Thursday, November 30, 2017

Ex-Wildcat Justin Simon is a lockdown defender at St. John’s

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Arizona hockey hosts ASU this weekend with chance to claim Cactus Cup

The Wildcats and Sun Devils face off in games 3 and 4 of the rivalry series this weekend

After nearly a month on the road, the No. 15 Arizona Wildcats hockey team will return home this Friday and Saturday, hosting the No. 24 Arizona State Sun Devils at the Tucson Convention Center.

The Wildcats currently hold a 2-0 lead over the Sun Devils in a best-of-seven series. A weekend sweep over their archrival will allow the ‘Cats to claim the Cactus Cup – the hockey version of the Territorial Cup – for the 2017-2018 season.

Matchup overview

This season, Arizona has been far and away the better team. The ‘Cats are currently 13-6-0 with losses to No. 6 Central Oklahoma, No. 8 Colorado and No. 19 Missouri State. Arizona has also been a top-20 team all season long, including ACHA D1 preseason rankings. As a team, the Wildcats are the ACHA’s fourth best team on offense, with 92 goals-for on the season.

Arizona State, meanwhile, has lagged behind this season falling from No. 11 in the ACHA D1 preseason rankings to now 24, with a winning percentage just barely above .500 (9-15-0). The Sun Devils have also posted the league’s fifth worst scoring defense, allowing 98 goals this season.

Players to watch

Arizona’s player to watch is Anthony Cusanelli. The 6-foot-1 forward from New Jersey currently leads the team in scoring with 22 goals and 10 assists (32 total points).

The ‘Cats will also most likely turn to goaltenders Austin Wilson and Anthony Ciurro this weekend. In 20 games, The two net-minders combine for a 3.185 goals-against-average and a 0.904 save percentage.

The Sun Devils, meanwhile, hope see a lot of action from their trio of top scorers: Jake Savona (22 pts), Austin Ehrlich (22 pts), and Dylan Ostertag (21 pts).

Expect goaltender Jack Burkel to protect ASU’s crease for at least one of the game this weekend. In 19 games, Burkel has a 3.95 goals-against average and a 0.880 save percentage.

What to expect this weekend

Not too often do the ‘Cats have the perfect opportunity to put away the Sun Devils — and win the series outright — at this point in the season. But that doesn't dismiss that ASU knows what they have to lose this weekend.

Cactus Cup games are always a war-zone. In their last match up in October, the two teams combined for about 47 minutes in the penalty box. Plus, scoring is also high when these two teams meet. In the first two games of the series, they combined for 22 goals.

Prediction

Friday, Dec 1 — Game 3 of the series: Arizona wins 5-2

Saturday, Dec 2 — Game 4 of the series: Arizona wins 6-5 (OT)

I believe Arizona will claim the Cactus Cup this weekend. This has just been arguably the best Wildcat hockey team I’ve seen in Tucson. But I don’t believe it will come too easily. The Sun Devils will let Game 3 slip by them before regrouping and fighting with an “everything is on the line” attitude on Saturday — similar to that of Arizona’s final push against ASU last season. But ultimately, I think Arizona’s high scoring offense will be just a little too much for the Sun Devils in the end, winning Game 4 in overtime to win the Cactus Cup.

The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. MST on both Friday and Saturday. The games can be live streamed on UA Hockey’s YouTube page.

These are the Wildcats’ last games of 2017. They will not return to the ice until Jan. 5, when they host Grand Canyon University.

Arizona will also have to face the Sun Devils three more times this season — one away followed by two at the TCC to end the regular season.

Follow Rob Leano on Twitter @RobLeano1

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Emmanuel Akot dealing with knee tendinitis, is ‘not a defensive stopper’

The freshman only played five minutes in Arizona’s win over Long Beach State

Four of the Arizona Wildcats’ five freshmen scored in double figures Wednesday in their 91-56 win over Long Beach State.

The fifth freshman? Emmanuel Akot.

Akot scored three points and played a team-low five minutes. Head coach Sean Miller said the forward has tendinitis in his knees, which are “bothering him.”

“His knees will get better when he rests and this was an opportunity to give him some rest,” Miller said.

Akot has gotten off to a slow start this season, averaging just 2.7 points in 17.5 minutes. He, and the rest of Arizona’s highly-regarded freshman class, is one of the reasons the Wildcats were ranked No. 3 at the start of the season.

However, aside from Deandre Ayton, they have not performed as well as anticipated.

“We have talent, we’re just not overwhelming,” he said. “When I was watching the Bahamas games, I can only watch the TV copy and I kept seeing the No. 3 recruiting class in the country pop up on the screen like 75 times. I find myself saying, ‘where’d you go?’

“The race starts all over again in college. Just because you were ranked such and such in 11th grade, no one cares. … It doesn’t matter what you were ranked before you showed up here. We’re counting on this class to be a big reason why this team is good, and you have to perform.”

Miller was high on Akot’s defensive potential before the season, comparing him to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, but Akot has not made much of an impact on that side of ball, either.

So it might be more than tendinitis keeping him off the floor.

“He’s not a defensive stopper right now,” Miller said, “We have to keep coaching him and bring out the best in him.”

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Sean Miller says Arizona’s effort is ‘terrible’ and its roster is ‘not that talented’

The Wildcats won by 35 points Wednesday, but Miller was none too pleased with his team’s performance

It looked like exactly what the Arizona Wildcats needed.

Coming off three losses in the Bahamas, the Wildcats returned to the friendly confines of McKale Center and routed Long Beach 91-56 on Wednesday to get back into the win column.

UA shot over 60 percent from the field, four freshmen scored in double figures, its defense had one of its best outings of season, and it improved in areas that in struggled in in Battle 4 Atlantis, namely transition defense and defensive rebounding.

Yet, Sean Miller took longer than usual to arrive at his postgame presser, declined to making an opening statement, and eventually went on a 30-minute rant.

About what? A lot of things.

“Our effort is terrible”

While Arizona might have appeared to be a team that got on track, winning by 35 points and all, Miller said the team’s play is “disappointing” and defensively is where Arizona has “the biggest gap” — and all the issues start with a lack of effort.

Miller said the Wildcats are a “lifeless group a lot times.”

“We really struggle to play with great effort,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a group that just can’t bring it, can’t work, can’t really fight defensively.”

Long Beach State shot just 41 percent from the field, which would signify a solid defensive performance for the Wildcats, but Miller didn’t see it that way.

“It’s not glass half empty, hall full, it’s just the truth,” he said. “Players only understand the truth. If you say 'that’s OK, fellas,' they know you don’t mean it. We judge ourselves on the standards of our program. Everybody in here knows what those standards are. Everybody knows what we’re trying to accomplish, including the players. Every one of our players wants to play in the NBA. Most of our younger players think this spring they’re going to go in the NBA. You have to be able to run full speed, turn your body, point, talk, and match up on defense. There’s a progression here. Just because you come to Arizona … doesn’t mean you get to play in the NBA. It’s about doing things the right way, playing with amazing effort and energy, doing it everyday with no excuses.

“And then, you make a couple shots, great things happen, and you see younger players grow, but that’s the foundation and starting point, but I think our effort’s terrible."

Miller said the “medicine” for that is benching players.

“Now you don’t play the guy who doesn’t play hard at all and if he does play, the only way he gets to play is if he plays with tremendous spirit, emotion, togetherness, fight,” he said.

Miller referred to an old saying coaching legend Skip Prosser used to use.

“Everybody dresses up for trick or treating and gets candy. In college basketball, just because you put the uniform on doesn’t mean you’ll get to play. We may play six or seven players because we have to go on effort,” he said.

“And for some of our other guys, just because in the past you started and played 32 minutes, doesn’t mean you’re going to start and play 32 minutes because you did that last year. It’s a brand new season. We need guys playing with their heart and soul and playing with great effort. If we go to UNLV and we pick and choose how hard we play and we’re trying to figure it out, we’re not going to win. Our only hope is to play with great effort. And if we play with great effort and we lose, we’ll keep getting better. That’s so much right now of where we’re at.

“We have enough evidence in the Bahamas that a big part of our failure was inconsistent effort on defense and we’re trying to fix that. It’s not being nice and giving everybody a hug when you walk in when you’re trying to fix that. That is the hardest thing to do as a coach — to get a group of guys to buy in to playing hard when they’re not.”

“We have a couple veterans that aren’t showing the way”

So why haven’t the players bought in? Arizona has five freshmen in its rotation but hardly any veteran leadership.

“We have a lot of younger players that probably don’t have enough evidence yet to realize how hard it is to win in college basketball, how hard you have to play. We have a couple veterans that aren't showing the way,” Miller said. “That combination is who we are right now.”

Miller insists Kadeem Allen didn’t get enough credit for his impact on Arizona basketball.

