Wildcats Basketball Roundtable: 2015 Season Wrap-up

Mar 28, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard T.J. McConnell (4) reacts following the 85-78 loss against Wisconsin Badgers during the second half in the finals of the west regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

5. Look back at our three loses against UNLV, Oregon State and ASU. Did those games affected us in the tournament in a positive way? Could we have been the other undefeated team along with Kentucky entering March madness and why?

Shereen:

I think they did affect the team in a positive way. Stanley needed to be calmed down and refrain from hogging the ball to win games, but ended up calming Coach Miller at the end of the ASU game toward the end of the season. He clearly matured through the process.

Also, the team learned they didn’t like the feel of losing, and crowds storming the court, and they went on a winning streak all the way up until they lost to Wisconsin in the tournament.

Each game taught them new things:

1) Our centers will get called early for fouls from Pac-12 refs, so they need to back off.

2) People will be saying nasty things to you on the court and from the stands, you HAVE to ignore them.

3) Don’t lose your cool coach, if you do, then the team will follow

4) In any given game, anyone from the team can step up to spark the team (ie. York, Korcheck, Ristic.)

This helped them learn how to adjust and it seemed to work until Frank got away with fouling and flopping and Sam starting raining three’s all over the Wildcats. Nothing much you can do about that!

Miguel:

I believe that our season deserved a little more credit then it got. I mean 4 total losses all on the road or on a neutral court? Honestly if not for Kentucky I think we are a bigger deal. I think all 3 of those losses prepared us for the road to the tournament and was a great positive for the team. They had some huge wins on the way to that loss against Wisc and they played some demons on the way. That big win at Utah, Winning the Pac-12 Tournament, getting revenge and handling a good Ohio St team, and finally beating Millers old team and assistant in a great game.

Lets also not forget that the three losses came at vulnerable times of the season. I believe the UNLV game came right before Christmas break and the player’s mind on going home. That OSU game came at the end of a long road trip to the state of Oregon, think it was like a 7 day road trip or something like that. Finally ASU came after a 7 day layoff for ASU and they had time to prepare for us. Again happy that we were challenged and lost those games though because not only did it teach us how to compete, think it also eased some of the pressure of the season. Mean we all saw the pressure Kentucky was under.

Ryan: 

The three loses at UNLV, Oregon State and ASU were very disappointing my eyes. Overall I did think that our squad did need to lose a game to set us straight.  We were playing a little too overconfident in those games and that is why we let them slip away. It did not affect our season in a negative way per se, but helped us gain momentum and focus going into the PAC-12 tournament.

After those loses Coach Miller and the rest of the Cats seemed relaxed. Unlike Kentucky who was on edge the entire tournament until the Wisconsin defeat. It would have been tough continuing into the tournament as the second undefeated team. Nerves would have rattled us on those close games against UCLA and Xavier. Nevertheless I do not regret how this season eventually turned out.

Next: Stanimal