I think Arizona is going to blow Illinois out in the OT
LOL - Your mood sure changed over the course of that game. In reality even with the home crowd and good in game coaching - the talent disparity between the teams is the size of the grand canyon. Weber couldn't recruit his way out of a paper bag.
My thoughts.
Wow - Jordan Hill - keep this up over the next two years and you are a guaranteed lotto pick. Best AZ big man since wright and woods.
Wise - A must start. A quicker, better ball handeling Jason Gardner from what I saw this game. He is SO active defensively and I love him in the open court. I think Steve Lavin was going to write him a love poem during the game. I got to the point where I was thinking " What are we going to do next year when Jennings comes in? We cant sit this guy..."
Budinger - I'm not worried. I wish he had more ferocity to his game but it is what it is. He will bounce back.
O'neill - Much needed toughness and defense. Lute taking off was the right move because the Arizona of the last five years would NEVER have won this game.
Bayless - the unquestioned leader of this team. Fortunately for us he has enough toughness an intensity for both him and Budinger (although it seemed like they don't get along very well from thebody language - am i looking into this?) He is a winner, wants the ball at the end, and just cares so much about winning. That late iso - dunk was ridiculous and his roar after it gave me renewed hope for this season. My new fav player since Iguodala.
The announcers kept talking about our tournament resume but i think that is overblown. This combined with a good showing at KU and beating #9 A and M will only help as we clean up some wins over ranked teams during conference play. I don't know what the ceiling for this team is but I feel ALOT better after this game to be sure.
