We have to win the PAC-12 Tournament.
That’s it.
This team is not going to improve enough to finish among the top three which will probably be a battle between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and the Washington teams.
We will get better as the season unfolds but we are going to take too many hits along the way.
The difference between this year’s team and last year’s team can be summed in one word — Experience.
Last year’s team had it, this one doesn’t.
Mick is trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together and can’t seem to find the right pieces.
The two-bigs lineup is clearly not working offensively or defensively.
Adem Bona is trying to live up to Mick’s expectations and he’s clearly having trouble. He still fouls too much and his shooting is worse this year.
Aday Mara has a lot of offensive skills but he can’t establish himself down low and gets pushed around too much.
Our overall shooting is poor — short, long and in between. We are not the dunking team I thought we would be with our size and we have no go-to shooter when we need a bucket.
On the positive side, I think Mick will figure it out. I also think any of our players who think they will be ready for the NBA next year are going to have second thoughts and return next year and that’s when I think this roster will finally take flight.
I hope I’m wrong about the time frame but watching us play for 10 games, one third of the regular season without a single win against a good team, I’m not seeing it.