Bear Down Wildcats

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:20 pm**

Sorta think Pac-12 Network is one day gonna be remembered as the "New Coke" of sports cable. They tried it, it didn't work, it was gone within a few years.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:22 pm**

1stNGrant Frys wrote:
Gladiator Cat wrote:
Lando05 wrote:Best player in U of A history

Man I love me some Sean Elliot, but Ayton is on a whole different level. Best player in our proud history no doubt.
I think Derrick Williams has been skewed due to his terrible NBA career and the dopey persona that he didn't seem to have in college. Even if you could call them offensively equal, I guess Dwills defense was only hero-plays.

Derrick Williams v. Duke is legendary.

32 points.

What a game.

Ayton is probably the best player the UA has ever had, but he isn't legendary.

Yet.

No one remembers PAC-12 tourney games.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:23 pm**

Chicat wrote:
CatFanOneMil wrote:ESPN is definitely dissing on Ayton...not one highlight, not even a mention of our win over UCLA tonite...

Bear Down and one more thing...FUCK ESPN!
Maybe they don’t get the Pac-12 Network.

They barely have the score...it's not like they couldn't show that on the front page.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:24 pm**

Merkin wrote:
1stNGrant Frys wrote:
Gladiator Cat wrote:
Lando05 wrote:Best player in U of A history

Man I love me some Sean Elliot, but Ayton is on a whole different level. Best player in our proud history no doubt.
I think Derrick Williams has been skewed due to his terrible NBA career and the dopey persona that he didn't seem to have in college. Even if you could call them offensively equal, I guess Dwills defense was only hero-plays.

Derrick Williams v. Duke is legendary.

32 points.

What a game.

Ayton is probably the best player the UA has ever had, but he isn't legendary.

Yet.

No one remembers PAC-12 tourney games.

I remember someone on the old board linking to UNC, KU etc forums and they were all in absolute shock and joy.

Ayton has to AT LEAST take us to the EE

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:28 pm**

Merkin wrote:Ayton is probably the best player the UA has ever had, but he isn't legendary.

Yet.

No one remembers PAC-12 tourney games.

Yeah. This is what I've been thinking for a while. The reason that Miles Simon is a name known by every AZ fan is because of what he and his teammates did in the spring of '97. Take that run away, and I'm not sure Miles is getting his jersey retired at McKale.

Ayton has made his mark as easily the best freshman we've ever had, and by the time he's done, he'll be in the conversation for best AZ *player*, which is crazy. I knew he'd be good; not this good. If he and this team get to the FF, I think Ayton's season will go down as the best single season any AZ player's ever had.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:20 am**

Magic was on the sideline giggling like a school girl after one of Ayton’s jumpers. He just looked so impressed.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:41 am**

YoDeFoe wrote:Magic was on the sideline giggling like a school girl after one of Ayton’s jumpers. He just looked so impressed.

Yeah, loved the sip of water at the end. Need a gif of that.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:19 am**

Merkin wrote:
1stNGrant Frys wrote:
Gladiator Cat wrote:
Lando05 wrote:Best player in U of A history

Man I love me some Sean Elliot, but Ayton is on a whole different level. Best player in our proud history no doubt.
I think Derrick Williams has been skewed due to his terrible NBA career and the dopey persona that he didn't seem to have in college. Even if you could call them offensively equal, I guess Dwills defense was only hero-plays.

Derrick Williams v. Duke is legendary.

32 points.

What a game.

Ayton is probably the best player the UA has ever had, but he isn't legendary.

Yet.

No one remembers PAC-12 tourney games.

indeed

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:42 am**

I'd settle for him being our Carmelo Anthony.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:10 am**

“Start” talking about NPOY.

That’s the narrative.

My dude has been destroying teams all year, but only now people are starting to notice?

Larry Scott fucks us again. No one has seen the best player in the nation. He might as well have gone to Weber St. for all the exposure the “Conference of Champions” has afforded him.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:57 am**

The black mermaid to be exact

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:04 am**

Can we all take a moment to appreciate the last UCLA possession in regulation?

UCLA down 2, Holliday driving left with only a corner shooter (forgot if it was Welsh or Goloman) on that side. Instead of collapsing on help D, Ayton sticks with the corner shooter, since a Holliday layup is ok but an open corner three is death. He basically made the proper decision on the Grant Jerrett play, which is even harder considering his instincts are to tomahawk that layup into the stands

Maybe he was just lazy, or maybe just didn't think he could get there. But I like to think he made the decision to allow overtime but prevent a loss. Especially if it was Welsh in the corner.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:42 pm**

Chicat wrote:“Start” talking about NPOY.

That’s the narrative.

My dude has been destroying teams all year, but only now people are starting to notice?

Larry Scott fucks us again. No one has seen the best player in the nation. He might as well have gone to Weber St. for all the exposure the “Conference of Champions” has afforded him.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:45 pm**

Chicat wrote:“Start” talking about NPOY.

