Pac-12 M5: New Year’s Day Edition

Posted by PBaruh on January 1st, 2013

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  1. It might not be a big rivalry yet, but contests between Colorado and Arizona since CU’s move to the Pac-12 have been intense every time. The last time these two teams met was at the Pac-12 Tournament final last March, with Colorado pulling out the victory. The next time these teams will meet will be the conference opener for both teams on January 3 down in Tucson. Arizona is heavily favored in this game as they are ranked third in the nation and are clearly the better team, but Sean Miller has mentioned that he has a great deal of respect for Tad Boyle and his Colorado team and won’t take this game lightly.
  2. Shabazz Muhammad is living up to the hype these days and is getting rewarded for it. He was named the Pac-12 and ESPN player of the week, the first time Muhammad has received this award. If he continues to play like he did against Missouri the rest of the season, he should receive more of these awards as the year goes along. Muhammad scored 27 points in UCLA’s win against Missouri last Friday night and the Bruins will need him to continue on as their leading scorer if they are going to contend with Arizona and others for the Pac-12 title.
  3. Some believe that it’s time for Lorenzo Romar to go. Last year did not bode well for Romar as he had two first round draft picks on his team in Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross and won the Pac-12 regular season title, but couldn’t make the NCAA Tournament because of less than stellar play in the non-conference slate. This year Romar has talented players once again in Abdul Gaddy, Scott Suggs, and C.J. Wilcox, but hasn’t managed to do much with it and has picked up some embarrassing home losses along the way to Nevada and Albany. Romar will need to turn this season around quickly and make sure his team steps it up in conference play if he wants to avoid underwhelming back-to-back years that could possibly end his tenure at Washington.
  4. Arizona is rolling into conference play at 12-0 and the conference schedule that they have this season could benefit them substantially by pushing the Wildcats to receive a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will play Cal, Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State — all teams that should place somewhere near the top of the conference — only once, and they will face the Bay Area teams at home. They’ll have to take on the Ducks and Beavers on the road as well as Colorado on the road, but other than that, Arizona has a relatively easier road and overall schedule. They’ll play Washington and Washington State, both who have been unspectacular in non-conference play, twice and will play Utah and USC, who look like they’ll be the bottom teams once again, twice as well.
  5. Could UCLA miss the NCAA Tournament for two straight years? CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm came out with his latest projections and had only three Pac-12 teams making it — Colorado, Oregon and Arizona. Arizona was listed as a #1 seed, but the most alarming part of his projection had to be UCLA not anywhere in the field. Despite their shortcomings so far this year, the Bruins have too much talent to not make the Tournament and if for some reason that did happen, that would certainly be the end of Ben Howland’s career in Westwood.

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Pac-12 M5: New Year’s Eve Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 31st, 2012

