Pac 12 basketball

[CatsTopPac]

Shareef O'neal, come on down! Two 5-star (depending on where you look) recruits for the '18 class already. With all the likely departures after this year we are going to have a HUGE class hopefully.

Great to hear. I wonder if that takes Bagley off the table or not. Unless he grows more, maybe O'Neal plays more with Akot at SF (by committee). Or Bagley splits time at C too? I'd like to see all three out there.

Gonna be fun having Shaq in the stands.

He won't be hard to find. Saw him at the Sacred Heart game and he stuck out like a sore thumb.

 

[The Derski]

Great to hear. I wonder if that takes Bagley off the table or not. Unless he grows more, maybe O'Neal plays more with Akot at SF (by committee). Or Bagley splits time at C too? I'd like to see all three out there.



He won't be hard to find. Saw him at the Sacred Heart game and he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Good point. I didn't even think about the Bagley implications. I was too giddy about the news. I assume he wouldn't have to worry about playing time no matter where he goes.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Good point. I didn't even think about the Bagley implications. I was too giddy about the news. I assume he wouldn't have to worry about playing time no matter where he goes.

Right? No reason they can't all be on the court. Seems like they'd all have a place at the top of the rotation. Bagely is obvious, but with AZ not having a SF next year, Comanche probably leaving after next year (I'm guessing), along with Pinder, Dusan, and Ayton gone; it should make room for these three guys to take over the 3-5 spots. Hopefully Lee will be coming along more by then, and maybe a solid transfer or something.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Right? No reason they can't all be on the court. Seems like they'd all have a place at the top of the rotation. Bagely is obvious, but with AZ not having a SF next year, Comanche probably leaving after next year (I'm guessing), along with Pinder, Dusan, and Ayton gone; it should make room for these three guys to take over the 3-5 spots. Hopefully Lee will be coming along more by then, and maybe a solid transfer or something.

Sorry to be the one to tell you bud, but everything I've heard is that chance doesn't want to be a wildcat next year. Very unlikely he comes back even if he backs out of the draft

 

[The Derski]

Sorry to be the one to tell you bud, but everything I've heard is that chance doesn't want to be a wildcat next year. Very unlikely he comes back even if he backs out of the draft

Does this somehow have to do with him receiving a Lamborghini for his birthday? Once I saw that article and the included snap chats I got the same feeling. Never knew Chance acted like such a douche. He's not even projected to get drafted but whatever.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Does this somehow have to do with him receiving a Lamborghini for his birthday? Once I saw that article and the included snap chats I got the same feeling. Never knew Chance acted like such a douche. He's not even projected to get drafted but whatever.

Nah that was a rental from his aunt for his birthday.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Sorry to be the one to tell you bud, but everything I've heard is that chance doesn't want to be a wildcat next year. Very unlikely he comes back even if he backs out of the draft

Does this somehow have to do with him receiving a Lamborghini for his birthday? Once I saw that article and the included snap chats I got the same feeling. Never knew Chance acted like such a douche. He's not even projected to get drafted but whatever.

@dcZONAfan, not too surprising. I figured that next year would be his last although I didn't know that he is so adamant against even playing for AZ.

I saw those lambo pics too, @The Derski . I didn't know he was like that either. It's completely understandable, but it sucks when they get completely overinflated images of themselves in their heads (a la Kobi, Brandon Ashley, Jerrett, etc.). Just seems unfortunate when a kid like Chance could stay, improve, get attention, have some great competition in practice with Dusan and Ayton, and push for the pinnacle of success in CBB.

I just don't know what else he was expecting for a sophomore year. He made some improvements, but it's not like he was going to bust out like D Will and was just held back because of Lauri. If he's just concerned about not getting PT next year, I think he could have definitely improved enough to start over Dusan.

*Edit, I also didn't know it was from his aunt. I did hear it was a rental though.

 

[ericd7633]

Bennie Boatwright is returning to USC. USC returns their top 5 leading scorers from last year and also add former Duke guard Derryck Thornton and McDonald's AA Charles O'Bannon Jr. They have a great mix of talented, experienced players. My guess is that they'll be a 1 or 2 seed next season.

 

[trojanfan12]

So Bennie Boatwright has announced that he will return to USC for his junior season. This follows announcements that both Chimezie Metu and Elijah Stewart will be back and leaves only Shaqquan Aaron testing the NBA draft.

That, along with Duke transfer point guard Derryck Thomas being eligible and incoming McDonald's All-American Charles O' Bannon Jr. gives USC the deepest team they've had in at least a decade. Good chance USC starts the season ranked for the first time since Tim Floyd was the coach.

