'The better I am, the better the team will be:' Allonzo Trier talks Arizona Wildcats hoops
- Updated
The Star spoke with Arizona junior Allonzo Trier recently. Here's what he had to say about his reasons for returning to campus following a sophomore season marred by a suspension, his Sweet 16 performance and the Wildcats' expectations for making a Final Four:
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “I just felt like it was the right decision. It wasn’t the easiest one, not necessarily even the one you want most, but I think this puts me in the best position to have a great NBA career and last longer and play for a really long time. Even though I felt I was definitely ready to play in the NBA right away, right now, I think that based on everything that happened … I think that playing my junior season will put me in position to have a great, lengthy career and be a draft pick at the highest level.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “If you’re good enough to go, then you’re going to go. I don’t think you need to have any, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know.’ My whole thing was, if I was going to go, I was going to go. I knew I was good enough to go, that was kind of the tough part of the situation.
“My numbers jumped from my freshman to sophomore year, especially being thrown into the fire. I came back in my first game against UCLA and the toughest stretch of our schedule was just beginning and I got thrown into that. I think it’s downplayed, my numbers, for what I was able to do for coming in and playing, what, 18 games? So I don’t think it was really looked upon the way it should have been if I had did it for 40 (games)."
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: "I think that of all the things I needed to improve, I did last year. I just did it for a shorter sample size than everybody else did. All those things of me becoming a leader and being able to lead these guys and bring them along and kind of establish myself, it was there, but when you don’t play for 20 games it’s really tough to be able to lead by example and do all these things because you’re not taking the floor with them every night. So then I went from being the leader at the beginning of the season and being the main guy to where I came and had to fit in at the middle of the season. So everything changed, everything about my season changed, everything about the way we tried to use me changed because the plans me and Coach Miller had for me, things that were set up for me to be in place, weren’t able to happen because of that situation.
“So I think this year, god willing, I’m due for a big year and we’re due for a big year as a team. If nothing comes up or nothing bad happens then one thing (Miller and I) talked about is start to finish, it’s something I haven’t been able to do since I’ve been here. It’s not really things I had in my control, breaking my hand as a freshman in a freak accident and then this whole situation happened that I had no control over what was going to happen. To go start to finish I think would get me to where I want to be.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “(Laughs.) Honestly, I don’t even think about it. It’s done. Everyone was like, ‘Oh, he took a bad shot.’ I had a lot of people tell me who were like analytics guys that said, ‘Honestly, that was probably, analytics wise, that’s the correct shot going for the win in that situation.’ It wasn’t like I bricked it and missed the rim … It is what it is. It’s a shot. Also before that I (scored) 15 straight (points). Like, 15 straight. That’s 18 straight (if it goes in). You know, be easy.
"I was the reason we went from down seven (points) to up eight like that: I went on a run. That’s not a thing very many guys can do, and I say that in the most humble way possible. I think that was very overlooked. I shot it with enough time to get us an offensive rebound which was important as well. We happened to not get the offensive rebound, but things happen. Shots fall, shots don’t fall. It just didn’t go in.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: "I mean that’s everybody’s goal when you start the season at a program like ours that’s storied and historic. You expect to do well. Just winning games isn’t enough. We’re trying to carry that on and express that to the young guys so they understand. My freshman year we won 26 games or something like that, and it’s like, that’s not really a bad year. Most programs would give anything to get 25 wins. So its just about teaching them the culture and understanding the expectations here.
"Also it takes some good fortune for things to go your way, to win it all or go to the Final Four. It’s never just just work hard and it happens. It takes good luck, good fortune, some things have to go your way. We’re looking forward to the journey. We’re definitely talented enough to do it. It’s about putting it all together."
