This article originally published on tucson.comΒ on March 15, 2017.
When Allonzo Trier went to the free-throw line four times late in Oregonβs near-comeback in the Pac-12 Tournament final Saturday, the pressure looked pretty intense.
Not to him.
It was fun.
It was basketball.
βIβm just proud to be playing,β he said.
Pressure for Trier this season was sitting on the bench for most of his 19-game suspension, unable to play the game he loves because of a positive PED test.
Pressure was walking around campus, deflecting his fellow studentsβ questions about what was going on, even as he was shielded from media inquiries and as Arizona administrators tried to protect him by saying nothing.
Trier still wonβt talk much about what happened. He suffered an offseason injury in a serious car crash and has said he was given a banned substance by a βwell-intentioned but misguidedβ person not associated with UA during the recovery process.
βThatβs something I donβt really want to get into,β he said during last weekendβs Pac-12 Tournament. βItβs personal to my family. Itβs undisclosed, and thereβs people involved that Iβm not gonna expose to the personal spotlight.β
Certainly, he knows what that feels like. Trier felt the spotlight every day since early October, when word first surfaced that he might be out, then when he was replaced by Kadeem Allen at the last minute for the Pac-12βs preseason media day.
It went on and on and on, from October to November to December and well into January.
Thatβs pressure.
βA lot of people donβt know what itβs like,β Trier said. βEverybody was so worried about what the issue is and why Iβm out. Nobody really takes a look at what Iβm actually going through, what it feels like to be me. Iβm hounded every single day. You become so magnified in the media and youβre not really a normal person because youβre a high-level college basketball athlete. But at that point, I was living in a glass house. Everyone was looking at me.β
βYou try to stay strong and sometimes, when youβre alone, you break down and cry. Itβs a tough feeling, but you have to stay strong. You have to stay mentally tough. Itβs something that made me mature a whole lot and itβs something you canβt prepare for, but I guess it happened for a reason. Iβm here now and put it behind me.β
The free throws all went in. Trier made all four he took within the final 17 seconds of the Pac-12 Tournament final, giving the Wildcats an 83-80 win over the Ducks and, a day later, the conferenceβs top placement in the NCAA Tournament.
Trier said he never doubted the outcome.
βMy preparation is what propels me through, whether itβs making a jump shot or making a 3-pointer, making plays, or stepping to the line and making big free throws,β Trier said. βI know I can step to the line and have a calmness about me because Iβve put in the time and Iβm prepared.
βI should make them because I put my time in. Itβs about just going in there focused and making them.β
That work ethic persevered throughout Trierβs 19-game suspension, though largely behind closed doors and closed mouths. Trier never stopped practicing with the Wildcats. He was cleared to begin traveling with the team for their Dec. 3 loss to Gonzaga in Los Angeles.
Because he wouldnβt otherwise get in much of a workout on game days, Trier would sometimes show up early before the Wildcats warmed up and go all-out in drills, mostly by himself and a ball-shagging manager or two.
That kind of work is why UA coach Sean Miller probably knew Trier would appreciate just getting to shoot those game-clinching free throws.
βOne thing about Allonzo β he has kind of a poker face when he plays but, I mean, he loves the game of basketball. He loves it. Loves it,β Miller said. βHe works as hard at the game as any player Iβve coached or Iβve been around, and when you work at something that hard itβs tough to not be successful.β
Thatβs the drawback, though. Miller said itβs hard for Type A players like that to handle tough times and, for a while, Trierβs transition back to the floor was bumpy.
Trier was finally cleared to play just before UAβs Jan. 21 game at UCLA. He came off the bench to score 12 points, grab seven rebounds and dish four assists to help the Wildcats win at Pauley Pavilion.
But while Trier scored in double figures over his next five games, he shot just 33 percent from 3-point range. His teammates struggled to adjust with him in the rotation.
βThe first couple of games (with him) was tough,β Allen said. βWhile he was going through that situation, he practiced every day but it was difficult for the first couple of games because he was getting back into it.
βBut he never got down on himself or got down on the team. Everything he did was positive, toward the team and the coaches.β
Miller played Trier more and more, then eventually moved freshman Kobi Simmons out of the starting lineup to make room for Trier on Feb. 8 against Stanford. Trierβs scoring dipped into single figures in his following two games, and he shot a combined 3 for 17 against Cal and Washington State.
While all this was happening, UAβs leading scorer during Trierβs absence, forward Lauri Markkanen, went into a stunning shooting slump. Markkanen was a 50.5-percent 3-point shooter through Jan. 29 but hit just 16.1 percent from long range over nine games through February and the Wildcatsβ regular-season finale at ASU on March 4.
Trier and Markkanen caught fire together last week in the Pac-12 Tournament. Trier was named the MVP after averaging 20.7 points and making 23 of 28 free throws (82.1 percent) while Markkanen was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 20.0 points β and making 8 of 17 2-pointers (47.1 percent).
In the final against Oregon, Trier scored 23 points, had eight rebounds and took 11 trips to the foul line β making 10 free throws, including the four game-clinchers.
He had fun.
His teammates were only too happy to see him have it.
βIt feels good after all the adversity heβs faced, and all the adversity weβve faced as a team,β Allen said. βFor him to get that trophy, he deserved it for all the work he put in and the people who doubted him. Iβm proud that he got the trophy and excited he got the trophy, and I know the team is also.β
So what now? Trier is in his own personal midseason as UA begins tournament play Thursday in Salt Lake City against North Dakota, having played 15 games. That means he should have plenty of energy left, mixed with a sense of frustration as the season nears a close.
Even if Trier leads the Wildcats to the title game , thatβs still only six more games, for a total of 21 games this season.
Those 19 games he lost to suspension will never come back.
Trier thinks about that a lot.
βI look back at a game like we played in the first five games of the season, like Cal State Bakersfield, and it was like, βWow I didnβt play in the game,β and even in the middle of the season, like at Texas A&M (Dec. 17) I didnβt play in that either,β Trier said. βItβs like, man, the seasonβs basically over.
βItβs a weird feeling but Iβm blessed and thankful to be playing basketball. Itβs tough to have it taken from me for a short period of time β kind of a helpless feeling, nothing you can do, and itβs not your fault. So to have the opportunity to play again, Iβll take it.β