Stanford/ASU LOL

[Nickelback]

Anybody else watch this game? Stanford is simply not that good. . . free throws horrid on both sides. Cardinal lucky to walk out with a win. I think Arizona will wax them huge. . . Wildcats too fast for this Cardinal team. . . Stanford will lose their first game on Saturday in a big way

 

[mjalam]

i don't think the wildcats will wax them...you have to realize that all of their focus was not on the court its on arizona....we shall see but if arizona thinks of them as you do..well there in for a big surprise

 

[Nickelback]

mj,

Funny, I thought the way you did with Stanford having all their focus on the Wildcats but they have beaten ASU so many damn times and many of those were games just before the big one against Arizona. . . never had too many major problems in the past. . . line will be very interesting for this one. No chance Arizona is overlooking Stanford! Those were the biggest games of the year for this Wildcat team year in and year out and nothing has changed. Arizona is at the top of their game right now. Perfect situational play against an undefeated team IMO. Check out the few road games Stanford has played. . . nothing too special from what I have seen.

Anyways, we shall see. . . very interested to see which way Vegas goes with this one. . . anything under 7 and I think they are looking for Wildcat money. . . anything over 7 and probably looking for Cardinal money.

 

[mjalam]

arizona will probably beat them, but by how much is the question

 

[Nickelback]

The difference IMO will be speed. . . I really thought Stanford had some of the speed advantage that Arizona has but it just never came in at all against ASU tonight. Sun Devils looked just as quick yet a few nights ago they were run out of the gym. Arizona was up by 28 against Cal at the break and subbed in most of the 2nd half. . . depth won't be a major issue given that Stanford needed to play every minute of their battle with ASU.

Key will be Stoudamire again. . . if he gets going as he has the first two Pac 10 games, Arizona doesn't lose to anybody. When Arizona struggles from long range, that's where they are vulnerable.

 

[gjn23]

Zona grad here, talked to you last season Nickleback.

I agree if Salim is the key. If he pouts and has a bad attitude and is a no show or is missing shots Arizona is beatable with a 2-3 zone since they have few "real" shooters other than salim.

I think Radinovich is a HUGE asset to this team. He looks to be a real player from the inside and outside and gives us a legitimate 7 man rotation. Offers some quality minutes and doesn't seem to be phased by the competition at this level.

Cats should roll on Sat but they should have beaten Stanford the past 3 seasons at McKale. I see the line being around 7 or 8.

 

[Hoops]

I would be a bit leary of selling Stanford short after last night's game. I'm sure when they were having their way, up 13 at the half, some of their focus shifted to the Arizona game.

Over the past 5 years (as gjn pointed out), Stanford has given Zona an extremely tough time in Tucson. For whatever reason, they just seem to bring their 'A' game when playing there.

Stanford beat Gonzaga and Kansas on neutral courts (without Childress playing), won at Irvine and Rice (which are solid wins), and besides last night's game have handled everyone else convincingly.

Zona struggled to win at St Louis (good team but you wouldn't expect a 1pt nail-biter against them) and had all the could handle at home versus St Mary's and UL-Lafeyette...two decent teams, but again, you wouldn't expect Zona to struggle so much against them especially at home.

Zona has the ability to blow any team in the country out, but again, I wouldn't sell Stanford short on the basis of one game, which they did end-up squeezing out.

 

[Nickelback]

Good points Hoops. . .

I just want to add that those close games for Arizona against St. Marys and Louisiana are typical letdown periods for this team which I already projected before the holidays. . . but this team has never let it slide into Pac-10 play as it hasn't been the case this year either.

Still, you make very good points. . . doubt I will even touch this game given my biased opinion toward Arizona from the start but if I see the line a little high and the public on Stanford, I may lay down a little on my team. I do believe Arizona is much faster than the Cardinal as many teams have struggled with Arizona's quickness.

 

[tt boy]

Zona is -5 on Saturday

 

[Mr Hockey]

Arizona opened -4.5