Arizona Basketball: Kadeem Allen leads Pac-12 All-Stars in Loss to Australia
By Mark Barrera
The Pac-12 All-Stars are playing a two-game series with the Australian national team as the Boomers prep for Rio, two Arizona Basketball players and their team lost 92-83.
Current Arizona Wildcats basketball players Kadeem Allen and Chance Comanche are participating in a great opportunity, not just for the sport of basketball, but for the experience against national teams. The Pac-12 All-stars began their two-game series with the Australian National team yesterday.
The Australian National team, as they prep for Rio, was going to be a stiff test for they young US amateurs. The experience and pure size of the Australians bigs and with a couple of current NBA players on their roster, it may have been a daunting task for the Pac-12 team, the All-Stars were going to have their hands full.
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The All-Stars went down 92-83. It was no blow-out! The Pac-12 team only lost by nine point! Not too shabby.
The breakout player for the night was Arizona’s own Kadeem Allen. Allen led the Pac-12 All-stars in scoring with 15 points. He finished the night 5/14 from the field, going 2/4 from the 3-point line, and finished with five rebounds. Allen logged the most minutes for Coach Montgomery at just under 25 minutes.
Arizona center Chance Comanche also saw some playing time yesterday. However, his stint was a very short one, he only played nine minutes. During his short time on the floor, Chance pulled in two rebounds.
We’re disappointed in the lack of minutes for Chance. I’m a big fan of the Arizona PF/C and was looking forward to the experience he’d get against professional level bigs. In a scrimmage the night before, Chance put up 14 points. Even with the lack of minutes, I’m sure this was a great experience for our WildcaT.
The Pac-12 All-Stars still have one more game left on their three-game tour in Melbourne. They will have a rematch with the Boomers.
With only one more game to be played, there is hope Chance will play more minutes. Zeus is no longer in Tucson for Comanche to bang around with on the block, but he has been able to practice with Ray Smith. The next game could give him the opportunity to show he can hang with professional PF/C’s which we know he can, he shut down NBA Rookie Jakob Poeltl in the game against Utah last season.
Playing only three game’s doesn’t seem like a great learning experience to some. But this trip is more than the experience gained on the court. This is a great opportunity for the Pac-12 to assist in expanding the popularity of the sport.
And as the above video shows, the players also got a lesson in turning your back to a lion, even if it is behind glass…
Here are some highlights from game one of two against the Aussies:
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It’s a great opportunity to be a part of this tour for Chance and Kadeem. But it also is a tad irritating… I’m ready for the season to begin, and this only makes me want the season to start even more! Best of luck men!