ASU Sun Devils

[azfan]

ASU opened the year with a win over Air Force 87-56. While this was a classic opening-season mismatch everyone on the Sun Devils roster scored, rebounded, and play double-digit minutes. Notably Robbi Ryan senior guard from Wyoming was held out with an undisclosed foot injury. She'll be needed if the Devils are to survive the rough Pac-12 schedule. Two newcomers stood out in the victory. Freshman Finland guard Sarah Bejedi scored 12 points in 19 minutes hitting all three of her first quarter shots and had several assists that were eye-popping. Ja' Tavia Tarpley the grad transfer from Southern Cal showed tremendous defense and offense as she scored 11 points and led the team in rebounding with eight.

The Devil's play Army Sunday the day before Veterans Day. In her presser Charlize Turner Thorne discussed how this came about which was an interesting story. This Devil Squad looks to be much different than those of recent years as they look like they're going to run run run and score some points. Fundamentally Charlize's Turner Thorne maintains her philosophy of playing the entire team and using waves of players. A weak non-conference schedule should allow the Devil's to enter a Pac-12 play with a very good record. Is I posted elsewhere based on talent and size it looks like this will be a sixth-place team this year. I believe he Arizona Wildcats will leap frog the devil's to finish 5th behind the to Oregon schools Stanford and UCLA. I did notice that UCLA's guard Dean did not appear in the box score in the Bruins -first game wondering what's going on there.

 

[azfan]

The Devil's second home game of the year appropriately enough against Army the day before Veterans Day showed a Devils squad with a great deal of energy. While Army is a program that has had its difficulties over the years they did provide the Devils with an opportunity to show that coach Turner Thorne is committing the Devils to an up tempo offense. Areas the Devils need to work on include outside shooting, rebounding and intensity for the entire game. There were a number of uncharacteristic defensive lapses again in this game. Great news - Robbi Ryan suited up and scored 12 points in 15 minutes of play. In the postgame presser coach said that Ryan is dealing with a foot injury and would be limited to 15 minutes per game. She also reiterated that Jamie Ruden is on a minutes watch as well probably due to a back issue. This is not a significant constraint as coach is well known for playing the entire roster and starters typically average between 20 and 22 minutes. Once again scoring was distributed throughout the roster as everyone scored with the exception of Reili Richardson. SC grad transfer Tapley was amazing as the game high scorer and sophomore Jayde Van Hyfte had a double-double. Looking forward to next Sunday the Devil hit the road to play Lindsay Whalen's Golden Gophers in Minnesota. This will be a great test for the young Sun Devil squad - looking forward this game televised on BTN.

 

[azfan]

In ASU's loss yesterday to Minnesota Jamie Ruden did not play probably due to back issues. Robbi Ryan continues to be on a minutes load protection at 20 minutes per game. That said as other commentators have mentioned ASU was Stone Cold from the field.

 

[DefenseBB]

I think ASU is #2....in the state of Arizona this year. I like the Wildcats much better than CTT squad. I am still scratching my head at why all pollsters put ASU ahead of AZ. ASU is on the bubble of top 25 while I think Arizona is around 18-21 range. I am rooting for both to beat Stanford, UCLA and Oregon!

 

[azfan]

I agree Coach Barnes is a tremendous recruiter and the Wildcats appear to be poised to move ahead of the Sun Devils not only this season but for the foreseeable future. I'm not optimistic that either the Wildcats or the Sun Devils are going to have any luck against the top four teams in the conference. I do think the Wildcats match up well with UCLA and may be able to split that series if they play in twice this year. The ASU Sun Devils have a very very soft non-conference schedule and may enter conference play with only the Minnesota loss. That being the case I could see the Devil's easily losing 9 conference games this year.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I agree Coach Barnes is a tremendous recruiter and the Wildcats appear to be poised to move ahead of the Sun Devils not only this season but for the foreseeable future. I'm not optimistic that either the Wildcats or the Sun Devils are going to have any luck against the top four teams in the conference. I do think the Wildcats match up well with UCLA and may be able to split that series if they play in twice this year. The ASU Sun Devils have a very very soft non-conference schedule and may enter conference play with only the Minnesota loss. That being the case I could see the Devil's easily losing 9 conference games this year.

Arizona has one of the worst OOC schedules in WBB this year, Coach Barnes has promised that will change next year. The problem is that it doesn't do anything to prepare you for the tougher teams.

Both Aari and Cate Reese are "real deals", although Reese has some issues to work through, I think. Based on our freshmen, I think the future is bright. We will be watching how it all works out.

 

[Plebe]

Arizona has one of the worst OOC schedules in WBB this year, Coach Barnes has promised that will change next year. The problem is that it doesn't do anything to prepare you for the tougher teams.

Both Aari and Cate Reese are "real deals", although Reese has some issues to work through, I think. Based on our freshmen, I think the future is bright. We will be watching how it all works out.

Arizona will get plenty of chances at quality wins in conference play. They play Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona State twice each, plus Stanford once. I think they'll finish ahead of ASU and may even challenge UCLA for 4th in conference. Barnes is a better coach than Close.

