Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Arizona's defense will struggle until Yates restocks roster
- Updated
Star sports columnist Greg Hansen offers his opinion on recent sports news.
- Greg Hansen
Tucson’s midsummer sports blues in three takes:
1. I have participated in the Pac-12 preseason media football poll since 1985. I picked Arizona to win the league championship in 1986, 1993 and 1994. Close. No cigar. Not even in the dreadful John Mackovic years did I pick Arizona to finish last.
But when I dispatched my ballot to Pac-12 headquarters last week — the annual football media event will be held in Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday — I picked Arizona to finish last in the Pac-12 South.
Here’s my ballot: South — 1, UCLA; 2, Utah; 3, USC; 4, Colorado; 5, ASU; 6, Arizona.
North — 1, Washington; 2, Washington State; 3, Stanford; 4, Oregon; 5, Cal; 6, Oregon State.
Why last for the Wildcats? Unless new defensive coordinator Marcel Yates is the second coming of Rich Ellerson or Moe Ankney, this could be the UA’s least capable defense since the late 1950s. That’s it.
Arizona’s defensive recruiting and player development eroded so fully under Jeff Casteel that Yates and three new defensive assistants will pay the price.
The Pac-12 is merciless. It feeds on any weakness, and it will feed on the UA defense until Yates has a chance to restock the roster.
Arizona is likely to be favored in just one Pac-12 game — at home against Colorado — and be a tossup pick at Oregon State. Anything 3-6 or better would reflect on Rich Rodriguez’s coaching resourcefulness.
2. The USA Swimming Olympic Trials came and went with just one Tucson swimmer, breast stroke heavyweight Kevin Cordes, making the squad for Rio.
It fully reflects the UA’s inability to replace Frank Busch, who left five years ago to become the director of USA Swimming’s national teams.
From 1995-2012, Tucson was one of the three or four most productive swimming precincts in America. Here’s how good it was: At the 2008 and 2012 USA swimming trials, Tucson-affiliated swimmers filled 37 berths in the finals (top eight swimmers).
This year, just seven Tucson-connected swimmers reached the finals: Cordes, Marcus Titus, Giles Smith, Katrina Konopka, Emma Schoettmer, Matt Grevers and Caitlin Leverenz.
It doesn’t take long to be exposed in American swimming. In 2012, Tucson sent so many swimmers to the finals that the women’s 50-meter freestyle alone had four Tucson finalists (Margo Geer, Lara Jackson, Kait Flederbach, Christine Magnuson) and the men’s and women’s breast stroke events had seven Tucson finalists (Leverenz, Cordes, Titus, Amanda Beard, Annie Chandler, Ellyn Baumgardner, Clark Burckle).
3. The Tucson Padres were generally awful in their three Pacific Coast League seasons at Kino Stadium, 2011-13. They went 198-234, and failed to contend for the postseason before the franchise was moved to El Paso.
Yet, inconceivably, seven players from those Tucson Pads teams have reached the MLB All-Star Game.
Tuesday’s All-Star Game includes Baltimore reliever Brad Brach, who played for Tucson in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
It also includes Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who is one of the leading minor-league players in Tucson history, hitting .331 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs in 2011.
Previously, T-Pads pitcher Brad Boxberger of Tampa Bay was in the 2015 All-Star Game; Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal was in the 2015 All-Star Game; relief pitcher Pat Neshek of St. Louis was in the 2014 All-Star Game; San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera was in the 2013 Midsummer Classic; and pitcher Tyson Ross of San Diego was in the 2014 game.
I’m not making this up.
- Greg Hansen
Thursday was not a good day for Tucsonans at the USA Olympic Track and Field Trials. UA grad Georganne Moline, the No. 2 overall pick in the women’s 400 hurdles, did not compete because of a lingering back (disk) injury. She finished fifth in the 2012 London Olympics, but at 26, should make a run at the 2020 Olympics. Tucsonan Jill Camarena-Williams, a two-time USA national champion in the shot put, fell from third to fifth in the last two throws and failed to make her third Olympic team.
- Greg Hansen
The UA/Tucson connection is apt to have as many TV commentators at the Rio Olympics as athletes. Dan Hicks, Annika Sorenstam, Jerry Foltz, Cynthia Potter and Alex Flanagan will be part of the swimming, golf and diving broadcasts.
