Hello World
We are Travis and Jose with "The College Sports Ticket". Our goal is to bring a fan's perspective and opinion to the world of college sports and a more in-depth take on The University of Arizona Wildcats Program. All takes are from our point of view as fans. We are purely fans and not sports commentators but we welcome all opinions, and all topics are open for discussion .
Our first topic open for discussion will be Sean Miller's first Basketball Recruiting class at Arizona. Travis will ask the hard hitting questions while Jose lays out his opinion like no one else can. Let's get started.
Travis: Jose, you tell me what's more amazing: Sean Miller hauling in a top twelve, five man recruiting class or Sean Miller getting two of those five recruits five days into the job?
Jose: Hauling in 2 nice recruits like K-Real and Solomon Hill in a matter of five days is impressive, but hauling in a five man, top twelve recruiting class that fills every position is just a little more impressive to me. Sean Miller covered the point guard position with Lamont “Mo Mo” Jones (even though I feel he is more of an undersized shooting guard), Solomon Hill at shooting guard (even though he is listed as a forward I feel he is versatile enough to play the two), Kevin Parrom at small forward, Derrick Williams at power forward with Kyryl Natyazhko at the center position. I feel every need was filled, and added much needed depth to a roster that saw Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger move on to the NBA after their junior seasons.
Travis: Wow! What a fantastic recruiting class, it’s obvious Sean Miller knew exactly what he was doing when he took the job.
How would you handle balancing playing time at point guard between the proven leader Nic Wise and the four star recruit Lamont "Mo Mo" Jones?
Jose: Balancing time will not be as much of an issue as people may think. I feel Coach Miller will use Nic and “Mo Mo” in the same back court at times due to the fact that Jones is more of a shooting guard with a shoot first mentality. Having such a small back court may be a liability defensively at times but may be one of the quickest in the Pac 10 and will cause havoc for opposing defenses trying to guard these lightning quick guards. Look for Nic to play 30 to 35 minutes a game with “Mo Mo” backing him up but also being used in the off guard role.
Travis: I feel that “Mo Mo” will get playing time at shooting guard this season and then next season take over full time at point guard.
Who would you start at center Alex Jacobson or incoming freshman Kyryl Natyazhko?
Jose: Kyryl Natyazhko. AJ will serve well as a back up but I don’t feel he will beat out K-Real when it’s all said and done. AJ’s experience (redshirt sophomore) may help but K-Real is a more skilled big man that can make a bigger impact, nothing against Alex but he’s not ready to start and I feel he will be a career back up.
Travis: K-Real is the real deal and is ready to start I agree with you 100%.
Look @ this out of conference schedule Jose.
Nov. 15 NAU
Nov. 19 Rice
Nov. 23-25: Maui Invitational (Cincinnati, Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, Chaminade)
Dec. 2: UNLV
Dec. 6: at Oklahoma
Dec. 9: Louisiana Tech
Dec. 12: at San Diego State
Dec. 21: Lipscomb
Dec 23: North Carolina State
Dec. 28: BYU
I can see us starting out 12-0 with this schedule, can you?
Jose: No! The Maui Invitational will be a challenge, but the cats are motivated and Nic Wise has made it public that he would love a shot at Wisconsin after coach Bo Ryan cut him from the US Team tryouts. UNLV always poses a threat and Oklahoma, even though they have no Blake Griffin, they do have Willie Warren who can put points on the board with the best of them, as well as a good incoming class that includes Keith “Tiny” Gallon and Tommy Mason-Griffin. With a team lacking experience, a 12-0 start does not seem possible in my opinion. I see the Cats going 7-4 to start the season, possibly 8-3.
Travis: OK you’ve convinced me Jose, why do you have to burst my bubble like that, with such a realistic outlook? I’m going to change my prediction and go with a 10-2 start. Go Cats!
Usually, a weak out of conference schedule hurts your RPI ranking which lowers your seeding come tournament time, do you think that will be the case for Arizona this year?
Jose: Strength of schedule is always looked at by the committee come tournament time, but if the Cats can pull off an upset or two and hang with the “PAC” in conference play, look for the Cats to be dancing come March. Obviously, Oklahoma would be a key victory out of conference if the Cats were to take that game. If Sean Miller and the pack can hold their own, then they should be playing in the Madness.
Travis: I think they will be dancing for sure, and a win at Oklahoma will definitely give us a mid to high seed in the Tournament. Another note about the 09-10 Schedule is the game with the Lipscomb Bison. Jose: Who? Travis: Exactly. The Bison play in the Atlantic Sun Conference, and the only other team I knew from that conference were the Campbell University Fighting Camels. Have you ever seen a camel fight Jose?
Jose: No, no camel fights for me. It sure sounds interesting though. LOL
Travis: I found one. After seeing this video you will see why you would want to make your mascot a fighting camel.
Jose: Classic! Wow!
Travis: It definitely inspired me.
There you go world, our first post is in the books and will not be our last. We will be turning our focus to football for the next couple of months, and you are going to want to be there.
