Official 2007 Arizona Wildcats OFFSEASON Basketball thread

[Dback Jon]

Will Chase stay?

Will Lute shake up his coaching staff?

What does U of A do to rebound from a subpar (for them) season?

 

[Mrh182]

#1 Strength of Schedule?

Last season they had the #2... will the next season make them #1?? According to the Rivals board... here are the non-pac 10 games that we have on our plate thus far:

@Kansas
@Illinois
@UNLV
@Memphis
@Houston
Texas A&M
Virginia
San Diego State

Talk about brutal. How do you see them turning out?

 

[Dback Jon]

Some of those games will depend on who stays/go (coaches included)

Kansas should be tough - how many do they lose from this year?
Illlinois is a decent team - the game will be in Chicago
UNLV and Memphis - will they have the same coaches next year?
Same for A&M.

But, all and all a VERY tough schedule.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

#1 - Chase isnt leaving
#2 - There wont be any shake up on the staff
#3 - The coaches have to make it clear that those who play defense stay in the game.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Yes.

Unfortunately no.

Pretty simple, get out there and recruit better players. People who suggest Arizona had great talent this year either don't know anything about basketball or say it to denigrate Lute Olson's coaching abilities. This will be second year in a row (next year will be the third) where the graduating class has yet to produce a productive NBA player and the result of that you can see on the court.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Mao, who do you think should be gone from the coaching staff?

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI I got so nervous before the UCLA game on Saturday that instead of watching the early game, I watched Mater Dei beat Mitty in the State finals in California.

Alex Jacobson is MUCH improved from when I last saw him. Still very slow and a project but Mike Montgomery worked the game and he said the same thing. Said when they played against Kevin Love early in the season Alex was completely intimidated and a total non factor, today he was much more aggressive against Drew Gordon and Mitty. Said the coaches told them before the game if you have't seen Alex play for awhile you'll be surprised, he's improved a lot that's why he's now starting.

Mater Dei's lineup is insane for a HS team, Jacobson at 7 foot, the 6'10" sophs the Wear Twins, 6'8" Taylor King at guard and Kammyron Brown(going to Oregon) at PG. Off the bench is Andy Brown a 6'8" soph who everyone in the Pac 10 is already recruiting.

Wear twins can handle the ball and shoot it but they need to get a LOT stronger. Andy Brown is more physically developed but doesn't shoot it as well as they do. Kammyron Brown is going to be a role player for Oregon, he's pretty good but not blinding quick nor a great shooter.

King is King, shot twice falling out of bounds behind the plane of the backboard, and nearly made both shots. Has no conscience at all. Went 2-6 at the foulline late in teh game allowing Mitty to force the game into OT, but King took over in OT to lead his team. Very good but I can see why he didn't think UCLA was a good fit for him. Montgomery said he thinks King has gotten to the point where he's been called overrated for so long that he's now underrated, he said he'll have to learn to share the ball more at Duke than he does now, but man does he have a nice shooting stroke.

Drew Gordon is about what I expected having seen him last year, great athlete,slightly improved face up game, but he's basically a low post player.
Will rebound and block shots all day, but not much of a scorer.

UCLA is very hot on Gordon and he'd fit perfectly in Ben's system but he's never going to be a big scorer.

 

[AZBALLER]

People who suggest Arizona had great talent this year either don't know anything about basketball or say it to denigrate Lute Olson's coaching abilities.

Does that apply to all ua fans, who tout how great their recruiting classes are every year?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Does that apply to all ua fans, who tout how great their recruiting classes are every year?

From a physical standpoint, Arizona is among the most talented teams in the country. Pretty much everyone on the team has good size, can rust fast and jump high which is why they can dominate inferior HS and AAU oppenents to get the high rankings from recruiting services and why Arizona still beats pretty much every below average team they face. However from a mental toughness and basketball IQ perspective Arizona is probably among the worst in the country and the reason why Arizona has been treading water in the middle of the Pac and routinely gets beat by the elite teams. If the staff starts putting more focus into recruiting better basketball players instead of elite athletes the results on the court will improve.

 

[AZBALLER]

I agree.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

From a physical standpoint, Arizona is among the most talented teams in the country. Pretty much everyone on the team has good size, can rust fast and jump high which is why they can dominate inferior HS and AAU oppenents to get the high rankings from recruiting services and why Arizona still beats pretty much every below average team they face. However from a mental toughness and basketball IQ perspective Arizona is probably among the worst in the country and the reason why Arizona has been treading water in the middle of the Pac and routinely gets beat by the elite teams. If the staff starts putting more focus into recruiting better basketball players instead of elite athletes the results on the court will improve.

