ASU

[Trueblue25]

I actually dont love this matchup.

They have small, fast, talented streaky guards.

I really really hope we smother the three and dont let them get hot. If we can shut them down and challenge them and grab a lead in the first 10 mins I believe they’d melt.

 

[CuseCactus]

They were completely full of themselves in December. I laughed (as did my wife who's an Arizona grad) when they were describing themselves as "Guard U". They hit the wall 3 months ago. Not gonna jinx us with a prediction though. Feeling good about this one though.

 

[Trueblue25]

Tra Holder

40 points vs Xavier
29 points vs Kansas
31 vs Zona

We cannot afford to let their guards get hot.

Shannon Evans

22 vs xavier
22 vs kansas

They feed off each other. Shut them down.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Look we can lose this game or any game. But the matchup is about as good as it gets for us. They’re led by a total hothead mouth breather that thinks he’s better than his own guys. I could see them melting down quickly.

I think we win because I just don't see how they guard us. Battle, especially, will have a huge size advantage. And if they match Justice up with Battle, who is going to guard Brissett...

Drive it; Drive it; Drive it.

 

[richmondcuse03]

I think we win because I just don't see how they guard us. Battle, especially, will have a huge size advantage. And if they match Justice up with Battle, who is going to guard Brissett...

Drive it; Drive it; Drive it.

Agree x1000. This is a game made for dribble drive penetration. We should attack the rim early and often. Battle has gotten better at dishing on his drives, which has opened up a lot of easy baskets for marek. Why we had success vs wake and not unc.

 

[realorange]

This is the game I want to see Chukwu finally find out what his hands are capable of doing.
They just don't have the size to stop him if Frank feeds him the ball and he can hold on to it and finish.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Agree x1000. This is a game made for dribble drive penetration. We should attack the rim early and often. Battle has gotten better at dishing on his drives, which has opened up a lot of easy baskets for marek. Why we had success vs wake and not unc.

Hopefully so. Frank has to play sound. They are quick. If he has trouble getting by them then can’t have push offs and make dumb plays. Let Tyus go and Frank can get set up for threes. But, yes, in theory this is a game where Chukwu could thrive. But, if they get into the lane on dribble penetration like NC ST did routinely setting up threes or floaters then we will need to keep scoring. I think they faced zone once. A struggle against UW but not enough of a sample size, IMO, to just say oh yeah we got this, lol.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This is the game I want to see Chukwu finally find out what his hands are capable of doing.
They just don't have the size to stop him if Frank feeds him the ball and he can hold on to it and finish.

Hopefully so. Frank has to play sound. They are quick. If he has trouble getting by them then can’t have push offs and make dumb plays. Let Tyus go and Frank can get set up for threes. But, yes, in theory this is a game where Chukwu could thrive. But, if they get into the lane on dribble penetration like NC ST did routinely setting up threes or floaters then we will need to keep scoring. I think they faced zone once. A struggle against UW but not enough of a sample size, IMO, to just say oh yeah we got this, lol.

I'm sorry, are you both actually calling for us to game plan Chukwu being a large element in the offense?


He seems pretty beat up lately. I just don't see it. And I know that surprises no one.

 

[bpo57]

Thanks! Do their guards pressure the ball well, either full court or picking up at half? We know that's one of Frank's negatives, so I'm curious to know if that's something we need to worry about.

The games I watched they picked up at half court with some decent pressure but nothing like WVA, Cinci, etc.

 

[bpo57]

Tra Holder

40 points vs Xavier
29 points vs Kansas
31 vs Zona

We cannot afford to let their guards get hot.

Shannon Evans

22 vs xavier
22 vs kansas

They feed off each other. Shut them down.

They shot the lights out in the X/KU games. They're capable of hurting us downtown but if we extend then we should be ok. My biggest concern is don't turn the ball over letting them get easy buckets before the zone can be set up.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I'm sorry, are you both actually calling for us to game plan Chukwu being a large element in the offense?


He seems pretty beat up lately. I just don't see it. And I know that surprises no one.

Haha. Just a couple of dunks and a layup or two. Or at least don’t fumble away those opportunities or put the ball down at let them take it from you...sigh.

 

[SoBeCuse]

They shot the lights out in the X/KU games. They're capable of hurting us downtown but if we extend then we should be ok. My biggest concern is don't turn the ball over letting them get easy buckets before the zone can be set up.

This WILL be the quickest team 1-5 we will have faced all year, IMO. It’s such an interesting matchup. Defending corner threes will be huge too. If they get into the paint on drives and whip it to a corner then hopefully it won’t be raining buckets from those corners.

