Etienne Rhyming

Here's my perspective on Arizona basketball right now... 1) The RJ Godfrey debacle has a legitimate on-court impact. Mo Krivas will benefit more than anyone else from Godfrey being back. Offensively, without him, your front-court depth is very tested and they'll need to rely on the three ball to spread the floor. Defensively, Godfrey returning will have a massive impact on rebounding and allow Arizona to get out in transition. 2) If Godfrey isn't eligible this year, its a miss by the Arizona staff. It happens. Is it ideal? No. Will Maxim and Uggy develop throughout the year and be servicable in that role? Absolutely. Is Arizona's season cooked if Godfrey can't play? No. It might lower the ceiling a bit but this is still a team that will easily win 20+ games and be a 5-seed or better come March. So its not all doom-and-gloom. But this staff went into the summer expecting Godfrey to play and, as of now, he's not. 3) On Monday night, Caleb Holt and Cam Holmes looked like freshmen. Because they are. And they're going to figure it out. A neutral site game against a Mick Cronin team with 37 Euros is not a great first game for them, but they'll be just fine. 4) Dixon shot 40% from 3pt range at UNC last year. In a lot of ways, he's kind of this year's ADO. So when Arizona opens the game 1 of 15 from three, that's not a trend I expect to continue. 5) Arizona is going to be just fine. It is. You can have a meltdown, you can call for Tommy's head, you can say that everyone sucks... that's your perogative. But you're just wrong. This is very clearly a Top 25 team, this is a team who's ceiling is still Detroit, and if you're comparing this team to one of the best teams in Arizona history in last year's team, you're going to be in for a long year. But Arizona basketball is going to be completely fine.