Not only was Allen an elite defender more than capable of guarding the opposing team’s best player, but his effort level never wavered which permeated throughout the rest of the team.

Nobody on Arizona has taken on that role this year.

“We need a couple of our veterans, we need guys who have been here and done it before to really embody the qualities of playing hard, playing together, being in the right spot,” Miller said.

Miller has pegged Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Allonzo Trier as those who need to do that.

Jackson-Cartwright sort of did Wednesday, picking up three steals and “injecting our team with life,” Miller said.

“He just has to be the best he can. If he’s not playing great defense, playing with tremendous effort, talking, if he’s not in the right spot he’s the floor general so it really affects everybody,” he said. “We really need him to set the tone.”

Rawle Alkins is someone else who could do that. In fact, Miller said he “knows” Alkins is “part of the solution.”

“He’s a really big part of our team, bigger than maybe any of us realized because there’s such a drop off emotionally, there’s such a drop off physically without him,” he said.

“The reality for us is we’re not that talented”

Returning a strong group of players and adding the No. 3 recruiting class, Arizona was perceived as one of the most talented teams in the country heading into the season.

So far its highly-touted freshmen haven’t lived up to expectations (not including Deandre Ayton, of course).

Ayton was the only freshman who performed consistently during the team’s three-game losing streak. Brandon Randolph did have a 17-point game, but was a no-show in the other two. So were the other three freshmen.

“We have talent, we’re just not overwhelming,” Miller said. “When I was watching the Bahamas games, I can only watch the TV copy and I kept seeing the No. 3 recruiting class in the country pop up on the screen like 75 times. I find myself saying, ‘where’d you go?’

“The race starts all over again in college. Just because you were ranked such and such in 11th grade, no one cares. … It doesn’t matter what you were ranked before you showed up here.

“We’re counting on this class to be a big reason why this team is good, and you have to perform. You don’t have to score 20. You don’t have to get 20 and 10. … But you have to be confident, you have to be able to do your job. We have to be able to count on you day in and day out by getting better and giving effort. That creates energy and that creates depth. That creates excitement because wherever a freshman is in November, they’re going to keep improving, we know that. But where’s their starting point? Are we going to improve to the point where in the Pac-12 we have a couple of these freshmen that are some of the best in the conference? Or are we starting so low that let’s hope that when we get to Pac-12 that they can just make a few positive plays?”

Wednesday’s game was actually a pretty good showing by Arizona’s freshmen. Four of the five scored in double figures. The only one who didn’t was Emmanuel Akot who was limited with knee tendonitis, Miller said.

Miller said the freshman class still has upside, and it shouldn’t be judged on the first month of the season, but “the reality for us is we’re not that talented. We have to play really, really hard.”

“For us it starts with a consistent, 40 minutes, two and a half hours of effort,” he said. “Once that’s established, some of the other things that our team is good at will really start to shine and we’ll have success, but we have a longer way to go in that area than I had hoped.

“It’s disappointing through seven games that this is where we’re at, but I’m not going to duck it, we’re not going to duck it. We’re going to work hard to improve.”

Arizona’s schedule only gets more treacherous from here. The Wildcats play their first road game Saturday against UNLV. After that, they return to Arizona to face No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 24 Alabama.

Miller said he isn’t afraid to lose, which is good because he said his team is capable of dropping six games in a row.

“When you pick and choose on defense and you’re not the most talented group,” he said, “you’re going to win a few and you’ll certainly lose a few. Especially on the road and against the best teams on our schedule.

He added: "But it’s really not about that it’s about where we’re at as a group. It’s about establishing a way of doing things every day. How hard are you working? How hard are you working in practice? How does it carry into a game?”

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

3 things we learned in Arizona’s win over Long Beach State

The Wildcats have an effort problem and Coach Miller believes Rawle Alkins’ eventual return is part of the solution

After leaving the Bahamas without a win, the Arizona Wildcats returned to McKale Center with a 91-56 win over the Long Beach State 49ers Wednesday night.

The Wildcats move to 4-3 on the season. They will head on the road to Las Vegas to play the UNLV Rebels this Saturday before playing No. 9 Texas A&M in Phoenix next week.

But before we get to any of those games, here are three things we all learned from the ‘Cats first game back stateside:

The Wildcats don’t play with effort

Despite the convincing win, Coach Sean Miller was displeased with his team’s effort, especially on defense.

“We really struggle to play with great effort,” he said, “I don’t think that we’re going to be successful until that’s fixed.”

That’s because...

“The reality for us is we’re not that talented,” Miller said, “We have to play really, really hard.”

Miller liked the way senior point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright played in the second half and believes PJC needs to set the tone with his effort.

“We’re a lifeless group a lot of times,” Miller said. “I thought Parker did a good job a couple times of injecting our team with life. A couple steals, played hard, got the ball out in transition and broke the game open. That’s what we expect from him.”

Offense returned to its efficient ways

Despite a few rough outings in Atlantis, Arizona’s offense returned to its efficient ways Wednesday. The Wildcats shot 60 percent from the field and 12-22 (55 percent) from 3-point range. Six Wildcats scored in double figures.

Junior guard Allonzo Trier was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, scoring 15 points on 6-7 shooting.

Freshman Brandon Randolph had 10 points in his first career start, but still struggled from the field, shooting 3-10.

Miller said most offenses smooth out as the season wears on, and so he isn’t worried nearly as much about it as, say, the team’s lack of effort.

“Our offense will be fine,” he said.

However, Miller said the team’s 10 second-half turnovers will end up being costly when the Wildcats face better competition because of their struggling defense.

“We don’t have room for error,” he said. “When you do that, you do it again on the road, you do it against a better team, they’re going to go on a big run, and that big run inevitably will do you in.”

Alkins is “part of the solution”

Sophomore Rawle Alkins is now in week nine of his recovery since having surgery on his foot. Alkins’ initial timetable for return was 8-12 weeks, and Miller is hopeful Alkins will return sometime very soon.

Since Arizona’s three-game losing streak in the Bahamas, people wondered what type of a difference maker Alkins will be, and Miller didn’t hold back his thoughts on that.

“He’s a really big part of our team, bigger than maybe any of us realized because there’s such a drop off emotionally, there’s such a drop off physically without him,” he said. “I think he’ll fill a gap that no matter what the coach says or does, we’re just going to be bigger, stronger, deeper and better because we have a player of his capability.”

When Miller talked about the Wildcats’ effort, he brought up Alkins’ name several times because he believes Alkins is “part of the solution.”

“It’s going to take him some time (to get back to speed),” Miller said, “but I am looking forward to adding him. When you’re able to sit a couple guys on the bench and not play them at all, that’s usually the medicine.”

Follow Rob Leano on Twitter @RobLeano1

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Arizona routs Long Beach State 91-56 to snap losing streak

A return to normalcy

Ever since losing three straight in the Bahamas, the Arizona Wildcats have been eager to get back on the court and put the Battle 4 Atlantis debacle behind them.

“We want to get back to ourselves,” UA freshman Brandon Randolph said Tuesday.

They did that Wednesday in their first game back in the States.

Arizona (4-3) routed the Long Beach State 49ers 91-56 in McKale Center to snap its three-game losing streak.

The Wildcats’ yearning to redeem themselves resulted in an offensive flurry reminiscent of those it had before heading to the Bahamas.

Arizona shot 60 percent from the field and 12-22 from 3, and led by as many as 23 points in the first half, before outscoring the 49ers 49-32 in the second half.

Six Wildcats scored in double figures.

Deandre Ayton had 13 points (6-6 FG), nine rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. Once again he flashed his array of skills, hitting a 3 and making some stellar passes from the post.

Allonzo Trier had 15 points and four assists on 6-7 shooting (3-4 from 3) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright had a season-high 12 points to go along with five assists.

Alex Barcello sank three 3s and had a career-high 11 points, while Ira Lee added nine points (4-5 FG), and Dusan Ristic finished with eight points (4-6 FG) and nine rebounds.

Randolph got off to a slow start, missing his first three shots, but finished with 10 points (eight in the second half) on 3-10 shooting in his first career start.

Early in the second half, Long Beach State (3-5) made five straight field goals to cut UA’s lead to 13, but layups by Ristic, Lee, and Trier pushed the Wildcats’ advantage back to 21 with 11:58 left to end the 49ers’ rally.

The Wildcats turned in one of their better defensive performances of the season, holding the 49ers to a 41.2 shooting percentage, including a 6-20 mark from 3.

Arizona’s defensive rebounding has been an issue this season, but it limited a decent offensive rebounding LBSU team to seven offensive boards and six second-chance points.

Arizona also did a better job with its transition defense, holding a usually high-octane 49er offense to four fast break points. It helped that Arizona only committed 12 turnovers.

