 star recruits. And then they have 3 4 star transfers, so they have a lot of new players that are very talented, but they haven't played together for long and had time to develop a lot of chemistry.

They had like 4 talented players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer in Pelle Larson, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, and Kylan Boswell.

https://247sports.com/college/arizona/season/2024-basketball/commits/

Did you see the game? I think it's pretty clear at this point it's addition by subtraction with Krivas being out the year. Veesar does everything better except maybe rebound. Bryant had a really good game. I'm not saying this is likely to happen but he can easily be our best player by the time the year is over. If KJ gets his confidence up...I think this team could maybe do something like a Sweet 16 ceiling but it would take a lot.

Everyone on Twitter is saying never to play Awaka + Trey together and I agree with that. I actually think both of them suck but especially Awaka. He has stone hands and no finishing ability. Trey doesn't suck but he's too little for this level of competition.

Anyways, glad we got the W but I fear it's still going to be a long season

I was going to post in this thread last night, but again, that was a little too close for comfort. Reminded me of the UCLA game. Still, the 3 losses are to top 15 teams and honestly I feel WV should be like top 15. And finally beat a top 16 team. They are getting better. Caleb Love is too streaky though which won't bode well for the tourney (which I expect them to make). Like 8 teams will make it from the Big 12 and there is no way they won't, in my opinion.

I feel they will improve throughout the year. Did you see they signed LeBron's younger son? I guess he's not nearly as high rated as Bronny, but it will be interesting, and they also got another top tier recruit, I think a 5 star one.

I think the main key to their team this year is to get Carter Bryant to become their star. He is probably their best player or at least most talented, and seems to be a good clutch 3 pt shooter, but is a freshman among upper classmen.

Yeah I posted in the GB thread - I’m very excited to have Bryce. Having lebron as a supporter of the program is huge. Very excited about that.

Sounds like we’re on the same page about Carter. I just wish that KJ would get his confidence back. He’s the X factor. It almost seems like he may have a Juwan Mclleland type career…which is fine but we were expecting more