Pac-12 opening day

[UConnCat]

Brutal game.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oh no, turn your TV off now. Bill Walton has started mumbling and talking about nothing in particular.

 

[Plebe]

So who wins Pac-12 Player of the Week?

• Aari McDonald, Arizona, 24 points in win over ASU
• Bobi Hristova, Washington State, 37 points in win over UW
• Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA, 27 points and 12 rebounds in win over USC

 

[Plebe]

Oh no, turn your TV off now. Bill Walton has started mumbling and talking about nothing in particular.

Bill Walton for president. He's the greatest

 

[LoTrader]

WOW! Arizona played really great defense, especially in the post. They made ASU jack up a lot of bad shots from outside and exposed ASU for not having any player on their team that can break down a defense. The PAC-12 season has just begun, and upsets already. I consider this an upset, but have major respect for how well Arizona played in this game. This team doesn't even resemble the Arizona team from last year. Holding ASU to under 40 points was incredible.

 

[Plebe]

Arizona's smothering defense prompted me to look up some stats.

The Wildcats came into this game ranked 4th in the country in scoring defense (50.1 ppg). Who knew. One would expect this average to rise as their competition gets more difficult, but it certainly didn't after today's game.

 

[DaBball]

Soph eligibility wise, Tucson gets to enjoy her for 3 seasons.

Lucky them! I must have been thinking of Erin Boley then. If she stayed in the ACC I believe she would have lost a year.

 

[ochoopsfan]

USC, which was 10-1 coming into Pac12 play, might lose their first 6 games in Pac 12 play. They lost at home to UCLA today, go to Stanford and Cal next weekend, then host the Oregon teams and a return match with UCLA at Pauley. The weekend after the UCLA they go to the the Arizona schools, and after today that could be 2 more loses, before finally hosting the Washington teams. Fight On......I guess.

 

[Plebe]

USC, which was 10-1 coming into Pac12 play, might lose their first 6 games in Pac 12 play. They lost at home to UCLA today, go to Stanford and Cal next weekend, then host the Oregon teams and a return match with UCLA at Pauley. The weekend after the UCLA they go to the the Arizona schools, and after today that could be 2 more loses, before finally hosting the Washington teams. Fight On.I guess.

The unbalanced schedule this year really hurt the LA schools, which only play the Washington schools once. It appears from performance so far that UW and WSU are the two weakest teams in the conference.

 

[UConnCat]

Arizona's smothering defense prompted me to look up some stats.

The Wildcats came into this game ranked 4th in the country in scoring defense (50.1 ppg). Who knew. One would expect this average to rise as their competition gets more difficult, but it certainly didn't after today's game.

Massey ranks Arizona's SOS at #261. The only Arizona opponent to score fewer than the 39 points scored by the #17 ranked team was South Carolina State. The University of Portland figured out how to score 70 points against Arizona.

ASU seems to be where players go to shoot bricks.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Lucky them! I must have been thinking of Erin Boley then. If she stayed in the ACC I believe she would have lost a year.

I think the Pac had that rule years ago, but got rid of it. I remember a player that transferred from Stanford to UW during Romar's heyday and he lost a year of eligibility. Can't remember the name.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Any road win is a good win, so Washington St., Utah and UCLA all get a bonus today. I think we'll quickly see the middle of the pack cannibalizing itself and a few teams rise to the top. And a few teams sink to the bottom.

 

[triaddukefan]

I guess having Devil as part of your mascot name makes you play ugly basketball

 

[Plebe]

Massey ranks Arizona's SOS at #261. The only Arizona opponent to score fewer than the 39 points scored by the #17 ranked team was South Carolina State. The University of Portland figured out how to score 70 points against Arizona.

ASU seems to be where players go to shoot bricks.

Never underestimate the power of a rivalry game.

And yet ASU was still good enough to put a serious scare in Baylor and Louisville.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Massey ranks Arizona's SOS at #261. The only Arizona opponent to score fewer than the 39 points scored by the #17 ranked team was South Carolina State. The University of Portland figured out how to score 70 points against Arizona.