If there was any downside in Arizona’s win, it was the performance of its wings. Emmanuel Akot hit a 3 immediately after checking in in the first half, but only played five minutes.

Dylan Smith scored seven points on 2-8 shooting and shot 1-5 from 3, while Randolph shot 0-4 from 3.

Still, Arizona was able to instill some normalcy before Saturday’s game against the UNLV Rebels — the Wildcats’ first true road test of the season.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Arizona vs. Long Beach State game thread, live stream, TV channel and more

Come chat with us!

The Arizona Wildcats (3-3) return to the court Wednesday to take on the Long Beach State 49ers (3-4).

The Wildcats, out of the Top 25 for the first time since the 2011-12 season, are looking to snap a three-game losing streak.

Here is how you can tune in, and we will be chatting about the game in the comment section below. Join us!

How to watch

Game time: 6 p.m. MST

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Live stream: Pac-12.com/live

Announcers: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Steve Lavin (analyst)

How to listen

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Ryan Hansen)

Satellite Radio: Sirius 126, XM 198

Pre-game coverage

As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm and like us on Facebook at http://ift.tt/2zM4Kna

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Allonzo Trier scoring at an elite level, but struggling as a defender, distributor

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Arizona QB commit Jamarye Joiner considered flipping to ASU after Territorial Cup

But that likely won’t be happening now that Todd Graham has been fired

The Arizona Wildcats picked up their first 2018 commitment back in September 2016 when Vail-Cienega dual-threat quarterback Jamarye Joiner gave his pledge.

Since then, Joiner has made it no secret that he will look around at other colleges, despite still being a UA commit.

Joiner has stated in the past that he wants to play quarterback in college and the ‘Cats came through with a quarterback offer. His other two offers, Arizona State and Utah, offered to bring him in as an athlete.

Or so we thought.

On Tuesday, azcentral.com reported that ASU recently offered the Cienega product a quarterback spot. And that caused, well, a reaction that won’t make Arizona fans excited.

Joiner said he was considering flipping to the Sun Devils after they won the Territorial Cup this past weekend.

The good news? The firing of Todd Graham seems to have ousted that possibility.

“It was mind blowing,” Joiner told azcentral. “He just put everything into the program, so him getting let go was a big deal for me. It really made me lean a lot more toward Arizona more than I was. It was really confusing for me.”

So Joiner is still a member of Arizona’s 2018 class. For now.

The early-signing period is Dec. 20-22, but Joiner will likely wait until February to sign. If other schools jump in with quarterback offers, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Joiner head, or at least consider heading, elsewhere.

Joiner is the No. 24 dual-threat quarterback in the country, per 247Sports, and is the fifth-highest rated recruit in UA’s 2018 class.

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Arizona linebacker Colin Schooler makes Pro Football Focus’ Pac-12 Team of the Week

Not everything about the Territorial Cup was bad

The Arizona Wildcats may have committed the cardinal sin, losing the Territorial Cup to the Arizona State Sun Devils last weekend, but if there’s anything positive to take from from it, it’s the latest announcement from Pro Football Focus: linebacker Colin Schooler was named to PFF’s Pac-12 Team of the Week.

The true freshman led all Pac-12 linebackers with a 87.0 grade.

PFF Week 13 - Pac 12 Team of the Week - Defense http://pic.twitter.com/if1OcQ8xVi
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) November 28, 2017

In his effort against ASU, School recorded 13 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for a loss.

Schooler was the only Wildcat to be named to PFF’s Pac-12 Team of the Week for Week 13.

Schooler has proven to be an essential component to the Wildcats’ defense this season. The true freshman led the ‘Cats in total tackles for a loss with 13.5, and is second in sacks with four.

Schooler also recorded a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown in Arizona’s win over Washington State on Oct. 28.

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Arizona vs. Long Beach State preview: What/how to watch

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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Arizona ‘eager’ to face Long Beach State, learn from Bahamas losing streak

The losing streak is growth moment for the players and coaches, Sean Miller said

When the Arizona Wildcats boarded their plane for Battle 4 Atlantis, Sean Miller never would have guessed his team would return with three losses.

“I thought we were a much more confident and ready group for that tournament,” he said.

Then reality hit.

Arizona’s defense was in worse shape than expected, its freshmen lost their confidence, and there was little time to make repairs having three games in three days.

Now Arizona, once ranked No. 2, is out of the AP Poll for the first time in 100 weeks.

Miller isn’t panicking.

“There are stories in sports every year that are ... even worse than ours that at some point later that same season that group, that team, that coach can look back and say the best thing that happened to this year’s team was what we learned when we, in our case, lost three games in a row in the Battle 4 Atlantis,” he said.

“From that point on we were able to fix these things, we knew our problems, we knew our strengths, and we got back on track. ... Now it’s up to us to make that come true.”

That quest starts Wednesday when Arizona returns to the floor to host Long Beach State (6 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Networks). Though, Miller said he doesn’t see that game as a chance to get on track but, rather, improve.

“I’m anxious to see what we learned,” he said. “Are we moving in the right direction based on what we know as fact from that tournament?”

Fact one: Arizona is struggling to control the defensive glass. Fact two: the Wildcats aren’t getting back on defense.

Arizona (3-3) ranks 179th in college basketball in defensive rebounding percentage, and is surrendering an effective field goal percentage of 62.3 percent in transition (defined as shots taken within 10 seconds of a steal, defensive rebound, or score).

Last year, teams only had an eFG% of 50.2 against Arizona in transition.

“After the Bahamas we’re going to take (transition defense) a lot more seriously,” said freshman guard Brandon Randolph.

Which is needed since Miller said “a couple players” haven’t been taking it seriously enough — and they might not play anymore if that continues.

“There’s two things that guys understand: when you run them and they can’t breathe or you take them out and they don’t get back into the game,” he said. “Both of those things are going to happen. It’s already started to happen.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, how many points you score, where you’re from, how tall you are, how short you are, you have to be able to run back on defense, communicate with your teammates and make that important. And be able to block out, get the ball when they miss a shot. Those two things, we’ll start there.”

Miller said UA’s older players, like Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Allonzo Trier, have to lead the freshmen by example.

Kadeem Allen did that last year, and Miller said the Wildcats “feel his void.”

“I think they know now more than ever how important their voice is. How important it is to show them the way. They’re this year’s version of Kadeem because of their experience,” Miller said of PJC and Trier. “Their leadership, being able to play both sides of the ball, that’s something we really, really need from those two guys right now.”

Arizona also needs its freshmen to step up. Aside from Deandre Ayton and one 17-point outing by Randolph, who will make his first career start Wednesday, the Wildcats got next to nothing from their newcomers in the Bahamas.

“It’s really confidence,” Miller said Monday on his weekly radio show. “It’s about those guys learning from their mistakes, not feeling that they have to do everything perfect when they’re out there but to play the game free.

“Each one of our freshmen has to be able to relax, and on defense give us their heart and soul and great effort. Offensively, they know what to do and how to do and get out there and let the game come to them.”

Miller expects Long Beach State (3-4) to test the Wildcats’ lackluster transition defense. The 49ers play at the 21st-quickest tempo in college basketball, per KenPom, making them the fasted-paced team Arizona has played this season.

Plus, the 49ers are no strangers to playing top-tier teams. Long Beach has faced Missouri, West Virginia, Nebraska and Oregon State (twice) this year.

The 49ers beat the Beavers 74-69 last Friday.

“They’re battle-tested. They play the best of the best, so It’s not like they’re going to walk into McKale and worry about anything,” Miller said. “Plus, there’s a lot of teams that are going to lick their chops when they come in here now. They’re going to look at our team as being the most vulnerable Arizona team ever.”

The Wildcats are licking their chops, too, but mainly because they finally have an opportunity to put that three-game skid behind them.

“We’re definitely eager,” said Randolph, who added that the team was angry after Battle 4 Atlantis. “We want to get back to ourselves.”

Other notes

My full story on Randolph starting and Rawle Alkins’ health can be found here.

I compiled a ton of Miller’s quotes about a variety of topics from his radio show here.

Miller said there isn’t anyone on the roster he trusts to guard the opponents’ best player.

Is anyone close?

“No,” Miller said.

When asked if losing two assistant coaches this offseason could have anything to do with the slow start, Miller said: “My focus is always on the same things. Our focus is always on the same things.”

Miller wasn’t sure if he still plans to mix in some zone defense moving forward.

“We’ve got to get good at something first,” he said.

Miller floated the idea in the Bahamas as a way to get Ayton and Dusan Ristic on the floor together when opposing teams go small. Miller mentioned Tuesday that UA’s 7-footers need more touches near the basket.

Both are shooting over 60 percent from the field.

