Miller went on a special visit to see Brandon Williams last night

[Dirty Dancer]

Barcello played over Akinjo on the same AAU team but they often played well together. I wouldn't concede the starting position so fast as I think Barcello is just some shooting confidence away from being very serviceable.

[Injury guy]

If Akinjo and Barcello already have a good relationship from their AAU days that's an even better situation. Reel him in, Coach.

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

I think it would be great to have so much depth 1-3. If Miller is determined to get back to the defensive roots of the past years, he is going to need to sub ALOT more to keep fresh legs on the court at all times. Instead of seeing a couple guys playing almost the entire game, you could rotate a lot of guys in shorter intervals to maintain intensity all game long. Most of the guys 1-3 could be pretty interchangeable at any of those positions if it called for it.

[mvpreed2]

...I wouldn't concede the starting position so fast as I think Barcello is just some shooting confidence away from being very serviceable.

Let's not forget his inability to stay in front of his man on defense.
That is one of the biggest things that will get you yanked for Miller unless he doesn't have my other option equal or better than you.

[Justyce1]

I think there will be a lot of disappointed people if they think Akinjo is gonna come in and play 30 mins.i also think you haven't been paying attention if you think Akinjo will play over Barcello. Miller has a history of favoring upperclassmen. Just look at Randolph he was a highly rated kid(higher than Akinjo) and he was benched for Smith, a guy who has no impactful future here at AZ. Think about that Miller was willing to risk Randolph transferring ala Simon because he trusted a guy in Smith who had been in the program more than a year.

Also Akinjo is not an elite recruit. Dude is listed by Draft Xpress at 5'9 and if you watch his Vids he over  dribbles among other things.
Elite level 5 star pg's struggle coming out of Highschool, just look at Jaylen Hands(and he played in a pg friendly system) and the same thing with Trevon Duval. Not sure I'd bank on a less talented Akinjo coming in and taking the reigns.

I hope the kid proves me wrong because I like him but as an upperclassman.

BWill and Akinjo together would be nice.

...I wouldn't concede the starting position so fast as I think Barcello is just some shooting confidence away from being very serviceable.

Let's not forget his inability to stay in front of his man on defense.
That is one of the biggest things that will get you yanked for Miller unless he doesn't have my other option equal or better than you.

[2012Cat]

I think it would be great to have so much depth 1-3. If Miller is determined to get back to the defensive roots of the past years, he is going to need to sub ALOT more to keep fresh legs on the court at all times. Instead of seeing a couple guys playing almost the entire game, you could rotate a lot of guys in shorter intervals to maintain intensity all game long. Most of the guys 1-3 could be pretty interchangeable at any of those positions if it called for it.

Miller has never subbed a lot. Most of his best teams never had rotations more than 7 or 8 players.

[Jav]

...I wouldn't concede the starting position so fast as I think Barcello is just some shooting confidence away from being very serviceable.

Let's not forget his inability to stay in front of his man on defense.
That is one of the biggest things that will get you yanked for Miller unless he doesn't have my other option equal or better than you.

That was my immediate reaction.  I'm not worried about Barcello's shot at all.  And I think his offensive struggles were more a side affect of his failing at other parts of the game.  He really struggled on defense and really struggled to control the ball against good defenders.  Maybe the game will slow down for him a bit next year and he'll be able to be a solid contributor.

[Jav]

I think there will be a lot of disappointed people if they think Akinjo is gonna come in and play 30 mins.i also think you haven't been paying attention if you think Akinjo will play over Barcello. Miller has a history of favoring upperclassmen. Just look at Randolph he was a highly rated kid(higher than Akinjo) and he was benched for Smith, a guy who has no impactful future here at AZ. Think about that Miller was willing to risk Randolph transferring ala Simon because he trusted a guy in Smith who had been in the program more than a year.

I'll see your Randolph and raise you a Mayes.  Miller has also shown he won't stay with a player (even if they had some great games for him as a freshman) if that player is not out producing the current competition in practice.

I know it's frustrating when we don't see excellence, but I have a hard time believing that playing time isn't directly related to how players perform in Miler's rating system in practice.

[mvpreed2]

That was my immediate reaction. I'm not worried about Barcello's shot at all.  And I think his offensive struggles were more a side affect of his failing at other parts of the game.  He really struggled on defense and really struggled to control the ball against good defenders.  Maybe the game will slow down for him a bit next year and he'll be able to be a solid contributor.

And his shot was actually the best part of his game to me.
He showed the ability to handle the PG duties on offense, but it always on the defensive end that is where the freshmen have the toughest time transitioning.
Putting the ball in the basket is not hard, that part will never change, the way you defend gets harder with every level you climb.

As of now, Barcello has the making of a Mayes 2.0 as a guy who is able to run the offense, but his defensive struggles prevent him from being on the floor as much as he should.

[mvpreed2]

Miller has never subbed a lot. Most of his best teams never had rotations more than 7 or 8 players.

Miller has never wanted to sub more, like I was saying earlier, you will get yanked for someone who is able to do what you couldn't do.
This season we went 8-10 deep, and with so many freshmen (3) that we relied on every game, Miller would have to go deeper into the bench.

Next season, as it stands, we may be going 8-10 deep again unless our freshmen return as very good sophomores.
Again we will have a lot of newcomers and Miller is going to continue to tweak the lineups until he is able to find a group that gives him what he wants, or comes the closest to it.