A Narrow Escape

[arxpert]

The title says it all, but I will provide my post-game analysis.

This team has been reeling for a long time stuck in the ways of relying on 5 to 6 players in large. Tonight we narrowly escaped a very bad Washington squad who had their way with us on the offensive glass and realistically only lost because the refs did not put them on the line like they did us.

I think Arizona earned the win, but this is the problem with not developing a bench properly. We got very lucky that Boswell had his best game when we needed it the most. Tommy had him out there on the court over Ramey and Henderson which I believe was a critical winning decision and I give credit to his flexibility to know when to pull the plug on players having terrible games. A lesson learned from past mistakes is going to be highlighted and acknowledged in my analysis 10 out of 10 times.

However, the fact remains this is a team that is not nearly as good as they should be at the moment. Whether that means we are "that much better/have the highest ceiling" than the field or that we are potentially overrated is something we will find out over time.

Boswell gets a game ball. He wanted to be out there tonight. There were some times he overstepped his role (no business taking 7 3pt shots and not getting to the line for FTs), but he did have 6 assists, along with 6 boards and the starters being willing to trust him at times shows me immense growth from the team perspective. Tommy left it in the hands of the players and they delivered. Coaches get teams to positions to have a chance. Players are the ones who ultimately decide it on the court. Boswell has an incredible frame for his age. He might end up an unstoppable force. It's just 1 game, but there's truly no reason he can't play PG for this team the way we play. This lends to my opinion about Pelle being a much better 6th man. The minutes are all going to be there. It is the sentiment and deployment that matters.

I will categorize this as a Good win - being able to fight through a team blowing us out early is character building, but to also fight through our own struggles, maintain discipline, and adjust for what wasn't working vs what was working is a good takeaway. Much better to win a game that we normally would lose if playing a good team and learn from it then to get deflated being run out of our own gym after feeling ourselves for way too long.

Onward and Up

Beardown

[KansasCityCats]

Good analysis.  This was truly a narrow escape.  The team fought back against a UW program that is desperate to win.

The Huskies played their best game of the season & still couldn't manage to win.  Their frontcourt was physical and their guards shot well from deep.

Boswell salvaged the game by efficiently running the offense and hustling for boards.  He showed a lot of improvement but still needs to work on his shot selection.  I'm excited for his future but hope that Ramey (who played a miserable game after his first shot attempt) can step it up and be our leader through the remainder of this season.

Up next is a Wazzu team that hasn't been blown out all season...but played a few ugly games (specifically Prairie View & Hawaii).

[TooStonedCat]

I find it hard to believe that Ramey can't find other ways to score other then shooting the 3, but that's the ONLY thing he has done..He has too much experience from playing 4 years @ Texas to be limiting himself to just shooting 3s.That was a take away for me from this game. Maui Ramey had me thinking he could score 15+ on any given night for us.Now I'd be stoked if the guy could put up 9 or 10, and put some solid defensive pressure on our opponent's guards.

Boswell had a nice game, he looks comfortable out there now for the most part.It was really nice to see that he's capable of running our offense.Not only that, but he's 17 years old, and might be our best defender! He's going to be a really special player for this team, for at least another year or two. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I'm really liking what I see from him. If he stayed in high school he would 100% be a McDonald's All-American this year.We haven't had a Mickey D's point guard at Arizona in a long time! If he could add a floater to his game, dude could be scary good for us!

[KansasCityCats]

Agreed. I didn't want to make it sound like Ramey could only hit the 3...just that his shot is the most consistent aspect of his game.

Boswell still has work to do; as you reiterated...he's 17. The kid is the future of our program and I can't wait to see him develop. Until then, it's nice to know that can step up in critical times.

