Sean Miller Poised to Take it to the Next Level

Two months ago when my brother and I arrived at Staples Center for Arizona’s Elite Eight game against Wisconsin, my Spidey senses were telling me the Cats were going to be victorious and would be in the Final Four for the first time in 14 years.

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I also had the feeling the previous year in Anaheim.

I guess that is why I’m not a superhero.  I was dead wrong, but I was extremely proud of our teams and what they accomplished the past two seasons.

Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller has knocked on the door of the Final Four three times at Arizona. Soon that door will be opened, but until that time comes, Arizona fans need to be patient.

March 14, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller instructs during the first half in the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference tournament against the Oregon Ducks at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Wildcats defeated the Ducks 80-52. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Tucson is extremely fortunate to have Coach Miller at Arizona.   I hope he stays here for a long time but in the coming years every time a blue blood basketball school needs a new coach I will be nervous. Those nerves will continue to be tested when high paying NBA jobs open up.

The good news is he is invested in the program and talks up the electric atmosphere at McKale Center every chance he gets.  He knows there are few places like Tucson that have such a huge appetite and passion for college basketball

Tucson loves Miller but every fan base has it’s haters and trolls.

One day after the season ended Coach Miller sent out this funny and interesting tweet.

I’m still puzzled by this tweet and the meaning of it.  Is it tongue in cheek? Was Coach Miller letting off some steam?  Was it both?  Was it something totally different.  Am I making too big a deal about this?

Lots of questions go through your mind when sitting in a desert waiting for football season to start or for Star Wars:The Force Awakens to be released.

Mar 19, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Buffalo Bulls head coach Bobby Hurley speaks during a press conference before the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

A week after this famous tweet was posted, Arizona State hired former Duke Blue Devil and 2-time National Champion Bobby Hurley to lead it’s basketball program.

How do you get Arizona fans to dislike the Sun Devils even more than they already do?

Hire a Dukie.

The sample size on Hurley is pretty small but he did get Buffalo to it’s first NCAA Appearance in school history.

At last year’s Arizona/Arizona State game in Tempe (I still don’t know how the Cats lost that game) as usual, nearly half the arena was made up of Arizona Wildcat fans.  When the pre-game hype video came on I expected to see a historical look at the Sun Devils much like Arizona does at McKale before each home game.

Arizona State’s basketball history is far from great but they have had some outstanding players through the years.

James Harden, Eddie House, Byron Scott and Fat Lever were never mentioned in the video, instead the video mostly focused on Arizona State students and their annoying and sometimes funny ‘Curtain of Distraction‘.

Sun Devil fans want Hurley to take the program to a point where they will be known for great basketball instead of just being known for James Harden and a bunch of college kids distracting opponents free throw attempts in interesting ways.

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Making an apathetic fan base care about its basketball program will be a challenge for the Sun Devils new coach.  He’s starting from scratch and has to deal with 30 years of basketball tradition 100 miles south of Tempe.

If Hurley miraculously turns the Sun Devil basketball program around I can’t see him staying there long, especially if Mike Krzyzewski retires in the near future.  I’m sure Duke would love to have one of their own as the next head coach of the Blue Devils.

The curse and blessing Miller had when he came to Tucson was that former head coaches Fred Snowden and Lute Olson made Tucson care about the Wildcats.

When people care about something they can and will say some stupid and regrettable things.

I hope Coach Miller doesn’t let the few naysayers get to him. I hope he knows how much Tucson adores him.  He has put Tucson back on the map and into the consciousness of nightly ESPN viewers and College Basketball analysts everywhere.

In six years in Tucson,  Coach Miller, his staff and players have won three conference titles, had four sweet-sixteen appearances, and three elite eight appearances.

Miller has an .733 winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament during that time.   Coach K has a career winning percentage of .772 in the NCAA Tournament at Duke.

Final Fours and National Titles are the only thing left for Coach Miller to accomplish.  My Spidey senses say that will happen soon.   My senses have to be right at some point, right?

Bear Down!

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