Game Thread: AZ @ UCLA

[CatsTopPac]

This is a big one. We've managed to lose at Pauley since 2009-2010 (that shitty season, no less). I feel good about this one though, and we get all week to prep. Bear Down, gents. Should be a close one, regardless. Lets take it to the Bruins!!!!

 

[dcZONAfan]

I think this game is ours. UCLA hasn't faced a good D all season, and it is THAT quality that will allow us to perform well on the road all year.

Also you KNOW our guys are gonna be amped for this game after our 0-3 against these bitches last year. I am so pumped for this game I hope we play the way we did against SDSU because that was our best effort of the year IMO, since with the refs bending us over we still led by double digits the whole game.

 

[CatsTopPac]

I think this game is ours. UCLA hasn't faced a good D all season, and it is THAT quality that will allow us to perform well on the road all year.

Also you KNOW our guys are gonna be amped for this game after our 0-3 against these bitches last year. I am so pumped for this game I hope we play the way we did against SDSU because that was our best effort of the year IMO, since with the refs bending us over we still led by double digits the whole game.

I agree. Our guys are going to be pumped for this one. But you know UCLA will want to beat AZ, especially at #1. This is going to be a heavyweight bout. Great for the rivalry. I really think that this is the game for out frontcourt to showcase their talents. The Wears are solid, but I really think that the trio of AG, BA, and Zeus is going to play above them.

 

[dcZONAfan]

I agree. Our guys are going to be pumped for this one. But you know UCLA will want to beat AZ, especially at #1. This is going to be a heavyweight bout. Great for the rivalry. I really think that this is the game for out frontcourt to showcase their talents. The Wears are solid, but I really think that the trio of AG, BA, and Zeus is going to play above them.

i agree, i want those whiny wear brother bitches to get butt fucked by our bigs. one thing I have noticed is everyone, even Zeus, has the ability to guard other bigs away from the basket because our help D is so damn good. So if Zeus has to chase a Wear twin to the 3 pt line, I am not nearly as concerned as I normally would be. That's going to be a big difference from last year, and I think AG and Rondae can give anderson FITS which will really hurt their ability to run an offense. not one other team has a guy who can size up with anderson like that.

only thing I worry about is Adams, the kid is a beast and I think he can body up against nick and use his size as an advantage on offense.

 

[520GGATO]

Let's see if UCLA can actually sell out this game. If they do it's because Arizona is coming to town.
How laughable is it that UCLA has a brand new arena, won the pac last year, and still can't sell out consistently?
I would say very laughable.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Let's see if UCLA can actually sell out this game. If they do it's because Arizona is coming to town.
How laughable is it that UCLA has a brand new arena, won the pac last year, and still can't sell out consistently?
I would say very laughable.

yup it's amazing. i hope they fill it for this one so that we can shut as many of them up as possible. god i am going to be so mad if we lose to them a fourth straight time. and if we beat them i think we have a legit shot at being 22-0 when oregon comes to town on feb 6th, and that would be insane.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

We will hear "UOFA" chants... plenty of them. BEAR DOWN!!

 

[520GGATO]

Yup. If everything go's as planed, a game between two undeafeted teams would be epic, but nothing ever go's as planned. Fingers crossed. Just imagine if Oregon were to win, the fallout from (bandwagon) oregon fans would go off like a nuke.

 

[Vitamike]

I think this game is ours. UCLA hasn't faced a good D all season, and it is THAT quality that will allow us to perform well on the road all year.

Also you KNOW our guys are gonna be amped for this game after our 0-3 against these bitches last year. I am so pumped for this game I hope we play the way we did against SDSU because that was our best effort of the year IMO, since with the refs bending us over we still led by double digits the whole game.

First off, some of you guys are brutal in here.

To your point dc, UCLA has faced good D this season however Arizona's D is not good, they are great!

That said, much to the same token, Arizona hasn't faced a great shooting team all season.

Michigan was about the best you've guys faced. Michigan is built a bit like UCLA were they both can really put up the points, pass the ball and shoot the ball well outside the paint!

The difference, the Bruins do all those things better than Michigan, and as I recall, that game was a nail biter!

You will also get a lot of rebounds vs the Bruins, again much like Michigan however we do that just a little better than they do and Tony Parker is finding a grove of late so I'm not sure a late offensive rebound will 'save' you guys in this one if it comes down to it.

If UCLA is to have a chance, they will need to grab their share of rebounds and play some good D themselves. They are not too bad at that. They are allowing an average of 69.9 ppg.

That said, I think UCLA hangs tight with your Cats. They have yet to lose at home however won all of their games on neutral sites. The bottom line, Arizona may be too much at this time for a Bruins team still trying to find their grove. They have struggled playing in hostile arenas (@ Missouri & @ Duke) we may feel the same type of 'pressures' going against the No. 1 team in the Country too.

None the less, here's to a great game come Friday!

 

[The Derski]

i agree, i want those whiny wear brother bitches to get butt fucked by our bigs. one thing I have noticed is everyone, even Zeus, has the ability to guard other bigs away from the basket because our help D is so damn good. So if Zeus has to chase a Wear twin to the 3 pt line, I am not nearly as concerned as I normally would be. That's going to be a big difference from last year, and I think AG and Rondae can give anderson FITS which will really hurt their ability to run an offense. not one other team has a guy who can size up with anderson like that.

only thing I worry about is Adams, the kid is a beast and I think he can body up against nick and use his size as an advantage on offense.

