Bear Down Wildcats

I expect the CR and CH to be gone, every one else with eligibility is back except maybe Bal who could hit the portal, even if we win the natty!

That is my prediction.

The Final Four is in Phoenix next season. Another reason for everyone to stay put.

Pac 12 Player of the Year Ąžuolas Tubelis had another gem yesterday:

9-12 FG, 2-2 FTs, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals - 20 points

Pac POY runner-up J Jaquez yesterday:

5-11 FG, 5-7 FTs, 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal - 16 points

Jaquez might play for the league's best team, but in terms of production, efficiency, and consistency, Tubelis was clearly better, and he's reminding us of this in Vegas.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:37 pm Pac 12 Player of the Year Ąžuolas Tubelis had another gem yesterday:

9-12 FG, 2-2 FTs, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals - 20 points

Pac POY runner-up J Jaquez yesterday:

5-11 FG, 5-7 FTs, 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal - 16 points

Jaquez might play for the league's best team, but in terms of production, efficiency, and consistency, Tubelis was clearly better, and he's reminding us of this in Vegas.

Also, Zu plays for a team whose coach doesn't sing in a trio and wear short trousers.

U.P. Zona Fan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 6:06 pm I expect the CR and CH to be gone, every one else with eligibility is back except maybe Bal who could hit the portal, even if we win the natty!

That is my prediction.

I agree about Bal. He is not progressing here and needs to find a different situation especially with the development of Boswell. Also don't know about Filip either, since he only gets walk-on minutes. But expect Ramey and Henderson to continue their careers overseas.

Foreign players cannot get paid for work according to their student visas, but there are workarounds, so Zu could be encouraged to stay. I haven't heard any rumblings one way or the other, but he will be 21 this month and the clock is ticking. Average Euro salary is $400K-$800K per season, Jim Click get on it!

I haven't seen an NBA game since Luke was a rotation player for the Lakers, but apparently Zu isn't athletic enough to cover any 4s in the league, so back to Europe is probably in his future. Especially with no outside game. But then again Luke Walton was not that athletic either, and Steve Kerr had to be the most unathletic NBA player I have seen. But no doubt the game has changed since then.

Pac 12 Player of the Year Ąžuolas Tubelis had another gem tonight:

8-11 FGs, 9 rebounds, 3 assists - 17 points

The fake winner of the award isn’t even the best player on his own team this time of year.

^ Bill Warner?

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pl ... ner-1.html

That’s before my time!!

Any old timers out there know Bill Warner??

52 years ago. I doubt I even knew about the Arizona Wildcats then, being I grew up in Michigan. Was a huge Magic Johnson fan, but that was late 70's. Hated Larry Bird even then and never did stop, especially when the Celtics beat the Pistons on an errant pass under the basket.

Too early for me too. I was watching Bill, Wilkes, Bibby and Greg Lee in Westwood at that time.

I moved to Tucson in ‘71, from Toledo. Became interested in the Cats when Freddy The Fox was hired, and McKale Center opened!!

pc in NM wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:17 pm I moved to Tucson in ‘71, from Toledo. Became interested in the Cats when Freddy The Fox was hired, and McKale Center opened!!

Same, moved to Tucson the summer of 72.

67 here.

Tubelis, 1st team all American.

Deserved Tournament MOP

MrBug708 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:35 pm Deserved Tournament MOP

Unmm…. no shit

I thought his MOP trophy was kind of like this whole conference right now, underwhelming. He definitely deserved it though. Good for him.

I saw Bull Warner play in Bear Down gym for Bruce Larson. Played the 3 and was a good shooter. I remember him and Jim Huckstein

agree that the MOP was well-earned. not to nitpick, but a puzzling thing from last night's game was zu's decision to put up a 3 with 20something seconds left on the clock and the game on the line. i haven't seen the replay but iirc ballo was open in the paint and ramey was also asking for the ball at the top of the arc. fortunately everything worked out, but i would expect better decision-making from a high bball iq upperclassman like tubelis in that situation. just as puzzling was how chill CTL was about zu taking that shot. miller would've had smoke coming out from his ears whether or not we won the game. big contrast in styles.

Pac 12 Player of the Year Ąžuolas Tubelis was again terrific last night, for the third game in a row, en route to being named Pac tourney MOP:

19 pts, 14 rebounds

The fake winner of the award put up 13 points on 5-18 shooting.