- Greg Hansen
One of the most successful Tucsonans at the Olympic Track and Field Trials has been Dan Reynolds, one of sport’s foremost officials. Reynolds worked his seventh Olympic Trials (he also worked the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics). A retired educator, Reynolds was named the 2007 USA Official of the Year by USA Track and Field.
- Greg Hansen
Although no UA players were selected in the recent NBA Draft, the Wildcats probably had the busiest person at the New York City event. Percy Knox, a UA All-American who finished eighth in the long jump at the 1996 Olympic Trials, represented six first-round selections. Knox, who lives in Phoenix, is president of Elevee Lifestyles, a fashion, clothing and home-interiors firm that outfitted draft-night wardrobes for Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, Thon Maker, Henry Ellenson, Ante Zizic and Timothe Luwawu. All wore fashions designed by Boushra Alchabaoun. Nice work if you can get it.
- Greg Hansen
Lucas Elliott, a 6-foot-7-inch sophomore forward at Pusch Ridge High School, has been discovered in the summer basketball circuit. The nephew of Sean Elliott was offered his first scholarship last week, by Portland State. It’s the same school that signed Rincon/University center Brendan Rumel last fall. Elliott is all potential so far; as a freshman at Pusch Ridge he averaged just 1.6 points in 11 games.
- Greg Hansen
UA baseball coach Jay Johnson was in Santa Barbara, California, last week, watching collegiate summer league prospects, including UA shortstop-signee Nick Quintana of Las Vegas, who is on the roster of the Pacific Union Financial Capitalists. Quintana, an 11th-round pick of the Red Sox, has until Friday to turn pro or play at Arizona. Most 11th-round picks this year have signed for about $100,000, although two have signed for $600,000 and $400,000. Quintana, who was named Las Vegas’ male athlete of the year by the Las Vegas Sun, hit 15 home runs as a senior. One thing working in Arizona’s favor is that the Red Sox paid $1.1 million for second-round shortstop C.J. Chatham and also drafted shortstops in the 10th, 15th, 21st and 22nd rounds.
- Greg Hansen
Arizona’s two leading hitters, outfielder Zach Gibbons and second baseman Cody Ramer, drove from Phoenix to Orem, Utah, last week and signed with the Los Angeles Angels. They will play for the Pioneer League Orem Owlz. In Utah, both had a sort of “Wildcat for Life” reunion with Tucsonan Jack Howell, who is the Angels’ minor league field coordinator and was a star third baseman at Palo Verde High, Pima College and UA. Howell started at third base for the Angels from 1985-1990.
- Greg Hansen
UA’s biggest loss to the draft so far is left-hander JoJo Romero, who pitched for Johnson a year ago at Nevada. Romero, who pitched at Yavapai College this year, signed with the Phillies for $820,000 as a fourth-round selection.
- Greg Hansen
Arizona shortstop Louis Boyd, Mr. Gold Glove, didn’t get much of a break after the College World Series. He returned home to Canada and has joined the Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) Miller Express of the Western Major Baseball League. Boyd’s team will play against the Okotoks Dawgs and Swift Current Indians, among others. Terrific.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
When one-time UA basketball prospect Terrance Ferguson arrives in Australia to play for the Adelaide 36ers, it won’t exactly be big time. The 36ers averaged 2,721 fans for home games last year. How good is pro basketball in Australia? Adelaide’s top signee is Anthony Drmic, a shooting guard from Boise State who played against Arizona twice last season, shooting a combined 4 for 22 from the field. The top 36ers player is Jerome Randle, a former Cal point guard who has played for 12 overseas teams in seven years.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Great to see Arizona’s 2012 All-Pac-10 guard Kyle Fogg get a new and bigger contract, with Unicaja Malaga in Spain’s top EuroBasket league. Fogg led the German pro league in scoring last year and before that was Finland’s Player of the Year. While in Tucson last month, Fogg said he is in the process of planning to build a church in Ghana.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
How times change: Arizona’s 2013 All-Pac-12 forward Solomon Hill will be paid $12 million a year by the New Orleans Pelicans under his new, four-year contract. That’s more than Hill’s UA teammate, Derrick Williams, the 2011 Pac-12 Player of the Year, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Miami Heat last week. Hill and Fogg are two of the more resounding success stories of Sean Miller’s years at Arizona. Two modestly talented college players made themselves into winning pros by nothing more than hard work and good character.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Palo Verde High grad Bryce Cotton, who spent the 2015-16 season with the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies and in the Chinese pro league, is playing for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Summer League. He is teammates with ex-Wildcat Brandon Ashley. I’m hopeful that the Orlando Magic haven’t labeled Nick Johnson as the equivalent of a Triple-A baseball player. Johnson averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 assists in five summer league games last week. With the exception of the Knicks’ Chasson Randle of Stanford, Johnson appeared to be the best guard in the Orlando Summer League.