“I think we’ve learned more and more about Deandre defensively and I’m looking forward to getting those two guys clicking more on offense and using that to our advantage because if you look at Dusan’s efficiency right now, it’s off the charts,” Miller said. “That will do nothing but continue.”

Miller breaks each game down into 10 four-minute segments and charts how many Arizona wins. The Wildcats went 9-21 in their three games in the Bahamas.

“What that tells me is … we weren’t the better team in those games, especially against Purdue,” he said. “They were clearly more experienced, more seasoned, a better overall team than us. SMU and NC State, both games could have gone either way, but it’s not one thing that’s doing us in and it’s not one player or just our freshmen. It’s really the whole.”

Miller said what was disappointing about the Purdue game is Arizona allowed a 15-point lead with eight minutes left balloon into a 25-point win for the Boilermakers.

“We caved in at the very end,” he said.

Miller said Purdue guard Dakota Mathias, who scored 24 points on 9-13 shooting against Arizona, should help UA’s freshmen understand level of talent in the college game.

“I don’t know if he’ll play in the NBA, but there isn’t a player on our team that had an understanding of who he was before the tournament, but he dominated the game because he’s an older, smart, tough-minded really good college basketball player,” Miller said.

“It gets the attention of our freshman that if somebody like that is that good and you don’t really know who he is, it’s a sign of things to come. But if I had a do over, we really could have benefitted from a scrimmage where we got some of this reality in a closed-door setting and learned some of these lessons across the board prior to leaving for the Bahamas because three consecutive days against those three days, there will be a lot of teams that will drop a couple.”

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Herm Edwards interviewing for Arizona State coaching vacancy this weekend

You play. To win. The game. Hello.

After defeating the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, the Arizona State Sun Devils still went ahead and fired Todd Graham, with Ray Anderson citing lofty expectations for his football program.

So how is he going to get to the “top three in the Pac-12” every year? By interviewing someone who has never been a college head coach, obviously.

As Tuesday went along, it appeared Herm Edwards was becoming a more serious candidate to be Graham’s replacement, and Adam Schefter confirmed that his ESPN colleague will be interviewing for the ASU job this weekend.

ESPN analyst Herm Edwards will be interviewing for the Arizona State head coaching job this weekend, he confirmed.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 28, 2017

Edwards hasn’t been in the college ranks since 1989 when he was a defensive backs coach at San Jose State, and has been out of the NFL since 2008 after going 15-33 in three years with the Kansas City Chiefs.

So what does this mean for Arizona? Well, it certainly seems good for the Wildcat faithful.

You’re looking at a guy who hasn’t coached college kids in 28 years, and who hasn’t coached period in nearly a decade. Edwards is 63 years old, so it’s not bringing in youth like ASU could do. And it’s not bringing in someone with recent success at a major school like Kevin Sumlin.

UCLA already made the Pac-12 South a lot tougher by bringing Chip Kelly back into the conference, but if ASU were to bring in Edwards, that could really help Rich Rodriguez and Co. when squaring off against their in-state foes for players.

ASU may be trying to win the press conference here, but it doesn’t look like they’re playing to win the game.

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Brandon Randolph to start vs. Long Beach State; Rawle Alkins nearing return

Randolph earned a start with his 17-point performance against Purdue, while Alkins continues his recovery

If there was any silver lining in the Arizona Wildcats’ miserable week in the Bahamas, it was the emergence of Brandon Randolph.

After being held scoreless in the first two games of the trip, the freshman guard poured in a career-high 17 points on 7-11 shooting against the Purdue Boilermakers in the final game of Battle 4 Atlantis.

“I just know I got into a rhythm and I took advantage of that and I’m glad I did well,” Randolph said.

Indeed, as Randolph’s performance evidently earned him a spot in UA’s starting five, as head coach Sean Miller announced Tuesday that Randolph will start at small forward against Long Beach State on Wednesday.

Randolph supplants Dylan Smith and Emmanuel Akot who traded starts in the Bahamas but did not perform particularly well.

“We have a lot more evidence now than we did prior to leaving. I think we looked at that spot as being wide open. I think Brandon Randolph has really stepped up,” Miller said.

“And I think Dylan Smith … has maybe solidified himself a little more but eventually we’re not going to play everybody. And when that time comes, it will be more about what’s happened and what we’re trying to figure out. I think we have more answers now. We might not like the answers but the answers we have now are more straightforward than they would have been three weeks ago. That’s the beauty of playing in a tournament like the one we played in. You do learn a lot about your team. You don’t want to lose three games in three days, but you come out of that tournament with a lot more evidence than you did prior to playing.”

Randolph was hindered by a concussion at the start of the season. He missed an exhibition and UA’s season-opener before returning against UMBC on Nov. 12.

Still, Randolph was just limited to four minutes in that game and never seemed comfortable until the Purdue game, scoring just six points on 2-11 shooting in his first four games.

He said he is more confident now.

“I was a little tentative, a little nervous,” Randolph said. “I just know I haven’t played a live session but now I feel back to myself. ... After the concussion we haven’t had a real, live practice but I’m getting back into the rhythm and I think that last game allowed me to get my flow back.”

Arizona (3-3) will be looking to get its flow back Wednesday against Long Beach State (6 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Networks) after losing three straight for the first time in eight years.

Randolph said the Wildcats were angry following the trip to the Bahamas and UA’s practices have been more energetic this week as they look to get back to winning ways.

“We’re definitely eager,” he said. “We want to get back to ourselves.”

Rawle Alkins tweeted another clock emoji on Monday, hinting that his return is near but Miller said he doesn’t know when the sophomore will return to game action.

But Miller did say Alkins has been able to do non-contact drills in practice for the first time, and that Arizona will “steadily increase” his activity.

“I hope that sometime in the near future that he will be close to being cleared to play and then we’ll go from there,” Miller said.

Alkins broke his foot in late September, and he is nine weeks into an eight-to-12-week recovery timetable.

“He wouldn’t have been able to play in the Bahamas, but if we we’re in a single elimination NCAA Tournament, Pac-12 Tournament game this week, he might be able to play,” Miller said. “But we want to be really cautious and make sure we give him the best time.”

Miller said there’s “not a chance” Arizona would have lost all three games in the Bahamas if it had Alkins in the lineup.

“Eventually he’s going to return and when he does, I believe we’re returning one of the best players in our conference,” Miller said. “He is going to give us some qualities that are going to really help right away. Another offensive rebounder, another defensive rebounder, a big, strong physical player.

“For the first time in about six or seven years I had the feeling at times in games that we weren’t the stronger, bigger team. That the team we were competing against was bigger, stronger, more physical. A lot of that has to do with the age and the size and the strength of the teams we played. Basketball is physical and when you’re not that team, man you better make shots. You better take care of the ball, you better check out in the skill area of the game and we didn’t.”

Miller harped on Arizona’s lack of a defensive stopper and said he thinks Alkins “will be a good defender” when he returns and settles in.

“I think instead of developing a stopper, we just have to a develop a guy who can get a stop. There’s a big difference,” Miller said. “You have a defensive lineman that hasn’t gotten a sack in three years. It would be nice if he could get one. We don’t need him to be Lawrence Taylor, we just need him to touch the quarterback.”

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Roundtable: How concerned are you about this Arizona basketball team?

Time to panic?

The Arizona Wildcats (3-3) have gotten off to one of the worst starts imaginable, losing three straight and dropping out of the AP Poll for the first time in 100 weeks.

It is a surprising development for an uber-talented team ranked No. 2 to begin the season, but it’s only November so there is still a lot of time left to turn things around.

That said, how concerned are you about this team?

We discussed it below. Be sure to leave your opinion in the comment section below.

Jason Bartel

Not concerned at all. College basketball is a sport where if you’re an above average program, nothing you do matters until March. And all you have to do is win six games in a row in March to make the entire year worth it.

All of this pre-Rawle Alkins era doesn’t matter and the Pac-12 is so bad that I still see Arizona as the overwhelming favorite in such a horrible conference. None of this matters right now. The only thing that’s happened is that a 1-seed is likely out of the realm of possibility, but as Arizona fans know, that doesn’t matter one bit.

Ryan Kelapire

I’m really not concerned at all. While it’s a little strange seeing Arizona unranked, the beauty of college basketball is November games are insignificant so long as things don’t snowball from there.

And this team is just too talented — and the Pac-12 is too awful — for that to happen, especially since Rawle Alkins is coming back soon and he fills several needs (good defender, perimeter playmaker, shooter, etc.).

Arizona’s freshmen need to pick up their production to be sure, but they should once they get more accustomed to the college game.

And as Jason said, the only thing this slide has cost Arizona is a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament which the Wildcats have proven doesn’t really matter.

