Arizona Wildcats Basketball: How will Miller move forward without Trier?
The Arizona Wildcats basketball team had a hell of a week, losing to both Los Angeles teams; the week just got worse.
Wildcats fans and their football team were just recovering from a tumultuous football season racked with injuries. Then came basketball season. Although ‘A Players Program’ lost four key players to graduation and the NBA, there was a lot of excitement and promise going into the 2015/2016 season.
Then came basketball season. Although ‘A Players Program’ lost four key players to graduation and the NBA, there was a lot of excitement and promise going into the 2015/2016 season.
Kaleb Tarczewski started the season recovering from a foot injury. Then he went down hard with a new foot injury on during the John Wooden Legacy Classic tournament and missed the next eight games. Ryan Anderson also got hurt and has mostly played through the pain.
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Zeus worked his way back into his uniform, healing quickly and coming back faster than expected. He helped the team to earn a win over rivals ASU. Last night he was able to play 40 minutes contributing late in the game against USC. The bad news was Arizona lost in quadruple overtime to a much improved USC team, the good news was that Zeus is back.
But wait! There’s was more news to come!
Three minutes before the end of regulation at USC, Allonzo Trier started massaging his hand. He continued to play on for 23 minutes through four overtime periods. Now know why he was holding his hand and missed some free-throws, he broke his shooting hand defending USC’s Julian Jacobs. What was impressive is that Zo scored eight points with a broken hand.
Trier earned a starting spot by performing well and working ‘tirelessly in the gym’ per his coach Sean Miller. Miller has a new whole in his starting lineup that he needs to fill while his star freshman recuperates.
Brad Allis, 247Sports.com, gave some suggestions, “They could return Mark Tollefsen to the small forward spot, a position he played early in the season. They could insert Parker Jackson-Cartwright and go with a smaller three-guard line-up or give extra minutes to freshman Justin Simon.”Either Parker Jackson-Cartwright or Trier’s fellow freshman teammate
Either Parker Jackson-Cartwright or Trier’s fellow freshman teammate Justin Simon is the next guard up. Justin has played limited minutes, but he also has played in very stressful circumstances. He has come in cold and scored points immediately on several occasions.
Against Mizzou, Simon played for 16 minutes, scored 10 points and made four rebounds. Against NAU, he played for 18 minutes, scored nine points and made two rebounds. He shot 80 percent or made four out of five shots in both games.
Simon has had a few lapses on defense, but it is difficult to come in cold off the bench when you play a minute here and a couple of minutes there. It’s hard to know really what you are made of in the NCAA playing limited minutes.
Miller implemented an interesting set of substitutions during the overtime periods last night. He subbed in Tollefsen for defense, then Ryan Anderson for offense a couple of times. Brilliant. He will need to continue to be creative just like that going forward. On defense, may we suggest he consider pressing and double-teaming earlier than the last three minutes of a game? USC used this defensive strategy against the Cats, and it worked.
Anderson earned a double-double in each of the last five games, but against USC, he scored five points and made eight rebounds shooting 26 percent. Everyone has an off day; he will bounce back.
Elliott Pitts had played some wonderful shut-down defense before he stopped suiting up for games due to unknown personal reasons. Miller could really use Pitts now, but there is no timetable for his return.
Chance Comanche has not seen any action in the last three games since Zeus made his return. Comanche did not play in any of the Cat’s losses this season. Miller advised pre-season that he was counting on Chance if injuries were to occur. This is his maybe his moment to shine; he must be dying to get in and play.
Miller also warned Wildcats fans that there were going to be some challenges on the road, to prepare for some losses. None of us, including Miller, could have predicted all the injuries he would have to coach his way through.
It felt like Deja Vu today when we heard the news on Trier. Maybe Sean takes a page out of Rich Rod’s new playbook and trains his players to play new positions? Or maybe Rich Rod can take Miller out for a drink and impart any tips and tricks he learned to get through the season successfully.
Finding a solution to this new wrinkle may be the biggest challenge of Miller’s career. We have confidence in Arizona’s coach, if anyone can rise to the occasion and think outside the box, it’s Sean Miller.
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BearDown Arizona! Get better Zo! We’re pulling for you!