Bear Down Wildcats

TheGreatCatsby wrote:I mean I love having Kaleb on our team, he's a fine college basketball player, Miller trusts him, and we're definitely better off with him, especially as the PAC-12 season wears on and we go into the tournament. Helps that he's a good free throw shooter too as a big. He also is a big factor in our wear down strategy...takes alot of our opponents energy to guard him, Dusan, and Anderson down low along with everybody else who crashes the boards.

Also with the wear down, Zeus runs hard and fast. That puts constant stress on opposing big men.

Imagine trying a guard a guy like him in a pickup basketball game, his size running up and down the floor like that. Would be an absolute nightmare.

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

He's a really good leader for this team this year. He's rock for this years version. He'll make a huge mark by seasons end. Great rep for our university and program. He's been a true anchor for CSM in coaches tenure here so far. We've got a lot of wars yet to battle and win this season. Glad Kaleb came back and excited to watch him finish out a hopefully Final Four season!

TheGreatCatsby wrote:Imagine trying a guard a guy like him in a pickup basketball game, his size running up and down the floor like that. Would be an absolute nightmare.

There are very few people on earth that size who can run like that. The combo is a killer.

97cats wrote:i love Kaleb -- what a huge difference maker he was today and will be throughout the rest of the season

Agreed. It was a huge relief to see him out there in our PNR coverage. Should be interesting to see the minute allocation between he and Ristic. Near 50/50 either way works for me.

Zeus looked like he really meant to give everything in this first try. He moved forward, backward and laterally at his speed. He didn't work his pivots much, but when he took them they were strong. He ran the court, and never looked winded.

Gtrest stuff for a guy who's going to help us immensely in many conference matchups.

Also, big leadership by a guy with a serious injury and stoppage of critical conditioning to go out and mostly give it all. Would be fascinating to hear his Doc discuss the risk/reward of this move.

Must have driven Hurley a little crazier than normal to have had to game-prepare without expecting the Big Guy, then see him come out not too far from normal.

UAEebs86 wrote:Still better than all the KU centers during that time put together.

No he's not. He's Landen Lucas-light.

Eh, I thought some of the fouls were out of condition type fouls. That said Kaleb has obviously worked extremely hard here, and is in tremendous shape. I expected him to get more winded, but he looked really solid compared to how anyone else would look coming off a month in a boot.

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

Theres a great scouting report out there on him that I agree with completely, I'll have to find it tomorrow and post. Basically notes his lack of big numbers as a college player and his very low rebounding numbers, BUT, notes that those low rebounding numbers may be attributed to him being content w putting a body on someone to ensure there is no offensive board and being content w a teammate getting the glory of the board. Also notes how his low numbers can be attributed to him being a great team player, knowing his role, and stepping in and being that role on teams that have been loaded w (NBA) talent. That bodes very well for him at the next level. He will know what he needs to do and do it. And it wont be a lot, but doesnt mean it isnt an important role

I was shocked at how good his conditioning was. Was that foul before the tech actually because of over the back (if it was, as bad of a call as u will see), or for him pushing the other defensive rebounder who was under the basket. There wasnt a push and the dudes body definitely didnt react like there was, but it looked like he did have his hands on him

rgdeuce wrote:

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

Theres a great scouting report out there on him that I agree with completely, I'll have to find it tomorrow and post. Basically notes his lack of big numbers as a college player and his very low rebounding numbers, BUT, notes that those low rebounding numbers may be attributed to him being content w putting a body on someone to ensure there is no offensive board and being content w a teammate getting the glory of the board. Also notes how his low numbers can be attributed to him being a great team player, knowing his role, and stepping in and being that role on teams that have been loaded w (NBA) talent. That bodes very well for him at the next level. He will know what he needs to do and do it. And it wont be a lot, but doesnt mean it isnt an important role

Ha! That's nonsense.

you need some help w the trolling? I got you.

enfuego wrote:

rgdeuce wrote:

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

Theres a great scouting report out there on him that I agree with completely, I'll have to find it tomorrow and post. Basically notes his lack of big numbers as a college player and his very low rebounding numbers, BUT, notes that those low rebounding numbers may be attributed to him being content w putting a body on someone to ensure there is no offensive board and being content w a teammate getting the glory of the board. Also notes how his low numbers can be attributed to him being a great team player, knowing his role, and stepping in and being that role on teams that have been loaded w (NBA) talent. That bodes very well for him at the next level. He will know what he needs to do and do it. And it wont be a lot, but doesnt mean it isnt an important role

Ha! That's nonsense.