It's interesting how the best players step up when it matters most.

Last 3 Zu made was January 12th.

dirtbags wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:39 pm agree that the MOP was well-earned. not to nitpick, but a puzzling thing from last night's game was zu's decision to put up a 3 with 20something seconds left on the clock and the game on the line. i haven't seen the replay but iirc ballo was open in the paint and ramey was also asking for the ball at the top of the arc. fortunately everything worked out, but i would expect better decision-making from a high bball iq upperclassman like tubelis in that situation. just as puzzling was how chill CTL was about zu taking that shot. miller would've had smoke coming out from his ears whether or not we won the game. big contrast in styles.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I prefer Lloyd's style.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:07 pm

dirtbags wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:39 pm agree that the MOP was well-earned. not to nitpick, but a puzzling thing from last night's game was zu's decision to put up a 3 with 20something seconds left on the clock and the game on the line. i haven't seen the replay but iirc ballo was open in the paint and ramey was also asking for the ball at the top of the arc. fortunately everything worked out, but i would expect better decision-making from a high bball iq upperclassman like tubelis in that situation. just as puzzling was how chill CTL was about zu taking that shot. miller would've had smoke coming out from his ears whether or not we won the game. big contrast in styles.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I prefer Lloyd's style.

Sean looked pretty calm in his team's loss to Marquette. He may have entered a new personal phase.

Lloyd gets pretty intense on the sidelines, especially yesterday towards Pelle after a bonehead play. Nothing like Miller getting on Zeus though.

Merkin wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:31 pm Lloyd gets pretty intense on the sidelines, especially yesterday towards Pelle after a bonehead play. Nothing like Miller getting on Zeus though.

I like that Tommy has a vulgar side. It exemplifies a hard edge needed for big boy basketball. But he keeps it to "BTFD" which is fairly restrained and purposefully tactical. Miller giving Zeus the "motherfucker" routine full frontal in the face of the universe is priceless, however. They say vulgarity is a sign of intelligence. I'm fucking down with that.

that contrast was also evident with cronin getting on etienne's case, i think when he fouled out of the game. espn panned away from that quickly, haha.

2nd Team AA - congrats Zu!

https://apnews.com/article/all-america- ... e17e60036b

Sorry but he’s not the guy to go to when you need a bucket to save your season.

Feel bad for the kid because he’s so talented.

He has some of the best skills, footwork and hands I have seen in a UA big. Just lacks something, not sure what, outside of athleticism anyway.

Oh, and unable to use his right hand. 2 straight shots from 2 feet away from the right hand side barely touched rim.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:31 pm Sorry but he’s not the guy to go to when you need a bucket to save your season.

Feel bad for the kid because he’s so talented.

Who should he have gone to TODAY?

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:47 pm He has some of the best skills, footwork and hands I have seen in a UA big. Just lacks something, not sure what, outside of athleticism anyway.

Oh, and unable to use his right hand. 2 straight shots from 2 feet away from the right hand side barely touched rim.

Doesn't have the dawg in him, he looked timid after the first 5 mins or so

Not to mention he's a cone on defense

RondaeShimmy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:53 pm

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:47 pm He has some of the best skills, footwork and hands I have seen in a UA big. Just lacks something, not sure what, outside of athleticism anyway.

Oh, and unable to use his right hand. 2 straight shots from 2 feet away from the right hand side barely touched rim.

Doesn't have the dawg in him, he looked timid after the first 5 mins or so

Not to mention he's a cone on defense

Good incentive to come back next year.

Get someone to step on his head like Budinger, which finally got him going.

ZagCatFan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:49 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:31 pm Sorry but he’s not the guy to go to when you need a bucket to save your season.

Feel bad for the kid because he’s so talented.

Who should he have gone to TODAY?

That’s a different question/problem. Nobody today was was really stepping up. Everyone looked scared quite frankly.

The guards were horrendous. I wish we would have tried Boswell. He actually hit a couple of outside shots.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:23 pm

ZagCatFan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:49 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:31 pm Sorry but he’s not the guy to go to when you need a bucket to save your season.

Feel bad for the kid because he’s so talented.

Who should he have gone to TODAY?