Also, how funny would it be if Arizona does the opposite of what it usually does and has a shaky regular season followed by a killer postseason?

What if Arizona goes something like 24-10 in the regular season, but finally makes the Final Four?

Seeing how so many people evaluate college teams based on their postseason success alone, that would be seemingly considered a more successful season than the ones the T.J. McConnell-led teams had in which they lost just four or five games all year.

So, yeah, it seems kind of odd to be concerned about how Arizona looks in November when all people seem to care about is the result of their final game. From that standpoint, all that matters is Arizona makes the tournament and is playing well heading into it.

Christopher Boan

I side with Jason. It’s a loooong season folks, and Arizona’s gonna be shaky as hell until they get Alkins back (and pry the ball away from Allonzo Trier’s long, muscular fingers). It’s an embarrassment how the team played in Nassau, but it’s a step in the gut-shredding anxiety hellscape that is modern college hoops. The 2000-01 team had five losses entering conference play, and we all know how shaky the lone championship team in school history was.

So take a few deep breaths, take solace in the fact that the hiccups (and outright on-court vomiting) are happening in November, and not March or April. There are no trophies of importance given in the non-conference schedule, no matter what ESPN or Fox or Phil Knight try to tell you. The real season that matters is still more than a month away.

Robby Leaño

After the first loss to NC State, I saw quite a lot of problems, but I wasn’t worried. After their loss to SMU, I’ll admit I was confused. After losing to Purdue, I was just pissed.

On none of those occasions was I “concerned” — I consider the Thanksgiving tournament to be just “beginning of the season tournament kink work” ... if that makes any sense. Essentially it’s trying to get a tournament setting out early for these top teams to test them. Arizona fell, but it’s also relatively new team (compared to last year).

Deandre Ayton, Emanuel Akot, Ira Lee, Brandon Randolph, Dylan Smith are all trying to find their chemistry and the balance Arizona wants and needs. Sean Miller said he’ll work on getting more minutes to those who play defense. Maybe it will work if, at the moment, he limits the minutes of those who lack defense.

Overall however, I know this three-game losing streak is just another bump in the road for Arizona. Their veteran players like Trier and Parker Jackson-Cartwright are used to them. Plus, Rawle Alkins is due for his return sometime in the next couple of weeks, and there’s lots of believe his return will spark a new life in this Arizona team.

So keep your heads up Arizona fans, there’s still like 25 games left of the season. Arizona will be fine.

Alec Sills-Trausch

Oh boy, here we go. I’m personally not concerned but I am a bit flabbergasted. It’s been a looooong time since I saw an Arizona team down by 20 for the better part of a half and it’s just plain weird.

This team is arguably the most talented team in the country and it’s apparent that talent is taking a little longer to mesh than we all thought. I guess this is what it’s like to be a Kentucky fan. As Jason noted above, the games that matter happen in March and if Arizona wants to take some time to figure it out, I guess it’s better they do it now compared to later.

I do want to see what this team is like when 1) Alkins comes back. I would be shocked if everything meshes right away but maybe his defense and leadership is what this team needs. 2) They return to the US. We have to remember these are college kids, basically on vacation over the Thanksgiving holiday, and easily could not have taken it as seriously as they should.

One thing I do want to note is I don’t think this is FBI related. Unless the Feds are making them play with wires on their bodies at all time, there’s no reason why an investigation, that isn’t touching them personally, should be on their mind when they step on the court.

For a final thought, if this team doesn’t show up Wednesday, then it might be time to start seeing if we are truly in the Upside Down.

Tony Capobianco

I live in the East Coast now so if it happens on the Pac-12 Networks (or ESPN3) then it never happened. I get UNLV, Texas A&M, Alabama, New Mexico, UCONN and Bob Hurley and them boys in December. This is the month to redeem yourself, Santa Miller.

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Monday, November 27, 2017

Post-Bahamas notebook: On Arizona’s defense, more touches for Ayton and Ristic, freshman struggles, Alkins’ return and more

Notes and quotes from Sean Miller’s radio show

The unranked Arizona Wildcats have returned to Tucson after losing three games in the Bahamas and return to the court Wednesday when they host Long Beach State.

Before that, Sean Miller had his weekly radio show on Monday, and here are some notes and quotes from it about all sorts of basketball topics.

Miller outlined two areas in need of the most improvement: defensive rebounding and transition defense.

Miller gave UA’s transition defense an F for its performance in the Bahamas.

“A lot of that starts with our older guards, the players that have been there before. They know what to do and how to do it. Transition defense it’s like being on special teams in football. Only you truly know how hard you’re running. Your coach does as well. But the fans a lot of times, they’re just judging you on did we get a tackle or not. Transition defense is something that you have to make the game 5-on-5. You can’t give teams easy breakout 3s. You have two people guarding the same person and all of a sudden there’s an easy basket at the rim. Why? Because we didn’t have communication and that’s something we can control right now. The consequences of not doing that well are big. That is the absolute.

“If there’s one thing we can do an about-face where you’re like ‘they went from an F to maybe a B’ it’s in transition defense. Our guards, our bigs understanding that you have to get back and make the game 5-on-5. That’s something in the past that we’ve taken a lot of pride in. We have very little pride in that right now and that was a big, big thing that hurt us in all three games. I would say with Parker (Jackson-Cartwright) and Allonzo (Trier), if you want to hold them accountable to anything here early, they have to teach the younger guards the importance of it. They have to do it in the game, they have to talk about it and they have to lead in that area.”

Deandre Ayton is averaging 12 rebounds per game, but no one else is averaging more than 5.8 and Arizona ranks 283rd in defensive rebounding percentage in the country, hence why Miller sees it as an area of improvement.

“We have to support Deandre’s defensive rebounding as a team. Everybody. SMU beat us because they got second shots. Their guards, their wings beat us up on the glass. There were some key plays there where they got to the ball, got second shots, got third shots and when you give teams like them that many chances, you lose. They shot 70 times against us, we shot 49. It’s amazing that it was a close game. Our defense was actually better in that game if you judge us on first-shot defense or how many times they missed or how hard we played, it was probably the best performance of the three, but we didn’t finish the possession. Our teams traditionally have done a great job defensive rebounding. It’s built to make it so that we get that rebound, and some of the games we’ve won that have been our biggest victories started with our ability to dominate the glass.

“[Defensive rebounding and transition defense] aren’t two exciting things to talk about but those are some things that from an accountability standpoint, things we gotta get better at right now. It’s the beginning of the possession, getting back, and at the end of the possession: (giving up just) one shot. ... If we do those two things I think you’ll see we’ll improve in a lot of areas."

Miller said having three games in three days made it difficult for Arizona to fix any of its issues while in the Bahamas, but the losses could wind up being a good thing for the team in the long run.

"You can’t, in a ballroom on a quick turnaround, three games three days, all of a sudden do an about-face or become the team that you want to become.

“Three games in three days is an immense challenge in college basketball. Part of what we dealt with is we lost our confidence. We have a number of things we have to get better at.

“I can make the argument that there could be a time down the road this season that we look at our experience in the Bahamas going to Atlantis and losing these three games as the very, very best thing that could have happened to this team. That’s what you have to say now because there’s not an alternative that’s good, but we have to work hard to make that the truth. And we have all the makings of it.

Why did UA’s freshmen (other than Ayton) struggle so much in the Bahamas? Here was Miller’s response.

“With the freshmen, it’s really confidence. It’s about those guys learning from their mistakes, not feeling that they have to do everything perfect when they’re out there but to play the game free. That’s really what happened with Brandon Randolph. He didn’t play a lot in his first couple games, the score started to get away from us and he just came in and said ‘let me see what I can do’ and next thing you know God he looks like somebody who’s really going to be a terrific player.

“But each one of our freshmen have to be able to relax and on defense give us their heart and soul and great effort. But offensively they know what to do and how to do and get out there and let the game come to them. Alex Barcello is a great example. Before we went to the Bahamas, Alex was terrific. He was getting better each week. We were playing him at both the 1 and the 2 — he’s one of our team’s best shooters — he didn’t have a single turnover leading into those games. And man you watch him down there and he got rattled in the first game and really maybe more so than anyone really lost his confidence. But as quick as you can lose it you can get it back.

“We need all of our freshmen because when you look at our roster, we’re really counting on that class and group of people to help us day in and day out. If you look at the Bahamas, when we don’t have them playing well it hurts our team."

Miller praised Ira Lee and Keanu Pinder for their energy and defensively ability, but said they got beat off the dribble in the Bahamas, and Pinder bit for ball fakes.