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “Every player thinks that. The easiest thing to do is focusing on my work ethic every day making sure I’m trying to perfect my craft to the best of my ability and then all of those things that I’m doing to make myself the best player I can be will help us be a better team. The better I am, the better the team will be. The better player I am allows me to win more games and if I’m winning games and I’m improving as a basketball player and the work is showing that I’ve put in, then obviously all of those things, those awards, those accolades, I’ll be in the running for it based off that. It’s not something you really hunt down it just comes along the road.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “I just felt like it was the right decision. It wasn’t the easiest one, not necessarily even the one you want most, but I think this puts me in the best position to have a great NBA career and last longer and play for a really long time. Even though I felt I was definitely ready to play in the NBA right away, right now, I think that based on everything that happened … I think that playing my junior season will put me in position to have a great, lengthy career and be a draft pick at the highest level.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “If you’re good enough to go, then you’re going to go. I don’t think you need to have any, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know.’ My whole thing was, if I was going to go, I was going to go. I knew I was good enough to go, that was kind of the tough part of the situation.
“My numbers jumped from my freshman to sophomore year, especially being thrown into the fire. I came back in my first game against UCLA and the toughest stretch of our schedule was just beginning and I got thrown into that. I think it’s downplayed, my numbers, for what I was able to do for coming in and playing, what, 18 games? So I don’t think it was really looked upon the way it should have been if I had did it for 40 (games)."
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: "I think that of all the things I needed to improve, I did last year. I just did it for a shorter sample size than everybody else did. All those things of me becoming a leader and being able to lead these guys and bring them along and kind of establish myself, it was there, but when you don’t play for 20 games it’s really tough to be able to lead by example and do all these things because you’re not taking the floor with them every night. So then I went from being the leader at the beginning of the season and being the main guy to where I came and had to fit in at the middle of the season. So everything changed, everything about my season changed, everything about the way we tried to use me changed because the plans me and Coach Miller had for me, things that were set up for me to be in place, weren’t able to happen because of that situation.
“So I think this year, god willing, I’m due for a big year and we’re due for a big year as a team. If nothing comes up or nothing bad happens then one thing (Miller and I) talked about is start to finish, it’s something I haven’t been able to do since I’ve been here. It’s not really things I had in my control, breaking my hand as a freshman in a freak accident and then this whole situation happened that I had no control over what was going to happen. To go start to finish I think would get me to where I want to be.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “(Laughs.) Honestly, I don’t even think about it. It’s done. Everyone was like, ‘Oh, he took a bad shot.’ I had a lot of people tell me who were like analytics guys that said, ‘Honestly, that was probably, analytics wise, that’s the correct shot going for the win in that situation.’ It wasn’t like I bricked it and missed the rim … It is what it is. It’s a shot. Also before that I (scored) 15 straight (points). Like, 15 straight. That’s 18 straight (if it goes in). You know, be easy.
"I was the reason we went from down seven (points) to up eight like that: I went on a run. That’s not a thing very many guys can do, and I say that in the most humble way possible. I think that was very overlooked. I shot it with enough time to get us an offensive rebound which was important as well. We happened to not get the offensive rebound, but things happen. Shots fall, shots don’t fall. It just didn’t go in.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: "I mean that’s everybody’s goal when you start the season at a program like ours that’s storied and historic. You expect to do well. Just winning games isn’t enough. We’re trying to carry that on and express that to the young guys so they understand. My freshman year we won 26 games or something like that, and it’s like, that’s not really a bad year. Most programs would give anything to get 25 wins. So its just about teaching them the culture and understanding the expectations here.
"Also it takes some good fortune for things to go your way, to win it all or go to the Final Four. It’s never just just work hard and it happens. It takes good luck, good fortune, some things have to go your way. We’re looking forward to the journey. We’re definitely talented enough to do it. It’s about putting it all together."
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
A: “Every player thinks that. The easiest thing to do is focusing on my work ethic every day making sure I’m trying to perfect my craft to the best of my ability and then all of those things that I’m doing to make myself the best player I can be will help us be a better team. The better I am, the better the team will be. The better player I am allows me to win more games and if I’m winning games and I’m improving as a basketball player and the work is showing that I’ve put in, then obviously all of those things, those awards, those accolades, I’ll be in the running for it based off that. It’s not something you really hunt down it just comes along the road.”
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