That’s a different question/problem. Nobody today was was really stepping up. Everyone looked scared quite frankly.

The guards were horrendous. I wish we would have tried Boswell. He actually hit a couple of outside shots.

Just a reminder, in the championship game vs UCLA, Arizona was 3-15 from three with five minutes left - talk about the liklihood of "tired legs" being a factor!!! - then went 3-5 in those final 5 minutes.

Shooters are shooters; they don't, and shouldn't, have a "conscience", and the way to win under pressure to to effectively run your USUAL offense!!

Arizona didn't even try to run its "normal offense" in the last five minutes vs Princeton - instead they looked like a bad stretch of CSM offense, dribbling too much, and trying to create their own shots...

In fact, Zu would have been a great choice if we had been running Arizona's offense!

I’m curious about the odds of Zu returning to Arizona next year. He had an awesome season, and second team AA is a high honor! His return would be great news for us!!

Yet, he’s currently projected as a second rounder. What more can he improve upon that would make him a certain first round draft prospect? Three-point shooting and defensive skills for sure, but the trajectory of growth he’s already shown might make going pro this year a good time to go.

Failure to significantly improve next year in college could actually hurt his prospects for the NBA. I think he’s already a very good pro prospect in Europe.

Not exactly reassuring he will be back.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... Ib52A-r_yM

“My thoughts right now are just to get better,” Tubelis said when asked about his future after the Princeton loss. “Take some time off and get back into the gym. I have no idea what I’m gonna play, I have no idea where I’m going to play or what to do. We just lost a tough game, so you can’t really expect an answer right now.”

Nothing to prove in college except leading a team deep in the tourney. He can work on his outside touch getting paid in a pro league somewhere and I just doubt he ever will be a plus defender so might as well go. If he stays though that would be fun for us

I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Kriisa walk.

azgreg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:50 am I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Kriisa walk.

Same, especially with so much speculation Kriisa is heading to the bench.

Neither are really getting any better next season and both being around 21 might want to start getting paid. Larsson seems to have so much more potential than either of those two. Look for him to excel with the Swedish National Team.

I wish them both the best if they leave, but probably won't miss them. Need to start rebuilding with Lloyd's players.

Did you watch the press conference after we lost? I wouldn't read anything into it. The question was asked right after they lost and he didn't feel like answering the question which who would. It will be interesting to see what all our Euro guys do. None are really looking like they will be drafted and they could do well going the Euro route. Time will tell

You guys have been scarred from the Miller roster turnover era.

Dave wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:10 pm You guys have been scarred from the Miller roster turnover era.

Truth. And here I was glad to have multi-year players since I hate trying to memorize all the new players' numbers.

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:39 am Not exactly reassuring he will be back.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... Ib52A-r_yM

“My thoughts right now are just to get better,” Tubelis said when asked about his future after the Princeton loss. “Take some time off and get back into the gym. I have no idea what I’m gonna play, I have no idea where I’m going to play or what to do. We just lost a tough game, so you can’t really expect an answer right now.”

He gone.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:06 pm

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:39 am Not exactly reassuring he will be back.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... Ib52A-r_yM

“My thoughts right now are just to get better,” Tubelis said when asked about his future after the Princeton loss. “Take some time off and get back into the gym. I have no idea what I’m gonna play, I have no idea where I’m going to play or what to do. We just lost a tough game, so you can’t really expect an answer right now.”

He gone.

You're reading way too much into it. His last sentence says it all.

Getting a 2nd Team All American PF to return for his senior year would be bad ass. Fingers crossed he decides to go all-in.

Anyone from the current team who returns I will embrace with open arms. They are all great players and bleed red and blue. We need to add some players that fill some of our deficiencies we had as a team this year and have a deeper bench. Zu is target #1 for sure

84Cat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:44 pm Anyone from the current team who returns I will embrace with open arms. They are all great players and bleed red and blue. We need to add some players that fill some of our deficiencies we had as a team this year and have a deeper bench. Zu is target #1 for sure

Thank you. Well said.

if AT comes back this is a top 5 team. Would be huge for him to come back. Hopefully if it is money the collectives can help out.

CTL has to start landing these HS/international targets. We're probably not upgrading from the portal. Best case scenario is everyone returns and we make another run at it. Hopefully they focus on improving in the offseason as Zu was saying.