“The thing about them in the Bahamas was as well as they did at times, and I get Keanu made some exciting plays so did Ira, they got beat off the dribble in a number of instances playing against someone like them. You put them in against someone like a face-up four and every team we played had a four man that was more a wing than a big man. So Keanu and Ira are great matchups for them defensively, but Keanu sometimes went for fakes. And as he goes for fakes, he’s out of position and he takes his greatest strength, which is his quickness, and all of a sudden he adds to our problem.

“A big part of our film and giving those as feedback is their role on our team is … to be a great defender. We have to be able to trust that whoever they defend they’re going to get the job done, and in addition to that, they’re going to get steals and blocks and do things that are going to help us.

“That tournament really defines the importance of both of those guys."

One thing Miller said he learned in the Bahamas is that Ayton and Dusan Ristic need more touches.

The duo is averaging 11 made field goals per game while shooting over 60 percent.

“It makes sense for our team to give them the ball. Good things are going to happen. Part of what’s going to open up the 3-point line and easier shots for our perimeter (players) is to get them the ball in scoring position. To throw it to them when they’re open, that when we have the option of running our set plays and our transition game to never miss them and let them put fouls on the other team and shoot 60 percent and kick it out when it’s needed. I think that will give us a lot more balance.

“You look at Allonzo, it’s really difficult to guard somebody like Allonzo when he has two bigs in the game who can score. We always talk about matching up against smaller teams, they also have to match up against us. I think we have to do an overall better job of utilizing those two guys around the basket and everything we do. What did you learn in the Bahamas? We learned that.”

Miller said Ristic’s minutes are going to increase. The 7-footer didn’t play a whole lot in the Bahamas because Miller felt the opponents’ small-ball approach was a difficult matchup to play Ayton and Ristic at the same time.

“I don’t think (Ristic has) ever played better basketball in practice and in games. At first you wondered how Deandre and him would co-exist, but Deandre can guard a four-man. As a matter of fact, he was the best at guarding a face-up four. I think we’ve learned more and more about Deandre defensively and I’m looking forward to getting those two guys clicking more on offense and using that to our advantage because if you look at Dusan’s efficiency right now, it’s off the charts. That will do nothing but continue.”

Miller said Rawle Alkins is “right around the corner” from being cleared to play, but isn’t quite ready to return just yet.

“We don’t want to rush him. We have to be very smart. When you have a Jones fracture, the worst thing you can do is come back too early. He’s at nine weeks on Wednesday, it was an eight-to-12-week diagnosis. He wouldn’t have been ready a week ago, he’s not ready right now, but I think he’s right around the corner from being cleared and we have our fingers crossed.”

Miller said Arizona missed Alkins in the Bahamas.

“It would have been nice to have an older, experienced player out there so the freshmen that played didn’t have to do as much or we didn’t have to count on them as heavily, but the fact is Rawle is going to join us at some point and when he does that, if nothing else changes, will make our team a lot better.”

Miller said if Arizona had success in the Bahamas it “might have been some fool’s gold of what’s to come.”

“We have no fool’s gold. When you’re a program that’s been ranked for 100 weeks in a row ... We’re now the team that broke that streak. We’re the team that finished in eighth place in Atlantis. We’re the team that’s lost three games in a row. That’s who we are, so it’s not like anyone’s walking around with their chest out. There’s a healthy reality to that. We have our team’s undivided attention. When I talk, they listen. I think that they understand that we as a group have to get better and that’s the quest. We’ve approached the last two days like that and we’re not going to stop anytime soon."

When asked if Arizona’s guards turned the ball over too much in the Bahamas, Miller said:

“We turned it over too much as a team. Allonzo going into the Battle 4 Atlantis was doing a really great job being efficient with his assist to turnovers. He didn’t do a good job there. Some of it was on him but some of it was when things aren’t clicking … it’s like football. The quarterback gets blamed a lot but at the end of the day when you look at it sometimes his interceptions or lack of quality is the function of the line not blocking, the receivers not getting open or on that particular route the receivers ran the wrong play. No one really knows it except the locker room. We have some of that going on where somebody like Allonzo has to take on the burden of some things that weren’t efficient and that led to turnovers.”

Miller said many other things about Trier’s performance in the Bahamas — some of the quotes can be found on my Twitter feed — but I will be writing a separate piece on that.

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Mailbag: On Arizona football recruiting, basketball’s starting 5, Book Richardson’s void and more

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Roundtable: Was 2017 a successful year for Arizona football?

Is a 7-5 record satisfactory?

After falling to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Territorial Cup this past Saturday, the Arizona Wildcats closed the regular season with a 7-5 record.

On one hand, they far exceeded their preseason expectations which pegged them to finish last in the Pac-12 South.

On the other hand, Arizona lost several winnable games. So, is going 7-5 an overall successful season or a disappointing season? Do we have to wait for the result of the bowl game before making a final say?

Our staff discussed:

Ryan Kelapire: I do think it’s a successful season from the basic standpoint that Arizona went 7-5 and reached a bowl game, despite being picked to finish last in the Pac-12 South. The Wildcats overachieved and gave their fanbase several memorable moments (thanks mostly to Khalil Tate).

But ... 7-5 also feels like a letdown since Arizona was 7-3 heading into its final two games, plus it lost to archrival ASU which is a huge no-no.

But I tend to lean toward this being a successful season because a foundation for the future has been established. Tate will be the quarterback, J.J. Taylor will be the featured running back and the defense has several promising young players including true freshmen Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II, Kylan Wilborn, and Scottie Young Jr.

So while Arizona finished 7-5 and it could have easily been 8-4 or 9-3, it is fair to say that the program appears to be heading the right direction. That is something that couldn’t be said before the year started.

Christopher Boan: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for fans of the Cardinal and Blue this fall, capped off with ongoing misery in Tempe. That said, given the stated benchmark of six wins by new AD David Heeke and President Robert C. Robbins, it’s hard to paint a dire portrait of the year in-whole. I will continue to castigate Rich Rodriguez for his dumbassery against ASU on Saturday, especially in calling a mind-numbing Hail Mary play before the half that damn near killed Khalil Tate.

The loss to the Devils is infuriating, but doesn’t lessen the fact that Arizona’s in a good place heading into their TBD bowl destination. Kylan Wilborn, Colin Schooler and Tony Fields II highlight a defensive unit that could be special next fall, given Rich Rod and his staff can recruit reinforcements (and that’s a pretty big if). The expectations will surely be heightened next year, and Rodriguez and his staff will surely face much greater scrutiny from fans and administration alike, but for now it’s hard to cry too many tears over a seven-win regular season. Drink some beverages, take a few deep breaths and enjoy the fact that Arizona’s four wins ahead of their no-good, terrible 2016 campaign. The future might not be sparkling in the Old Pueblo, but at least there’s no FBI investigation to worry about.

Brandon Combs: I think one can be pleased about the overall season and disappointed at the same time. Disappointed in what could have been. However, one can also get over that quickly, because there is no reason to worry about that (especially since it won’t change anything). So I think pleased is the best word. Not over-joyed, but pleased.

I mean this team was picked to have the same season it did a year ago. There were signs of life and improvement in all aspects of the team, aside from punting (one of the main reasons I believe Arizona lost to Oregon and the school up north). Even the punt and kickoff coverages were better this year.

I would call this year a success overall. The Wildcats have four more wins than last year and are heading to a bowl game. These marks were unfathomable to many at the start of the season. The ‘Cats found their quarterback of the future. The defense, and team in general, has a great young, talented core to build upon. And that same defense gained a ton of experience this year. UA will still have a stable of running backs, with J.J. Taylor and Nathan Tilford next year. So yes, this year has been a success. Yes, the loss to the Scummies is hard and sucks and it’s something I personally don’t like going through, but the team has a great base to build upon heading into 2018.

Gabe Encinas: Rich Rodriguez has pulled off five winning seasons in six years, and by Arizona standards that sounds good. Going into this season, I expected this team to win four games at most, so I’ll say this season is a success.

But I'm afraid the October Khalil Tate simply just stalled out the inevitable, and installed a lot of false hope. This quarterback who only played due to injury single-handedly won Arizona a couple of football games.

I’m in the camp that Arizona needs to let go of Rich Rodriguez. The lack depth, talent evaluation, and development of players is hard for me to look past. Add in the overall Pac-12 record (24-30), particularly in the South, and the true numbers just don’t add up.

And next season when Arizona has to replace four of five offensive linemen, a makeshift defensive line, no wide receivers, and a group of mediocre punters, maybe then it will be time for a change in Tucson.

There is some good talent here and there, particularly with the defensive backs, tight ends and linebackers, but the position groups I mentioned above need a serious makeover.

Robby Leano: Yes and no. I believed at the beginning of the season that Arizona would be a 4-8 team. After the first four games of the season, I thought that was exactly what we’d get. Rich Rodriguez was making horrible play calls at the wrong times and there appeared to be no sense of urgency for the ‘Cats.