ASU seems to be where players go to shoot bricks.

First, I'm happy. I wasn't there, my wife just had her liver transplant Friday and we are in Phoenix - and will be for a while, even if things continue to look good.

Arizona's schedule was dreadful and that could bite them at some point - but Adia said that there was no point in playing good teams until the team was competitive, but she wants to upgrade in the future.

We have always liked ASU in WBB - the only ASU team we tolerate - ever since they supported Rutgers in the Imus situation. But they are as scoring challenged as Rutgers at times - streaky at best. I think it is the style she generally plays. But, like Rutgers, with the right players ASU does well.

 

[MilfordHusky]

ASU went into the game as the #17 team and did the following:

Lost by 12 to an unranked team

Scored all of 39 points.

Shot 23%.

Had an A:TO ratio of 10:17.

Had only 2 players (1 of them a starter) with more than 1 made FG.

The word abysmal seems to apply.

 

[oldude]

ASU went into the game as the #17 team and did the following:

Lost by 12 to an unranked team

Scored all of 39 points.

Shot 23%.

Had an A:TO ratio of 10:17.

Had only 2 players (1 of them a starter) with more than 1 made FG.

The word abysmal seems to apply.

Also note that former Husky Courtney Ekmark scored 3 pts in 28 minutes on 1-10 shooting. Ouch!

 

[ochoopsfan]

IMO, there are no monster players on ASU. So if a regular has an off game they can be replaced by another regular. Cant recall an ASU player in the WNBA, at least not in the past 10 years. Play Charlie's system and the team will succeed often. Not yesterday, but often. This is why ASU always plays at a certain level. They wont make final 4 like a Stanford, OSU, or Washington did in recent years. There is no up for them, just a decent status quo.

 

[Plebe]

Massey ranks Arizona's SOS at #261. The only Arizona opponent to score fewer than the 39 points scored by the #17 ranked team was South Carolina State. The University of Portland figured out how to score 70 points against Arizona.

ASU seems to be where players go to shoot bricks.

I believe people give too much credence to Massey's SOS ranking. One major flaw in it is that it takes into consideration the exhibition games of some teams but not of others. Arizona's two exhibition games, for example, figured into the Massey ranking. But UConn's didn't.

But we should also notice that Massey ranks Arizona's defense #19 in the country, a ranking that takes into account the strength of opposition.

 

[Plebe]

IMO, there are no monster players on ASU. So if a regular has an off game they can be replaced by another regular. Cant recall an ASU player in the WNBA, at least not in the past 10 years. Play Charlie's system and the team will succeed often. Not yesterday, but often. This is why ASU always plays at a certain level. They wont make final 4 like a Stanford, OSU, or Washington did in recent years. There is no up for them, just a decent status quo.

Briann January, known for her stellar defense (and also an ASU assistant coach).

 

[ochoopsfan]

Briann January, known for her stellar defense (and also an ASU assistant coach).

She played 10 years ago on ASU, and I did miss her. But none since.

 

[Plebe]

She played 10 years ago on ASU, and I did miss her. But none since.

Your point is well taken. ASU is always making more with less. They've been very consistently ranked in the top 25 over the past several years, but even when they were in the top 10 they didn't have anyone who was even in the discussion for All-American.

 

[LoTrader]

Arizona really exposed ASU's lack of offensive creators in their lineup. And, on the occasion that ASU's offense created an open look, ASU shooters couldn't convert. I contrast that to Stanford, OSU, and even UO who have a plethora of sharp shooters in their lineups. ASU will recover, and still put the hurt on a lot of PAC-12 teams.

 

[triaddukefan]

Never underestimate the power of a rivalry game.

.

Even in WCBB

 

[nwhoopfan]

This is why ASU always plays at a certain level. They wont make final 4 like a Stanford, OSU, or Washington did in recent years. There is no up for them, just a decent status quo.

Elite 8 in '07 and '09. Only one Sweet 16 since then, a bunch of 2nd round knockouts. Seems like they were nipping at Stanford's heels in the mid 2000's, but since then have fallen to the next tier down in the conference.