Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports included Arizona in his "Trotter's Trends: Inside the pros and cons for eight legitimate NCAA Tournament championship contenders." Trotter extensively summarized the pros and cons for each of his eight legitimate national title contenders.
Trotter stated that the pro for Arizona is that the Wildcats are the most physical team in the country and that they have "grown men" at every single position. Arizona point guard Jaden Bradley was referred to as a "fierce point-of-attack defender" by Trotter.
Trotter also praised Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenov as "one of the elite wing defenders," center Motiejus Krivas as a "mountain of a man inside the paint, " forward Tobe Awake as a "6-foot-8 fire hydrant," and "Koa Peat and Brayden Burries are five-star freshmen who look like they are 24 years old."
Trotter continued, "Tommy Lloyd has doubled down on amassing a roster of chiseled monsters. Very few teams can physically go toe-to-toe with the size of Michigan. Arizona is unequivocally on that short list."
"The Cats dominate all the areas that you'd expect from a team this big and strong. Arizona is a fantastic rebounding team. It lives at the free throw line. It can be blanketing defensively.Isaac Trotter, CBS Sports
Arizona feels upset-proof against lower-tier competition because it's just too gargantuan. If you don't have athletes on par with Arizona's, you're dead on arrival."
To illustrate Arizona's pros made by Trotter, the Wildcats are second nationally, averaging 43.7 rebounds per game and with 30.4 defensive rebounds per game, third with a 12.5 rebounding margin per game, 44.2 points in the paint per game and 38.9 offensive rebounding margin and fourth with a 58.2 rebounding percentage.
Trotter's cons for Arizona
Trotter acknowleged "It's easier said than done, but if you can keep Arizona out of transition, this offense can fall into hard times." Arizona is fourth nationally, averaging 17.2 fast break points per game. In their losses to Kansas and Texas Tech, Arizona had only an 18-16 combined advantage in fast break points.
Usually dominant on points in the paint, Arizona was a combined plus two in losses to Kansas and Texas Tech. Trotter called freshman guard Brayden Burries "the most dynamic offensive weapon" on Arizona and stated that "the lack of perimeter shot making has reared its ugly head in Big 12 play."
Arizona leads the Big XII, averaging 85.2 points per game in conference games, but is 11th, making 33.2 percent of its three-point shots. Arizona showed the ability to make threes, shooting nine of 21 in the 75-68 win over BYU on Wednesday. BYU is 14th in the Big XII, allowing opponents to make 37.4 of their three-point attempts.
Burries leads Arizona, making 1.7 three-point shots on 4.5 attempts per game at a very respectable 37.6 percent. Anthony Dell'Orso scored an Arizona career high with 22 points against BYU on eight of 15 from the field and four of eight on three-point attempts against BYU.
Getting consistent three-point shooting the rest of the season could be critical for any postseason success Arizona has. Freshman Dwayne Aristode, Jaden Bradley, Burries and Dell'Orso are capable three-point shooters. Arizona needs more consistency from them beyond the arc.