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Yes. At least it seems so 4 days into January. Their only loss is a 3-point loss at Stanford. Not exactly a bad loss. They've beaten a damn sound Colorado team by 14 points at home. Even though some of the wins have been ugly (UTEP although Miners beat ASU handily, Montana, WSU, EWU) the bottom line is that they are winning.
I figured this piecemeal roster would struggle. Akinjo is super talented but he's a volume shooter. Jordan Brown is still figuring things out. And the euros on their payroll were largely unknowns. Didnt expect there to be much glue on this roster.
But looking at the numbers, six guys are averaging 8PPG or more. Transfers Jemarl Baker Jr. (UK) & Jordan Brown (Nev) have played extremely well. Akinjo is 3rd in the conference in ASSISTS per game at 5.1, trailing the great Mckinley Wright by .1 APG. The truly-international freshman Bennedict Mathurn has been sensational. He's the reigning Pac 12 FOY. The Cats lead the conference in scoring at almost 80ppg, they shoot the 3 about as well as we do (3rd, 4th in conference respectively), they rebound better than we do (Arizona is 2nd, we are 3rd) and they trail only USC in BPG. Like USC Arizona is long and athletic and they contest nearly every shot from the field. Mathurin is a long 6'7", Brown & Tubelis are both a slim 6'11' and Koloko is a slim 7-feet. Clearly, they have the dudes to disrupt Evan.
In short, on paper I thought this would be the year that we sweep a disjointed and dishonest Arizona Wildcat team. But considering recent developments with teams finally fronting & doubling Evan and the relative uncertainty of more than 1-2 other guys picking up the slack, the game this Thursday is going to be VERY tough.
I havent seen an opening line yet but i imagine the line will be Arizona -3 or -4. If we are going to win this game we are going to have to see some staff adjustments getting evan more open and we are going to have to play another amazing defensive game. Through yesterday USC is 4th in the country in FG% Defense with opponents shooting just over 35% from the field. Arizona is 49th (39.37%).
Should be an awesome game. Would be so great to feed that rat Miller a giant sh**burger one week into 2021.
Thoughts on the match up?
FO!
BEAT THE CATS!
I figured this piecemeal roster would struggle. Akinjo is super talented but he's a volume shooter. Jordan Brown is still figuring things out. And the euros on their payroll were largely unknowns. Didnt expect there to be much glue on this roster.
But looking at the numbers, six guys are averaging 8PPG or more. Transfers Jemarl Baker Jr. (UK) & Jordan Brown (Nev) have played extremely well. Akinjo is 3rd in the conference in ASSISTS per game at 5.1, trailing the great Mckinley Wright by .1 APG. The truly-international freshman Bennedict Mathurn has been sensational. He's the reigning Pac 12 FOY. The Cats lead the conference in scoring at almost 80ppg, they shoot the 3 about as well as we do (3rd, 4th in conference respectively), they rebound better than we do (Arizona is 2nd, we are 3rd) and they trail only USC in BPG. Like USC Arizona is long and athletic and they contest nearly every shot from the field. Mathurin is a long 6'7", Brown & Tubelis are both a slim 6'11' and Koloko is a slim 7-feet. Clearly, they have the dudes to disrupt Evan.
In short, on paper I thought this would be the year that we sweep a disjointed and dishonest Arizona Wildcat team. But considering recent developments with teams finally fronting & doubling Evan and the relative uncertainty of more than 1-2 other guys picking up the slack, the game this Thursday is going to be VERY tough.
I havent seen an opening line yet but i imagine the line will be Arizona -3 or -4. If we are going to win this game we are going to have to see some staff adjustments getting evan more open and we are going to have to play another amazing defensive game. Through yesterday USC is 4th in the country in FG% Defense with opponents shooting just over 35% from the field. Arizona is 49th (39.37%).
Should be an awesome game. Would be so great to feed that rat Miller a giant sh**burger one week into 2021.
Thoughts on the match up?
FO!
BEAT THE CATS!
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