 

[willtalk]

The fact that they had Arizona St ranked and not Arizona shows how much the voters rely on last season and reputation. Anyone who knew anything about the Pac 12 knew Arizona was better. Arizona last year probably should have made the dance. These early-season polls are usually like that. I mean they had ND at 15 and also Texas shouldn't have been rated at all either. I think fans on these sites certainly know more than they do. If they want information they should read the Boneyard.

 

[azfan]

Arizona will get plenty of chances at quality wins in conference play. They play Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona State twice each, plus Stanford once. I think they'll finish ahead of ASU and may even challenge UCLA for 4th in conference. Barnes is a better coach than Close.

Both ASU and UArizona (no kidding...new branding in Tucson) play extremely weak non-conference schedules this year although the Wildcats road win at ranked Texas is a signature win while ASU failed on the road against Minnesota. That said I don't see either of the Arizona schools having much luck against the top four. I do agree that U of A matches up well against UCLA and if they play the Bruins twice may have a chance to split. Earlier I said that ASU and U of A would split the series. Thinking about it I think it is possible that the Wildcats could sweep. If UCLA were to stumble against one of the cellar dwellers it would be possible for the Wildcats to finish fourth. Will be an interesting Pac-12 season

 

[LoTrader]

I think Arizona (UArizona) can beat any team in the PAC-12.

 

[Shades]

Arizona seems like a one-woman show, and those are usually easy to beat by the better-coached, better defensive teams. There’s one particular stat that bothered me from their victory over Texas. Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

 

[DefenseBB]

Arizona seems like a one-woman show, and those are usually easy to beat by the better-coached, better defensive teams. There’s one particular stat that bothered me from their victory over Texas. Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

That’s like saying Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or Lebron James were one man shows and look how poorly they fared? Oh wait, they won! Basketball can be won by one player by and large just like hockey can be won with one great goalie. All other sports require more.
You need to actually watch a few of their games and then you’ll know. They are for real.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Arizona seems like a one-woman show, and those are usually easy to beat by the better-coached, better defensive teams. There’s one particular stat that bothered me from their victory over Texas. Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

McDonald can certainly take over a game. Prior to her explosion against Texas, she had scored 13, 20 and 24. At least 1 other double figure scorer in the other games. Reese is solid and Thomas and McBryde are decent complimentary players. Also they are averaging 15.5 assists per game on the season, so I think the Texas game is somewhat of an anomaly. McDonald isn't going to score 40+ most games.

 

[Plebe]

Arizona seems like a one-woman show, and those are usually easy to beat by the better-coached, better defensive teams. There’s one particular stat that bothered me from their victory over Texas. Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

Not that much different than the Washington team with Kelsey Plum that made a Final Four or the Baylor team with Odyssey Syms that made an Elite 8. It's rare for a team like that to win the NCAA championship, but a lot of games can be won with that type of team dynamic when it's done well.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Not that much different than the Washington team with Kelsey Plum that made a Final Four or the Baylor team with Odyssey Syms that made an Elite 8. It's rare for a team like that to win the NCAA championship, but a lot of games can be won with that type of team dynamic when it's done well.

All true. But there's nobody on Arizona who's as good as the players you cite.

 

[Plebe]

All true. But there's nobody on Arizona who's as good as the players you cite.

You're sure about that? McDonald was the nation's 3rd-leading scorer last year, as a sophomore. Was Plum significantly better than that as a sophomore?

 

[nwhoopfan]

The year UW made the Final 4, Plum, Walton and Osahor was a nice trio. The next year Plum and Osahor were the only reliable scorers. They had a better regular season but didn't go as far in the Tourney.


Holy thread drift Batman!

 

[Shades]

The year UW made the Final 4, Plum, Walton and Osahor was a nice trio. The next year Plum and Osahor were the only reliable scorers. They had a better regular season but didn't go as far in the Tourney.
Holy thread drift Batman!

Was the Final 4 year the year Aari McDonald was on the team? She has to considered good, I hope... since she’s now the one-woman show.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Was the Final 4 year the year Aari McDonald was on the team? She has to considered good, I hope... since she’s now the one-woman show.

She arrived the year after the Final 4. She was good as a Fr., but inconsistent. Averaged just under 10 ppg. She showed some flashes of brilliance, I expected her to be good at Arizona, but she blew my expectations out of the water.

That's what I meant by consistent scoring from only 2 players. McDonald had some really good games, and some not so good. Even more mercurial was Natalie Romeo, who went for 25 and 30 a couple times but also went scoreless numerous games. I'm not sure how a player capable of scoring 30 can get a goose egg, but she did it. Okay, I had to look it up. 5 scoreless games, including back to back.

Plum and Osahor averaged nearly 48 of the team's 85 ppg that year.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Arizona seems like a one-woman show, and those are usually easy to beat by the better-coached, better defensive teams. There’s one particular stat that bothered me from their victory over Texas. Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

No, not really a one woman show. But streaky. Actually, McDonald can be streaky as well. Reese is truly solid, I keep saying she has issues, but it is complicated, mostly, she sometimes doesn't finish when I think she could and I swear she needs to get "fired up" to play well. Thomas and McBryde and Carter are all talents, and the younger players are still learning.