That’s the narrative.

My dude has been destroying teams all year, but only now people are starting to notice?

Larry Scott fucks us again. No one has seen the best player in the nation. He might as well have gone to Weber St. for all the exposure the “Conference of Champions” has afforded him.

I feel like there have been fewer opportunities for me to watch games this year (Thanks Larry) which is sad since this was the year we had the Dire Wolf on our team. (They are more rare than unicorns and more baddazz)

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:17 pm**

pac12 tourney most outstanding player.

as if it could be anyone else

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:25 pm**

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:15 pm**

It's just beyond everything. The guy is superhuman.
Unreal.
Might be best frosh in ncaa in 20 years

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:18 pm**

Seriously changes the game for everyone else offense and defense, his team and opponents

Really something to behold.

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:40 pm**

I'm ready to say best player i have seen at Arizona. My fandom dates to 1987. Adjusted for single season vs 3 or 4.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:30 am**

He’ll never be the most accomplished player in Arizona History (that will likely always be Sean Elliot) , but he is, without a doubt, the best and most dominant player we’ve ever had.

And if he leads us to the FF and beyond .... he might become the most iconic player in the history of UA.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:39 am**

Guy is so fun to watch. I love that the oops are just starting to flow. Trier, PJC, Dus, all just tossing it up if there's any space behind the d. All I can say going into the tourney is feed him! With a little more help from Trier and Rawle, considering their lackluster pac tourney outings, we've got a legit shot.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:31 am**

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:30 am**

Anyone who says there is a player who has put on that Arizona jersey who is better then Deandre is just lying to themselves. I never watched Elliott play but these past two games were the most dominant I can ever remember from a big man in college basketball.

How anyone would even think, THINK of saying he is not the #1 pick is beyond me too

I love deandre

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:35 am**

I watched Sean sophomore through senior, and he’s my favorite ever and probably always will be. But Ayton is the best college basketball player I’ve ever seen.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:48 am**

Almost any other year Deandre would be easily the #1 pick. But this year he will be one of the top 3 picks with Marvin Bagley Jr and Luka Doncic.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:53 am**

Imagine back when a player had to stay through their sophomore season...

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:55 am**

Catintheheat wrote:Almost any other year Deandre would be easily the #1 pick. But this year he will be one of the top 3 picks with William Bagley Jr and Luka Doncic.

Any team passing on Deandre will live to regret it.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:58 am**

EastCoastCat wrote:
Catintheheat wrote:Almost any other year Deandre would be easily the #1 pick. But this year he will be one of the top 3 picks with William Bagley Jr and Luka Doncic.
Any team passing on Deandre will live to regret it.

That’s the shit that gets GMs run out of town by fans and the media.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 8:29 am**

I don’t know Doncic but no team would take Bagley over Ayton. Ayton has Bagley’s talent but he’s physically limitless.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:40 am**

Ayton is the goat! He has to be the #1 pick, it’s not even a debate.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:30 am**

Somebody said it but I can't remember who...

All of the NBA guys are saying it's Ayton without a question. Like full stop, no doubt, Deandre is the number one pick.

Something along the lines of "all those guys are special but he's the most special."

While the media and fans may keep up chatter about who goes where, the NBA guys all have their minds made up. Thinking this was on the Bill Simmons podcast... can't recall.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:57 pm**

There is ZERO chance Deandre is not drafted first.

If he isn’t, it would be a Sam bowie over Jordan level mistake

I don’t see it happening. His ceiling is too high

I mean my god, I have never seen someone just dominate like he did against usc and UCLA.

USC has decent bigs too and he ate them alive

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:58 pm**

YoDeFoe wrote:Somebody said it but I can't remember who...

All of the NBA guys are saying it's Ayton without a question. Like full stop, no doubt, Deandre is the number one pick.

Something along the lines of "all those guys are special but he's the most special."

While the media and fans may keep up chatter about who goes where, the NBA guys all have their minds made up. Thinking this was on the Bill Simmons podcast... can't recall.

Its been made up since November. There are definitely some scenarios where teams could be looking at Doncic (see the 76ers), but Ayton is clearly the #1 pick, and has been on my board since Game 1.

Posted: **Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:19 pm**

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_ ... tournament" target="_blank)

Dominant Deandre Ayton
While other freshmen have hit a wall, Ayton has steamrolled right through it -- carrying Arizona on his back to a Pac-12 tournament championship and putting up video game numbers in the process.

Watching the film, the biggest takeaway from this weekend is the fact that Ayton is finally fully embracing being a dominant interior-oriented big man. Prone to floating earlier in his career, quick to describe himself as a power forward and never all that eager about doing all the little things that go along with being the biggest, strongest player on the floor, Ayton has put all of that aside over the past few months and turned into an absolute monster. Besides Marvin Bagley, we haven't seen a player put up these type of numbers (24 points and 13 rebounds per 40 minutes while shooting better than 63 percent) at this level since Blake Griffin at Oklahoma in 2009.

