Rewatched USC and UCLA...one bright spot...

[Liquidated]

Not much to be said that hasn't been said already, but one thing really stood out to me that I think is worth discussion. Curious what others may have noticed.

In both games our spacing, passing and timing were light years ahead of anything we have seen this year. Te team seemed totally in synch. Guys on offense are moving exceptionally well without the ball and they are spaced and able to penetrate almost at will. We are finding open shooters everywhere.. and on many plays an open shooter gave up the ball to hit an more open shooter and there was a third unguarded as well (that is better Offense than we have seen and perhaps some poor defense, as well).

You may know by now that I am no polly-anna and for me, the AZ basketball program's glass is more than 1/2 empty... but if we could shoot a decent percentage, we are in both of those games as we would have taken defensive rebounds away with made shots.

I have serious reservations about the program and its direction, but honestly have to say that if Jeter comes back and is 100%, I think we could win out, except for perhaps against Washington.     

[BearDown93]

I'll add another bright spot.  The guys hustle and they are trying.  There is no way they are as bad as we saw in LA.  They have a confidence problem.  At the very least I think they have skills enough to be in both games rather than blown out by 20.

[BDFC]

Last years squad had the talent but not the heart, this years team seem to have some heart but are bereft of talent. Bwill looks ready to take over, that would be a godsend, need a play maker. These Cats realize they are on the way to being one of the worst teams in ARIZONA history, that can't sit well. As hard as it is too watch at least these guys are vested in this season, unlike la$t year. Hopefully some day we can look back at this season and laugh, if you haven't started already.

[Bear]

I like the passing and ball movement of Barcello and Luther above all other players with Williams in 3rd. I would credit much of the offensive flow to Luther being more involved centrally. If we could defend and hit shots it may have been a game.

Maybe one other bright spot would be the overall turnovers being down.

[Dav]

With as small as Arizona is this year, I was hoping for full court, run and gun fun.  At this point in the season the scoring percentages are what they are.  They haven't found the consistency by now they aren't going to. I still say that Miller has done about as well as he can with this conglomeration of players and when the shots are falling they can hang with just about anybody. 

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

My bright spot from UCLA. BWill w/ the nasty 360°Jelly 🍇

[Liquidated]

With as small as Arizona is this year, I was hoping for full court, run and gun fun.  At this point in the season the scoring percentages are what they are.  They haven't found the consistency by now they aren't going to. I still say that Miller has done about as well as he can with this conglomeration of players and when the shots are falling they can hang with just about anybody.

1. Miller will never run. Ever. He hates fun basketball. I do not think we have seen 5 games in his tenure at AZ where we dictated tempo other than maybe some total cupcake games. Yes, running makes perfect sense with team that has infinitesimal differences between its #1 and #10 players - we have the legs and the depth, but Miller is either unaware of that or just stupid. 

2. Miller has done terribly job this year. We could have taken Gonzaga and/or Auburn with some adjustments. Baylor and Oregon at McKale were inexcusable losses to inferior teams. Miller has NOT done what most any decent coach would do...TRY something different. If the definition of insanity is to keep doing he same thing over and over and expect different results, then Miller is criminally insane. A 1-3-1 is defense, just for example, is designed to negate height disadvantage and increases defense of the perimeter wing positions. A guard running the baseline disrupting the big men is the key - Jason Terry did it exceptionally well, when we were thin at big man. Early in 1996-1997, Bramlett was an excellent but struggling sophomore (Jeter), with Donnell Harris (Desjardins) as back up. Gene Edgerson (Ira Lee) was a freshmen who literally could not dribble. Bennet Davison (Luther - although different player, similar talent level) had transferred in and was a great rebounding power forward but not a guy who could step in at center. So we ran a 1-3-1 set for long minutes in games when Lute needed to spell Bramlett. Terry ran the baseline, stole the ball from big men and helped trap people in the corners. It was extremely effective, we probably won 5 more games that year because of Lute having that trick in his bag and adjusting to his personnel. And there was that one game we won that year in Indianapolis, too that we ran the 1-3-1 in for several minutes. I loved Bramlett and he was really good...but as front lines go, over all, that team was one of the weakest ever at AZ under Lute or Miller. But Lute figured out his to win national championship with, effectively, 1 true big man, a few projects and a transfer at forward, and a guard rotation that went 6 deep...sound familiar?

Doutrive would be perfect for a 1-3-1, so would Smith, Coleman, Williams or Randolph...  and when Jeter went down...why not throw a 1-3-1 at Andy Enfield and watch his head explode? It may not have helped against UCLA but that is a low BB IQ team, so it would have at least confused them and slowed them down. 

I am sure that a good coach could come up with 20 other sound, feasible ideas of how to deal with the loss of the only big man on the team, and I guarantee not a single one of them would include continuing doing what does not work. 

Miller is not the coach he is given credit for being. Not even close and this year it is readily apparent.