Miller benching Max and not benching Smith is mind bogglingly enraging

[WILD]

Jacob was not happy with Miller either.

For the record I thought Jacob should've gotten a little playing time as a walk-on his senior year since he could shoot and our team was lacking a shooter.

https://twitter.com/JacobHazzard/status/1221298302282420224
https://twitter.com/JacobHazzard/status/1221300463267532800

[TucsonTruckStop]

On Miller benching Hazzard. He's gone 9-16 from 3 recently & gets benched for 1 mistake?? We then proceed to shoot 0-8 from 3 & couldn't buy a bucket in the 2nd half at asu. Max deserves more minutes & a green light to shoot as much as he wants. Let em play coach! So frustrating!

You're exactly right. His favorites (Getting's, Green and Smith) were much worse and make stupid mistakes. You'd think Miller would recognize the hypocrisy before speaking about it. Just goes to show how stubborn, single-minded and driven by his failed philosophy to realize this.

[Naterade]

Hazzard was terrible in the first half. Stood no chance guarding ASUs guards. Does anybody actually think Miller would keep him in the game because he might start hitting threes to counter his inability to defend? And the play before halftime with ten seconds left, jacking up a crazy shot and giving ASU even more momentum to end the half killed us.

Also, how many times has Miller cautioned fans about playing fast on the road and taking quick threes, the game can get away from you real fast. I for one was fine with the benching. At this point, Hazzard is a great three point shooter at home. His defense has been great at times, but he didn't have it at ASU. Trying to get back in a game, or stay in a game by shooting threes is never going to work. EVER. I know Josh Green had a terrible game, but he can still defend and rebound, so you bet your ass you keep him out there.

[KansasCityCats]

Green had a bad night.  This was not typical of him, so I wouldn't pull him for Hazzard unless he was injured or in early foul trouble.

Dylan and Stone?  Absolutely.

[Jdmarti]

Max did not play well when he was out there a missed 3 an layup  an a tournover that led to a layup however he deserved a oopurtunity in 2nd half to see what he could do  Arizona  could not shoot in 2nd half an nico with foul trouble really hurt.

[WILD]

I'm hearing that Miller specifically told the team not to take a shot until right before the time was going to run out in the 1st half. Max didn't play because he chose not to listen to the coach and he shot the ball with 13 seconds left which gave asu the ball and Martin goes on to score before halftime.

I now understand why Max was pulled. As a coach if you have a player goes against what you just told him then you have to make a point of benching the player for insubordination. Yes, maybe he could've put Max in at some point, but Max shouldn't have done that. If he listens we may have won the game.

[LJ]

Okay now I understand why he was pulled - those two points were basically the game winning points.  What I still object to was how Miller handled it.  He could still have put Max back in sometime in the second half and had the same teaching goal IMO.  It is still a very frustrating game for me as a fan.

[Wildcat4life]

Your using one incident to justify the way Miller interacts with players. He does not have the ability to motivate and set the tone for the team. Honest question when was the last time anyone seen the team relaxed and enjoying the game? I see it when the team is playing a cup cake opponent and leading by a large amount, but against even an average opponent it hardly ever occurs. JMO

[WILD]

They've had lots of fun this season. The 1st half of the asu for example. Then they decided they had the game in the bag and started to get lax and not play defense in the 2nd half.

[KansasCityCats]

Your using one incident to justify the way Miller interacts with players. He does not have the ability to motivate and set the tone for the team. Honest question when was the last time anyone seen the team relaxed and enjoying the game? I see it when the team is playing a cup cake opponent and leading by a large amount, but against even an average opponent it hardly ever occurs. JMO

Pulling Max didn't lose the game. The team shot poorly, Nico had zero assists and we gave up a lot of offensive boards to smaller players.

That's not on Miller.  Arizona had a bad half. Despite trying to slow the momentum with timeouts, the team was just off.