Enter the bye week, and then week 6 against Colorado. Quarterback Brandon Dawkins left the game early in the first quarter with an injury and in comes Khalil Tate. Here comes the story everyone has come to love: Tate essentially single-handedly turned the season around for the ‘Cats going from 2-2,to 6-2 (including a win over the then-No. 15 Washington State Cougars on homecoming night). That’s the successful part of the Wildcats season — proving everyone wrong and becoming bowl eligible — but there’s of course more to the season than eight games.

November came, and the Arizona Wildcats were shot right back down to reality. Khalil Tate’s super October performance distracted everyone from the continuous poor decision making from Rodriguez as well as poor defense. And as the story usually goes, a single player can only hold a team for so long. Arizona would then go on to lose three of their final four games, including the Territorial Cup to ASU.

So yes, Khalil Tate brought this Arizona team to a hopeful future with successful season of his own. The defense had its problems but moving forward it has some promise. But the unsuccessful piece was Rich Rodriguez’s coaching and decision making. Maybe it’s time to move in a different direction. At least Arizona has Tate for another year or two.

Alec Sills-Trausch: Deep sigh. At the macro level, yes. With a 5.5 over/under, from a pure wins perspective, this was successful — though I’m not sure if many Arizona fans are pounding their chests at the moment. Looking back on the season, the Houston and Utah games definitely stand out as winnable games that Arizona didn’t take advantage of, but even if Arizona had won those games, losing the last two games, including to a rival, will always put a sour taste on the season.

On a micro level, this was also successful. The fact we got Khalil Tate established as the program’s quarterback is huge. Yes, there are other issues but having a quarterback that excites the fan base, the players, and possible recruits are key to building any football team. Now, Tate isn’t the complete answer to all the other issues — Rich Rod and Co. need to figure out recruiting and scheming but for a team that came in with few expectations, it’s not completely unreasonable to look back on this season with some rose-colored glasses.

(It should also be noted that while I consider it a success, I’m none too pleased with how this season ended.)

Tony Capobianco: To me, the only good thing about last year’s miserable season was the dominating victory over Arizona State. I felt that back-to-back seasons without bowls would be a fireable offense. I also called the Territorial Cup game a “loser leaves town” match for two years now. Somehow the winner ended up leaving town.

Now to me, whether or not this season is considered to be a success depends on the bowl game. SB Nation has Arizona playing a revenge game against Boise State in Las Vegas (Oh please God, not them again) while ESPN has the Wildcats either in the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State or Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl. So I either get to relive 2013 when the Wildcats destroyed Boston College or 2012 when they had to pull off an epic comeback to beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl.

Either way, they better win.

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Arizona falls out of AP Top 25 after three losses in Bahamas

The Wildcats were the first No. 2-ranked team to fall out of the Top 25 since 1986-87

After dropping all three games they played in Battle 4 Atlantis, the Arizona Wildcats have fallen out of the AP Top 25, it was unveiled Monday when the latest poll was released.

This is Arizona’s first time being unranked since the 2011-12 season, and the first time since 2009-10 that it has endured a three-game losing streak.

The UA had been ranked in the AP Poll 100 straight weeks, the second-longest streak in college basketball only behind Kansas.

The Wildcats became the first No. 2-ranked team since 1986-87 Louisville to lose three straight games and subsequently fall out of the Top 25.

The full AP Poll can be found here. Arizona received 34 votes, placing it as the No. 30 team in the country.

Is it right that Arizona dropped from No. 2 to unranked? Yes. Arizona has three losses and zero quality wins. It’s that simple.

Does it matter that Arizona is unranked? No. There’s a lot of time left to turn the season around.

That said, Arizona’s schedule isn’t letting up in the coming weeks. The Wildcats face No. 9 Texas A&M in Phoenix on Dec. 5, and then host No. 24 Alabama on Dec. 9. They also have a road game this Saturday against UNLV which is 6-0 and beat Utah by 27 points.

So Arizona will need to improve substantially if it wants to avoid picking up another loss or two in the near future.

The Wildcats (3-3) return to the court Wednesday when they host Long Beach State at 6 p.m. MST.

Arizona is ranked as the No. 17 team in college basketball by KenPom, with the No. 7 offense in the country and No. 44 defense.

The only Top 25 teams in the Pac-12 are No. 20 ASU and No. 14 USC. UCLA fell out of the polls after losing to Creighton last Monday.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Bowl projections: Arizona likely to face Boise State in Las Vegas?

Ready for a rematch vs. Boise State?

The Arizona Wildcats finished the regular season with a 7-5 overall record and a 5-4 mark in Pac-12 play.

Arizona will officially find out where it will be bowling on Dec. 3, but the latest projections overwhelmingly suggest the Wildcats will play the Boise State Broncos in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Take a look:

Las Vegas Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 16 — Las Vegas, NV)

Sports Illustrated (vs. Boise State)
SB Nation (vs. Boise State)
CBS (vs. Boise State)
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura (vs. Fresno State)
Athlon Sports (vs. Boise State)

Cactus Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 26 — Phoenix, AZ)

ESPN’s David Hale (vs. Kansas State)

Sun Bowl (Friday, Dec. 29 — El Paso, TX)

NBC Sports (vs. Louisville)

Pac-12 bowl tie-ins

New Year’s Six
Alamo Bowl vs. Big 12
Holiday Bowl vs. Big Ten
Foster Farms Bowl vs. Big Ten
Sun Bowl vs. ACC/Notre Dame
Las Vegas Bowl vs. Mountain West
Cactus Bowl vs. Big 12

(Note: The Rose Bowl is a CFP Semifinal game this season so the Pac-12 champion is not automatically eligible for a spot in the game.)

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Sunday, November 26, 2017

3 up, 3 down in Arizona’s loss to ASU

The Wildcats’ defense performed better than the scoreboard would indicate

Despite leading 24-14 at halftime, the Arizona Wildcats fell 42-30 to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday.

Khalil Tate got injured and hardly played in the second half, ultimately leading to UA’s demise (along with some poor special teams play, and we will address that in a second).

Our full recap can be found here, and here are some positive and negative takeaways from the game:

3 up

Arizona’s defense

Yes, Arizona gave up 42 points, but that number is not exactly representative of how the defense played.

ASU was held to 390 yards, the second-lowest mark a Pac-12 opponent has posted against Arizona all season.

The Sun Devils averaged 4.6 yards per carry, but that number is also inflated by a 62 yard scamper Demario Richard that happened with the game out of reach. Take that run out and ASU ran for 162 yards on 48 carries (3.4 ypc) — an admirable performance by the UA defense that was without two starters on its defensive line in Justin Belknap and Luca Bruno. Tight end Trevor Wood even saw a few snaps at defensive end.

Arizona’s defense got burned by its offense and special teams. Arizona only had 188 yards of offense in the second half, and had several quick drives that didn’t give the defense time to breathe. And the punting game was so disastrous that it gave ASU a short-field to work with several times.

The Sun Devils had three drives in the second half start at the UA 33-yard line or closer and would have had a fourth if they didn’t touch that botched punt by Josh Pollack (more on that later).

Arizona’s defense received a lot of criticism the last several weeks — and rightfully so — but it certainly wasn’t the reason UA lost the Territorial Cup.

Also, shoutout to freshman linebackers Colin Schooler and Tony Fields II. They each had a sack and double-digit tackles, and are a reason to be optimistic about this program’s future.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Lorenzo Burns tallied his fifth interception, too, becoming the first UA defensive back to have five interceptions since Trevin Wade in 2009.

There’s a ton of young talent on that side of the ball.

Khalil Tate

Before being sidelined by a left shoulder injury, Khalil Tate looked sharper than ever. The sophomore quarterback completed 10 of his 11 pass attempts in the first half, with that one incompletion coming on a Hail Mary at the end of the second quarter.

Unfortunately, he got popped pretty badly on that play and would eventually be replaced by Brandon Dawkins in the second half, which did not go well.

Tate’s value to the Wildcats was more apparent than ever. Without him, this team probably wins four or five games at best.

The biggest concern — as it seems to be the case with all of Rich Rodriguez quarterbacks — is Tate staying healthy.

J.J. Taylor

When Arizona’s passing game stalled with Dawkins at quarterback, Taylor churned out some difficult yards to keep the chains moving.

Taylor wound up finishing with 12 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a five-yard pass from Tate that appeared to be a touchdown, but was ruled down at the 1-yard line.

Taylor probably should have gotten more touches as Nick Wilson had 15 carries for just 51 yards.

3 down

Rich Rod’s playcalling

The Hail Mary that got Tate hurt (or at least got him more hurt, as Rodriguez said he was ailing before that play) should have never happened.