Well put.

 

[AZBALLER]

I'm not trying to stur the pot, but don't you think that's why people are questioning the coaching at ua? Superior athletes that aren't learning how to play basketball? Shouldn't some coaching staff changes be made(assistants)? Or maybe they should just concentrate on recruiting basketball players and not athletes?
I'm not sure what the answer is, that's why I'm asking.

I always thought that Lute was a good teacher, but maybe his assistants aren't good enough and now they have a bigger role than before?

 

[Russ Smith]

From a physical standpoint, Arizona is among the most talented teams in the country. Pretty much everyone on the team has good size, can rust fast and jump high which is why they can dominate inferior HS and AAU oppenents to get the high rankings from recruiting services and why Arizona still beats pretty much every below average team they face. However from a mental toughness and basketball IQ perspective Arizona is probably among the worst in the country and the reason why Arizona has been treading water in the middle of the Pac and routinely gets beat by the elite teams. If the staff starts putting more focus into recruiting better basketball players instead of elite athletes the results on the court will improve.

Did you read any of the McDonald's AA practice reports from this week? They were raving about Mayo destroying people but on Bayless it says he might be the best athlete in the game(he or Derrick Rose) but his PG skills are still lacking or in development. He is a great leaper, very athletic, but needs work on running a team and defense. They asked him what he thought was his strength and he said athleticism, what does he need to improve on, he said rebounding.When asked why rebounding he said that's what NBA teams will want to see from him the most. They asked him if he's a PG next year and he said I'll play that some and off guard some, whatever they need.

it was an interesting interview. they asked him about de-committing and then reupping and he said he had a lot of doubts, UA stuck by him while he thought it through, and that's why he ultimately chose them again.

I've seen clips of Bayless and I think he's going to be a great player but it doesn't sound like he's ready to step in at PG and run the show either?

Man the Pac 10 is going to be loaded with talent next year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

As long as he's not a turnover machine and can shoot the ball I'll be happy, in case you forget the guy who ran the offense the last four years PG skills were lacking as well only with the TO's and constant bricks. I'm guessing Arizona will probably run some sort of modified offense similar to the one we ran with Walton and Igoudala where they get the ball and initiate the offense at the elbow only we'll use Chase or McClellan instead of those guys. Of course Chase needs to get stronger and figure out his ballhandling this summer. Wise will also get some PT as well and Laval Lucas-Perry was ranked up there right by the kids ASU and Oregon.

 

[Russ Smith]

As long as he's not a turnover machine and can shoot the ball I'll be happy, in case you forget the guy who ran the offense the last four years PG skills were lacking as well only with the TO's and constant bricks. I'm guessing Arizona will probably run some sort of modified offense similar to the one we ran with Walton and Igoudala where they get the ball and initiate the offense at the elbow only we'll use Chase or McClellan instead of those guys. Of course Chase needs to get stronger and figure out his ballhandling this summer. Wise will also get some PT as well and Laval Lucas-Perry was ranked up there right by the kids ASU and Oregon.

The reports said he's been one of the best players on the West squad, appears to be upset he's not starting and trying to make a statement scoring in bunches.

Today's report has one of the more amusing interviews with Mayo I've ever read.
http://draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1954

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Sure as hell better than Shakur who took criticism by pouting and losing his confidence, then acting as if he and "his" team were beyond reproach, followed by performing even worse on the court.

That was the one thing about Shakur that really drove me nuts (and ASFN, friends, family, and my neighbors know there were many) is whenever Lute benched him for underperformance he always came back in the game playing at a lower level. He never came back with a chip on his shoulder or intent on proving anything. It was never possible to coach that into him, he's just too nice and unconfident of a person. Probably why "his" team went out without a whimper while Hassan and Chris Rodgers team, two guys who combined are half the person yet had twice the confidence (unjustified mind you) of Mustafa always went down swinging.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Superior athletes that aren't learning how to play basketball? Shouldn't some coaching staff changes be made(assistants)? Or maybe they should just concentrate on recruiting basketball players and not athletes?
I'm not sure what the answer is, that's why I'm asking.

I always thought that Lute was a good teacher, but maybe his assistants aren't good enough and now they have a bigger role than before?

The first sentence is exactly correct. We have been recruiting too many athletes who can dunk and are fast, but dont have any basketball IQ, they dont play defense, and they are extremely inconsistent.

