Arizona to use Terrell Brown and Dalen Terry in three-guard lineups

Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

After losing seven of his nine rotation players to graduation and the NBA Draft, Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller sees real value in adding a seasoned veteran like Seattle U transfer Terrell Brown.

“That’s why you take grad transfers, because they’re older, they’re wiser. they’ve been through the ups and downs, hundreds and hundreds of practices,” Miller told UA play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries. “They know what it feels like to win on the road, what it feels like to play in March Madness. That’s what we’re going to get with Terrell.”

And probably a lot of scoring too. Brown is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 20.6 points per game—by far the most in the WAC—while taking nearly six free throws a game and posting a shooting line of .414/.291/.784.

Considering Arizona has to replace over 80 percent of its scoring, that’s a pretty big deal.

“I don’t care what conference you play in. If you score 21 points per game and you shoot the percentage from 2 that he shot, free throw attempts that he shot, we’re really excited to have Terrell,” Miller said.

At 6-foot-1, Brown would traditionally profile as a 1 or 2-guard but Miller said the Seattle transfer will be used in the many three-guard lineups Arizona plans to roll out. It has to find ways to get James Akinjo, Kerr Kriisa, Jemarl Baker Jr. Dalen Terry and Brandon Williams (hopefully) on the court too.

“The days of just playing a point guard, two big wings, a power forward and a center are over,” Miller said. You want to put your best players on the court. I think this year...we’ll have lineups that have three guards that play different styles.”

Brown certainly flashed a versatile skill set at Seattle, also averaging 6.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals last season in addition to his high scoring totals.

“You could play him at that third guard, second guard or a point guard,” Miller said. “But he’s older, he’s physical and I think it’ll help. You have this much change...you have to blend in experience when you lose that much. And Terrell will be a godsend for us, no doubt. He’ll be a big part of what we do this next season.”

Terry is ‘just a guard’—in a good way

Because of his 6-foot-6 frame, Terry is usually penciled in as a small forward on most depth charts. But you shouldn’t label UA’s top recruit like that.

“To pigeonhole Dalen Terry as just a point guard, just small forward, or two-guard would be just really unfair,” Miller said. “I believe this that he’s today’s version, the way our game’s played, of just a guard. He can play the 1, 2 or 3. When I talk about a three-guard lineup, he could be that third guard where the No. 1 thing that Dalen does well is he’s an excellent passer and he’s 6-foot-6. He loves to be in the open court with the basketball. He has just an innate ability of being able to find a man—and he does it at 6-foot-6. He also competes at a level that I admire. He’s a two-way player, I believe Jordan Brown and James Akinjo are as well.

“[Terry] gives great effort and as he gets smarter as a defensive player, same with his versatility on defense, he doesn’t just guard a certain type of guard. He can guard players all over the court, and I think with his length and size that will be something that will serve him well.”

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