Great work as always, DD. It was a bit of a frustrating game in the second half, but it wasn't really surprising. AZ has a lot of size and talent in the low post that the Bruins, even with Riley and Myles, just can't match up with. We beat AZ in our first meeting when they were cold shooting from the outside while we shot really well, and that negated their inside advantage. Tonight we didn't shoot well enough from 3 and their outside game was enough to keep pace with ours, and so their inside advantage proved to be the difference. Whether it was lobs inside, the bigs moving out high to open up the backdoor cuts, their efficiency with putbacks, and above all, their blocks and defense of the rim, that inside presence is their ace in the hole that we can't match straight up. But few if any teams will have a reliable answer to the AZ bigs anyway. That is an area Cronin will have to address in recruiting going forward, but that help isn't coming now. On the good side, we pushed them right to the end and we know we can beat them if we play really well (which basically applies to any opponent we'll meet), and I like our guys' tourney experience, so I think we have as good a shot as almost anyone over the next 3 weekends. Go Bruins!
Dmitri, I did wonder why we didn't see more of Watson in the 2nd half. He was able to pressure the ball and get deflections. That being said, I still think that the turning point was Johnson's 4th foul. I wish he had just let their big guy dunk the basketball. It really affected out ability to pressure the ball as the help defense disappeared. Watson may have helped, but at the end of the day, the team with more talent usually wins. Arizona does have more talent at this point. I think the Bruins are worth of a 3 seed. The team competed and displays heart every time out on the floor. We can't ask for more than that and I hope out new recruits will live up to that standard.
WIth so many AZ fans in attendance, it seemed like the Bruins were playing at McKale Center again. Should've been a much tighter game if Myles hadn't gotten into foul trouble and AZ didn't have that unstoppable scoring run in the 2nd half. Have to consider that UCLA recently finished a brutal stretch of playing 6 games in 12 days (going 5-1) prior to the Pac-12 tournament (and going 2-1). And Juzang looks like he's finally getting back into form. I like their chances for a deep run in the NCAA tournament, but they'll also need some luck again with their opponents choking or having a subpar shooting game. Go Bruins!
Great work as always, DD. It was a bit of a frustrating game in the second half, but it wasn't really surprising. AZ has a lot of size and talent in the low post that the Bruins, even with Riley and Myles, just can't match up with. We beat AZ in our first meeting when they were cold shooting from the outside while we shot really well, and that negated their inside advantage. Tonight we didn't shoot well enough from 3 and their outside game was enough to keep pace with ours, and so their inside advantage proved to be the difference. Whether it was lobs inside, the bigs moving out high to open up the backdoor cuts, their efficiency with putbacks, and above all, their blocks and defense of the rim, that inside presence is their ace in the hole that we can't match straight up. But few if any teams will have a reliable answer to the AZ bigs anyway. That is an area Cronin will have to address in recruiting going forward, but that help isn't coming now. On the good side, we pushed them right to the end and we know we can beat them if we play really well (which basically applies to any opponent we'll meet), and I like our guys' tourney experience, so I think we have as good a shot as almost anyone over the next 3 weekends. Go Bruins!
Dmitri, I did wonder why we didn't see more of Watson in the 2nd half. He was able to pressure the ball and get deflections. That being said, I still think that the turning point was Johnson's 4th foul. I wish he had just let their big guy dunk the basketball. It really affected out ability to pressure the ball as the help defense disappeared. Watson may have helped, but at the end of the day, the team with more talent usually wins. Arizona does have more talent at this point. I think the Bruins are worth of a 3 seed. The team competed and displays heart every time out on the floor. We can't ask for more than that and I hope out new recruits will live up to that standard.
WIth so many AZ fans in attendance, it seemed like the Bruins were playing at McKale Center again. Should've been a much tighter game if Myles hadn't gotten into foul trouble and AZ didn't have that unstoppable scoring run in the 2nd half. Have to consider that UCLA recently finished a brutal stretch of playing 6 games in 12 days (going 5-1) prior to the Pac-12 tournament (and going 2-1). And Juzang looks like he's finally getting back into form. I like their chances for a deep run in the NCAA tournament, but they'll also need some luck again with their opponents choking or having a subpar shooting game. Go Bruins!