All of that said - I've watched a lot of basketball over the years. I'll say it ahead of time - it looks like an NCAA team that could exit 1st round, 2nd round or sweet 16 (outside shot).

 

[azfan]

Interesting to see so much discussion of the Wildcats on this Sun Devil thread. To return to the Sun Devils I think the following areas are going to challenge CTT's team during the upcoming year:

1. Consistent scoring.

Once again the team appears to have challenges with the outside jumpshot. Aside from Tapley, scoring will need to come from Robbi Ryan and Jamie Ruden both of whom are battling ongoing chronic injuries. Ryan has a foot issue that limits her minutes. Rudin has back issues that do the same. Other than SC grad transfer Tapley who appears to have an excellent inside game there is no consistent reliable scorer on the Sun Devil squad who isn't battling injury.

2. Rebounding.

This is a remarkably small team. Aside from Tapley there are no real players above 6 foot who can be depended upon. In the past CTT has had guards that can really hit the boards. Senior guards on the Sun Devil squad will have to step up but it appears that there will be a consistent rebounding deficit with this team.

3. Strength of conference.

The Pac-12 is one of the strongest conferences in women's basketball this year, particularly the top half. Both the Oregon schools, UCLA, and Stanford are tournament teams that have the potential to go to the elite eight. The second tranche of teams which includes the Sun Devils, the much-discussed Wildcats and it looks like Washington also have the ability to make the tournament. Utah is rebuilding and question marks remain with the bottom part of the conference. With that said it appears that the Sun Devils are not going to be a traveling team. While the Minnesota game 8s a single data point the level of Sun Devil play was revealing. To go to the Pacific Northwest and northern California and play at that level does not bode well. At this juncture I can see the Devil's losing all games to those top four teams. I think that both the Wildcats and Washington will pose significant challenges to the Sun Devils. That said the remainder of the non-conference schedule is very favorable probably as weak as the Wildcats.

I'm sticking by my preseason projection of the Sun Devils as the sixth team in the Pac-12 and they'll be on the bubble to make the tournament. The Wildcats have demonstrated in the early going that they are the 5th place team. Looking forward to the December 29th game in Tempe against the Wildcats and a chance to see McDonald in person.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Only 7 team assists. They had more turnovers than that. I’m red-flagging Arizona until I see more to be impressed by.

Although it was against a weak team, they had 28 assists on 32 FG today, including 14 for McDonald. Better?

 

[azfan]

ASU's 25 win over Cal Poly revealed a great deal about the limits of the Sun Devils squad. ASU only scored 29 points in the first half against the overmatched Cal-Poly squad. The only shooter who had any effectiveness all night was Tapley who had another outstanding performance. Jamie Ruden was in a walking boot and it's day-to-day as injuries continue to hamper the development of CTT's squad. Areas in which the Devils have not improved include outside shooting, passing, and an almost absence of transition points. Given the abbreviated nature of the non-conference schedule as well as the very low quality the Sun Devil squad doesn't have the ability to challenge itself against competition in preparation for the Pac-12 season. I now suspect that in addition to being passed by Arizona it's likely that the Washington Huskies will finish above the Devil's this year. The remaining non-conference schedule with the exception of the Creighton game is very weak. We open the season against the Wildcats at home which will tell us a great deal about where this Devil team will end up.

 

[azfan]

ASU beat Maine by 26 points yesterday. Again in scoring 57 points against anthe Sun Devils showed that they are a very poor offensive team. Jamie Ruden didn't play at all I'm not sure if she made the trip to the Holiday tournament. Robbi Ryan continues to be on a minutes watch at 20, and Kiki Russell is recovering from illness I imagine the flu and played minimal minutes with minimal impact. That said everyone but Sanders rebounded in the game and aside from Sanders and the Finnish freshman everyone scored. Looking at the schedule in December I see losses by the Sun Devils to the Creighton Blue Jays, their big Agnew will be a force that I don't think ASU can cope with, and to the BYU Cougars.

The Devil's get the 5-0 Purdue Boilermakers today. That's going to be a tough one and I put that down as a loss for the Devils as well. Tapley had a poor game against Maine which is surprising and unless she ends up real big and Robbi Ryan scores more than a dozen I can't see enough firepower in the Devils lineup to outscore Purdue.

Purdue seems to get a great deal of their scoring from the back court and while they haven't played much of a schedule either they seem to have the ability to hit the boards and play solid defense. Given the Sun Devils challenge in scoring I suspect this will be a tough tough game.

Looking at the schedule which will be brutal once we enter conference play I'm estimating the Devil's will end at 17 - 11 and end up in the NIT this year.

 

[Plebe]

@azfan did an ASU player just get injured yesterday or today? I was watching the end of the 1st half vs. MTSU, and in a halftime interview CTT was asked about someone's status (I didn't catch the name) and Charli's response was "she's out for the game."

Maybe Kiara Russell? She played 20 minutes in yesterday's loss to Purdue but isn't on the box score today.