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  1. UCLA fans are still trying to figure out what to make of their major win this past weekend against Missouri. On one hand, Shabazz Muhammad continues to look more and more like one of the best freshman in the nation, averaging 19.6 points per game, and Jordan Adams has been a great surprise thus far for the Bruins. On the other hand, UCLA is arguably the most prestigious basketball school in the country and the coaching job Ben Howland has done since 2008 has not been up to UCLA standards. In terms of this year, the Bruins were upset at home against Cal Poly and are struggling too much defensively by ranking 121st in the nation in defensive efficiency. Ultimately, as the season goes on, UCLA will still have to improve tremendously to meet expectations and for Ben Howland to keep his job.
  2. Washington certainly hasn’t fared too well in games against Connecticut in its program history and on Saturday it was their cold shooting that factored into a 61-53 loss. The 53 points were a season low for Lorenzo Romar’s team as the Huskies shot a season low 29.4 percent from the field. As the Huskies have incorporated shooters C.J. Wilcox and Scott Suggs more into their offense this year, a poor shooting night like this was bound to happen. Additionally, Lorenzo Romar continues t0 have little success in road games in the Eastern Time Zone as he is now a putrid 2-13 in such contests as the head coach of Washington.
  3. Arizona came back from Hawaii as the champions of the Diamond Head Classic and are now 12-0 heading into conference play and without question the best team in the Pac-12. However, like most teams at this point in the year, there is still room for improvement. The Wildcats are averaging 14.5 turnovers per game on the year and the team as a whole and point guard Mark Lyons will need to cut back on that as the season goes on. Arizona could also benefit from more consistent shooting from three. Despite Kevin Parrom shooting 47 percent on the year, Nick Johnson, Solomon Hill and Mark Lyons, who are the Wildcats’ three leading scorers, are all shooting under 40 percent from beyond the arc. As a team, Arizona is shooting 39 percent from three, but remains inconsistent as they shot 25 percent against San Diego State and 44 percent against Miami in their past two games.
  4. An unexpected home loss to Towson was definitely not what Oregon State needed heading into conference play. This game was supposed to be a confidence builder for the Beavers, but it was anything but that. Going into the game, Oregon State was undefeated at home, but they could never put Towson away despite having a 19-point second half lead. Oregon State has one more home non-conference game against Texas Pan-American that will take place today, and the Beavers will be looking to come away with a much needed victory.
  5. Cal still can’t manage to pick up that coveted marquee non-conference win as they were unable to beat Harvard at home this weekend. If the Bears want to hear their name on Selection Sunday, the loss to Harvard won’t help, and although losses against UNLV and Creighton will boost their overall RPI, that signature victory seems less and less likely for Mike Montgomery’s team this year. Going forward, the Bears will start off the conference schedule on the road with UCLA, who is coming off their biggest win of the season, and will also be dealing with the injury of starting center Richard Solomon.

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Pac-12 M5: 12.19.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 19th, 2012

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  1. For the UCLA Bruins, incoming freshmen Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson were supposed to make the biggest impact, but it’s been Jordan Adams who has been the best freshman so far for the Bruins. In Adams’ first four games, he set a school record as the first freshman to record four 20-point games to start his career. Unlike other impact freshman, Adams doesn’t stand out in any part of the game — he’s not extremely athletic and his shot isn’t the prettiest, but he’s reliable and and can score in multiple ways. No one at UCLA has been surprised by his performance as he continues to impress as the second leading scorer on the team with 16.9 points per game. As the season goes on, opponents will start to notice Jordan Adams even more.
  2. Washington guard Andrews Andrews continues to struggle with an ankle injury and is questionable for Thursday’s upcoming match-up against Cal Poly. Andrews has missed the past three games and Lorenzo Romar believes there’s a small chance he could play, despite the fact that Andrews has been unable to practice. The Huskies, who are 6-4 on the season, will play Thursday’s game at home, but will be eager to get back Andrews before conference play as UW starts with three Pac-12 games on the road and will need his presence to help the Huskies get off to a good start.
  3. Although Colorado’s bench has had little success this year, Tad Boyle believes getting his reserves into the game earlier more often will help them out and plans to do so against Northern Arizona this Friday. In Colorado’s last game against Fresno State, the bench was outscored by a margin of 20-2, but Boyle believes that the only way his freshman-dominated bench will get better is with more playing time and experience. Andre Roberson, Josh Scott, Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie, all starters, are accounting for 77 percent of the offense on the team and will need the bench to provide more scoring to help ease the burden.
  4. Arizona State has been one of the surprises in the Pac-12 this season with its 9-2 record, but Herb Sendek is still concerned about the depth of his team. Only seven players are averaging more than 10 minutes per game and Sendek has said that he would like to get one more player into the rotation but it remains to be seen who will step up. Senior guard Chris Colvin has slowed down since his great start and freshman Eric Jacobsen has shown he can play, but so far only against inferior competition. If the Sun Devils want to continue to become this year’s  surprise team, they will need more production from their bench.
  5. One of the surprise players this year in the Pac-12 has been Oregon’s Arsalan Kazemi. He continues to impress in each game he plays and Dana Altman has said that Kazemi hasn’t even shown all of his offensive potential yet. Part of Kazemi’s early success has been the fact that he has put the transfer situation from Rice completely behind him and is focused to on helping Oregon improve, which he has accomplished so far by leading them in rebounds and steals while helping the Ducks to a 9-1 record.