[arxpert]

I find it hard to believe that Ramey can't find other ways to score other then shooting the 3, but that's the ONLY thing he has done..He has too much experience from playing 4 years @ Texas to be limiting himself to just shooting 3s.That was a take away for me from this game. Maui Ramey had me thinking he could score 15+ on any given night for us.Now I'd be stoked if the guy could put up 9 or 10, and put some solid defensive pressure on our opponent's guards.

Boswell had a nice game, he looks comfortable out there now for the most part.It was really nice to see that he's capable of running our offense.Not only that, but he's 17 years old, and might be our best defender! He's going to be a really special player for this team, for at least another year or two. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I'm really liking what I see from him. If he stayed in high school he would 100% be a McDonald's All-American this year.We haven't had a Mickey D's point guard at Arizona in a long time! If he could add a floater to his game, dude could be scary good for us!

The silver lining with Ramey is that he is not Kier. He is actually trustworthy to play and not out of necessity. Last year we really found ourselves in a lurch when Kerr got hurt. Kier was not at the level Ramey is. Now this is where I will include that Tommy made the critical mistake of not developing the back up PG role properly last year. He has the opportunity to rectify this with Boswell should the situation present itself. This was something missing last season that is present this season. Addition by subtraction in a sense from Benn, Koloko, and Terry moving on. Hoping Tommy continues to give minutes to our bench players down the stretch while we are playing some of our lesser basketball, but still able to win games. I won't say we are playing our worst, but it is borderline close to it at this point compared to just the 1 meltdown vs Utah - We are not firing on all cylinders. That "90ppg" is not expected in Conference play, but it does exist if we can tap into our best abilities.

[TooStonedCat]

I find it hard to believe that Ramey can't find other ways to score other then shooting the 3, but that's the ONLY thing he has done..He has too much experience from playing 4 years @ Texas to be limiting himself to just shooting 3s.That was a take away for me from this game. Maui Ramey had me thinking he could score 15+ on any given night for us.Now I'd be stoked if the guy could put up 9 or 10, and put some solid defensive pressure on our opponent's guards.

Boswell had a nice game, he looks comfortable out there now for the most part.It was really nice to see that he's capable of running our offense.Not only that, but he's 17 years old, and might be our best defender! He's going to be a really special player for this team, for at least another year or two. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I'm really liking what I see from him. If he stayed in high school he would 100% be a McDonald's All-American this year.We haven't had a Mickey D's point guard at Arizona in a long time! If he could add a floater to his game, dude could be scary good for us!

The silver lining with Ramey is that he is not Kier. He is actually trustworthy to play and not out of necessity. Last year we really found ourselves in a lurch when Kerr got hurt. Kier was not at the level Ramey is. Now this is where I will include that Tommy made the critical mistake of not developing the back up PG role properly last year. He has the opportunity to rectify this with Boswell should the situation present itself. This was something missing last season that is present this season. Addition by subtraction in a sense from Benn, Koloko, and Terry moving on. Hoping Tommy continues to give minutes to our bench players down the stretch while we are playing some of our lesser basketball, but still able to win games. I won't say we are playing our worst, but it is borderline close to it at this point compared to just the 1 meltdown vs Utah - We are not firing on all cylinders. That "90ppg" is not expected in Conference play, but it does exist if we can tap into our best abilities.

I agree we need to keep developing the bench, we don't need to blow every team out. We will benefit most having the bench ready to go for the most part by March.We need to be able to rely on at least three of those guys, Boswell, HV, and Henderson are those three atm.If Bal could be the 4th for a solid 9 man rotation I'd be ecstatic!

Pelle has his best games when he's driving to the rim, and getting to the line.He shoots a really good % from the stripe, so he needs to be slashing more often.

[KansasCityCats]

Lloyd did exactly what he needed to do for the future of our PG position. Since he didn't have anybody (our side of Kerr) on the roster, he allowed Boswell to reclassify and brought in a veteran in Ramey.

The current plan is safer than settling for an average recruit that might develop in 2-3 years.

Can't wait to see Boswell and Kerr together in the backcourt next season.