Toyminator's 2001-2002 Pac Ten Conference Preview

The Pac-10 really had a great season last year, with Arizona just missing out on their championship as the only glitch. Even USC woke up in time to have some fun in the Tournament! This season might be UCLA's! They've got key returnees in Jason Kapono, Matt Barnes & Dan Gadzuric, along with a stellar recruiting class that should make them the team to beat in the Pac-10! In addition, the rest of the big boys (Stanford, Arizona & USC) lost some key personnel and shouldn't be as tough as last year. Arizona alone lost the majority of their rebounding & scoring, but has some talented freshman to replace them, so they may be down, but not too far down! Stanford & USC still have two of the best players in the country (Casey Jacobsen & Sam Clancy), so you can't count them out just yet! But none of them have the full package that UCLA can deliver. It should be theirs for the taking!

The rest of the conference will be quite competitive and any one of them could be in the hunt for postseason play. California may still be the team with the best shot at it, even without super frosh Julian Sensley, who was declared ineligible. They've got an experienced team and a promising big man in Jamal Sampson. The Oregon & Washington teams will battle closely to see who's the best in the Northwest. Finally, keep an eye out for Arizona St., whose got the talent to play with teams, but just need some synergy to bring it all together! It should be another good season in the Pac-10!

ON THE RISE: UCLA
Steve Lavin may not win any Coach of the Year awards, but he knows how to get talent! The Bruins already had a stable of horses returning, but add in some awesome recruits, and you've got one heck of a team, for this season and beyond! Big PG Cedric Bozeman is the key guy to replace Earl Watson. If he delivers, the Bruins will be thinking National Championship this season!

IN DECLINE: Oregon St.
The Beavers had some good players these past few years, but with nothing to show for it! Now, much of the talent is gone, so look for them to possibly fall behind the Washington schools and dabble with last place this season!

1. UCLA

Strengths: Excellent shooting team. Solid offensively. Good rebounding team. Good perimeter defense. Plenty of experience & depth.
Weakness: Inexperienced PG. Poor ball handling & distribution. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: The Bruins know this is their chance to shine, so I doubt they'll blow it! However, the question remains if they can stay focused the entire season?

2. STANFORD

Strengths: Excellent team defense. Great shooting team from everywhere. Good rebounding team. Limit their turnovers.
Weakness: Inexperienced & lack of depth. Questionable inside scoring.
Outlook: The success of Stanford will depend on the health of key players, especially Borchardt, who could blossom this season. However, Coach M always delivers, so expect them to be Top 25 most of the year!

3. USC

Strengths: Quick, athletic team. Good offense. Good rebounding team. Excellent ball distribution. Lots of experience.
Weakness: Big hole at C. Poor perimeter defense. Too many turnovers. Little depth.
Outlook: The loss of Scalabrine, and nobody to replace him, will hurt a lot. But Clancy is a stud who can dominate, even though he's undersized. Look for a return to the Big Dance!

4. ARIZONA

Strengths: Solid team defense. Good team quickness. Good outside scoring team. Good FT shooting team.
Weakness: Little inside scoring. Poor ball handling & distribution. Very inexperienced.
Outlook: As with Michigan St., too much talent has left the building! But the newcomers are good, so now's the time to stomp on them, because it won't be long before their pursuing another Title!

5. CALIFORNIA

Strengths: Decent shooting team. Solid, deep backcourt. Limit their turnovers.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Little frontcourt depth. Lack of a true scorer.
Outlook: Still a tough team, who should be on the bubble come March.

6. OREGON

Strengths: Good offensively. Good FT shooting team. Strong backcourt.
Weakness: Weak frontcourt. Poor rebounding team. Weak team defense. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: A strong backcourt will keep the Ducks in the middle of the pack this season.

7. ARIZONA ST.

Strengths: Good rebounding team. Solid team defense. Good frontcourt. Very deep bench.
Weakness: Poor shooting team. Big hole at PG - poor ball handling. Poor FT shooting team. Lack of teamwork.
Outlook: Coach Evans has to figure out how to give all these fine players their time on the court and play as a team. Talent is here, but we'll have to see if it gets them to the postseason.

8. WASHINGTON

Strengths: Good perimeter defense & scoring.
Weakness: Horrible shooting team, especially from FT line. Poor rebounding team. Little inside scoring. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: A decent young backcourt will get better with the arrival of Wrenn & Knight. Slowly improving.

9. OREGON ST.

Strengths: Limit their turnovers. Good size.
Weakness: Poor team offense & defense. Horrible rebounding team.
Outlook: The arrival of Ricci & Payton should be enough to keep the Beavers out of last place this season!

10. WASHINGTON ST.

Strengths: Decent backcourt. Good FT shooting team.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Weak frontcourt. Poor team defense. Poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: Their backcourt is good enough to win some games, but probably won't keep them out of the basement!

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Last updated on 10/24/01 by toyminator@prodigy.net