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Pac-12 M5: 12.14.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 14th, 2012

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  1. Stanford’s Dwight Powell and his teammates embarked on a somber road trip earlier in the year. In September, Powell’s mother, Jacqueline Weir, passed away from cancer. However, Powell’s teammates wouldn’t let him mourn the loss of his mother by himself. The NCAA allowed Stanford to fly players in Powell’s recruiting class to Canada to be at the memorial for his mother. Powell has said that everything he does this season has been and will be a tribute to his mother. However Powell plays this season, he deserves enormous credit for handling this situation so well and playing through it.
  2. The Arizona Wildcats have been the class of the Pac-12 this season and are currently 7-0, but if they want to find success against Florida on Saturday and later this year, their big men are going to have to be more consistent. After Brandon Ashley’s 20 point, 10 rebound performance against Long Beach State, he followed it up with a two-point game against Northern Arizona. Kaleb Tarczewski has been a factor in every game, but hasn’t surpassed 10 points this season and Grant Jerrett followed up his 11-point performance at Texas Tech with zero points against Southern Miss. As far as the backcourt goes, Mark Lyons will need to clean up his turnover issues as the season goes on. On the season, Lyons has 18 assists and 19 turnovers, and although Lyons isn’t what you would call a typical point guard, he is the leader of this Arizona team and will have to improve in that area.
  3. Oregon’s Arsalan Kazemi has made the transition from Rice to his new team very well so far this season. Kazemi is impacting the Ducks by scoring 9.3 points per game, but he also has made an impact defensively as he leads Oregon with 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game as well. He has been the hustle guy so far this season for Dana Altman and he couldn’t be more pleased with Kazemi’s work all over the floor. Just like Kazemi, Oregon has been a surprise this year in the Pac-12 by going 8-1 and upsetting UNLV in Las Vegas, and if Kazemi and the Ducks can continue this play, they look destined to become a force in the Pac-12.
  4. Arizona State’s lack of energy was a big factor in its loss Wednesday night against DePaul. Herb Sendek was not pleased with his team as they shot 42% from the free throw line and mentioned that they played with no intensity. Despite playing at home, the Sun Devils came out flat and weren’t able to get in a rhythm against the active Blue Demons defense. Although Arizona State lost that game, they are still 8-2 and should look much more energetic in their next game against Dartmouth this Saturday afternoon.
  5. After an uncomfortable start to the season for UCLA’s Kyle Anderson, he is now starting to come into his own at the power forward position. Anderson had intentions of coming to UCLA to play the point guard, but with Larry Drew II clearly and successfully taking that role, Anderson has spent most of his time playing at the four position. He has admitted playing that position hasn’t been easy for a player used to having the ball in his hands, but against Texas, Anderson finally started to make some more aggressive moves in the post. The precocious freshman still needs to develop consistency at the position, but Ben Howland believes that playing him there is the right decision and isn’t likely to change his mind anytime soon.

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Pac-12 M5: 12.13.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 13th, 2012

