Toyminator's 2002-2003 Pac Ten Conference Preview

The Pac-10 will continue to be one of the top conferences in the country this season. Arizona, one of the most talented teams in the country, will lead the way! The Wildcats will probably be Top 5 all season long and will be the most anticipated matchup for most of its opposing teams. That will put some pressure on them to succeed, but Jason Gardner & Luke Walton dealt with it before so they should be able to handle it! You can pretty much write them into the Final Four now!

As for the rest of the conference, it will be wide open in the race for second! Oregon has the best shot, based on last season's success and the return of the most talented players in the Pac-Ten outside of Tucson! The Luke boys (Ridnour & Jackson) are two of the most exciting players in the country and will be tough to handle! If the rest of the players can find their roles, the Ducks should have another excellent season! After that, there's 5 teams that will battle for Tournament bids. UCLA, Stanford, Cal, USC and Arizona St. all have reasons to be optimistic, but also have some major questions marks that will need to be answered during the season. UCLA & Stanford have many returnees, but lost a lot of scoring from last season. Can someone else step up? USC & Cal will need help from their newcomers in order to remain contenders. Can they contribute? And can ASU finally rise above mediocrity? Either way, it should be quite entertaining to watch!

ON THE RISE: Arizona
Lute Olson is a master! A year ago, after a flood of underclassmen left his program with few veterans, he brought in an awesome freshman class that responded well to the challenge and made the Wildcats into one of the better teams in the country. This season, everyone is back to give Lute another shot at a national title! But it won't end there...another fantastic freshman class arrives and will be counted on to maintain this program's elite status for years to come!

IN DECLINE: Stanford
Don't get me wrong...the Cardinal will not be a bad team this season. Mike Montgomery is too good a coach to allow that to happen! However, they have lost a lot of talent the past few years and it's catching up with them. Losing Casey Jacobsen hurt, but they would have still been tough if center Curtis Borchardt had returned. Now, it's like years ago when Coach M had marginal talent with no real stars. Well, he did pretty well back then, so don't expect them to fall far and look for them to quickly rebuild into a national power!

1. ARIZONA

Strengths: Dangerous on offense! Good team quickness. Excellent shooting team. Loads of experience & depth. Good teamwork.
Weakness: Must improve rebounding & cut down on turnovers.
Outlook: It only took a year for Lute Olson to rebuild this team into a championship contender. They will be the favorite to win it all, just like two seasons ago. But they came up a game short then, and may do the same this year too! Either way, it will be a good season in Tuscon!

2. OREGON

Strengths: Phenominal shooting team, especially 3-pt & FT. Potent team offense. Solid team defense. Good ball handling & distribution.
Weakness: Holes at SG & C. Weak bench.
Outlook: The Luke boys will continue to put on a show every night and keep opponents spinning. This team is fun to watch, but they're also pretty tough to beat. Look for them to have a solid season and give Zona some good competition!

3. UCLA

Strengths: Good shooting & rebounding team. Good team defense. Plenty of depth.
Weakness: Poor ball handling & distribution. Inexperienced center.
Outlook: The Bruins' best shot was last season, but things didn't fall into place. They actually may be a better team this season thanks to their talented underclassmen. If they make the most of their opportunities, then UCLA will be dangerous again in the NCAA Tournament!

4. CALIFORNIA

Strengths: Excellent team defense. Good ball handling & distribution. Very experienced team.
Weakness: Thin frontcourt, may have trouble rebounding. Little inside scoring. Poor 3-pt & FT shooting team.
Outlook: Cal would have competed for the conference title had not Jamal Sampson & Shantay Legans left school. But Coach Braun will have this group ready and they should be good enough to squeak into the Big Dance.

5. USC

Strengths: Potent offense. Solid team defense. Limit their turnovers.
Weakness: Questionable frontcourt - little inside scoring and rebounding. Loss of talent/leadership. Very inexperienced.
Outlook: The fabulous trio of Clancy/Granville/Bluthenthal is history, so don't expect too much from the Trojans this season. However, there is some young talent here that could develop nicely. I expect them to battle with Cal & Stanford in the middle of the pack!

6. STANFORD

Strengths: Good rebounding & shooting team. Limit their turnovers. Solid team defense.
Weakness: Very inexperienced. Little inside scoring. Loss of Jacobsen & Borchardt!
Outlook: Stanford took quite a hit in the NBA Draft and will take awhile to recover. There's still plenty of young talent, but look for them to hang around the middle of the pack and sit squarely on the Bubble!

7. ARIZONA ST.

Strengths: Balanced scoring. Good rebounding team. Good ball handling & distribution. Lots of experience.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Little inside scoring. Poor 3-pt & FT shooting team.
Outlook: The Sun Devils seem to always end up being the best of the worst in the Pac-10! They never seem to reach the upper half of the conference, but never fall below 7th either! Probably won't change this season, but don't count them out! There's some talent here!

8. WASHINGTON

Strengths: Decent shooting team, especially from 3-pt. Wrenn's scoring ability.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Little inside scoring. Too many turnovers. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: The return of Wrenn gives the Huskies some hope, but they'll need to get some production from their frontcourt if they want to move up in the standings!

9. OREGON ST.

Strengths: Solid frontcourt. Decent shooting team.
Weakness: Terrible backcourt - poor ball handling, distribution & scoring! Poor rebounding team. Weak team defense.
Outlook: The arrival of Jay John gives this program some hope, but it will take a loonnnggg time before the Beavers become contenders!

10. WASHINGTON ST.

Strengths: Potent backcourt.
Weakness: Poor shooting & rebounding team. Weak frontcourt. Horrible team defense. Poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: Marcus Moore is an exciting player, but this team stinks! Football rules, basketball drools at this school!

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Last updated on 10/4/02 by toyminator@prodigy.net