Pac-12 Tournament: Arizona Wildcats, Coach Miller and Fans Prepare

Arizona Wildcat Basketball: While eight out of 12 teams play today, the Wildcats and their ace Coach Sean Miller are preparing for Thursday when the Wildcats take on No. 8 Cal.

This week’s interview on IMG Sports Network with Brian Jeffries and Coach Sean Miller was insightful, it helped us as fans understand they have all learned from the three losses this season.

On Coach Millers feelings on Senior Saturday standing at center court:

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world. We were celebrating our regular season Pac-12 championship..It’s one of the hardest thing to do in our sport because it is an 18 game, really grind nine on the road, nine at home, playing these away games are never, never easy especially in the Pac-12 when we leave and we generally play two games.” Also, “I give our guys a lot of credit, the fact that we are 16-2 undefeated at home and McKale..it’s one of those moments you soak in.”

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“We cut down the nets, in front of what I think are the greatest fans in the world…you work hard to replicate it..” It was the greatest feeling for all of us at home, on Facebook and on twitter, at the bars, anywhere we can watch their games. When coaches say they have the greatest fans, usually they are just saying that, but in Coach Miller’s case, he isn’t kidding!

Las Vegas will be filled with Wildcat Red and chants of “UofA!” and “Beardown!” on the casino floors, on the bridges between the MGM grand, NY NY and Excalibur, and anywhere else actually. I am missing this year, saving my money for the NCAA tournament, so I will miss all that camaraderie.

In addition to all the chanting and sea of red shirts everywhere, the band, cheer team and Wilbur get the fans together before the game in the shopping area in the MGM Grand outside of the arena (indoors). All the other teams do this too, but when the Wildcats gather it is so special, loud and fun!

Feb 21, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller (L) takes his coat off during the second half against the UCLA Bruins at McKale Center. Arizona won 57-47. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Everywhere you go at the MGM Grand, you will see Pac-12 basketball players. Whether they are eating brunch with their teams, or walking around together with their families, and you cannot miss these six to seven feet tall players. I can’t say enough about the experience.

Brian asked Coach Miller what his formula was to winning a tournament playing three games in three days. Here’s excerpts from his response:

“Well we’ve been at it six times..under my direction. We’ve played very well in the tournament..we have advanced I think to the semifinals four times, to the championship three times. We’ve pulled up short, we’ve lost to some great games…that’s what happens in March..everyone is fighting a lot. We are playing our best basketball of the year, can we be ourselves?”

And, on the eight game winning streak?

“I believe we have learned from all three of our losses..our last loss was at Arizona State, and you know our effort level wasn’t what it needed to be and I don’t say that to take anything away from ASU’s performance..but we had something to do with that, and I think we all came to grips with if we wanted to be a special team and have this type of season, that we needed to play games so that if we lose we would never have that same feeling again. That was our last lesson.”

Here is Coach Miller’s reaction to guard play and backcourt keys to winning in the tournament:

“Last year it was really Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell, great experience both guys in a way were floor generals they did it on offense and defense. I thought in a lot of ways they carried a lot of the success we had a year ago.” “You have Stanley [Johnson], you have Parker [Jackson-Cartwright] and then obviously Gabe York, who I don’t know if he gets enough credit how well he’s played..Gabe has been a much better player as a Junior than he was at any time as a sophomore and it’s exciting to see him play well too.”

Per Doug Haller, sports broadcaster for the Pac-12 for AZcentral sports, in the Pac-12 Tournament’s 17 years, here’s how the Title wins stack up:

Arizona has 24 Wins and 4 Titles
UCLA has 21 Wins and 4 Titles
Oregon has 19 Wins and 3 Titles
Washington has 17 Wins and 3 Titles
Stanford has 15 Wins and 1 Title
UCS has 13 Wins and 1 Title
Colorado has 7 Wins and 1 Title

Here is the full Interview with IMG Sports Network’s Brian Jeffries and Coach Sean Miller:

Below you can find the schedule and game times care of www.pac-12.com (note PST=MST again.)

2015 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.
• Wed., Mar. 11
Game 1 COMPLETE – No. 8 CALIFORNIA 84 vs. No. 9 WASHINGTON STATE 59, 12:10 p.m. PT, P12N
Game 2 – No. 5 ARIZONA STATE vs. No. 12 USC, approx. 2:40 p.m. PT, P12N
Game 3 – No. 7 OREGON STATE vs. No. 10 COLORADO, 6:10 p.m. PT, P12N
Game 4 – No. 6 STANFORD vs. No. 11 WASHINGTON, approx. 8:40 p.m. PT, P12N

Next: Find out how the Wildcats fared in Pac-12 Honors

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