Pac-12 opening day | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Pac-12 opening day

Huge crowd has turned out for this rivalry game. The referee's whistle wasn't even heard over the roar of the crowd on that last possession of the half.
 
Tucson has loved the men's teams for decades. Good to see them turning out as the women's team is showing improvement.
 
An ugly game has gotten even uglier. Nobody scored for about 4:45 to start Q2. UA finally got a bucket. 19-13 lead. Have I mentioned ASU is never fun to play against?

I actually can't remember an Arizona State game that wasn't ugly, although this one looks like it could be special in that regard. Never fun to play for sure, and usually not much fun to watch either unless you're an ASU fan. They always have a cast of thousands, they play really hard, and they can frustrate good teams to no end. But they never seem to have the offensive firepower to be really good themselves.
 
Ekmark is having a nightmare game. She's 0-8 and just had a bad turnover and then air-balled a 3.

I give Arizona a lot of credit for playing good defense, but ASU isn't even hitting wide open 3s and layups.
 
Terrible inbound, Melgoza trapped in the corner, dribbles a bit and hucks a TERRIBLE prayer shot that doesn't get remotely close. Freaking Huskies might go 0-18 this year. How did a certain team whose mascot is a blue tinted devil lose to UW?


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I swear I heard the announcer say at the end of Q3 that Ekmark was starting to warm up. She's now 1-9. Hitting 1 shot is warming up? ASU might not have a single double figure scorer this game. Russell has 8.
 
I just don't think it's gonna happen for ASU today. Arizona's defense is just not letting them find any kind of offensive rhythm. And even when they do find an open shot they are missing badly.
 
McDonald is of course a lot quicker than Plum could even dream of being, but it looks to me like Aari was taking notes her Fr. year. I see shades of Plum in her game.
 
Wow, I thought UW couldn't shoot. ASU is 22% overall and 12% behind the arc. Ouch!
 
I really want Wynn to turn it around. Glad some fans showed up. I'm just losing hope already. It's only year 2 but I'm not seeing progress. Last year they seemed grittier and more apt to play over their head. This year they have slightly improved talent but just can't shoot. Hard to win a game when you can't make the ball go in the basket.


edited--28-72 (39%) and 6-22 behind the arc (27%) today; they simply can't shoot
Taking 72 shots proves they can shoot. Hitting 27% of them means they can't shoot accurately. Hmmmm.
 
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McDonald is of course a lot quicker than Plum could even dream of being, but it looks to me like Aari was taking notes her Fr. year. I see shades of Plum in her game.
Uh, other than being ball-dominant and left-handed, I don't see it that much. She doesn't really have an outside shot.
 
My goodness! Each ASU starter made one shot each except Ibis who made 4. No other ASU player has more than 2 FG.
 
Uh, other than being ball-dominant and left-handed, I don't see it that much. She doesn't really have an outside shot.

I think I see some in the dribble drives. Maybe I'm imagining it.
 
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@nwhoopfan, does McDonald only have one more year of eligibility left since she stayed in the Pac-12? I can’t remember.
 
Oh no, turn your TV off now. Bill Walton has started mumbling and talking about nothing in particular.
 
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
 
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 :)
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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