Ok, everyone expects me to say take the Wildcats laying 33. . . well, that's what I'm gonna tell you, but here's my reasoning:
It might be expected that Arizona will take it easy and simply cruise to the victory here, but its not gonna happen. There is no relaxing for this team when you have 12 players competing for 5 starting spots. A couple mistakes and you're sitting on the bench while Lute simply sends another player on the court to fill your position. Also, Lute has said full court press for every minute of every game. . . he certainly didn't say he would leave out the game against NAU. While their press has improved by leaps and bounds since practice for the season first started, Lute is still trying to perfect it and will attempt to do so with this game before the real competition begins.
Yes, I expect to see the Seniors get plenty of rest in the 2nd half while the underclassmen work on matchups with other players and work on their game, but NAU is not going to be able to hang with them either. There is simply too much athletic talent and team speed for NAU to stay anywhere close in this one.
Not really sure what else to say. . . yes, there is no reason for Arizona to run up the score in this one, but how will that not happen? Without the full court press I'd say that 33 might be too many points, but not when Arizona plans to work on their fast paced game. Cats will have a nice advantage underneath the basket which should limit the amount of shots the Lumberjacks will have and allow the Cats to have plenty of second chance opportunities.
Cats beat Western Kentucky by 39 without breaking a sweat. . . should be a similar result here without much of a letdown until the final few minutes. Shouldn't have to worry about the spread by then!
It might be expected that Arizona will take it easy and simply cruise to the victory here, but its not gonna happen. There is no relaxing for this team when you have 12 players competing for 5 starting spots. A couple mistakes and you're sitting on the bench while Lute simply sends another player on the court to fill your position. Also, Lute has said full court press for every minute of every game. . . he certainly didn't say he would leave out the game against NAU. While their press has improved by leaps and bounds since practice for the season first started, Lute is still trying to perfect it and will attempt to do so with this game before the real competition begins.
Yes, I expect to see the Seniors get plenty of rest in the 2nd half while the underclassmen work on matchups with other players and work on their game, but NAU is not going to be able to hang with them either. There is simply too much athletic talent and team speed for NAU to stay anywhere close in this one.
Not really sure what else to say. . . yes, there is no reason for Arizona to run up the score in this one, but how will that not happen? Without the full court press I'd say that 33 might be too many points, but not when Arizona plans to work on their fast paced game. Cats will have a nice advantage underneath the basket which should limit the amount of shots the Lumberjacks will have and allow the Cats to have plenty of second chance opportunities.
Cats beat Western Kentucky by 39 without breaking a sweat. . . should be a similar result here without much of a letdown until the final few minutes. Shouldn't have to worry about the spread by then!