Could you score eight points and have five rebounds back cold against a seven-footer after a month in a boot?

You want to troll, here's your echo chamber, but spare your limited brain power trying to rewrite the laws of nature.

Only a true athlete could've done what Kaleb did today. Arguing otherwise is ridiculous without a fact to hope for in support.


The only thing you and I will ever agree on, enflamo, is that John Higgins is a quick T'd control freak. He has a special place in our hearts after ignoring a blatant elbow to the face on York and T'ing up Zeus in his first game back for his own blown call.

Zeus looked mighty spry out there. Loved having him back. Bet Tra Holder hated seeing him and his hedges.

enfuego wrote:

rgdeuce wrote:

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

Theres a great scouting report out there on him that I agree with completely, I'll have to find it tomorrow and post. Basically notes his lack of big numbers as a college player and his very low rebounding numbers, BUT, notes that those low rebounding numbers may be attributed to him being content w putting a body on someone to ensure there is no offensive board and being content w a teammate getting the glory of the board. Also notes how his low numbers can be attributed to him being a great team player, knowing his role, and stepping in and being that role on teams that have been loaded w (NBA) talent. That bodes very well for him at the next level. He will know what he needs to do and do it. And it wont be a lot, but doesnt mean it isnt an important role

Ha! That's nonsense.

Take a look at our rebounding numbers. You think that Kaleb has nothing to do with that because he isn't getting double digit rebounds? Then you know less about basketball than your previous posts would seem to suggest.

Chicat wrote:

enfuego wrote:

rgdeuce wrote:

TheGreatCatsby wrote:For Kaleb to make it in the NBA as a role player, he's gonna have to come in and rebound, play great defense, and slow the other bigs down for awhile. But not sure if that's enough; his hands are still stone with limited offensive ability. But he is big as they come, good overall basketball awareness, hard to tell with him. If I had to guess I'd say he won't stick, but would love to be proved wrong if he develops further.

Theres a great scouting report out there on him that I agree with completely, I'll have to find it tomorrow and post. Basically notes his lack of big numbers as a college player and his very low rebounding numbers, BUT, notes that those low rebounding numbers may be attributed to him being content w putting a body on someone to ensure there is no offensive board and being content w a teammate getting the glory of the board. Also notes how his low numbers can be attributed to him being a great team player, knowing his role, and stepping in and being that role on teams that have been loaded w (NBA) talent. That bodes very well for him at the next level. He will know what he needs to do and do it. And it wont be a lot, but doesnt mean it isnt an important role

Ha! That's nonsense.

Take a look at our rebounding numbers. You think that Kaleb has nothing to do with that because he isn't getting double digit rebounds? Then you know less about basketball than your previous posts would seem to suggest.

Exactly. Ben Simmons grabbing 18 rebounds for LSU tells me that LSU has a crappy rebounding team and relies on one guy. It's the team rebounding edge that is important, not individual rebounding numbers. If you're boxing out and keeping the opponent off the glass, even your guards can grab easy boards because your bigs are doing their jobs.

Ditto, Josh Hawkinson at WSU. Gets a ton, because nobody else can board.

Like when we had Jordan Hill.

gumby wrote:Ditto, Josh Hawkinson at WSU. Gets a ton, because nobody else can board.

i have a man crush

We have been dominant at not allowing other teams to grab offensive boards.

15-16: 2nd best nationally.
14-15: 1st best nationally.
13-14: 20th best nationally.
12-13: 24th best nationally.

Odd how it's basically an upward trend every year Kaleb has been here, and we regularly kill it in just the area Kaleb would make the most impact.

Edit: and by odd, I mean yet another thing Enfuego's got wrong.

Talk about a 'Man' amongst the boys.....Zeus was a beast tonight! So glad to see him back. He looks like he's on a real 'mission' now....loved his intensity.

As we start getting into the week in, week out grind of the conference season and Zeus gets back to 100 percent, I think last night shows what is going to happen. Tougher comp, quicker comp, size that is more comparable to us, and the cream and experience rose to the top. Ristic is a fine player and will be the difference in several wins, but his limitations reared their head last night. Some won't change, but he just needs more time against tougher and quicker comp to know how he needs to react in certain situations knowing those limitations. There will be Pac 12 teams he will be able to roll over like some of our nonconference foes, its the teams with bigs who can hold their own with the gnat athletes on the perimeter doubling him in the blink of an eye that he needs time with.

