This is getting depressing. I would be worried if I was Arizona going into Maples. Why did Bears have to be the designated chumps to kick start them?

I'm sure stanford is kicking themselves that they lost to Cal. May make the difference between pac12 champion or not.

stanford beat asu by playing man all game long. tre holder was 3-15 or something like that, and one of those baskets was near the end when the game was way over

i don't look forward to playing asu if we stay with zone (except for a change up). asu is a much better 4 out team than the ones who thrashed us

Stanford was 6-7 in non-conference. Arizona State was 12-0.

In conference play, Stanford is 5-1 and ASU is 2-4. Go figure.

Stanford had two starters out which they brought back once conference started (they both played in cal game)

HoopDreams said:

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Stanford had two starters out which they brought back once conference started (they both played in cal game)

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Makes Cal's win even more incredible. What has happened to ASU?

bross said:

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Stanford was 6-7 in non-conference. Arizona State was 12-0.

In conference play, Stanford is 5-1 and ASU is 2-4. Go figure.

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Where's my post deriding them with "it's ASU..."?

No surprise here.

OSU and WSU are also perennial losers.
We're giving them all a break from the cellar right now. The Bear will rise again though.

bross said:

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HoopDreams said:

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Stanford had two starters out which they brought back once conference started (they both played in cal game)

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Makes Cal's win even more incredible. What has happened to ASU?

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I'm looking forward to getting my first look at ASU tomorrow, but my guess for the change in ASU's fortunes are:

1. Their non-conference opponents had little to no familiarity with Hurley/ASU and did not scout them as well. Pac12 opponents are better prepared for what ASU does and can more easily prepare.

2. I don't think ASU has much depth and could be hitting a bit of a wall. This was exacerbated by starting with 3 road games.

Seems like a brutal matchup for Cal, given how well ASU shoots the 3.

bross said:

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Seems like a brutal matchup for Cal, given how well ASU shoots the 3.

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This is going to be a test of your staff's statement that Jones is trying hard to win every game. If he starts out with the zone and/or the press, and ASU starts shredding it with 3s, and he doesn't switch out of it, my conclusion is going to be that he's decided team development is more important for now than Ws and Ls, regardless of what he and you guys have said.

We will beat Stanford again when they come here.

this is a game where are bigs need to get offense rebounds and put backs
if we don't dominate inside and get someone in foul trouble it could be a long night

The Pac 12 as a whole is not good this year. Of course everyone is good against Cal, who is horrific. But this conference looks just slightly better than the one that a Monty-coached Cal team won.

So a mediocre team like Furd can make some noise. There's not a lot of resistance at the top. And there are Cal and WSU at the bottom, to make everyone else look good while bringing down the conference RPI.

Uthaithani said:

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The Pac 12 as a whole is not good this year. Of course everyone is good against Cal, who is horrific. But this conference looks just slightly better than the one that a Monty-coached Cal team won.

So a mediocre team like Furd can make some noise. There's not a lot of resistance at the top. And there are Cal and WSU at the bottom, to make everyone else look good while bringing down the conference RPI.

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The conference RPI does not change after conference play starts.

Civil Bear said:

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Uthaithani said:

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The Pac 12 as a whole is not good this year. Of course everyone is good against Cal, who is horrific. But this conference looks just slightly better than the one that a Monty-coached Cal team won.

So a mediocre team like Furd can make some noise. There's not a lot of resistance at the top. And there are Cal and WSU at the bottom, to make everyone else look good while bringing down the conference RPI.

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The conference RPI does not change after conference play starts.

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This isn't quite true. It is true that the games played within the conference (between two P-12 teams) don't change the conference RPI.

However, as the P-12's non-conference opponents play their own conference schedules, the conference RPI can move up or down as the season progresses, depending on how well our opponents do in their leagues. So for example, teams like Kansas, Portland State and Seattle played multiple P-12 teams in the non-conference part of the schedule. If those teams pile up wins in their respective conferences, that helps the P-12's RPI, and of course losses hurt the P-12 RPI.