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  1. Despite being ranked #8 in the country and currently 7-0, the Arizona Wildcats haven’t had a home sellout yet this year. All signs point to that changing this Saturday when the 5th ranked Florida Gators come to town. On Tuesday, the assistant director of ticket operations said that Arizona has under 50 tickets remaining for the game, so there’s little doubt it will be a sellout. Despite this fact, Sean Miller has praised the atmosphere in Tucson countless times and pointed out that many other high major programs don’t get the support that Arizona gets early in the year and it’s true. The average attendance this year so far has been 13,557 fans in a McKale Center that has a maximum capacity of 14,538 seats. When Saturday comes around, the McKale Center will definitely be loud and that home court advantage should help the Wildcats throughout the game.
  2. After Washington’s 4-4 start, Lorenzo Romar has realized that he needs to change up his demeanor on the sideline. The Huskies this year have been too laid back for Romar’s taste and he wants them to play with higher energy, more intensity and more consistency. Romar believes his team has played to the level of their inferior opponents’ talent so far this year and it is evident in their close losses to Albany and Nevada and a close win over Cal State Fullerton. It doesn’t help that the Huskies continue to deal with an ankle injury to Andrew Andrews, a knee injury to Shawn Kemp Jr., and planter fasciitis to Scott Suggs, but Romar has been displeased with his team’s start to say the least.
  3. Before the season started, the USC Trojans didn’t have to do much to improve on last year’s performance, but their slow start hasn’t exactly been what they hoped for. The Trojans have struggled moving the ball effectively and their half-court offense has been lacking in efficiency which has resulted in too much isolation. On a brighter note, the team is getting it together in the second half of games as they have outscored their opponents 303-280 in the final 20 minutes despite their 3-6 record. For the Trojans to be successful this season, they are still going to have to find a consistent efficient scorer as their leading scorer J.T Terrell is shooting 30 percent from the field despite leading the team with 11 points per game.
  4. Cal’s Allen Crabbe is the nation’s sixth leading scorer, averaging 21.9 points per game and is set to duel with the fifth leading scorer in the nation as Greg McDermott and Creighton head into Haas Pavilion on Saturday. McDermott is no stranger to scoring as he was the nation’s third leading scorer last year. This also won’t be the first time Crabbe has seen McDermott as the two faced off at the U-19 USA Basketball Camp in 2011. Both McDermott and Crabbe can shoot the lights out from all over the court, and Cal will certainly need all it can get from the talented junior if they want to pull of the upset against #16 ranked Creighton.
  5. All the buzz might be around top recruit Jabari Parker on Thursday when the 2012-13 Geico ESPN High School Basketball Showcase takes place tomorrow night across the ESPN networks, but the Pac-12 will be focusing on a different top 10 recruit. Kentucky, Washington, and Arizona are all still in the hunt to land Aaron Gordon. Gordon will get to prove himself at 8 PM ET against great competition as he will take on Andrew and Aaron Harrison, both top five recruits and current 2013 Kentucky commitsments.

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Pac 12 M5: 12.12.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 12th, 2012

  1. Before Sean Miller‘s head coaching career started, he was a part of a group of successful assistants at Xavier under Thad Matta, who is now the current head coach at Ohio State. Several of these assistants like Miller are now head coaches and include John Groce at currently undefeated Illinois as well as Alan Major at currently undefeated Charlotte. Miller noted that all the coaches learned so much from Matta, but most important was the ability to bring out the best in a team by making sure that everyone is enjoying themselves throughout the entirety of the season.
  2. Ben Howland has a career 211-99 record at UCLA and has enjoyed considerable success, but this year the Bruins’ poor start can be attributed to three mistakes. Howland has played the Wear twins too much, and although he gives them constant praise, the reality is that the David and Travis Wear have their limitations on defense and have no consistency on offense — Travis has only put up 14 points in his past two games while David has put up a total of four. Howland also hasn’t found the right fit for freshman Kyle Anderson. With Larry Drew II handling the point guard duties, UCLA hasn’t been able to run a successful offense with Anderson playing off the ball. Lastly, even with the #1 recruiting class this season, Howland has failed to find his staple of tough interior defenders such as previous Bruins Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Alfred Aboya, and Lorenzo Mata-Real, any of whom UCLA could so desperately use this season.
  3. Washington is scheduled to play Seattle University this Thursday, but the Huskies are likely to be without freshman point guard Andrew Andrews as he is still suffering from a sprained ankle. Andrews is currently averaging seven points and 3.3 assists per game this year and Washington could use his help with Lorenzo Romar’s team continuing to struggle as evident by their recent home loss to Nevada and their near home loss to Cal State Fullerton in the past two games.
  4. With the early dismissal of Reggie Moore from Washington State this year, Ken Bone knew he would need a replacement at point guard and has turned to sophomore Royce Woolridge to handle the position. But it’s been senior Mike Ladd who has taken the reins in recent games. Bone praised Ladd, but said that the duties will continued to be shared regardless. Additionally, Bone has been pleased so far this year with star player Brock Motum’s improvement on the defensive end as he has become much better defending the post.
  5. Last year, the Pac-12 only had two NCAA Tournament teams in Cal and Colorado who were unable to advance past the round of 32, but esteemed bracketologist Joe Lunardi came out with his latest mock yesterday and he had six Pac-12 teams currently invited into his field of 68. Arizona was a three seed, Colorado was a seven seed, Cal was a nine seed, Oregon was a ten seed, and UCLA and Stanford were twelve seeds. Although it’s only December and things will certainly change in the next three months of action, it’s still impressive to see the Pac-12 putting half its teams in the draw considering the conference’s recent inability to get more than a couple into the NCAA Tournament.