I was talking about the Ristic/Zeus thing with a coworker yesterday. He feels Ristic should remain the starter. I don't agree with that. We got plenty of scoring options starting 1-4. It's when PJC, Tollefsen, and Simon come in when we tend to be stagnant. So start Zeus, and add some more defense (and after last night, I dont think there will be that much of a difference between Zeus and Ristic anyhow offensively, if at all). Ristic comes in when the matchups are great for him and/or when we have a couple second unit guys in to help offensively, even be the focus of the offense. He will probably eat up every backup 5 in the league and that maximizes his output.

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:Talk about a 'Man' amongst the boys.....Zeus was a beast tonight! So glad to see him back. He looks like he's on a real 'mission' now....loved his intensity.

Thought he played well, much better than he had been. And specifically one play that happened for the first time in four years, came with about 2:30 left in the game:

- grabbed a contested offensive rebound.
- did NOT put the fucking ball on the floor (like all our bigs do, it drives me nuts).
- finished with a smashing dunk, in traffic.

That was an NBA play. Looks like Mr. Anderson is rubbing off on him. With that kind of mean streak Zeus, you can go far my man. Channel that zone and stay in it!!

Zeus has some fire this year. He was throwing them down hard before his injury and looked more relentless. Have seen that in the two games hes been back. Plus the T against ASU and he was jawing after a foul again last night. I love the mean streak.

In the aftermath of a really bad weekend for Arizona, just one thing: Kaleb's return from injury has been unbelievable. He has almost immediately shouldered major minutes and given us great contributions. If you'd told me he could do what he did against SC after being back less than a week in late Dec, I would have asked for some of what you were smoking.

My biggest complaint about the USC game was that RA & Tarc didn't get any calls. Amazing that they had zero foul shots in regulation.

I'm excited to see how Tarc finishes up his AZ career in these next couple months. He's been a wonderful player for us, and I hope we've yet to see his greatest moment as a Wildcat.

Tarc was terrific. Those putbacks were so clutch. He, like Anderson, seem to do their best work when they aren't featured. Ristic is the opposite.

I don't think this weekend was so terrible, or tragic, or whatever. We lost to two very good teams that were really pumped to play us. And our opponents needed a pretty dramatic, last second shot to beat us and FOUR overtimes to finally put us away in another. If we make a few FT's (Trier's broken hand), then we're talking about a gutty win on the road. The only thing that truly sucks about the weekend was Trier's injury and the extent of time he'll be out. Remember, our team was just beginning to get accustomed to playing with Tarc in the lineup, and now this happens. Roles are constantly changing this season with just about every person on the team. We're gonna have a lot more growing pains with the latest injury. If this team can hold together and continue to work, they could really be dangerous come late March. Just accept the fact that we're not gonna go 16-2 in the Pac and be a top 5 team.

carolinacat wrote:My biggest complaint about the USC game was that RA & Tarc didn't get any calls. Amazing that they had zero foul shots in regulation.

No sh|t......I hate to complain about officiating but numbers don't lie....see,Ed like SC got bailed out a couple of obvious times at the end of OTs while our bigs were hacked and got no calls

P.S. We still deserved to lose that game though...SC played lights out and we gave up a few opportunities to close them out......the Zo injury hurts way more than the loss....

carolinacat wrote:I don't think this weekend was so terrible, or tragic, or whatever. We lost to two very good teams that were really pumped to play us. And our opponents needed a pretty dramatic, last second shot to beat us and FOUR overtimes to finally put us away in another. If we make a few FT's (Trier's broken hand), then we're talking about a gutty win on the road. The only thing that truly sucks about the weekend was Trier's injury and the extent of time he'll be out. Remember, our team was just beginning to get accustomed to playing with Tarc in the lineup, and now this happens. Roles are constantly changing this season with just about every person on the team. We're gonna have a lot more growing pains with the latest injury. If this team can hold together and continue to work, they could really be dangerous come late March. Just accept the fact that we're not gonna go 16-2 in the Pac and be a top 5 team.

The only things that were tragic and terrible this past weekend was the defense and losing Trier. We should have won both those games, but they are losses you can deal with and they are far from the end of the world. Hopefully the boys learned they aren't going to win many road games, nor defend our nation leading home winning streak if they keep defending like that. Going to be a conference season full of reminders, this was just the first.

