Arizona Wildcats basketball: On Kadeem's risk-reward, Ristic's threshold, GameDay's trip to Tucson
- Updated
Seen and heard at Hec Edmundson Pavilion during Arizona's 76-68 win over Washington.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
UA guard Kadeem Allen went through pregame warmups with his injured right pinkie in a splint and bandaged with his ring finger, appearing to make shots and handle the ball normally.
But UA ultimately didn’t play him in the game because the risk of contact with another player or the floor was too great, according to athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie, with Allen having dislocated the pinkie just four days earlier.
“Him playing is based on risk and how he feels,” Kokoskie said. “He’s showing confidence dribbling and shooting but the risk is falling on it or contact. The risk is too high and my job is to provide the best medical advice I can.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While Allen sat out the game in full gear, there was never a doubt center Dusan Ristic was out: He wore sweats and didn’t participate in pregame warmups because of the left ankle sprain he suffered Thursday at Washington State.
“lt depends on his pain and comfort level and he didn’t feel ready to go,” Kokoskie said.
Precautionary X-rays taken of Ristic on Friday were negative, however, leaving the Wildcats hope he might be available to play against USC and UCLA next week.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
ESPN confirmed earlier Saturday that its GameDay show will set up from McKale Center for the third time on Feb. 25 before UA hosts UCLA.
GameDay last showed up for a UA-UCLA game on Feb. 21, 2015, after which UA beat UCLA 57-47 and didn’t lose again until Wisconsin beat the Wildcats in the Elite Eight.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The bad news for Bill Walton fans is that GameDay’s appearance means Saturday’s UA-UW game was the last of the season featuring the team of Walton and Dave Pasch.
“I would have loved to do that game,” Walton said.
ESPN’s national team of Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman will broadcast the UA-UCLA game on Feb. 25, with tipoff time set for 6:15 p.m.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Despite Washington’s struggles on the court, fans still showed up at Hec Edmundson Pavilion this season, possibly because of Markelle Fultz’ presence.
The Huskies were averaging 8,079 fans to their 10,000-seat arena for Pac-12 games, including a sellout on Feb. 4 for UCLA and a near-capacity crowd on Saturday.
“I’m sure Markelle helps with that,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Last year I thought we had an exciting season even though it didn’t end up the way we wanted it to.
“I’ve been pleased, very pleased with our people coming out and supporting us. It’s been great.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Saturday’s game wasn’t big enough to warrant an advance mention on the front page of the Seattle Times, however. The newspaper carried stories there about the UW women, Seattle U women, high school sports, Mariners and the move of a UA football assistant to the Atlanta Falcons.
The UA-UW game was mentioned inside in a small box, while a story accompanied it online.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
In the arena sponsored by hometown Alaska Airlines, a ceramic tumbler labeled with a $15 price tag was left under each of the 10,000 seats on fan appreciation day.
The mugs featured, not surprisingly, the logos of both Washington and Seattle-based Starbucks.
“Purple, gold and bold” the lettering read under the logos.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Not only did UA have a typical big-city road crowd of 1,000 or so fans at Hec Edmundson Pavilion rooting for them but the Wildcats also found themselves welcome for practices at Seattle University… because of Tucsonan Lance LaVetter, a 1986 Rincon High grad who is now a Redhawks assistant coach.
UA operations director Ryan Reynolds said his relationship with LaVetter made it easy to secure the Redhawks’ facility for workouts Friday and before Saturday’s game.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The DawgPack Dirt Sheet handed out to student fans featured two pages of detailed “information” about each of the key Wildcats, took the usual shots at Sean Miller’s sweat, and ripped the University for its admission standards and alumni.
“Their notable alumni base basically consists of people you still see drunk on TV. Namely, Kourtney Kardashian and Gronk,” it said.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
“We’re a good team on the road but we don’t expect anything easy and we respect Washington a great deal.” — UA coach Sean Miller, before Saturday’s game at Washington.
UA guard Kadeem Allen went through pregame warmups with his injured right pinkie in a splint and bandaged with his ring finger, appearing to make shots and handle the ball normally.
But UA ultimately didn’t play him in the game because the risk of contact with another player or the floor was too great, according to athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie, with Allen having dislocated the pinkie just four days earlier.
“Him playing is based on risk and how he feels,” Kokoskie said. “He’s showing confidence dribbling and shooting but the risk is falling on it or contact. The risk is too high and my job is to provide the best medical advice I can.”
While Allen sat out the game in full gear, there was never a doubt center Dusan Ristic was out: He wore sweats and didn’t participate in pregame warmups because of the left ankle sprain he suffered Thursday at Washington State.
“lt depends on his pain and comfort level and he didn’t feel ready to go,” Kokoskie said.
Precautionary X-rays taken of Ristic on Friday were negative, however, leaving the Wildcats hope he might be available to play against USC and UCLA next week.
ESPN confirmed earlier Saturday that its GameDay show will set up from McKale Center for the third time on Feb. 25 before UA hosts UCLA.
GameDay last showed up for a UA-UCLA game on Feb. 21, 2015, after which UA beat UCLA 57-47 and didn’t lose again until Wisconsin beat the Wildcats in the Elite Eight.
The bad news for Bill Walton fans is that GameDay’s appearance means Saturday’s UA-UW game was the last of the season featuring the team of Walton and Dave Pasch.
“I would have loved to do that game,” Walton said.
ESPN’s national team of Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman will broadcast the UA-UCLA game on Feb. 25, with tipoff time set for 6:15 p.m.
Despite Washington’s struggles on the court, fans still showed up at Hec Edmundson Pavilion this season, possibly because of Markelle Fultz’ presence.
The Huskies were averaging 8,079 fans to their 10,000-seat arena for Pac-12 games, including a sellout on Feb. 4 for UCLA and a near-capacity crowd on Saturday.
“I’m sure Markelle helps with that,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Last year I thought we had an exciting season even though it didn’t end up the way we wanted it to.
“I’ve been pleased, very pleased with our people coming out and supporting us. It’s been great.”
Saturday’s game wasn’t big enough to warrant an advance mention on the front page of the Seattle Times, however. The newspaper carried stories there about the UW women, Seattle U women, high school sports, Mariners and the move of a UA football assistant to the Atlanta Falcons.
The UA-UW game was mentioned inside in a small box, while a story accompanied it online.
In the arena sponsored by hometown Alaska Airlines, a ceramic tumbler labeled with a $15 price tag was left under each of the 10,000 seats on fan appreciation day.
The mugs featured, not surprisingly, the logos of both Washington and Seattle-based Starbucks.
“Purple, gold and bold” the lettering read under the logos.
Not only did UA have a typical big-city road crowd of 1,000 or so fans at Hec Edmundson Pavilion rooting for them but the Wildcats also found themselves welcome for practices at Seattle University… because of Tucsonan Lance LaVetter, a 1986 Rincon High grad who is now a Redhawks assistant coach.
UA operations director Ryan Reynolds said his relationship with LaVetter made it easy to secure the Redhawks’ facility for workouts Friday and before Saturday’s game.
The DawgPack Dirt Sheet handed out to student fans featured two pages of detailed “information” about each of the key Wildcats, took the usual shots at Sean Miller’s sweat, and ripped the University for its admission standards and alumni.
“Their notable alumni base basically consists of people you still see drunk on TV. Namely, Kourtney Kardashian and Gronk,” it said.
8: Straight Arizona wins over Washington.
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