Turn right as you exit the Arizona basketball offices at McKale Center, and you’ll see big photos of former Wildcats hoisting NBA championship trophies on one side of the hallway. Photos of the NBA Draft picks who played under coach Sean Miller line the other wall.
Murals of all the NBA draft picks from the Lute Olson era occupy both sides of the corridor leading to the southeast exit facing Campbell Avenue.
NBA. NBA. NBA. Talk of the former Wildcats’ success in the league impresses recruits and gives fans a sense of pride.
Miller, however would prefer that current players focus on other things. Like defense and rebounding, the two issues that nearly cost them a home game to a mediocre Stanford team on Wednesday at McKale Center.
In its 74-67 win Wednesday, Arizona allowed Stanford to shoot 48.9 percent from two-point range, with the Cardinal blowing by defenders for layups in many cases. Stanford muscled its way to 12 offensive rebounds that led to 17-second chance points.
Not surprisingly, the Wildcats’ performance led to Miller’s displeasure both during and after the game.
“The word ‘pro’ is thrown around way too much at Arizona because of the great history of our program,” Miller said. “We have guys who think they’re NBA players and they can’t guard the ball.
“(It’s) like not only are you not getting picked, but you’re not getting invited to camp. Nobody’s going to take a chance on a guy who can’t guard the man in front of him. And same thing when shots go up. You can’t block out right now, in February, and keep your man from second shots? There’s nobody picking you.”
Miller went on.
“Just because Richard Jefferson got picked doesn’t mean you’re getting picked,” he said. “You have to earn it every game, every day. We’ve built up a lot of equity because of the season that we’ve had, but (against Stanford) the effort level in rebounding, the irresponsibility in rebounding and the number of guys who just can’t guard the ball, it allows us to be vulnerable and you know what? Cal is a great basketball team and playing really well. They’re the type of team who will come in here and just smash us all over the floor.”
Yes, Cal. The team that buried Arizona State by 25 points on Wednesday in Tempe. The team that added six 3-pointers from a Columbia grad transfer named Grant Mullins to the usual Charlie Moore-Jabari Bird-Ivan Rabb production on Wednesday. The team that played zone defense successfully against the Sun Devils and likely will try to do the same Saturday at McKale Center.
Cal is also a team that has won five straight games, ascending at a time when Arizona has struggled with defensive issues in its past five games.
Miller said the Bears “might be playing as well as anyone in the Pac-12.” It probably is not good news for Arizona that Cal leads the Pac-12 in offensive rebounding percentage (36.9 percentage) during conference games.
Cal is third in offensive rebounds overall (12.7) after collecting 12 on Wednesday at ASU; the Golden Bears scored 12 second-chance points.
On Wednesday, the UA allowed Stanford to score 17 second-chance points on its 12 offensive rebounds, with Reid Travis (five) and Michael Humphrey (four) hard to keep off the offensive glass.
UA guard Allonzo Trier credited Stanford’s effort — “they have a lot of seniors on that team who have never beaten Arizona and they’re trying to end on a great note,” he said — but Miller’s postgame concerns centered around what the Wildcats didn’t do.
“You have to block your man out. You can’t turn and look,” Miller said Wednesday. “You have to hit the man in the chest. You’ve got to turn. You’ve got to keep people off the glass and the same thing with guards. Guards have a responsibility to rebound and when you let teams get 17 second-chance points it really puts a lot of pressure on your ability to win.”
So does giving up easy baskets. Stanford guard Marcus Allen had six points on 1-for-5 shooting on Jan. 1 against UA in Maples Pavilion but scored 15 on 6-for-12 shooting in McKale Center on Wednesday.
“We have a number of players who can’t guard their man,” Miller said. “I’m not putting them in the game if they’re not going to be able to guard the man in front of them. Same thing rebounding the ball. We’re in February. Everybody knows how to block out. Everybody knows how hard you have to work at that. If you just turn and look, you’re not going to play.
“Eventually that will either break us or repair us but we’re not going to go down a good path when you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do.”