Up 24-14, Arizona had the ball at its own 45-yard line with a minute left in the first half, and was content with running the clock out, for whatever reason.

Arizona ran the ball three times, let time tick off, and then had Tate heave a pass into the end zone as the clock hit triple zeros. While doing so, a pair of ASU defenders put a huge hit on Tate, who never returned to form afterwards which is the No. 1 reason UA lost the game.

What didn’t make sense: One, Tate was 10 for 10 entering that drive and there was more than enough time for the UA to throw the ball to get into field goal range or even score a touchdown.

Two, if Rodriguez was OK with taking a 24-14 lead into halftime, he should have just had Tate kneel and end the half right then and there, rather than leave him susceptible to a hit on an unlikely Hail Mary.

Personally, I would have gone for that first option and tried to score. The Wildcats had all the momentum up until that point and going up 31-14 or even 27-14 at the half — and getting the ball at the start of the third quarter — could have devastated ASU.

Rodriguez didn’t regret his course of action in that final minute, but he did admit that his playcalling in the fourth quarter when the UA got stopped at the goal line could have been better.

“I wish I had those two plays over and would certainly call different plays,” he said.

Punting

Aside from the injury to Tate, the other reason Arizona lost was because of its punting game, if you can even call it that.

Arizona punted five times for 114 yards — a 22.8-yard average. Seriously, the best punt was courtesy of tight end Trevor Wood, who punted for 40 yards.

That meant ASU had favorable field position all game.

Jake Glatting had two punts for 74 yards, but also dropped the snap on another which resulted in his attempt being blocked and returned to the UA 5-yard line. ASU scored a few players later to cut UA’s lead to 24-21 at the beginning of the third quarter — a huge swing in momentum.

The most laughable punt attempt was by Josh Pollack who dropped a perfectly-placed snap and kicked the ball with his left foot to avoid the oncoming rush. The ball traveled like 10 yards, but it hit a Sun Devil and was recovered by Arizona, giving the UA a first down.

Arizona has had trouble punting all season, and Rodriguez summed the mess up with this comment after the game:

“We are a Division I team and we can’t cut a snap and punt the ball,” he said. “The kids are trying, but it is just remarkable.”

7-5 record

At the beginning of the season I predicted Arizona would finish 5-7, and the Wildcats were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 South. So you would think finishing 7-5 with a trip to a bowl game would be a successful season.

It sort of is from that standpoint, but then you think about how many games they let slip away and it’s agonizing.

The losses to Utah and Houston probably don’t happen if Tate is the starting quarterback/not injured at the beginning of the year, and the loss to ASU was most definitely a winnable game.

So, yes, Arizona was 7-5 and exceeded everyone’s expectations, but a few small changes and the Wildcats come away with eight or nine wins.

Plus, finishing the regular season on a two-game losing streak, including a loss to ASU, is certainly not the way you want to head into the postseason. All that excitement after Tate’s emergence has waned significantly.

On a bright note, Arizona fans will likely get to enjoy a trip to Las Vegas instead of the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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Arizona signee Brandon Williams shining in return from knee surgery

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Saturday, November 25, 2017

Arizona volleyball beats ASU on Senior Day, sweeps season series

A good ending to a rough week for Arizona Athletics

The Arizona volleyball team took down ASU in four sets (25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17) Saturday in McKale Center to wrap up the 2017 campaign.

The Wildcats finish the year with an 11-18 record, their lowest win total since 1992, but swept the season series against the rival Sun Devils.

"It was nice to finish off the season with a full point for the Territorial Cup," said UA head coach Dave Rubio.

"I'm sad that it's come to an end and I was telling the players how much I'll miss seeing them in the gym and helping them get better. To me, it seems like the season just started which is a good thing because when you lose as much as we did this year, most teams would feel the exact opposite. But I wish we had another month to train and I think most of the players would feel the same way."

Arizona volleyball finished the season with an 11-18 record — its lowest win total since 1992 — but head coach Dave Rubio is sad to see it end http://pic.twitter.com/9sppXR2E0Z
— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) November 26, 2017

It was a positive ending to a nightmare week for Arizona Athletics. The UA basketball team stunningly lost three games in three days in the Bahamas, while the football team lost the Territorial Cup to ASU in frustrating fashion just before UA volleyball took the floor.

“We saw the results of the football game right before we started our game, so it kinda gave us more motivation to win,” said UA outside hitter Kendra Dahlke, who tallied 13 kills.

Yes, the losses by Arizona football and basketball did give the UA volleyball team some extra motivation in its win vs. ASU http://pic.twitter.com/wCtjsh3fXT
— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) November 26, 2017

They probably didn’t need it.

"Flashing back to last year when we lost up there in five, it was a very close game, and every time we play ASU you know it's going to be an intense match and everyone wants to do really well," Dahlke said. "There's always motivation to beat them, so it's always awesome when we do.”

UA freshman Paige Whipple had a team-high 19 kills Saturday, while sophomore setter Julia Patterson had 46 assists.

Arizona posted a 5-15 record in Pac-12 play — ASU finished 0-20 (!) — in what was expectedly a rebuilding year for the Wildcats. They lost several key members from the 2016 squad that reached the Sweet 16, and only had three seniors on the roster.

Plus, several of the team’s top players, like Whipple and Patterson, are underclassmen.

“Inconsistent,” Rubio described his team’s play this season. “It was just really frustrating at times, really enjoyable at times, but really full of growth for the team. For us to be elite for this group, we kinda had to go through it. I wish we didn’t have to but I think that because we went through it, it’s going to make our team so much more mentally strong and physically better next year and the year to follow.”

Rubio said the attitude of the team’s underclassmen is one reason he is optimistic about the program’s future.

“The sophomore and freshman group have been terrific, and that’s why I want to be in the gym with them everyday, because the amount of improvement and excitement and enthusiasm they bring to the gym everyday has been really outstanding,” he said.

“I know that every minute that I can spend with them they’re going to get better. They’re the kinda kids, with time, that will be able to compete in the upper half of the conference and put us in a position to win at the elite level.”

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Arizona Marvelous Ideas

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Ex-Wildcat Justin Simon is a lockdown defender at St. John’s

Arizona hockey hosts ASU this weekend with chance to claim Cactus Cup

Matchup overview

Players to watch

What to expect this weekend

Prediction

Emmanuel Akot dealing with knee tendinitis, is ‘not a defensive stopper’

Sean Miller says Arizona’s effort is ‘terrible’ and its roster is ‘not that talented’

“Our effort is terrible”

“We have a couple veterans that aren’t showing the way”

“The reality for us is we’re not that talented”

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

3 things we learned in Arizona’s win over Long Beach State

The Wildcats don’t play with effort

Offense returned to its efficient ways

Alkins is “part of the solution”

Arizona routs Long Beach State 91-56 to snap losing streak

Arizona vs. Long Beach State game thread, live stream, TV channel and more

How to watch

How to listen

Pre-game coverage

As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm and like us on Facebook at http://ift.tt/2zM4Kna

Allonzo Trier scoring at an elite level, but struggling as a defender, distributor

Arizona QB commit Jamarye Joiner considered flipping to ASU after Territorial Cup

Arizona linebacker Colin Schooler makes Pro Football Focus’ Pac-12 Team of the Week

Arizona vs. Long Beach State preview: What/how to watch

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Arizona ‘eager’ to face Long Beach State, learn from Bahamas losing streak

Other notes

Herm Edwards interviewing for Arizona State coaching vacancy this weekend

Brandon Randolph to start vs. Long Beach State; Rawle Alkins nearing return

Roundtable: How concerned are you about this Arizona basketball team?

Jason Bartel

Ryan Kelapire

Christopher Boan

Robby Leaño

Alec Sills-Trausch

Tony Capobianco

Monday, November 27, 2017

Post-Bahamas notebook: On Arizona’s defense, more touches for Ayton and Ristic, freshman struggles, Alkins’ return and more

Mailbag: On Arizona football recruiting, basketball’s starting 5, Book Richardson’s void and more

Roundtable: Was 2017 a successful year for Arizona football?

Arizona falls out of AP Top 25 after three losses in Bahamas

Bowl projections: Arizona likely to face Boise State in Las Vegas?

Las Vegas Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 16 — Las Vegas, NV)

Cactus Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 26 — Phoenix, AZ)

Sun Bowl (Friday, Dec. 29 — El Paso, TX)

Pac-12 bowl tie-ins

Sunday, November 26, 2017

3 up, 3 down in Arizona’s loss to ASU

3 up

Arizona’s defense

Khalil Tate

J.J. Taylor

3 down

Rich Rod’s playcalling

Punting

7-5 record

Arizona signee Brandon Williams shining in return from knee surgery

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Arizona volleyball beats ASU on Senior Day, sweeps season series

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