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Pac-12 M5: 12.11.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 11th, 2012

  1. Although the Arizona Wildcats have been the best team in the Pac-12 this year, they showed some weaknesses this past week in victories against Clemson and Southern Miss. Senior leader Solomon Hill went 5-of-23 from the field and had nine turnovers in the two-game stretch and the Wildcats’ highly touted freshmen trio struggled as well. Grant Jerrett, Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley only shot the ball a combined four times in Arizona’s victory over Southern Miss and Jerrett and Tarczewski combined to go 4-of-13 against Clemson. Sean Miller noted that this was the most physical front line Arizona’s big men had seen so far season, but it won’t get any easier this week as the Wildcats prepare to take on the #5 Florida Gators in Tucson this Saturday.
  2. Colorado knows it has to improve its team defense if the Buffs don’t want to get humiliated again like they did this past Saturday against Kansas (90-54). Tad Boyle came into the game with a plan to force the Jayhawks to shoot contested threes and limit them in transition, but clearly that didn’t work as Kansas hit eight three-pointers and scored 20 points on the fast break. At the beginning of the year, Colorado’s defense was a key contributor to their success and was a main factor in a national ranking as high as No. 19 in the country, but now their lack of defense is the reason they have lost two of their last three. The Buffaloes will travel to Fresno State on Wednesday for their last road game before conference play and must improve their defense to pull out a victory.
  3. It hasn’t been easy for Roberto Nelson since his arrival at Oregon State a few years ago. Nelson is now a junior and hasn’t lived up to the expectations of a four-star recruit who was looked at someone who could turn the program around. However, with the departure of Jared Cunningham to the NBA, Nelson is trying to step up. He worked on his game in the offseason and he’s seen results in that he’s averaging 13.9 points per game, good for second best on the team. There hasn’t been a doubt whether Nelson has had the ability to take over games and become OSU’s go-to-guy, but he still needs to improve his consistency throughout an entire season before the naysayers will drop off somewhat.
  4. UCLA fans are still displeased with Ben Howland and are using some satire to show their disapproval. Arguments for keeping Howland as head coach include his three straight Final Fours and a strong recruiting class this past year. On the other hand, UCLA is arguably the most prestigious college basketball program in the nation and those results should be expected. In addition, UCLA has watched the departures of Tyler Lamb and Josh Smith from the team so far this year and were upset at home against an far less talented Cal Poly team in Pauley Pavilion. Comedy appears to be the only way that some UCLA fans can cope with Howland’s problems, which show no sign of letting up short of finding some additional eligibility for Kevin Love and Jordan Farmar.
  5. At one point this year Washington was top five in the RPI, but after some unexpected losses the Huskies are experiencing a free-fall. After being ranked #36 in the RPI last week, they now find themselves all the way at #111 after losing to Nevada, the Huskies’ third home non-conference loss of the season — a feat that had never happened under Lorenzo Romar. The nightmarish start continues for a team that was once picked to finish fifth in the conference and who now looks completely lost and out of sync.

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Pac 12 M5: 12.04.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on December 4th, 2012