 

[Vitamike]

yup it's amazing. i hope they fill it for this one so that we can shut as many of them up as possible. god i am going to be so mad if we lose to them a fourth straight time. and if we beat them i think we have a legit shot at being 22-0 when oregon comes to town on feb 6th, and that would be insane.

Don't sleep on No. 20 Colorado!

I know you guys get them in Tucson however they go get the ball off the rim just as good as the Cats! You both are averaging 40 rpg.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Don't sleep on No. 20 Colorado!

I know you guys get them in Tucson however they go get the ball off the rim just as good as the Cats! You both are averaging 40 rpg.

I'm not comfortable playing UCLA, Oregon, or Colorado this year. We could definitely lose vs. any of those teams.

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

IMO, this will be our toughest test to date. We need to bring our A game or else I could see UCLA taking this one.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

LaVine, Adams and Anderson are all pretty solid and they've got a few nice role players. UCLA may not have the height Arizona has, but they have plenty of scoring options.

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

I think the game will come down to who can take care of the ball better. Last year we had WAY too many turn overs against UCLA and they made us pay for it. Shabazz was a play maker for them and Adams torched us in the tourney. TJ HAS to have a good game for us in order to pull this victory on Thursday IMO. I think his ability to take care of the ball and break down defenses will be key to winning. According to Massey, we have a 67% of winning this game. Personally, I think this is a bit high as I fully expect an all out war from UCLA. I can't wait to watch this game!

 

[520GGATO]

Arizona also can't be missing easy layups and put-backs like last season.

 

[WildcatR.J.MacReady]

First off, some of you guys are brutal in here.

To your point dc, UCLA has faced good D this season however Arizona's D is not good, they are great!

That said, much to the same token, Arizona hasn't faced a great shooting team all season.

Michigan was about the best you've guys faced. Michigan is built a bit like UCLA were they both can really put up the points, pass the ball and shoot the ball well outside the paint!

The difference, the Bruins do all those things better than Michigan, and as I recall, that game was a nail biter!

You will also get a lot of rebounds vs the Bruins, again much like Michigan however we do that just a little better than they do and Tony Parker is finding a grove of late so I'm not sure a late offensive rebound will 'save' you guys in this one if it comes down to it.

If UCLA is to have a chance, they will need to grab their share of rebounds and play some good D themselves. They are not too bad at that. They are allowing an average of 69.9 ppg.

That said, I think UCLA hangs tight with your Cats. They have yet to lose at home however won all of their games on neutral sites. The bottom line, Arizona may be too much at this time for a Bruins team still trying to find their grove. They have struggled playing in hostile arenas (@ Missouri & @ Duke) we may feel the same type of 'pressures' going against the No. 1 team in the Country too.

None the less, here's to a great game come Friday!

Um isnt Duke the #1 Rated Offense in KenPom?

 

[WildcatR.J.MacReady]

Arizona really makes the other team work on offense and this generally makes other teams tired having to deal with our length and athleticism for 40 minutes. Even when we only play a 7 man rotation and the other team has 8-10 players playing, they get tired having to compete with our talent for a whole game. With that said Arizona needs to finish strong in the paint and with more authority, not just against UCLA, but every team we face, it will make the rest of the game much easier for us if our bigs can really put the hurt on teams with point blank buckets that we should be making. I am a little concerned with our efficiency in the paint sometimes as well as the efficiency we are getting from our PG's FG%. If we can sure up these two aspects of our game we will no doubt be unbeatable, but our bigs have to capitilize on our overwhelming advantage by the hoop in converting easy layups and getting to the foul line and T.J. has to shoot better than his current.434FG%, .640FT% and .286(3PT%), I don't care how few shots a game he takes, those numbers need to be more efficient from him.

 

[WildcatR.J.MacReady]

Two great games I am looking forward to this afternoon between SDSU an Kansas and Oregon @Colorado. I think Kansas might actually be the team who matches up the best with Arizona and it would be a stretch to think SDSU can pull a win off today but it would be amazing for Arizona's SOS if they did considering Duke went down yesterday against Notre Dame. The Notre Dame loss isn't that damning though considering they were up 8 points against Ohio St. in the final minute and just couldn't finish the job. If they had they would have beaten both Ohio St. and Duke already this season which would be pretty impressive.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Holy shit, a UCLA fan. It's like a fuckin unicorn!!!!!!

Hahahahaha, just joshin ya man. Seriously though, other than AZ, and a little ASU, there is almost zero Pac basketball rep on this site. Please, feel free to post here, or on the P12 board on the general CBB forum.

I don't think a single rational AZ fan is expecting anything other than an all out war for this one. The further we get into the season, the more I don't want to play UCLA. So glad that we go to Pauley in early Jan and not late Feb. This year's P12 tourney is going to be a monster!

Good luck man, hope to see you on this board this week. It's be great to talk some UCLA/AZ ball with ya!!