Pac-12 Power Rankings — 1/28/13

1. Oregon (18-2, 7-0) — The Ducks have a clear path to the Pac-12 title, but starting point guard Dominic Artis is out indefinitely with a foot injury. The freshman was averaging 10.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists before missing Oregon’s win over Washington.

2. Arizona State (16-4, 5-2) — ASU isn’t the second-best team in the conference, but it’s probably the hottest. A dominant win over UCLA proved Arizona State’s contender status, but will its short rotation wear out? In the Sun Devils’ last two games, four players logged at least 81 combined minutes.

3. UCLA (16-5, 6-2) — An initially triumphant road trip turned out to be a wash after the brutal loss to Arizona State. At their best, the Bruins can knock off top teams, but inconsistency will likely keep them on the edges of the top 25 for the season.

4. Arizona (17-2, 5-2) — The lack of a true playmaker hurts Arizona at times (see Mark Lyons’ 0 assists against UCLA) but the Wildcats are arguably still the conference’s most talented team. They played Continue reading “Pac-12 Power Rankings — 1/28/13” »

Weekly Q&A — 1/26/13 Answers

Q: How do you see things shaking out for this basketball team this year, tournament wise. Do you see a 5-7 seed shipped out to some locale giving their second round opponent a “home game”? Or do you see a little higher seed, 3 or 4, with a slightly better location?

Definitely the former, and probably more like a No. 6 or 7 seed. UCLA does feel like a team that could get hot and make a run if everything breaks right, so a Sweet Sixteen isn’t an impossibility.

Q: Tony Parker played like Kwame Brown today. How good is he? Does Ben Howland play Parker more or less after Saturday?

He’s raw. He played like a little-used freshman on Saturday, but he’s also shown promising glimpses this season — albeit for very short stretches. His minutes can’t exactly go down from what he was getting before Travis Wear’s concussion. If Wear doesn’t Continue reading “Weekly Q&A — 1/26/13 Answers” »