Arizona Wildcats Basketball – Fans Need to Chill Out!

Fans on Social Media seem to be very upset still about the loss to Arizona State, we say “Chill out”!

Arizona Wildcats Basketball teams win-loss record is 20-3. Of the three losses, all games could have gone either way, none of them were more than a four point loss: UNLV 71-67 (four point loss), Oregon State 58-56 (two point loss) and Arizona State 81-78 (four point loss.)

Were rebounds the issue? That had something to do with two of the losses as the team was out rebounded by UNLV 46-33 and Oregon State 32-26, but out rebounded Arizona State 37-34. Was it FG%? The Wildcats shot 42.6% vs. 44.1% against UNLV, 37.8% vs. 51.3% against Oregon State and 45.1% vs 50% against Arizona State. Clearly this is one of the main contributors about why they lost these three games.

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It would seem on the face of it that the key to Arizona winning any game would be to take better shots as some of the players seem to be in a rush to shoot instead of setting up a play. In addition, they could try getting the ball to the player with the hot hands. It seems like players want to be the hero (Kobe Bryant mentality) instead of playing team ball which works very well for them.

I sometimes wonder what about team chemistry and the coach’s calmness level when referees are clearly calling games the other team’s way. I mean, c’mon, floor general T.J. McConnell barely touched one of the Sun Devils last weekend and they called a foul on him. Granted the foul call came right after Coach Miller gave the referee an earful about a call on Arizona which was caught by the camera person so we could all try to read his lips.

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Pac-12 refereeing has not been consistent to say the least, case in point: 67 fouls were called in the Stanford game, only 48 in the Arizona State game (only 48?), 40 were called in the UNLV game, and 30 in the Oregon State game. It seems when Coach Miller is calmer, complains quieter and the team plays as a team, it comes together for them as it has 20 times this season.

I think we all need to take a chill pill, and let the experts do their thing. Players hopefully are jelling off the court as well as on the court and they need to leave their egos at the door. Every team that plays us brings their “A” game, they step it up because a win against Arizona is so meaningful to their season. Kentucky Wildcats almost lost to LSU last night, only won by 2 points (who wasn’t cheering for LSU during that game?).

Brandon Taylor tweeted out a popular message and it resonated with me, take this into consideration:

As the ZonaZoo Crew reminds us on social media, “Sean Miller’s squad has not lost on this court in over two years” and “34 straight weeks ranked in the top 10 Longest streak in the nation.”  In addition keep in mind that after every loss, the Wildcats have recorded a series of wins, it seems to be motivation. I feel sorry for the Washington Huskies because Arizona has something to prove.