The Arizona-Xavier Sweet 16 matchups in 2015 and Thursday aren’t the only things that might have tested the friendship between UA coach Sean Miller and Xavier’s Chris Mack.
There’s also the fact that Mack, who was Miller’s top assistant coach at Xavier, now uses multiple zone defenses — schemes that Miller has never been a fan of except in desperate situations.
But they get through it.
“He doesn’t tease me,” Mack says, smiling. “I think Sean has a belief that each coach knows their team the best and so he’s awfully supportive. If I feel the zone’s our best answer, then he’s not going to critique me. Maybe he is behind closed doors with his staff, but for our team I thought it was the best way to go.”
Particularly this year, as the Musketeers have battled through departures and injuries, the zone has come in handy.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity this year and our numbers were down,” Xavier guard J.P. Macura said. “I think it was easier to play zone in some situations just to save our legs a little bit.”