  1. This early season keeps getting worse and worse for the UCLA Bruins. Ben Howland’s team fell 78-69 to San Diego State at the Wooden Classic over the weekend, and the Bruins’ student section wasn’t even there to witness it. The fans have every reason to be unhappy with the product that the Bruins are putting out on the floor and they are making it very apparent by not showing up. It also wasn’t even clear that students knew they could attend the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim, suggestive of a lack of community awareness and communication about the program. Until Ben Howland is no longer in charge of the Bruins, it doesn’t seem like either the fans or the students will be happy with this program.
  2. One of the early surprises this year in the Pac-12 has been Oregon, but there is some cause for concern with their senior forward E.J. Singler. Through this point in the season, Singler is posting career lows in field goal percentage (32%), three-point percentage (30%), and the free throw line (78%). However, all the other offensive numbers for Singler are righ in line with his career numbers. It’s still early in the year, but with the excellent start the Ducks have had so far, Singler getting back to his normal level of play could help Dana Altman’s team make a surprise run to the NCAA Tournament.
  3. The Washington State Cougars will take on Gonzaga this Wednesday and head coach Ken Bone thinks that Mark Few’s team might be better than ever. He alluded to the fact that they don’t just have good size but that they have multiple players that could end up playing in the NBA. If Washington State wants to pull off the intrastate upset, it certainly would help if they could get DaVonte Lacy back for the first time in two weeks. Bone believes that Lacy will be back from his knee injury if he can practice without any problems, but it’s not clear yet whether he will be 100 percent for the game.
  4. Tad Boyle’s Colorado team didn’t play its best last week as the Buffaloes needed double overtime to beat Texas Southern and lost to Wyoming on the road Saturday. Boyle believes that the team needs to toughen up or they are going to keep struggling. Wyoming’s Leonard Washington outplayed Colorado’s frontcourt tandem of Josh Scott and Andre Roberson with ease as he put up 22 points and seven rebounds and Boyle was displeased with the fact that he dove for a loose ball in front of five Buffaloes and not one of CU’s players challenged him for it. The Buffaloes play next against Colorado State on Wednesday and will certainly have to find a way to be tougher if they want to win.
  5. The most consistent and impressive team in the Pac-12 so far this year has been the Arizona Wildcats, and in their win over Texas Tech over the weekend, freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski didn’t need the ball to have an impact. He only scored six points during the contest, but he picked up nine rebounds in the first half and ended the game with a total of 13. Tarczewski didn’t mind his limited touches in the post, but Sean Miller prefers differently — Miller would rather have Tarczewski get the ball more down low and said he’ll be getting it more and more as they continue forward with their non-conference schedule.

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Pac-12 M5: 11.23.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on November 23rd, 2012

  1. The Arizona Wildcats do not play until next Wednesday and although they have won their first three games easily, they still have areas to work on before their next game. Sean Miller’s team is allowing opponents to make 39% of their threes so far in this early season and gave up 10 threes to Charleston Southern, nine to Humboldt State, and 14 to Long Beach State. They also are struggling to feed the post and are turning it over more than they would like from the point guard position. Big man Kaleb Tarczewski has only taken 10 total shots and Grant Jerrett is 1-10 on two-point field goals so far. Point guards Mark Lyons and Jordin Mayes have combined for 16 assists and 14 turnovers. Overall, the Wildcats are still a very good team and should improve as the season goes on, but slow starts are never a good thing.
  2. Tad Boyle doesn’t care where Colorado is ranked. The Buffaloes were 23rd in this week’s AP poll, but Boyle is stressing to his team that being ranked doesn’t guarantee his team anything. He believes Colorado still has a lot of work to do and that they need to turn the ball over less and play better transition basketball. However, the good news for Colorado Buffalo fans is that the Buffs are 4-0 and ranked and their head coach still believes they have a long way to go.
  3. Even though Shabazz Muhammad has only played two games this season, he’s already drawing NBA comparisons. Scouts were all around at the Barclays Center when UCLA played Georgetown and Georgia this past week and Muhammad’s physicality and aggressiveness on the floor were very apparent. What was also apparent was that Muhammad wasn’t attacking off the dribble from the perimeter. But, Muhammad is drawing comparisons to former Kentucky and current Charlotte Bobcat Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Ultimately, Muhammad’s NBA stock should rise and fall as the season goes on, and it’s evident in the first few games in his college career, that he has a place at the next level.
  4. Because the Oregon State Beavers were unable to schedule an east coast game into their non-conference schedule, they decided to partake in some unusual Thanksgiving activities this week. They first went to the Capital Food Bank in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to fill out food bags for needy families and then made a trip to visit Craig Robinson’s brother-in-law at the White House yesterday for Thanksgiving. The players took a tour through the White House and also got to shoot on the basketball court. Although the Beavers were unable to get any real basketball in, it was a humbling experience for the team and the next best thing they could have done.
  5. Switching to the gridiron briefly, Andrew back here with our weekly update on the pick ‘em contest that Connor and I have engaged in all year long. Entering last week, Connor was down four games on the year and he went all out in an attempt to get back in the game, a strategy that backfired. We differed on four games last week and I won all four of those matchups, giving me an eight game lead with eight games (including the conference championship game) remaining on the schedule. In other words, it’s all over but the shouting. But, as is typical of all the great rivalries around the conference, Connor’s not going to lay down while there is still the slimmest chance of victory. As a result, he’s picking the opposite of everything I pick this week – desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that. Our picks below, with our game of the week, below:
    Game Connor’s Pick Drew’s Pick
    Utah at Colorado Colorado Utah
    Washington at Wash. State Washington State Washington
    Arizona State at Arizona Arizona State Arizona
    Notre Dame at USC Notre Dame USC
    Oregon at Oregon State Oregon State 37-34 Oregon 52-17
    Stanford at UCLA UCLA Stanford

