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Transcript: Live Q&A with Patrick Finley on Pac-12 basketball
Patrick Finley chatted with Wildcat fans on college basketball as he sat courtside at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
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MUCH better. A lot more big-league. Fans staying at the MGM Grand can do what I did, and bump into Pac-12 players and coaches in the lobby all day. That's pretty cool. The arena itself isn't anything to write home about — it's a giant convention hall with temporary seating. But it works for this setting, totally. So far, a big win. -

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Great, potentially blasphemous, question. I was at the Vatican in the fall, actually, so the TV stuff today was pretty powerful. Here's all I can say on that topic: the Devils are playing a team that shares a name with prominent Catholic figures today. Bodes well for the Cardinal on Pope day -

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Funny story — we were talking courtside during the Arizona State game about how Ashley had kinda disappeared lately, and then he started playing his butt off. Maybe he heard us. I can see the entire team being more aggressive at this time of year. Remember, this is Sean "Nastiness is Required" Miller -

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Confident. And they should be. All the smart guys, from the Vegas oddsmakers to Ken Pomeroy, have the Wildcats as overwhelming favorites to win this tournament. Pomeroy had the UA with a 30 percent chance to win the event; no other team was above 15. And MGM Grand has the UA at 9/5 to win it. UCLA is next-closest, at 3-1. Miller mentioned a few teams in the last week that the Wildcats would not be content when they arrived in Vegas, because they didn't win the conference title. I think that's something to look for, too. -

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Good question. I think Brock Motum shoulda been on the all-conference first team instead of either EJ Singler, Mark Lyons or Spencer Dinwiddie — in that order. Stanford's Josh Huestis was a stunner, for me, on the all-defense team. I think the Wildcats had a case for Johnson, but as Miller said the other day, his struggles (and the team's overall defensive struggles) the past month probably squashed that candidacy. -

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Why do you think we are the over whelming favorites to win the conference? I saw those odds and I was shocked...I know Vegas knows what they are doing...but what have we shown the last month for them to justify us as the favorites? Personally, I agree with Vegas. We have the depth, experience and athletes to do it. -
Lack of any other star team? UCLA, the conference champ, doesn't need to win this tournament to justify anything other than a slightly higher seed. Cal has zero depth. Oregon has been wildly inconsistent in the last month or so. Remember this: those three teams played five games last week, all with conference implications: and went 1-4. So no one's red hot. -

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I think Dwight Powell has been a mini-Derrick Williams this year — so big you have to guard him with a power forward or center, but agile, and skilled, enough to beat them one-on-one. I'd bet Carson stays another year, but who knows? Two weeks ago, his mom was trashing the team (other than her son) on Twitter. -

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I think Stanford or Arizona State could be the wacky surprise team that makes it to the semis before running out of gas — in part because they'll play a UCLA team that might not be incredibly motivated. Oregon State's a lot more talented than they appear — but I've been saying that all year, and the Beavs finished 4-14. I don't think the teams in the late games — Utah, USC, UW, Wazzu — could put a run together. -

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From 2004-09, Miller missed the NCAA tournament only once. He went to the Sweet 16 three times and the Elite Eight once. And he thought that, when he left Xavier, his team coming up could have been one of his best. So that's an absolute ton of success. Does his current UA team have higher-rated, more athletic guys? Totally. But it's hard to find any team that compares well to those successful Musketeers -

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Who will flirt with national POY? Or first-team All-American? None of them. (Conference POY? Maaaaybe?) Who will be the best? All are going to be a ton better than they are today. Jerrett intrigues me the most, but Tarczewski has shown to be the most consistent thus far. -

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Realistically how far do you think this team can go? On paper they have all the elements. Size, Senior leadership and a quality point guard. It seems to me that Jones is going to be the key. He needs to settle down and lead this team and be more unselfish. Also what is the chance they match up with Iona in the first round? -
You mean Mark Lyons? I think his confidence and experience will be a great help in the postseason. Still, swagger be damned, you can't turn the ball over so much and continue to struggle with assists. And you're right: Momo made the tourney with Iona. I can't imagine they'd see each other early. I'm guessing Iona stays East-ish and Arizona West-ish. -

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He looked like a more energized player to me. I think the week of practice helped a lot. He's not as bad as he played in February, so I think he'll be better by default. I'll be curious to see how his legs handle playing 3 times in 3 days, though that admittedly is a nice problem for the UA to have. -

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Roberson has a viral illness and missed last week. He was cleared by the doctor yesterday and is expected to start today against OSU. I suspect he'll play limited minutes today, and will struggle with back-to-back games, should they win. But still, he's a wonderful player. CU would rather have a weakened version of him than none at all, I think -

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