Arizona State Basketball Thread 2008-2009

Mulli · January 12th, 2009, 11:16 AM

No thread?

3-1 in Pac 10?

Yay!!!

Russ Smith · January 12th, 2009, 01:47 PM

All I can say is beat USC on Thursday. Love to see them get off 1-3.

Gaddabout · January 13th, 2009, 09:51 AM

Everyone's banged up. ASU's limping into the heart of the conference season.

TheKid_1 · January 15th, 2009, 08:20 PM

down 11 with a minute left. HORRIBLE FREAKING LOSS! This is ridiculous.

Mathew81 · January 15th, 2009, 08:28 PM

Absolutely terrible game. Harden only had 4 and those were from the line. Kuksiks was the only one hitting shots and that was only in the 1st half.

Russ Smith · January 16th, 2009, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathew81

Absolutely terrible game. Harden only had 4 and those were from the line. Kuksiks was the only one hitting shots and that was only in the 1st half.

how in the hell did Hackett do that, were they playing a box and one or something or what? Harden took 3 shots in the first half.

I figure he'll be REALLY hyped up for UCLA on Saturday after that game.

Gaddabout · January 16th, 2009, 11:43 AM

Harden is dinged up in three places. He's playing through some injuries and probably should have sat out that game.

ASUCHRIS · January 16th, 2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaddabout

Harden is dinged up in three places. He's playing through some injuries and probably should have sat out that game.

Most of the team is pretty dinged up. Why Abbott continues to play is beyond me. He clearly is struggling with his injured thumb. Why not sit him for a month so he's 100% when it actually matters?

PoolBoy · January 16th, 2009, 07:38 PM

tough loss. BIG game against UCLA tomorrow. a win will makeup for everything.

TheKid_1 · January 17th, 2009, 02:06 PM

GREAT WIN!! I am stoked!

HooverDam · January 17th, 2009, 02:07 PM

Great win by the Sun Devils today, their defense was insanely good for that 13 minute stretch to end the game, they suffocated UCLA. ASUs offense didn't look hot either (Rik went cold and I dont think they made a 3 in the 2nd half or OT), but a wins a win!

Also, whoever drew up UCLAs final 'play' out to be flogged. Whats the thinking there "well, we're down three, lets just pass it around like lethargic lumps and not even take a shot"

Mulli · January 17th, 2009, 02:11 PM

quality win Baby!!!

MaoTosiFanClub · January 17th, 2009, 02:20 PM

Ben Howland is the defensive version of Roy Williams (and formerly Lute Olson), both essentially ignore the other side of the ball and always think their strength can save them in the end. Once UCLA had the lead Howland tried to take the air out of the ball thinking his defense would come to the rescue which of course it did not. I've seen UCLA's set offense and passing the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds it is not.

It'll be another disappointing exit this March for the Bruins before they rebuild in 2009-2010 (Collison, Aboya, Shipp, and probably Holiday are gone). You need to be able to put the ball in the hoop to run the table no matter how good you are defensively and Howland still can't get his guys to do it at a consistent level.

Nice W for ASU, I wish Arizona played half as hard.

HooverDam · January 17th, 2009, 02:32 PM

^Indeed Howlands prevent offense was bizarre. UCLA obviously has better athleticism and talent than ASU, so why go to a Princeton-ish take the air out of the ball type strategy? When they got up by 11 on ASU they should've put the petal to the metal but instead they just tried to run down the clock.

Their strategy to be physical with ASU always may have been flawed. Obviously they wanted to take Harden away (and they did a good job for most of the game) and force turnovers from ASUs less than great PGs, but ASU being in the penalty so early is what kept them alive even though they were something like 3-17 from 3.

MaoTosiFanClub · January 17th, 2009, 02:38 PM

Look no further than who has played ASU best this season - Baylor and Cal, two high-octane teams that come at you in waves. ASU is not very athletic outside of Harden and has almost no bench, like the two teams above the smart way to attack the Devils is playing the game at a fast pace to utilize your athletic advantage and wear out the limited ASU depth.