Scouting report: No. 7 Arizona Wildcats vs. Washington Huskies
- Updated
Prepare for Arizona's game against Washington on Sunday with Bruce Pascoe's in-depth scouting report.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Matchup: Washington (9-11, 2-6 Pac-12) at No. 7 Arizona (19-2, 8-0)
Location: McKale Center
Time: 1:30 p.m.
TV: Ch. 11
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The series: The Huskies beat the Wildcats five of the first seven times after Sean Miller took over but Arizona has reversed that trend. The Wildcats have beaten U-Dub six straight times, including a 99-67 blowout win at McKale Center last season, when the Wildcats shot 60.3 percent from the field. UA also won 77-72 at Seattle when Ryan Anderson had 22 and 15 points.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Huskies may have the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft in guard Markelle Fultz, but they’re nowhere near an NCAA tournament team at this point. Much of the Huskies’ problems have to do with the early NBA departures of freshmen Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss last spring, while departed senior Andrew Andrews took leadership and clutch play with him. Washington’s normally frenetic pace is a little off this season as a result. Fultz is by far the Pac-12’s scoring leader (26.1 in conference games), while he’s also No. 2 in assists (6.0) and fifth in steals (1.6). Washington averages 80.9 points overall but has put up just 72.8 in conference play, shooting just 42.0 percent from the field. Their tempo is rated No. 8 in Pac-12 games.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Even if the Huskies are struggling, Fultz is an attraction worth watching in himself. The former UA recruiting target is a terrific shot creator who can pull up or finish at the rim with ease, and he’s an effective playmaker, having led the Huskies in points and assists 13 times already this season.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The sophomore guard gets to play against his hometown team in game three of his season, though he’s already shown signs of being in midseason form already. The Wildcats still need to incorporate him fully into their rotation, whether as a starter or off the bench.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
"Obviously, Fultz is terrific. Scores in all ways. Leads them in assists. Crisp is the next best player. Crisp and Fultz make all the plays. They play a small lineup quite a bit with Dime out. They’ll actually play (6-foot-4) Carlos Johnson at five some with (6-6 Dominic) Green at four. As with other teams who play small, that will be a concern. They offensive rebound and they don’t turn the ball over." — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Huskies.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Pac-12’s lucrative media rights deal has meant teams must jump into scheduling windows wherever television dictates but Washington was given an extreme assignment this weekend.
The Huskies played at ASU on Wednesday and weren’t scheduled to play the Wildcats until Sunday. Worse, their game with the Sun Devils was at 9 p.m., meaning a trip home in between meant they wouldn’t get to Seattle until about 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
They went home anyway. Then they came back to Arizona on Saturday and this time had to fly commercial into Tucson. Their plane turned out to be an hour late, with an additional half-hour needed to deplane because of a medical emergency.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar still isn’t sure he did the right thing, having to choose whether to stay on the road for six days (counting their Tuesday arrival) and miss two days of school, or make the long schlep home in between.
“We need to do it a few times to see which way is the best,” he said.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Wildcats had an extra day of practice before Sunday’s game, which gave them some extra time to distance themselves from their big sweep in Los Angeles last weekend. UA coach Sean Miller said the aftermath of the Wildcats’ win at UCLA was at least a small factor in their choppy performance against Washington State on Thursday.
“A little bit,” he said. “But if you’re trying to be an excellent team, those are the teams that have that part figured out. Over the long haul of a 31-game regular season it’s not going to be perfect. There’s times when it’s going to be sloppy.
“Even if you’re a great defensive team — we’ve had some great defensive teams that have had bad defensive games. … We weren’t at our best (Thursday). Credit Washington State, and also we’re trying to work through some things. If you watch us a few weeks from now, we’ll be that much further along.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Sunday’s game will be Trier’s third back from a 19-game suspension and no opposing coach may know better what that means than Romar.
He’s known Trier for over a decade, since the ever-driven Seattle youth used to show up at Washington’s camps.
“I know he’s been like a caged animal and waiting to get out to devour some people,” Romar said. “I know how hard Zo works on his game. When he gets a few more game reps in, there’s no doubt I can see him getting better.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
UA freshman Lauri Markkanen’s remarkable freshman season has been well-documented around the region, and he’s the projected No. 9 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He’s also drawn a handful of Finnish reporters to McKale Center to write about him, since he’s potentially their country’s best basketball player ever.
Yet, in some part of the U.S., Markkanen isn’t getting much love. At least not in how Miller sees it.
Miller apparently noticed some national commentary about top freshmen that didn’t include Markkanen, and he said it’s a “joke” not to do so.
“Once in a while you just pay attention even if you’re not trying to and you look at `Hey, here’s the best freshmen in the country’ (without Markkanen being mentioned) and I’m saying 'are you serious?’ “ Miller said. “It’s not even close. And Rawle and Kobi (Simmons) are also outstanding but just watching Lauri play, I think he deserves a little more credit than he’s getting.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
6.7: Average blocked shots by Washington this season, the second most in Division I.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
13: Straight games Arizona has won, the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
99: Pac-12 wins for Sean Miller since taking over Arizona before the 2009-10 season, against 35 losses.
