Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Eventful Week
Not sure what the the lead story should be in reviewing this past week of headline stories, related to our Sun Devils and/or our rivals, the Mildcats, down here in Tucson...
I guess the lead story would have to be the parting of ways between AU and their basketball coach, Sean Miller, after his twelve years at the school, that involved a lot of success, whether obtained straight forwardly or by more nefarious means...
Then we have the MAC POY announcing that he will transfer from Toledo, where he starred as a prolific scoring PG, to ASU, that helps fill out a promising new roster for coach Bobby Hurley, who looked as though he was a lame duck just a couple of weeks ago...
The key Sun Devil basketball question now becomes, for me, whether these new additions will help return us to 20+ wins and a good enough PAC record to get us to the Big Dance, once again, after a year's hiatus, next year..??
Could they even make a run at winning the PAC conference..??
Then we have the football team that appears to be loaded with talented players at just about every position, along with enough quality depth, that we should make a real run at the PAC championship this coming season...
Finally, we come to the baseball program enigma where the Devils keep plunking along under Tracy Smith, despite losing three of its top pitchers to injuries, during the season...
As things stand now, their prospects look pretty good but, aside from AU and Oregon, they haven't faced any PAC teams with winning conference records, as Utah, Wazzu and Washington are 9th, 10th, and 11th respectively in the PAC to date...
The Utes, Cougars and Huskies have a combined PAC record thus far of 9-24, while the Cats and Ducks, who took series wins against the Devils, have a combined conference record of 12-7, so far...
The Devils will host PAC leading Stanford (6-2) at home next weekend before going on the road to face Utah (4-7) and Cal (4-4), then face Oregon St (7-4) at home, then on the road to USC (5-4), before closing out the season at home against UCLA (5-6)...
So, based on what we've seen so far this season, it looks like the Devils can certainly be competitive, winning series against the lowest levels of the PAC, but are not as competitive against the better teams in the PAC...
That said, the Devils have a great remaining schedule where they get Stanford, Oregon St and UCLA at home, that should work in their favor, as they seek to advance to the playoffs, once the season concludes...
With nineteen remaining PAC games left, including today's contest with the Huskies, one has to wonder what the future will hold for the team, in terms of wins and losses, and whether they will win enough to qualify for post season play...
What do you think the PAC record will need to be in order to move onto the playoffs..??
I'm not sure what that number will be but will be impressed if the Devils can find a way to finish in the top third of the conference and make the play-offs, especially considering the pitching situation...
Does anyone here think that the Devils will finish as one of the Top 3-4 teams in the PAC based on what we've seen so far..??
Personally, I don't see that happening but would be very pleased if it did happen...
I'm trying to remain open minded about our head coach and will give him credit if he beats enough good PAC teams to make it to the post season, and I'm pretty sure that RA has his fingers crossed that TS can do that, so he can keep him as our HC, moving forward...
My mind tells me that we will not be that good against the likes of Stanford, Oregon St, and UCLA and that Cal and USC are better than Utah, Wazzu and Wash, so it is going to be very difficult to take series wins against those teams but we'll see...
Finally, it looks like AU will hire Tommy Lloyd, who is the associate head coach at Gonzaga, despite him not having any prior head coaching experience...
Do you think that he will be as successful in terms of wins-losses at AU as Sean Miller was there..??
And, with Sean gone, will the Sun Devils make a run at becoming the better program in the state..??
Bobby had gained some ground on the Cats under Sean but has never won any conference titles, etc, that Sean did at AU...
Again, what do you think about the things I've brought up this fine spring morning be they basketball, football, or baseball related...??
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Eventful Week
Not sure what the the lead story should be in reviewing this past week of headline stories, related to our Sun Devils and/or our rivals, the Mildcats, down here in Tucson...
I guess the lead story would have to be the parting of ways between AU and their basketball coach, Sean Miller, after his twelve years at the school, that involved a lot of success, whether obtained straight forwardly or by more nefarious means...
Then we have the MAC POY announcing that he will transfer from Toledo, where he starred as a prolific scoring PG, to ASU, that helps fill out a promising new roster for coach Bobby Hurley, who looked as though he was a lame duck just a couple of weeks ago...
The key Sun Devil basketball question now becomes, for me, whether these new additions will help return us to 20+ wins and a good enough PAC record to get us to the Big Dance, once again, after a year's hiatus, next year..??
Could they even make a run at winning the PAC conference..??
Then we have the football team that appears to be loaded with talented players at just about every position, along with enough quality depth, that we should make a real run at the PAC championship this coming season...
Finally, we come to the baseball program enigma where the Devils keep plunking along under Tracy Smith, despite losing three of its top pitchers to injuries, during the season...
As things stand now, their prospects look pretty good but, aside from AU and Oregon, they haven't faced any PAC teams with winning conference records, as Utah, Wazzu and Washington are 9th, 10th, and 11th respectively in the PAC to date...
The Utes, Cougars and Huskies have a combined PAC record thus far of 9-24, while the Cats and Ducks, who took series wins against the Devils, have a combined conference record of 12-7, so far...
The Devils will host PAC leading Stanford (6-2) at home next weekend before going on the road to face Utah (4-7) and Cal (4-4), then face Oregon St (7-4) at home, then on the road to USC (5-4), before closing out the season at home against UCLA (5-6)...
So, based on what we've seen so far this season, it looks like the Devils can certainly be competitive, winning series against the lowest levels of the PAC, but are not as competitive against the better teams in the PAC...
That said, the Devils have a great remaining schedule where they get Stanford, Oregon St and UCLA at home, that should work in their favor, as they seek to advance to the playoffs, once the season concludes...
With nineteen remaining PAC games left, including today's contest with the Huskies, one has to wonder what the future will hold for the team, in terms of wins and losses, and whether they will win enough to qualify for post season play...
What do you think the PAC record will need to be in order to move onto the playoffs..??
I'm not sure what that number will be but will be impressed if the Devils can find a way to finish in the top third of the conference and make the play-offs, especially considering the pitching situation...
Does anyone here think that the Devils will finish as one of the Top 3-4 teams in the PAC based on what we've seen so far..??
Personally, I don't see that happening but would be very pleased if it did happen...
I'm trying to remain open minded about our head coach and will give him credit if he beats enough good PAC teams to make it to the post season, and I'm pretty sure that RA has his fingers crossed that TS can do that, so he can keep him as our HC, moving forward...
My mind tells me that we will not be that good against the likes of Stanford, Oregon St, and UCLA and that Cal and USC are better than Utah, Wazzu and Wash, so it is going to be very difficult to take series wins against those teams but we'll see...
Finally, it looks like AU will hire Tommy Lloyd, who is the associate head coach at Gonzaga, despite him not having any prior head coaching experience...
Do you think that he will be as successful in terms of wins-losses at AU as Sean Miller was there..??
And, with Sean gone, will the Sun Devils make a run at becoming the better program in the state..??
Bobby had gained some ground on the Cats under Sean but has never won any conference titles, etc, that Sean did at AU...
Again, what do you think about the things I've brought up this fine spring morning be they basketball, football, or baseball related...??
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
