Pac 12 Conference Outlook

[nwhoopfan]

Let me ask you this, Is Oregon a worthy NCAAT given their collapse here at the end of the season losing 8 of 9 and 9 of 11? I just don't see it.

I don't think they're even remotely close to being worthy of getting selected, and haven't been for quite a while. How the NET keeps liking them is one of life's great mysteries. Their win over Arkansas has lost quite a bit of value as the season has progressed. They did thump what has turned out to be a pretty decent USC team on Jan. 1st. There's just not much of anything on their resume to justify a Tourney berth.

 

[jdote33]

Big win for Arizona. I had a feeling they would win, as the game at Utah was so close. Even though I don't mind the physicality, it was a hard game to watch because all of the fouls. But I thought their athleticism and defense would pose problems for Utah. Utah fought though despite not being on their game and Pili leaving the game for a bit because of an ankle injury. Obviously Pellington had the game of her career. Adia Barnes always talks about how she's improved as a shooter and I never believe it but games like that prove her right. I thought Reese and Pueyo played really well as well. For Utah I thought Johnson and Pili played pretty well but their guard play was a bit disappointing. Palmer rely struggled dealing with the pressure and also committed a strange intentional foul at the end of the game. McQueen also was rather quiet and Kneepkins played worse than her statline. Anyways good win for AZ, I think they have a real shot at being a top 3 seed.

 

[socal613ws]

This. Teams with a lot of length but quickness neutralize our size/reach and ability to pass the basketball inside.

Folks on our board were noting that the game was very loosely called, which also helped U$C's extremely physical defense. Also, a bizarre stat is that U$C scored a total of 2 - yes, 2 - points in the paint the entire game!

Usc best big presence was out so not surprised, that's why the commentary was praising us for even being this competitive.

 

[Figurehead]

I don't think they're even remotely close to being worthy of getting selected, and haven't been for quite a while. How the NET keeps liking them is one of life's great mysteries. Their win over Arkansas has lost quite a bit of value as the season has progressed. They did thump what has turned out to be a pretty decent USC team on Jan. 1st. There's just not much of anything on their resume to justify a Tourney berth.

Love to have Beers 45 miles down the road if she portals. Give you Pao Pao for your point guard next year in trade for Beers. Graves says Pao Pao is a star in the making.

 

[Figurehead]

I do not get my Oregon Ducks and why they are struggling. Sixth loss in a row. SMH

Give you a clue. Think Voodoo donuts and that is where the problem is.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Love to have Beers 45 miles down the road if she portals. Give you Pao Pao for your point guard next year in trade for Beers. Graves says Pao Pao is a star in the making.

Pass. Pao Pao is a bit like TVO, who the Beavers already have--started out looking like great things were in store, but several years down the road...still waiting.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Anyway UO already has Van Slooten and Kyei, what do y'all need Beers for?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Ok, Arizona is a very physical team and warranted all those 1st half fouls and when Joan "biased for Arizona and Adia" Bonvincini asked Lynne Roberts about all the foul calls during the interview at the start of the second half, Lynne stated "Yes, I hope the officials keep calling fouls" intimating that Arizona is committing them, which they were. Utah was down 10 at the start of the 4th quarter and needing to be more aggressive to get turnovers, they committed 11 fouls in the quarter including 6 fouls in the last 2 minutes of the game so I would say it wasn't necessarily the refs making up for an imbalance but the fact that Utah needed to take more chances. And yes, I was actually happy that the refs called all those fouls on the Wildcats because, you know, THEY WERE FOULS. Even the homer announcer couldn't deny the fouls and just kept saying you have to adjust to the way the refs are calling the game.

While I am glad Arizona won, I am also glad the PAC-12 refs called them for all the fouls they committed.

They were all the sort of fouls that Geno has been complaining about. All the efforts at impeding a player were called a foul.

Yes they are fouls. As Geno can attest, refs don't consistently call them, and that is more than true in the PAC. Kyle Bacon the lead official is a national ref, and I suspect after Geno's rather public griping officials got told to call the rules to improve flow of the game.

Historically, aggression was sometimes rewarded. As you note, it wasn't. And yes, the Cats would not for a long time adjust - but to be fair, Arizona is all about physical defense, as are many, many teams. It really doesn't bother me.

 

[Figurehead]

Pass. Pao Pao is a bit like TVO, who the Beavers already have--started out looking like great things were in store, but several years down the road...still waiting.

I think TVO in the right situation on the right team would thrive. Might add Graves is on a hotter seat than Rueck if for nothing else the Tinkle issue on the mens side is an AD hurdle.

 

[Figurehead]

Anyway UO already has Van Slooten and Kyei, what do y'all need Beers for?

Van Slooten is not a center and Kyei is no where close to Beers.

 

[jdote33]

USC is on the way up and they also just signed JuJu Watkins. Props to Coach Gottlieb

I don't understand Oregon right now but things have been slipping since Sabrina left. They have way too much talent to still be performing where they are right now. They still have UCLA and Arizona down the stretch. Only sure bet for a win is that Arizona St game to wrap up the season. Washington and Washington St aren't great but they aren't push overs either. I'll be interested to see how they finish the year.

This is a great point, especially about usc. The Pac 12 is super competitive. I guess UCLA is leaving. But between USC, Arizona, Stanford, Utah, Oregon is looking at an uphill climb over the next couple years, when they seemed destined to be a program etched in the top 3 in the conference perennially.

 

[Blueberries]

Is pili not playing for Utah today? They’re struggling against asu and I don’t see her in box score.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Is pili not playing for Utah today? They’re struggling against asu and I don’t see her in box score.

She turned her ankle in the game vs Arizona.