The series: The Huskies beat the Wildcats five of the first seven times after Sean Miller took over but Arizona has reversed that trend. The Wildcats have beaten U-Dub six straight times, including a 99-67 blowout win at McKale Center last season, when the Wildcats shot 60.3 percent from the field. UA also won 77-72 at Seattle when Ryan Anderson had 22 and 15 points.
The Huskies may have the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft in guard Markelle Fultz, but they’re nowhere near an NCAA tournament team at this point. Much of the Huskies’ problems have to do with the early NBA departures of freshmen Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss last spring, while departed senior Andrew Andrews took leadership and clutch play with him. Washington’s normally frenetic pace is a little off this season as a result. Fultz is by far the Pac-12’s scoring leader (26.1 in conference games), while he’s also No. 2 in assists (6.0) and fifth in steals (1.6). Washington averages 80.9 points overall but has put up just 72.8 in conference play, shooting just 42.0 percent from the field. Their tempo is rated No. 8 in Pac-12 games.
Even if the Huskies are struggling, Fultz is an attraction worth watching in himself. The former UA recruiting target is a terrific shot creator who can pull up or finish at the rim with ease, and he’s an effective playmaker, having led the Huskies in points and assists 13 times already this season.
The sophomore guard gets to play against his hometown team in game three of his season, though he’s already shown signs of being in midseason form already. The Wildcats still need to incorporate him fully into their rotation, whether as a starter or off the bench.
"Obviously, Fultz is terrific. Scores in all ways. Leads them in assists. Crisp is the next best player. Crisp and Fultz make all the plays. They play a small lineup quite a bit with Dime out. They’ll actually play (6-foot-4) Carlos Johnson at five some with (6-6 Dominic) Green at four. As with other teams who play small, that will be a concern. They offensive rebound and they don’t turn the ball over." — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Huskies.
The Pac-12’s lucrative media rights deal has meant teams must jump into scheduling windows wherever television dictates but Washington was given an extreme assignment this weekend.
The Huskies played at ASU on Wednesday and weren’t scheduled to play the Wildcats until Sunday. Worse, their game with the Sun Devils was at 9 p.m., meaning a trip home in between meant they wouldn’t get to Seattle until about 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
They went home anyway. Then they came back to Arizona on Saturday and this time had to fly commercial into Tucson. Their plane turned out to be an hour late, with an additional half-hour needed to deplane because of a medical emergency.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar still isn’t sure he did the right thing, having to choose whether to stay on the road for six days (counting their Tuesday arrival) and miss two days of school, or make the long schlep home in between.
“We need to do it a few times to see which way is the best,” he said.
The Wildcats had an extra day of practice before Sunday’s game, which gave them some extra time to distance themselves from their big sweep in Los Angeles last weekend. UA coach Sean Miller said the aftermath of the Wildcats’ win at UCLA was at least a small factor in their choppy performance against Washington State on Thursday.
“A little bit,” he said. “But if you’re trying to be an excellent team, those are the teams that have that part figured out. Over the long haul of a 31-game regular season it’s not going to be perfect. There’s times when it’s going to be sloppy.
“Even if you’re a great defensive team — we’ve had some great defensive teams that have had bad defensive games. … We weren’t at our best (Thursday). Credit Washington State, and also we’re trying to work through some things. If you watch us a few weeks from now, we’ll be that much further along.”
Sunday’s game will be Trier’s third back from a 19-game suspension and no opposing coach may know better what that means than Romar.
He’s known Trier for over a decade, since the ever-driven Seattle youth used to show up at Washington’s camps.
“I know he’s been like a caged animal and waiting to get out to devour some people,” Romar said. “I know how hard Zo works on his game. When he gets a few more game reps in, there’s no doubt I can see him getting better.”
UA freshman Lauri Markkanen’s remarkable freshman season has been well-documented around the region, and he’s the projected No. 9 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He’s also drawn a handful of Finnish reporters to McKale Center to write about him, since he’s potentially their country’s best basketball player ever.
Yet, in some part of the U.S., Markkanen isn’t getting much love. At least not in how Miller sees it.
Miller apparently noticed some national commentary about top freshmen that didn’t include Markkanen, and he said it’s a “joke” not to do so.
“Once in a while you just pay attention even if you’re not trying to and you look at `Hey, here’s the best freshmen in the country’ (without Markkanen being mentioned) and I’m saying 'are you serious?’ “ Miller said. “It’s not even close. And Rawle and Kobi (Simmons) are also outstanding but just watching Lauri play, I think he deserves a little more credit than he’s getting.”
6.7: Average blocked shots by Washington this season, the second most in Division I.
13: Straight games Arizona has won, the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
99: Pac-12 wins for Sean Miller since taking over Arizona before the 2009-10 season, against 35 losses.
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