Obviously coaches are there to make a player better and teach the players what he needs to learn, but you can only do so much with players like Shakur, Adams, Rodgers, ect... You will see starting with this seasons class that UA is targeting and landed players who are solid all around, play hard, and have a good basketball IQ. The pressure is on, because the team is going to be young, but they have two of the most dynamic players in the conference (Bayless and Budinger) for probably one year, they need to accomplish something.

As for the assistants, I think they are doing an okay job. Pastner is doing what he does best; recruiting. He is landing some great players and I seriously dont know what kind of guys we land with out him. I know Chase loves him and he was all over Bayless and had a lot to do with both those guys coming to Tucson. Im not sure about Miles yet. He doesnt look like the Miles we all knew on the court. I think he is just starting to pick things up, so i will cut him some slack, but the coaching staff isnt complete if he cant provide what we need while coaching the guards.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Not every recruit has been a failure - Channing Frye and Andre Igoudala are two examples of guys who came to Arizona as pure athletes and left as athletic basketball players. But like in other sports more often than not these guys do not pan out. The problem for me is the entire recruiting philosophy changed when Pastner came aboard into solely recruiting these types of players. And not surprisingly, not all of them hit and there was nobody there with a solid basketball IQ to bail them out. I can name multiple high basketball IQ impact players who would have walked to Tucson from their respective homes for an Arizona scholarship that were passed on for guys with upside.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Yes, many would have walked to Tucson for a scholarship, including the likes of Darren Collison and Lawrence Hill, but Josh shouldnt take the blame for them and some of the others who we "passed on" (there is more to it than that). The blame lies on those who are no longer with the program.

I dont even know where we would be without Josh and his recruiting ability.

 

[Skkorpion]

We'll see. UCLA and USC have upped the bar.

 

[Russ Smith]

We'll see. UCLA and USC have upped the bar.

Technical foul on Skorp for lumping UCLA and USC in together.

 

[Renz]

We'll see. UCLA and USC have upped the bar.

USC has had one good year in a row. UW was supposed to be the up-and-comer this season and they didn't even make the NIT.

 

[Russ Smith]

Don't look now but draftexpress says Budinger is going to put his name into the draft because he's hearing very good feedback. He'd planned to stay 2 years but may have changed his plan?

I think he stays but I honestly didn't expect him to even test the waters.

Collison probably will too but that's not a surprise, like Farmar, Afflalo, Luc, and Aboya, Collison has been doing summer school so he can graduate in 3 years.

 

[Renz]

Don't look now but draftexpress says Budinger is going to put his name into the draft because he's hearing very good feedback. He'd planned to stay 2 years but may have changed his plan?

Published: 03.30.2007
Budinger's father says freshman is staying at UA
By STEVE RIVERA
Tucson Citizen

ATLANTA - Is Arizona forward Chase Budinger heading to the NBA?

"That's news to me,'' said Duncan Budinger, Chase's father, in a telephone interview with the Citizen today. "He's got certain goals and I think him coming back to Arizona will help him achieve them.''

According to a Web site, DraftExpress.com, the 6-foot-7 sophomore-to-be is evaluating his NBA options closely.

Budinger, the Pac-10 freshman of the year, said after the season two weeks ago he'd look at all his options. But he said he was going to return to UA.

"In a move that might come as a shock to both Arizona fans and NBA draft enthusiasts alike, but in particular Lute Olson, Chase Budinger appears to be evaluating his NBA options closely, with an eye on declaring for the draft if he likes what he hears,'' Draft Express wrote.

"This, according to reliable sources with knowledge of the situation. The Pac-10 freshman of the year Budinger is a likley lottery pick if he decides to enter the draft this year, but could certainly use another year of college to polish up his fairly raw all-around game.''

Olson, in Atlanta to watch the Final Four, dismissed the report.

"It's typical stupid Internet stuff," Olson said today, "where people can put anything out there, and there are people dumb enough to read it and accept it."

Already, UA is expected to lose sophomore Marcus Williams to the NBA. The only thing needed is for Williams to make it official.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/college/46675.php

 

[Lefty]

Don't look now but draftexpress says Budinger is going to put his name into the draft because he's hearing very good feedback. He'd planned to stay 2 years but may have changed his plan?

I think he stays but I honestly didn't expect him to even test the waters.

Collison probably will too but that's not a surprise, like Farmar, Afflalo, Luc, and Aboya, Collison has been doing summer school so he can graduate in 3 years.

I know someone in the athletic department and he told me this evening it's a bunch of crap. He said Chase will definitely be back next year. It will be his team.

As for Lawrence Hill, Pastner was the one who wanted Fendi over Hill and he was able to get Lute to go with Fendi. Lawrence really wanted to go to the UofA.