Arizona Wildcats (6-1) vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-0) | Acrisure Holiday Invitational, Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, Calif. | 2:30 p.m. Tuesday | TruTV and Max (stream) | 1400-AM
She said it
Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Vanderbilt: “Vanderbilt is really athletic. They're going to throw different presses at us. They're gonna throw 1-2-2, different full-court presses, trapping … They are hard to play against. I think for us, we have to take care of the ball. That's a huge thing because they're going to really try to turn us over. And we can't have a ton of people in the backcourt because when we've watched film, when you're in the backcourt they swarm you. They're athletes, they're not too big, but they're similar sizes, so they're going to switch a lot.
“An experienced team can take advantage of that, because you read mismatches, but we're young. (I have) to show them where mismatches will be and you have to read that. What else concerns me, what concerns me a lot, is their offensive rebounds and their transition. Turnovers would be one, offensive rebounds two, and then transition three. Turnovers in transition are going to be together, because if we turnover, they're going to get transition baskets.”
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes has some instructions for guard Jada Williams during a Grambling State free-throw attempt on Nov. 23, 2024.
On the sidelines
Needs improvement: The Wildcats found their intensity against Grambling State after it disappeared earlier in the week in the loss to NAU.
In the second half of Saturday’s game, Arizona showed it wanted it more by making the necessary corrections.
Lauryn Swann found her groove as a fourth-quarter shooter.
Plus, Paulina Paris is playing the part of the steady, reliable double-digit scorer and defensive stopper.
Arizona guard Paulina Paris (23) gets fouled on her way to the basket by Grambling State guard Sharonica Hartsfield on Nov. 23, 2024.
On the flip side, the Wildcats have still displayed that tendency to go for the home run passes, which in most cases end up going out of bounds or ultimately into their opponents’ hands. This is definitely not the plan and not something that Barnes is teaching.
At one point Saturday night after the game, Barnes said the Wildcats' play in the second quarter, specifically, looked like the “Bad News Bears.” Instead of the Wildcats being the disrupters early on, it was their opponents, the Tigers. Barnes said, “I was like, ‘What are we doing?’”
“These cross court (passes), I don’t know; I'm not a football coach, so I don't ever teach a one arm throw across the court,” Barnes said. “… I don't ever want a one hand, like, beam across the court. Those are just habits, but we definitely have to break those fast, because it's not good, and we're not going to win games … Any time you pass across your body it’s always a turnover or jumping.”
Barnes said it all comes down to fundamentals, which are worked on daily.
So young: Barnes keeps talking about how young her squad is this season. Having 10 underclassmen — freshmen and sophomores — out of 13 active players is very young.
And of those three upperclassmen, Isis Beh is starting for the first time and easing into her leadership role; Paris is a junior, who is learning a new system and back after an injury that held her out for the second half of last year at North Carolina; Erin Tack, also a junior, is coming back from an ACL injury and this is her first time playing basketball since her sophomore year of high school.
That’s not a lot of true experienced players in the UA system or just in general.
Finding new ways to teach isn’t new for Barnes as each year her teams have their own ways of learning.
“With young players you have to spell out exactly, ‘You need to do this; this is when you need to do it,’” Barnes said. “…Some stuff we know, but it takes me drawing it, talking about it and showing them the light to reinforce that. Because I think players forget in the stressful times. You may know it, but then you don't understand what's open. … It’s a process.”
One of the areas Barnes is taking time to get just right is Arizona’s calling card, the defense. At times, it looks undisciplined when pressing and reaching for a steal. For a faster opponent, they turn this into a five-on-four advantage early in the shot clock.
Barnes said she is working to have the collective understand what the goals are with the defense and what happens when it works.
“(Right now) it looks like we just call a press and get beat,” Barnes said. “That's not the objective. The objective is to make them work. And then contain. If you're faster, you can be a little closer. If you're not, you need to pop back. Even if I'm this far, they can't beat you where we're rotating. We did a better job of that (in the second half against Grambling) but we don't really have an understanding of that.”
More on youth: Vanderbilt freshman guard Mikayla Blakes (who was No. 8 in her class ranked by ESPN’s HoopGurlz), is leading the Commodores averaging 20 points per game. Her brother Jaylen, is also a guard, playing his graduate year at Stanford. His first three seasons were at Duke.
Blakes and Khamil Pierre are one of the highest scoring duos in the country, as Pierre is adding 19.2 points per game. She is also averaging a double-double with 11 rebounds per game.
By the numbers
29: Arizona is hitting only 29% of its 3-point attempts, which is around five per game. The Wildcats made two against Grambling State. And yet, they knocked down nine against UNLV.
8: Breya Cunningham is in a three-way tie for eighth in the nation in total blocks with 17. Only two Big 12 players have more: Texas Tech’s Sarengbe Sanogo with 19 (tied for fifth place) and TCU’s Sedona Prince with 23 (second).
95.65: Jada Williams is inches away from 12th place nationally in free-throw percentage with 95.7% (22 of 23), while Mercer’s Aspen Johnson sits at 96.0% (24 of 25). There are 11 players who are perfect from the charity stripe.