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Pac 12 M5: 11.22.12 Edition

Posted by PBaruh on November 22nd, 2012

  1. Top recruit Aaron Gordon has cut his list down to Washington, Arizona, and Kentucky, but Washington continues to make an appealing case. Gordon’s mother, Shelley-Davis Gordon, is from Seattle and has gotten to know Lorenzo Romar very well, and Gordon’s father, Ed Gordon, grew up in the same area as Romar. Although Gordon would be the focal point of the Washington program if he were to commit there, that’s not something he is unwilling to do. Gordon isn’t going to pick a school anytime soon, and no one puts players in the NBA better than Kentucky coach John Calipari, which is Aaron Gordon’s ultimate goal; still, don’t count out the Huskies just yet.
  2. Although Shabazz Muhammad is now finally playing, don’t expect him to have the impact he was supposed to have right away. Muhammad has admitted that it’s been difficult dealing with the eligibility investigation as well as overcoming injuries and some added weight. Muhammad was the leading scorer in UCLA’s victory over Georgia with 21 points, but he said he’s added 10 to 15 pounds and an injured shoulder and an ankle are certainly not easy to deal with for an explosive athlete. However, Muhammad isn’t making excuses and understands the pressure that comes with being a top recruit and going to arguably the most prestigious college basketball school in the country. Whatever happens as the season continues, you can count on Muhammad working to improve and doing the most he can.
  3. In this short season, Cal’s Allen Crabbe has certainly stood out. Averaging a fifth best in the nation 26.7 PPG, Crabbe has helped Cal overcome some sluggish starts to games and has put it upon himself this year to be more consistent. He knows he has to be more aggressive and score at will. Crabbe admitted he disappeared in games last year, but with the loss of Pac-12 player of the year Jorge Gutierrez, and the possibility of the NBA looming either this year or the next, Crabbe can no longer afford to be inconsistent. Credit to the Bear junior for understanding that he needs to pick up the slack and he has certainly done so this year by posting a career high 33 points against Pepperdine and also games of 27 and 20 points. Obviously, Crabbe won’t be able to keep up this scoring barrage all season, but if he continues to stay aggressive, he should be able to keep Cal in the Pac-12 hunt all year long.
  4. The Arizona Wildcats are in the middle of an eight-day break until its next game, but Sean Miller’s team won’t be doing any resting. Arizona was lucky to have this past Tuesday and yesterday off after their latest victory over Long Beach State, but it’ll be right back to work on Thanksgiving as the Cats will practice in the morning and again on Friday and Saturday, Monday and Tuesday (they’ll take a day off on Sunday). Sean Miller believes this time of the year is crucial and he has the resume to back it up. It was only two years ago that Arizona came one win short of the Final Four and he believes the team’s increased practice early in the year was a big reason for that.
  5. USC hasn’t got off to the greatest start as the Trojans finished in sixth in the Maui Invitational, but they’re doing well off the court. USC recently landed the best player in Nevada according to ESPNU in point guard Julian Jacobs. Jacobs is a 6’2″ player who is explosive and can drive to the hoop or hurt you with his great passing. He is now the third guard in the 2013 USC class, adding to Kendal Harris and Kahlil Price. Originally, Jacobs was a Utah commitment, but he changed his mind in August and now has a chance to form a very strong and athletic backcourt at USC in the future.

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