Third straight double double with over 12 minutes to play. He's a beast lately.

Zeus post injury has been a beast. This is the player I've wanted to see for the last 3 1/2 years.

Love it!

It's like he's fresh after the injury. Amazing!

Is a mother fucking man post injury. He should've messed his ankle up his freshman year!

Maybe get someone to chest stomp him before big games.

16/13

UAEebs86 wrote:

On the replay that shows the bench, you can clearly see Gabe York scream "OH S**T!"

Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down God of Thunder!!!

Zeus has been playing out of his mind. Please baby Jesus, no more bad luck injuries to anyone and Zo comes back and gets back into the swing of things to finish the conference season. With Zeus playing like this and some expected improvements elsewhere, this team is going to be tough come March

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Alieberman wrote:Zeus post injury has been a beast. This is the player I've wanted to see for the last 3 1/2 years.

Love it!

Almost verbatim what I said to my brother on the phone after the game tonight.

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Like I said a few days back, he has this fire/mean streak in him this year that we have never seen from him. Nasty

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Thanks Harvey....I was in school with Elliott & Kerr and I've been racking my brains trying to think of a monster center like Zeus......Man, it's so much fun having a beast, with a motor, like this.....gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

I also echo rgdeuce's prayer to Baby Jesus re: health of our players.....need to get me some Wonder Bread, Mountain Dew, KFC, etc too ala Taladega Nights style, lol.

still not the smoothest but playing to his strengths now. impressed!

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Zeus alone=wear down---impressed. Great 4th year player and leader. True Wildcat always,

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Thanks Harvey....I was in school with Elliott & Kerr and I've been racking my brains trying to think of a monster center like Zeus......Man, it's so much fun having a beast, with a motor, like this.....gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

I also echo rgdeuce's prayer to Baby Jesus re: health of our players.....need to get me some Wonder Bread, Mountain Dew, KFC, etc too ala Taladega Nights style, lol.

Well nice to have another member of the forum from the same era... I'll never forget that '88 run when I was in school. The '89 loss to UNLV was one of the worst nights of my life.

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Thanks Harvey....I was in school with Elliott & Kerr and I've been racking my brains trying to think of a monster center like Zeus......Man, it's so much fun having a beast, with a motor, like this.....gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

I also echo rgdeuce's prayer to Baby Jesus re: health of our players.....need to get me some Wonder Bread, Mountain Dew, KFC, etc too ala Taladega Nights style, lol.

Well nice to have another member of the forum from the same era... I'll never forget that '88 run when I was in school. The '89 loss to UNLV was one of the worst nights of my life.

Cool! Actually I grew up hating NBA Basketball and knew nothing of college hoops till I attended the U of A.....then a complete 180 degrees as a fan for college hoops.....one of my coolest Arizona memories was going to the midnight pep rally at McKale to welcome the Final Four Team back in '88.....a crushing loss afterwards though and a rare off-night for sharp-shooting Kerr .

Yeah, I remember screaming at the TV when UNLV charged Kenny Lofton but a no call near the end of the game? If I recall it correctly.....painful losses in otherwise incredibly successful years . You definitely need some luck in the tourney as well as skill.

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Harvey Specter wrote:

Bangkok Wildcat wrote:

Zero wrote:Kaleb is playing like a monster. The Kadeem crossover to pass was filthy.

We are going to miss this beast next year....loved watching him grow over the past 4 years.....even with the frustrating hands at times.....but always loved his physicality, defense, effort and free-throws.

The last time we had a Center with this level of physicality was Brian Williams IMO.....or am I missing someone? Anyways, was a long, long time ago. Love having a monster like him take up space in the paint!

Bear Down Gid of Thunder!!!

Williams was more gifted, but we have never had a center with the level of physicality he has displayed these last few games.

Thanks Harvey....I was in school with Elliott & Kerr and I've been racking my brains trying to think of a monster center like Zeus......Man, it's so much fun having a beast, with a motor, like this.....gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

I also echo rgdeuce's prayer to Baby Jesus re: health of our players.....need to get me some Wonder Bread, Mountain Dew, KFC, etc too ala Taladega Nights style, lol.

Well nice to have another member of the forum from the same era... I'll never forget that '88 run when I was in school. The '89 loss to UNLV was one of the worst nights of my life.

Same here. And screw Anderson Hunt.