(Photo: Brooke Faber/WCSN)
With the NCAA tournament starting up tomorrow it was well past time to get all of our writers take on Arizona State’s chances. Without further ado here’s their best attempt at predicting madness.
–Gavin Schall
1.What was your biggest takaway from ASU’s PAC-12 tournament showing?
Tyler Strachan: The disappearing act from Katie Hempen in both games of the conference tournament. Hempen has been the go to “bucket getter” for this team all year. She led the team in points per game for most of the season before recently being over taken by Sophie Brunner. But she went ice cold last weekend during the Pac-12 Tournament, going 2-9 from the field and shooting 14% from behind the arc. The absence of Hempen’s scoring production really hurt the Sun Devils, a team that isn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut in the first place. We know it wasn’t the lights of the big stage that caused Hempen’s struggles. She loves the big moment, so we can only hope that it was dreary Seattle weather that forced her into this cold stretch.
Drew Martin: My biggest takeaway from the Pac-12 tournament was that ASU still has not found a way to put up a complete game. The Sun Devils beat the Washington State Cougars by 19 points, but only after pulling away late. In the first half, the Sun Devils scored just 19 points and went into the locker room with a three-point advantage before catching fire in the second half. Against Stanford, the Sun Devils kept it close at the half, but allowed Stanford to build a lead in the second half that proved to be insurmountable. Arizona State was dominant for a stretch early on in the season, but it seems like playing two solid halves has been an issue as of late. If the Sun Devils want to make a run in the big dance, they’ll need to find some way to ditch the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act.
Terra Pinckley: Arizona State just has not been able to have a complete a game lately. Going in to the tournament ASU has consistently been trailing going into the half and needing to surmount some kind of comeback. The same story continued in the Pac-12 Tournament. ASU was able to come back against Washington State, but failed to pull away the game against Stanford. A lot of the times, they do end up winning, but that’s because they weren’t facing the same caliber of team as they’re going to see in the NCAA tournament. This could continue to be an issue.
2. What was your initial reaction to ASU’s seeding and region?
Tyler Strachan: Arizona State finished as the 9th ranked team in the country according to the AP Poll. There’s only eight spots for one and two seeds so it only seems fair that number nine would receive a three seed. As for the region, the team that catches the eye upon initial viewing is South Carolina. The team that sat atop the countrywide rankings for more than half of this season. But the team that I think the Sun Devils could face in the Sweet 16 is Florida Gulf Coast. We all remember the “Dunk City” craze that their men’s team created two years ago, but the Lady Eagles made a name for themselves going 30-2 this year and finishing at the 20 spot in the AP. Head Coach Karl Smesko was named National Coach of the Year in 2012, so watch out for this well coached club to make a run in this region.
Drew Martin: ASU was handed the 3-seed in the Greensboro region, which in my eyes is one of the easier regions in the tournament. As far as fairness goes, the 3-seed is exactly what was expected and is exactly what ASU deserves based on their resume. It’s a top seed and they will have the opportunity to host a sub-regional at home, so I doubt the Sun Devils are complaining either. The two teams that I believe pose a threat to the Sun Devils’ chances of making a run to the final four are South Carolina and Florida State, who are ranked no. 3 and no. 7 respectively in the final AP poll. Other than that, I honestly think that ASU lucked out with their region, anytime you aren’t placed in UConn’s region, you have reason to be happy.
Terra Pinckley: Doing the math, a ninth ranked team at the end of the season would be the first team to earn a three seed, so the seeding is the definition of fair for ASU. Greensboro is definitely on the easier side as far as regions go, as the only real challenges will be Florida State and South Carolina, both games ASU has a chance at winning if they are on their A-game.
3. How far does ASU go in the NCAA tournament?
Tyler Strachan: I honestly I think you can put Arizona State down for a spot in the Sweet 16. There shouldn’t be any problems with the teams they face this weekend in Ohio and Texas A&M/ Arkansas-Little Rock. But I see this team making it all the way to the Elite 8, where they will fall to a powerhouse South Carolina team.
Drew Martin: I’m a glass half full kind of guy and a strong believer in the fact that defensive teams prosper when it comes to postseason play, so I picked Arizona State to shock the nation and upset both Florida State and South Carolina (bold, I know) en route a Final Four appearance. The safe bet, however, would definitely be to pick Arizona State to escape the sub-regional and lose to South Carolina in the Elite Eight.
Terra Pinckley: I believe ASU gets knocked out by Florida State. Florida State is a team that will attack you the entire game, and ASU has been having a hard trouble playing an entire game as of late. The defense has been stellar, but if the shooting remains as inconsistent as it has been in this last half of this season, and I think it will, ASU has no chance against the Seminoles.
4. What would you consider a successful showing in the tournament?
Tyler Strachan: I would consider a Sweet 16 appearance as successful because they can make it there by winning just the games that they are supposed to. Anything past that is just icing on the cake to me. As long as they show improvement and can surpass what the 2014 group did, I think that would be considered a successful tournament showing.
Drew Martin: My first instinct is to say that a successful showing would be if Arizona State made it out of the Tempe sub-regional for an appearance in the Sweet 16, but that’s expected of them, so I’ll say that for a legitimately successful appearance, the Sun Devils will need to beat a top contender like Florida State or possibly a talented Florida Gulf Coast team and make it to the Elite Eight for what would likely be a matchup with an extremely capable South Carolina team.
Terra Pinckley: A success would be making it to the Sweet 16, as they will have beaten every team that they theoretically should beat, along with improving on last season’s run. If ASU manages to beat Florida State (if Florida State gets to the Sweet 16), that will surpass my expectations and I believe many other’s.