 

[nwhoopfan]

re: Pili--not exactly an even trade, but McFarland has missed most of the season and she played today; 9 pts/9 reb is a solid contribution

Utah hung on. Looks like Kneepkens had a big game.

Skinner was 3-16. Does she ever shoot for a high percentage? Sure doesn't seem like it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Arizona beat Colorado handily. Nice weekend for them. Pellington followed up her huge game on Friday w/ 18 pts today on 8-13 shooting and 5 assists. I'm gonna go ahead and give her Pac 12 Player of the Week, regardless of what else happens today.

 

[nwhoopfan]

No surprise, Washington St. beats Oregon St. I think for the first time ever Beers and Gardiner both had a good game at the same time, combined for 32 pts/18 reb. Both started. Rueck is going with a youth movement, 4 freshmen started. von Oelhoeffen continues to be in one of the worst funks I've ever seen. 1-10 today. Just can't get going. Too much Murekatete and Leger-Walker for the Beavs to handle.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Dawgs are about to beat the Duckies. It's been 6 years I think. Will be 3-1 against the Oregon schools this year. Been a long time coming!

 

[nwhoopfan]

UW does it. Inching up toward .500 in conference (although they finish on the road at the LA schools, that's gonna be a tough pair of games). An NIT berth seems reasonable.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Another crazy day in the Pac. Last game of the day USC/Cal going down to the wire.

 

[dabears17]

Cal USC goes to OT. Foul by USC with clearly 0.4 seconds left on the clock in regulation was determined by the officials to be after time expired. Cal holds on and wins 81-78. Happy for Charmin.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tough loss for USC. Lost weekend for them. Cal has enough talent that you can't just overlook them.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Oh Well, it was a nice short visit to #25

 

[jake0414]

This is a great point, especially about usc. The Pac 12 is super competitive. I guess UCLA is leaving. But between USC, Arizona, Stanford, Utah, Oregon is looking at an uphill climb over the next couple years, when they seemed destined to be a program etched in the top 3 in the conference perennially.

Uhh USC will leave the PAC-12 along with UCLA and join the B1G starting 1 August 2024. So both the Trojans and Bruins will play their final seasons as members of the PAC-12 in 2023/24. Not sure how you missed that….

 

[jdote33]

Uhh USC will leave the PAC-12 along with UCLA and join the B1G starting 1 August 2024. So both the Trojans and Bruins will play their final seasons as members of the PAC-12 in 2023/24. Not sure how you missed that….

I miss a lot of things. Not perfect and don't know everything about all the college realignments. That said point taken about USC.

 

[Figurehead]

Uhh USC will leave the PAC-12 along with UCLA and join the B1G starting 1 August 2024. So both the Trojans and Bruins will play their final seasons as members of the PAC-12 in 2023/24. Not sure how you missed that….

Still hard to wrap ones mind around the additional travel times for conference games for UCLA and USC. I wonder if that will factor in a recruits decision.....travel times.

 

[The deacon]

Still hard to wrap ones mind around the additional travel times for conference games for UCLA and USC. I wonder if that will factor in a recruits decision.....travel times.

And we're just talking women's basketball. Imagine how it will be for so many other sports like tennis, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, softball, on and on... it's just another example of how college sports have gone off the rails, losing track of what they're originally intended to be.

 

[azfan]

Thanks for the correction, I saw that after I posted. Game will be on ESPN2, for those who don't have Pac12 Network.


Another correction, Oregon St. will host Arizona St. That's about as winnable of a game as you can possibly get, so they should at least reach the 4 win plateau...

It's a lock.

 

[azfan]

Opinion from the sports feed of the Arizona Republic




Dodd's prediction for the Pac-12 would have Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Oregon State with Boise State, Fresno State, SMU and San Diego State.

"That lineup would reduce the Power Five to the Power Four, creating implications beyond the Pac-12 itself." he wrote.

 

[BruinGold]

Still hard to wrap ones mind around the additional travel times for conference games for UCLA and USC. I wonder if that will factor in a recruits decision.....travel times.

UCLA, after a very highly rated recruiting class for 2022, has one recruit for 2023 (Amanda Muse). They lost Jada Williams to Arizona (decommit) and I will speculate that Breya Cunningham, Williams' teammate, also decided against UCLA in favor of Arizona for similar reasons. What are those reasons? It could be travel times or it could be something else, but the move to the Big 10 would be the biggest change that would have affected Williams.

I note that UCLA has started posting photos of the team riding in very nice private aircraft for longer trips. So, yes, I bet it's factoring into recruiting.

 

[jake0414]

UCLA, after a very highly rated recruiting class for 2022, has one recruit for 2023 (Amanda Muse). They lost Jada Williams to Arizona (decommit) and I will speculate that Breya Cunningham, Williams' teammate, also decided against UCLA in favor of Arizona for similar reasons. What are those reasons? It could be travel times or it could be something else, but the move to the Big 10 would be the biggest change that would have affected Williams.

I note that UCLA has started posting photos of the team riding in very nice private aircraft for longer trips. So, yes, I bet it's factoring into recruiting.

I recall reading that Breya Cunningham’s mom attended Arizona or is from the Tucson area and that played a part in her decision to commit to Adia Barnes and the Wildcats. Suspect that opportunity to continue to play with Cunningham at the next level and UCLA having point guards Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones in the 2022 recruit class led to Jada Williams‘ decommitting from UCLA and joining Arizona instead (Jada Williams committed to UCLA before Rice or Jones did).

Ironically if Arizona does leave the PAC-12 for the Big-12 then the Wildcats will occasionally have to travel to Ames, Cincinnati, Orlando and Morgantown, not quite the distance that USC and UCLA will, but farther than they travel now.