- Greg Hansen
In retrospect, Arizona’s unexpected road to the College World Series championship game can be explained in four steps:
1. The Wildcat pitching staff was superb. Its postseason ERA was 2.24, far below the 3.18 mark in the regular season. Reliever Cameron Ming was a revelation: He had a 4.13 ERA in the regular season, allowing 69 hits in 61 innings. In the postseason, Ming had a 2.37 ERA and allowed just 10 hits in 19 innings.
2. The club’s two leading hitters, Zach Gibbons and Cody Ramer, did not back off. Gibbons hit .385 in the regular season and .383 in the postseason. Ramer hit .352 in the regular season and .317 in the postseason. They were clutch.
3. For every player who slumped — Alfonso Rivas hit just .171 in the postseason — someone picked him up. Jared Oliva, a .217 hitter in the regular season, batted .255 in the postseason, and was tied for second on the team with nine RBIs.
4. Bobby Dalbec. He had a 1.49 ERA in a team-high 36ª postseason innings, with 41 strikeouts. Dalbec also hit .297, far above his regular-season .254. His on-going negotiations with the Boston Red Sox should be fascinating.
The Atlanta Braves paid a fellow fourth-round pick, high school right-hander Bryse Wilson, a $1.2 bonus. If the Red Sox persuade Dalbec to pitch rather than correct his plate discipline and play third or first base, he should be able to demand $1 million or more to sign.
Either way, he made big money on the road through Louisiana, Mississippi and Nebraska.
- Greg Hansen
Tucson’s midsummer sports blues in three takes:
1. I have participated in the Pac-12 preseason media football poll since 1985. I picked Arizona to win the league championship in 1986, 1993 and 1994. Close. No cigar. Not even in the dreadful John Mackovic years did I pick Arizona to finish last.
But when I dispatched my ballot to Pac-12 headquarters last week — the annual football media event will be held in Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday — I picked Arizona to finish last in the Pac-12 South.
Here’s my ballot: South — 1, UCLA; 2, Utah; 3, USC; 4, Colorado; 5, ASU; 6, Arizona.
North — 1, Washington; 2, Washington State; 3, Stanford; 4, Oregon; 5, Cal; 6, Oregon State.
Why last for the Wildcats? Unless new defensive coordinator Marcel Yates is the second coming of Rich Ellerson or Moe Ankney, this could be the UA’s least capable defense since the late 1950s. That’s it.
Arizona’s defensive recruiting and player development eroded so fully under Jeff Casteel that Yates and three new defensive assistants will pay the price.
The Pac-12 is merciless. It feeds on any weakness, and it will feed on the UA defense until Yates has a chance to restock the roster.
Arizona is likely to be favored in just one Pac-12 game — at home against Colorado — and be a tossup pick at Oregon State. Anything 3-6 or better would reflect on Rich Rodriguez’s coaching resourcefulness.
2. The USA Swimming Olympic Trials came and went with just one Tucson swimmer, breast stroke heavyweight Kevin Cordes, making the squad for Rio.
It fully reflects the UA’s inability to replace Frank Busch, who left five years ago to become the director of USA Swimming’s national teams.
From 1995-2012, Tucson was one of the three or four most productive swimming precincts in America. Here’s how good it was: At the 2008 and 2012 USA swimming trials, Tucson-affiliated swimmers filled 37 berths in the finals (top eight swimmers).
This year, just seven Tucson-connected swimmers reached the finals: Cordes, Marcus Titus, Giles Smith, Katrina Konopka, Emma Schoettmer, Matt Grevers and Caitlin Leverenz.