While the Pac-12 isn't quite as strong as it normally is, he wasn't doing it against a bunch of nobodies either. Seeing him back down and push around a 6-11, 230-pound potential first-round pick in Chimezie Metu was quite impressive. He established deep post position for easy catches and finishes almost whenever he wanted, putting on an aerial exhibition for the Las Vegas crowd with a series of powerful above-the-rim slams. Not only using power and explosiveness, Ayton also demonstrated all kinds of finesse as well, with incredible body control, footwork and touch around the rim, using both hands creatively. In the rare times he would miss, Ayton would usually grab his own rebound and then put it back calmly.

Ayton also showed a high skill-level stepping outside of the paint, using fall-away jumpers from the baseline and stepping out to the mid-range to knock down 15-18 footers. He made a handful of nice reads and passes, showing the ability to play alongside another 7-footer in Dusan Ristic more cohesively than we had seen in the past.

Most encouraging to see was the amount of energy Ayton expended despite playing three games (and 104 total minutes) in three nights, seemingly not getting the least bit tired down the stretch. His physical gifts were on full display in overtime of the semifinals against UCLA, as we saw him sprinting the floor in a game that he almost single-handedly won for Arizona with 18 second-half points.

Defensively, Ayton had his fair share of lapses over the weekend, despite playing with a fairly strong energy level throughout. He tends to get lost at times off the ball and in pick-and-roll coverages, and he doesn't do a good enough job of making a second effort to reinsert himself back into plays. He had a few nice possessions over the course of the weekend staying in front of drivers from the perimeter thanks to his exceptional combination of strength, quickness and length. Still, you can't help but feel like he has a lot more to offer on this end of the floor, as he's still hampered by his poor awareness and fundamentals.

March is the time for college prospects to shine, and Ayton is taking full advantage of the spotlight he's being given, with a huge contingent of NBA execs following his every move. A very challenging NCAA tournament draw will now give him even more opportunity to showcase himself in front of a national audience and NBA scouts alike, and we'll see how far he can carry Arizona. -- Givony

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_ ... rs-top-100" target="_blank

NBA draft stock watch: Biggest risers, new No. 1 in Top 100

Deandre Ayton | Arizona
7-0 | Fr. | C
Overall ranking: No. 1

All the turmoil around Arizona seems only to have lit a fire underneath Ayton, and he has responded with arguably the best two games of his season in the last 10 days.

After canvassing most of the league in recent weeks, there seems to be somewhat of a consensus forming around Ayton as the "safe pick" at No. 1. Which team ends up getting the pick will obviously play a role, but Ayton's sheer productivity combined with his freakish physical tools are making it increasingly difficult to keep Luka Doncic up top, especially after a somewhat lackluster month of February by his standards.

For a more detailed look at Ayton's strengths, weaknesses, background and more, make sure you check out our deep dive on the Bahamas native from two weeks ago. --Jonathan Givony

The article mentioned in the quote from Givony

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_ ... -nba-draft" target="_blank

Use the site below to access ESPN insider stories

http://insider2text.xyz" target="_blank

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:18 pm**

Bilas: Ayton is a 'Hall of Fame talent'
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22733066

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:19 pm**

TatetheGreat wrote:Bilas: Ayton is a 'Hall of Fame talent'
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22733066

Pssh. I said this before the season. Bilas needs to get on my level.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:32 am**

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:34 am**

Deandre and Devonte' want their photos redone.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:45 am**

Brunson is winning it

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:05 pm**

Main Event wrote:

Whatever Bagley and Ayton are doing below the cutoff in that picture, Ayton is enjoying it more.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:06 pm**

It'll depend on the tournament.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:42 pm**

I'd need to double-check, but I'm 99% sure we've not had a Naismith winner.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:49 pm**

Beachcat97 wrote:I'd need to double-check, but I'm 99% sure we've not had a Naismith winner.

Sean won the Wooden but I think someone else won the Naismith that year (Danny Ferry?)

Posted: **Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:40 pm**

Posted: **Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:12 pm**

Has Ayton declared yet????

Gonna have to get sister Jean on it.

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:45 pm**

U.P. Zona Fan wrote:Has Ayton declared yet????

Gonna have to get sister Jean on it.

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:46 pm**

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2018 2:03 pm**

Good luck to you Deandre! Go on and kill it in the league. You have the entire Bear Down Nation behind you. You were on of the best ever to step foot on campus, now go and be one of the best players in the pros.

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:23 pm**

I love this kid. He will be the best pro UA has ever produced.

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:08 pm**

PennZona20 wrote:I love this kid. He will be the best pro UA has ever produced.

Yes, yes he will, should have been more specific when I talked to sister Jean.

Bear Down Wildcats

Deandre Ayton

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