 

[SUOrangeSU]

living in ASU land...I havent really watched them this year...but, my first 15 minutes walking into work...about 10 fans came running up to me and they are nervous to play us. All said they do terrible against a zone

 

[Alsacs]

I watched Arizona State’s last game.
They are good offensively and lazy defensively.
Holder is a good player but can be get frustrated. Howard-Holder is key.
They don’t have much post offense.
Justice is the playmaker.

They aren’t big. Our length could bother them. We need them not to shoot on fire but I actually like the matchup.
I think we will win.

 

[Scooch]

So dumb question... will we actually extend the zone? Or will be hope they're not hot for 30 minutes, and then if they are, press?

 

[longislandcuse]

So dumb question... will we actually extend the zone? Or will be hope they're not hot for 30 minutes, and then if they are, press?

JB knows they can shoot it, it's the first thing he mentioned when asked about the match up. If we don't extend the zone from the opening tip, I'll probably have to refrain from posting in the Game Thread.

 

[bpo57]

So dumb question... will we actually extend the zone? Or will be hope they're not hot for 30 minutes, and then if they are, press?

Def extend the zone. The only times ASU has had success this year against good teams is when they've been hot from 3. Don't let that happen. Interior threats are not a big issue imo. Plus not like our offense is built to overcome a big deficit induced by a barrage of three pointers.

 

[SWC75]

So dumb question... will we actually extend the zone? Or will be hope they're not hot for 30 minutes, and then if they are, press?

I don't think we want to press a smaller, quicker team. I hope don't get into that situation.

 

[realorange]

Haha. Just a couple of dunks and a layup or two. Or at least don’t fumble away those opportunities or put the ball down at let them take it from you...sigh.

^^^^^^^
This! Just let PC grab a couple passes/rebounds, hold on to them and immediately put it in the hoop! No extra curricular juggling acts.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I think this is a great match up for us. I rewatched 1/2 the UW vs ASU game last night and they really struggled compared to the other 2 times I watched them this year. There guards are short and they will have a hard time shooting over the top in my opinion. They also like to get out in transition and we will slow the game down. Many of there 3's come in secondary break spotting up. They are not a great rebounding team. I think they play really well into our strengths and probably can't overly exploit our weaknesses. Once you get into the tournament none of the teams are completely incapable of winning so you never know but I like our chances.

 

[007]

So dumb question... will we actually extend the zone? Or will be hope they're not hot for 30 minutes, and then if they are, press?

Just a guess... if the "scouting" report from those who've watched ASU is correct (they lack interior scoring), JB will extend the Fs way out, and PC/BS will play "high". It won't be a 4-1, it never really is. But, it will look that way depending on how ASU lines up.

JB will look to move all of their 3 pt shooters off the line, even if it takes 4 guys to do it.

 

[Brooky03]

We're going to extend the zone beyond the 3 point line and dare them to beat us inside. Their guards (really PG-SF) are incredibly short, so even if they penetrate, we don't exactly have to collapse hard on them, so they shouldn't have many kick-out or dump-off opportunities. We struggle against balanced scoring teams who do well in the hustle stats. ASU is not balanced on offense and apparently doesn't hustle. Anything could happen, especially with the team we have this year, but I'm reasonably confident going into this game.

ASU has been compared to VT. If that's accurate, then there's good reason for optimism. We would beat VT 8 out of 10 times this year.

 

[NineOneSeven]

How similar is ASU to BC?

 

[orangecuse]

I haven't seen them play much, other than for a half a couple of weeks back or so when they were playing UA, which they ended up losing at home. Interesting that I'm reading here from those who are much more familiar with them that they play poor or lazy D. Their head coach, I believe, was the lead instigator of that 'ol Duke tradition of slapping their hands on the court floor when playing D. To this day, I still find it to bug the crap out of me.

 

[SWC75]

We're going to extend the zone beyond the 3 point line and dare them to beat us inside. Their guards (really PG-SF) are incredibly short, so even if they penetrate, we don't exactly have to collapse hard on them, so they shouldn't have many kick-out or dump-off opportunities. We struggle against balanced scoring teams who do well in the hustle stats. ASU is not balanced on offense and apparently doesn't hustle. Anything could happen, especially with the team we have this year, but I'm reasonably confident going into this game.

ASU has been compared to VT. If that's accurate, then there's good reason for optimism. We would beat VT 8 out of 10 times this year.

I hope ASU is not like Vermont.