It doesn’t take long to be exposed in American swimming. In 2012, Tucson sent so many swimmers to the finals that the women’s 50-meter freestyle alone had four Tucson finalists (Margo Geer, Lara Jackson, Kait Flederbach, Christine Magnuson) and the men’s and women’s breast stroke events had seven Tucson finalists (Leverenz, Cordes, Titus, Amanda Beard, Annie Chandler, Ellyn Baumgardner, Clark Burckle).
3. The Tucson Padres were generally awful in their three Pacific Coast League seasons at Kino Stadium, 2011-13. They went 198-234, and failed to contend for the postseason before the franchise was moved to El Paso.
Yet, inconceivably, seven players from those Tucson Pads teams have reached the MLB All-Star Game.
Tuesday’s All-Star Game includes Baltimore reliever Brad Brach, who played for Tucson in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
It also includes Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who is one of the leading minor-league players in Tucson history, hitting .331 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs in 2011.
Previously, T-Pads pitcher Brad Boxberger of Tampa Bay was in the 2015 All-Star Game; Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal was in the 2015 All-Star Game; relief pitcher Pat Neshek of St. Louis was in the 2014 All-Star Game; San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera was in the 2013 Midsummer Classic; and pitcher Tyson Ross of San Diego was in the 2014 game.
I’m not making this up.
- Greg Hansen
Thursday was not a good day for Tucsonans at the USA Olympic Track and Field Trials. UA grad Georganne Moline, the No. 2 overall pick in the women’s 400 hurdles, did not compete because of a lingering back (disk) injury. She finished fifth in the 2012 London Olympics, but at 26, should make a run at the 2020 Olympics. Tucsonan Jill Camarena-Williams, a two-time USA national champion in the shot put, fell from third to fifth in the last two throws and failed to make her third Olympic team.
- Greg Hansen
The UA/Tucson connection is apt to have as many TV commentators at the Rio Olympics as athletes. Dan Hicks, Annika Sorenstam, Jerry Foltz, Cynthia Potter and Alex Flanagan will be part of the swimming, golf and diving broadcasts.
- Greg Hansen
One of the most successful Tucsonans at the Olympic Track and Field Trials has been Dan Reynolds, one of sport’s foremost officials. Reynolds worked his seventh Olympic Trials (he also worked the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics). A retired educator, Reynolds was named the 2007 USA Official of the Year by USA Track and Field.
- Greg Hansen
Although no UA players were selected in the recent NBA Draft, the Wildcats probably had the busiest person at the New York City event. Percy Knox, a UA All-American who finished eighth in the long jump at the 1996 Olympic Trials, represented six first-round selections. Knox, who lives in Phoenix, is president of Elevee Lifestyles, a fashion, clothing and home-interiors firm that outfitted draft-night wardrobes for Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, Thon Maker, Henry Ellenson, Ante Zizic and Timothe Luwawu. All wore fashions designed by Boushra Alchabaoun. Nice work if you can get it.
- Greg Hansen
Lucas Elliott, a 6-foot-7-inch sophomore forward at Pusch Ridge High School, has been discovered in the summer basketball circuit. The nephew of Sean Elliott was offered his first scholarship last week, by Portland State. It’s the same school that signed Rincon/University center Brendan Rumel last fall. Elliott is all potential so far; as a freshman at Pusch Ridge he averaged just 1.6 points in 11 games.
- Greg Hansen
UA baseball coach Jay Johnson was in Santa Barbara, California, last week, watching collegiate summer league prospects, including UA shortstop-signee Nick Quintana of Las Vegas, who is on the roster of the Pacific Union Financial Capitalists. Quintana, an 11th-round pick of the Red Sox, has until Friday to turn pro or play at Arizona. Most 11th-round picks this year have signed for about $100,000, although two have signed for $600,000 and $400,000. Quintana, who was named Las Vegas’ male athlete of the year by the Las Vegas Sun, hit 15 home runs as a senior. One thing working in Arizona’s favor is that the Red Sox paid $1.1 million for second-round shortstop C.J. Chatham and also drafted shortstops in the 10th, 15th, 21st and 22nd rounds.
