Arizona Basketball leader emerging in star guard Rawle Alkins

This season it has taken a while to figure out who the leader would be on the 2017-18 Arizona Basketball team. Rawle Alkins is emerging as this season’s team leader.

Arizona Basketball fans are still hanging on to the edge of their seat this season, but with the return of Rawle Alkins, Coach Miller and the fans are breathing a little bit easier these days. Being a leader was something Alkins had on his list of goals.

Every winning team has a leader or two that brings the X-Factor, the inspiring play and the pats on the back along with pumping up the team to win games. Without a strong leader, it is difficult for a team to win games and be legendary. Court play is a significant factor, but being vocal and stepping up outside of the arena and behind the scenes along with coaching teammates on the court is a huge ingredient.

The 1997 Arizona Basketball NCAA Championship team had two leaders. Miles Simon and Jason Terry who took over for Simon when he was on academic suspension. Miles Simon is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers under Luke Walton, and Jason Terry is still playing basketball in the NBA (13 seasons with six teams and $106,782,266 in salary). Terry is also an NBA Champion and sports broadcaster.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The 1997 team had its ups and downs, and that created the opportunity for the team to have two leaders along with a court leader in Mike Bibby. Adversity helped the team bond and win games. Having a leader is very important to get to a championship.

That said, we all have suffered enough drama so far this season, and I don’t know how much more any of us can take. With Rawle Alkins sidelined injury keeping him out of the first eight games of the season along with the three straight losses in the Bahamas to more experienced teams and the FBI Probe/firing of Coach Book has provided more than enough adversity.

Adversity, check! But what about leadership? Who is inspiring the freshman? Who is leading by example? Who is pumping players on the court and the bench? We have been looking for the player who will step up all season. Dusan Ristic spoke to the team after the Bahamas debacle. It seems the Wildcats are a quiet team this season, but that was until Rawle Alkins came roaring back onto the court and into our hearts once again!

It took Alkins one game to get back into his groove before he scored 26 against New Mexico State. The Arizona Basketball team has only lost one game to Colorado since he has come back into the lineup. If you recall, in that one loss, the four players Miller put on the court who didn’t give as the last seconds ticked off the clock. Deandre Ayton, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Dylan Smith all contributed hugely, but it was Alkins three with 32 seconds left that got the team not to give up. Colorado scored four points and Arizona seven to bring the final score within three points, 80-77, with a prayer to tie or win the game on a PJC missed three.

A lot of words have been used by the media and game announcers this season to describe Alkins: Tough, energizer, tenacious, vicious, champion and a gift from the heavens to name a few. The last two were from the legendary basketball player and now broadcaster Bill Walton who put Alkins on his Arizona All NBA list.

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You can say Alkins also leads on the court with his defense. As he said recently in a post-game press conference, defense wins games. Head Coach Sean Miller has probably spent many waking hours trying to figure out how to get his team to play better defense and get them to play for him. With Alkins back, he can breathe a little easier because he can get through to Alkins and you can see he is back to normal on the sidelines. He knows his team can win games now; they can close them out.

Against Oregon, Alkins shut down his man, projected 2018 NBA lottery pick Troy Brown. Brown has scored in double digits for the Ducks in 12 out of 17 games. Alkins kept Brown to a measly four points turning over the ball three times on Saturday afternoon. That’s impressive. He just plain is the X-Factor on defense for the Arizona Basketball team. He lifts his entire team the way he plays and stifles his opponent.

Over the last month or so, the freshmen class have come out to talk about how they feel King Rawle is helping the team. From Brandon Randolph to Deandre Ayton to Ira Lee, he is becoming a role model for the players he came back to win a championship with. And make no mistake about it, that is his goal this season.

A great leader is also someone who knows his teammates, knows how the play the best. Alkins explained today about his fellow starters, and you can see he knows their games and how they play best.

A leader is someone who pumps up his teammates and keeps their head in the game. You can see here against Oregon, Alkins went over to Keanu Pinder before a few key free-throws and gave him some reassurances.

A leader gives credit to their teammates lifts them up, and speaks publically about the team and not necessarily about only their play. Lately, Miller has given Alkins more time to the media after the Oregon game, Alkins told the press that the game would not have been won without Pinder. “That’s an SC Top 10 Dunk,” said Alkins of his teammate’s exciting one-handed dunk at the end of the game. Alkins also points out that you can’t lose your cool with bad calls from the refs. He could have lost his temper several times in the last few games with bogus calls, but he hasn’t, and his teammates are watching.

Alkins has also improved his stats in almost every category in just nine games over last season, so he is leading by example as well.

Season G GS MP FG% 2P% 3P% FT% TRB AST STL BLK PTS 2016-17 37 36 28.0 .463 .521 .370 .733 4.9 2.1 0.9 0.5 10.9 2017-18 9 8 30.2 .494 .588 .353 .787 4.3 2.7 1.6 0.8 14.8 Career 46 44 28.5 .470 .535 .366 .750 4.8 2.2 1.0 0.5 11.7

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 1/15/2018.

TJ McConnell was a floor general a coach on the court for Miller, and that is what is needed on the team, Miller relied on him for that. McConnell molded Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson into the NBA along with himself. McConnell was said to be undersized and not have what it took to play in the NBA. Well, we all know how that turned out, now a fan favorite who plays with a ton of heart on both sides of the court. It’s that same grittiness and leadership I see emerging in Alkins.

Everything happens for a reason and timing is everything. It is time for this team to keep rising up the charts. Greg Hansen has pushed Alkins into his Top 10 players in the Pac-12, and Bill Walton (and others) cannot stop singing Alkins praises. The feeling is mutual between Walton and Alkins, hear what he has to say about the colorful commentator. Passion is the key.

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There you have it, Rawle Alkins is becoming the leader of the Arizona Basketball team. Something that was hugely missing and needed. It may not be an easy two road-wins this weekend against Cal and Stanford, but you better bet Alkins will be stepping up his play along with his leadership to help the Cats fulfill their destiny this season.