Could be a fun season. Of course, they have to actually perform on the court, so we'll see.

 

[gordontrue]

So Bennie Boatwright has announced that he will return to USC for his junior season. This follows announcements that both Chimezie Metu and Elijah Stewart will be back and leaves only Shaqquan Aaron testing the NBA draft.

That, along with Duke transfer point guard Derryck Thomas being eligible and incoming McDonald's All-American Charles O' Bannon Jr. gives USC the deepest team they've had in at least a decade. Good chance USC starts the season ranked for the first time since Tim Floyd was the coach.

Could be a fun season. Of course, they have to actually perform on the court, so we'll see.

Great news for the whole pac12. This was supposed to be a bit of a down year, hopefully we can keep up having a few ranked teams throughout the season like we did last year.

 

[Duckboy33]

Great news for the whole pac12. This was supposed to be a bit of a down year, hopefully we can keep up having a few ranked teams throughout the season like we did last year.

My guess is Arizona starts off as the favorite and UCLA, Oregon and SC are the top challengers. I don't think the rest of the conference will be very good, however. Maybe Utah?

 

[ericd7633]

My guess is Arizona starts off as the favorite and UCLA, Oregon and SC are the top challengers. I don't think the rest of the conference will be very good, however. Maybe Utah?

Oregon is practically losing their entire team, minus Pritchard. I just don't see how they can challenge Arizona/USC. Sure they have a really good class coming in, but it only consists of 4 players, and expecting low 4 star recruits to be immediate impact guys, just isn't realistic. Maybe Oregon will land some grad transfer to help out immediately. If they don't they'll only have like a 6 man rotation.

 

[Duckboy33]

Oregon is practically losing their entire team, minus Pritchard. I just don't see how they can challenge Arizona/USC. Sure they have a really good class coming in, but it only consists of 4 players, and expecting low 4 star recruits to be immediate impact guys, just isn't realistic. Maybe Oregon will land some grad transfer to help out immediately. If they don't they'll only have like a 6 man rotation.

Dana Altman will have Oregon in contention. He's been down this road before.

 

[ericd7633]

Dana Altman will have Oregon in contention. He's been down this road before.

Altman is a great coach, wouldn't put it past him, but I just don't see any way the talent will be there to compete with Arizona and USC.

 

[Duckboy33]

Altman is a great coach, wouldn't put it past him, but I just don't see any way the talent will be there to compete with Arizona and USC.

There's better talent than Oregon had prior to the last 2 seasons. We'll see in Fall but I think the talent is good enough to be in the top 4.

 

[ericd7633]

There's better talent than Oregon had prior to the last 2 seasons. We'll see in Fall but I think the talent is good enough to be in the top 4.

I'd totally disagree with that. And Oregon still might finish in the top 4, but I think they are clearly a tier behind Arizona and USC. I don't think the Pac 12 will be all that good next season. I think teams like Utah, Cal and Colorado, who were middle of the pack last year, will be significantly worse next season. And the bottom won't be particularly better.

 

[Duckboy33]

I'd totally disagree with that. And Oregon still might finish in the top 4, but I think they are clearly a tier behind Arizona and USC. I don't think the Pac 12 will be all that good next season. I think teams like Utah, Cal and Colorado, who were middle of the pack last year, will be significantly worse next season. And the bottom won't be particularly better.

USC doesn't have the coaching to be in the class with Arizona. Arizona will be the clear favorite with UCLA, Oregon and USC fighting for 2nd.

 

[ericd7633]

USC doesn't have the coaching to be in the class with Arizona. Arizona will be the clear favorite with UCLA, Oregon and USC fighting for 2nd.

Enfield has been fine at USC. He took over a complete dumpster fire program and now has a team capable of making the E8 or FF. Also got to a S16 at FGCU. Which will never happen again.

 

[Duckboy33]

Enfield has been fine at USC. He took over a complete dumpster fire program and now has a team capable of making the E8 or FF. Also got to a S16 at FGCU. Which will never happen again.

He's a great recruiter but he hasn't impressed me as a game coach.

 

[CatsTopPac]

He's a great recruiter but he hasn't impressed me as a game coach.

I don't know man, Enfield is the shit. I was terrified of what this (past) year's team was going to look like until some of his guys jumped ship early. And despite those losses, and not having Boatwright for much of the year, they still did pretty well.

There is a lot that remains to be known concerning AZ, USC, and UCLA (etc.), but USC can definitely challenge in the Pac.