- Greg Hansen
Arizona’s two leading hitters, outfielder Zach Gibbons and second baseman Cody Ramer, drove from Phoenix to Orem, Utah, last week and signed with the Los Angeles Angels. They will play for the Pioneer League Orem Owlz. In Utah, both had a sort of “Wildcat for Life” reunion with Tucsonan Jack Howell, who is the Angels’ minor league field coordinator and was a star third baseman at Palo Verde High, Pima College and UA. Howell started at third base for the Angels from 1985-1990.
- Greg Hansen
UA’s biggest loss to the draft so far is left-hander JoJo Romero, who pitched for Johnson a year ago at Nevada. Romero, who pitched at Yavapai College this year, signed with the Phillies for $820,000 as a fourth-round selection.
- Greg Hansen
Arizona shortstop Louis Boyd, Mr. Gold Glove, didn’t get much of a break after the College World Series. He returned home to Canada and has joined the Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) Miller Express of the Western Major Baseball League. Boyd’s team will play against the Okotoks Dawgs and Swift Current Indians, among others. Terrific.
- Greg Hansen
When one-time UA basketball prospect Terrance Ferguson arrives in Australia to play for the Adelaide 36ers, it won’t exactly be big time. The 36ers averaged 2,721 fans for home games last year. How good is pro basketball in Australia? Adelaide’s top signee is Anthony Drmic, a shooting guard from Boise State who played against Arizona twice last season, shooting a combined 4 for 22 from the field. The top 36ers player is Jerome Randle, a former Cal point guard who has played for 12 overseas teams in seven years.
- Greg Hansen
Great to see Arizona’s 2012 All-Pac-10 guard Kyle Fogg get a new and bigger contract, with Unicaja Malaga in Spain’s top EuroBasket league. Fogg led the German pro league in scoring last year and before that was Finland’s Player of the Year. While in Tucson last month, Fogg said he is in the process of planning to build a church in Ghana.
- Greg Hansen
How times change: Arizona’s 2013 All-Pac-12 forward Solomon Hill will be paid $12 million a year by the New Orleans Pelicans under his new, four-year contract. That’s more than Hill’s UA teammate, Derrick Williams, the 2011 Pac-12 Player of the Year, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Miami Heat last week. Hill and Fogg are two of the more resounding success stories of Sean Miller’s years at Arizona. Two modestly talented college players made themselves into winning pros by nothing more than hard work and good character.
- Greg Hansen
Palo Verde High grad Bryce Cotton, who spent the 2015-16 season with the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies and in the Chinese pro league, is playing for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Summer League. He is teammates with ex-Wildcat Brandon Ashley. I’m hopeful that the Orlando Magic haven’t labeled Nick Johnson as the equivalent of a Triple-A baseball player. Johnson averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 assists in five summer league games last week. With the exception of the Knicks’ Chasson Randle of Stanford, Johnson appeared to be the best guard in the Orlando Summer League.
- Greg Hansen
In retrospect, Arizona’s unexpected road to the College World Series championship game can be explained in four steps:
1. The Wildcat pitching staff was superb. Its postseason ERA was 2.24, far below the 3.18 mark in the regular season. Reliever Cameron Ming was a revelation: He had a 4.13 ERA in the regular season, allowing 69 hits in 61 innings. In the postseason, Ming had a 2.37 ERA and allowed just 10 hits in 19 innings.
2. The club’s two leading hitters, Zach Gibbons and Cody Ramer, did not back off. Gibbons hit .385 in the regular season and .383 in the postseason. Ramer hit .352 in the regular season and .317 in the postseason. They were clutch.
3. For every player who slumped — Alfonso Rivas hit just .171 in the postseason — someone picked him up. Jared Oliva, a .217 hitter in the regular season, batted .255 in the postseason, and was tied for second on the team with nine RBIs.
4. Bobby Dalbec. He had a 1.49 ERA in a team-high 36ª postseason innings, with 41 strikeouts. Dalbec also hit .297, far above his regular-season .254. His on-going negotiations with the Boston Red Sox should be fascinating.
The Atlanta Braves paid a fellow fourth-round pick, high school right-hander Bryse Wilson, a $1.2 bonus. If the Red Sox persuade Dalbec to pitch rather than correct his plate discipline and play third or first base, he should be able to demand $1 million or more to sign.
Either way, he made big money on the road through Louisiana, Mississippi and Nebraska.
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