Player of the Week
[player: Gabe York] – Arizona
I know, I know, [player: Alonzo Trier] had a great week, but York is my guy this week and I’ll convince you why. York is the player on the Wildcats that every single person looks to when things aren’t going well. Who held the team together when Arizona was down to Gonzaga IN Spokane? That’s right it was York. Against Fresno St. The senior guard himself went on a 8-0 run which sparked the Trier run and closed out the game. York may have finished shooting just 7-for-16 against Gonzaga, but he ws the one with the ball in his hands with the shot clock running down and finished 4-6 from three for 18 points. The senior took more of a back seat against Fresno St. because Trier was having such a good game, only shooting 8 times but still had 12 points five boards and four assists. But York is unqestionably the team’s first option on offense.
Who’s Hot
[player: Alonzo Trier] – Arizona
Clearly, we still have to talk about one of the breakout players of the Week in the Pac-12. Trier was a beast against Fresno St. scoring 27 points on 8 of 11 shooting with six boards. Against Gonzaga, the freshman forward had 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting with six boards and two assists. It certainly seems like Trier is rounding into form. Earlier in the year, it just seemed like Trier wasn’t that comfortable playing offense yet, and that’s fine. He’s a freshman on a team without a true point guard that has high expectations. While Trier showed some great things against Gonzaga, the Fresno St. game was clearly his coming out party. The freshman forward got to the line like a madman, shooting 10 free throws and even hitting 3 threes from deep. Trier was certainly more aggressive then he had been in any game this season. If Trier stays this aggressive there is no reason why he cant put up these kind of numbers every week.
Bobby Hurley – Arizona St.
Our first coach ever on the hot list! Whatever Hurley is doing in Arizona St. is working, I still cannot believe how improved they are from last season. They really do not have a star on the team, and they usually have a balanced approach on offense, which can be really good. Every player can touch the ball on a given possession and the opposing team doesn’t know how to defend it, just ball movement basketball. The Sun Devils are also playing defense at a much improved rate over last year. Arizona St. was prone (to put it nicely) to have lapses on defense and terrible shots on offense last year. Hurley has somehow cleaned most of this up through n eight games.
Who’s Cold
Utah’s Guards
Okay guys I promise this is my last time with them. This is just unacceptable and slightly appalling. Against IPFW, a team where Utah scored 96 points against, [player: Brandon Taylor] and [player:Kenneth Ogbe] combined to score six points on 3-11 shooting. What. This team has so much potential. [player:Jakob Poeltl] has been a monster and [player:Jordan Loveridge] might be the best three point shooter in the nation. I cannot understand for the life of me why these guards can’t score. They are barely ever covered and they have the most dominant big man in the Pac-12 playing with them. Please, for the Utes, step up. With finals week either approaching or settling down for most college students, I wanted to talk about some tests.
Top 5 Pac-12 non-conference tests
5. UCLA vs UNC December 19
After shocking Kentucky and Gonzaga, This is the game where UCLA can truly make the “we are for real” statement. After beating Kentucky at home, if they beat another top three team, nobody will be able to ignore the Bruins anymore. The Bruins actually have one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the nation with games against Kansas, Gonzaga, Kentucky and UNC. Clearly Steve Alford has some sort of plan, but the team will need confidence. If they beat UNC at home, UCLA can no longer be overlooked.
4. Arizona St. at UNLV December 16
They are coming off a tough game against the Wildcats and then must travel to face a really good UNLV team. The Rebels are led by SG [player: Patrick McCaw] who averages nearly 17 points per game. When UNLV drives and doesn’t settle for threes, they are a completely different team and they have already beaten two ranked teams in Indiana and Oregon. If Arizona St. can beat UNLV at the Rebels home, everyone will have to take them seriously.
3. USC at Washington January 3
Okay, I’m cheating with this one, but I have to talk about USC. the Trojans look good on paper. [player: Jordan McLaughlin] looks like he is finally comfortable running the offense and looks more efficient. The entire team is playing defense and they have an incredible number of blocks on the year. Just please, look at their schedule for a second. I’ll give you some time. Seriously go look at it. Notice anything fishy? They have played some good teams, so it’s not that. You figure it out yet? Alright times up. USC has played one road game this year. ONE. They played one game away from home and they didn’t even travel out of California. WHAT? Whoever is making these schedules clearly do not want USC to succeed in conference play. The non-conference schedule should be to see how good your team can be, to TEST your team, not allow them to run over a few teams at home and just stay comfortable overall. You never know how good your team is until they face some adversary on the road.
2. Utah vs Duke December 19
This game is massive for me, in respect to Poeltl’s NBA outlook and the Utes chances in this season in general. Utah can win this game. Duke has nobody to guard Poeltl, and if he really is a top 8 pick in the NBA draft, he will dominate in this game. If the Utes get anything from their guards, Utah should win this game. Coach K will do everything in his power to take away Poeltl in the middle. There should be some threes open, especially if Duke is playing zone. I’m definitely looking forward to this game and hoping Utah’s guards step up to the challenge.
1. California at Virginia December 22
This game should be able to tell whether California is a legit contender in the Pac-12 or will just fall flat on their face in conference play. Virginia is known for playing a slow down style with man to man defense. California has definitely struggled against zone defense this year but they still like to play up-tempo and have been good against the man to man. This will be a battle of wills. The Golden Bears will be on the road in a really tough environment where the other team just wants to slow them down. If California can control the pace and hit some threes (which they should do every game) Virginia should go down at home. I’m really looking forward to this game and I’m ready to find out if the Golden Bears can finally clean up their play.