Arizona Wildcats basketball: On homebound Wildcats, Trier's Tweetstorm, unacceptable play
- Updated
Seen and heard at Mizzou Arena during Arizona's 79-60 win over Missouri.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
For Arizonaβs many inactive players, itβs one thing to sit on the bench and cheer on your teammates for a couple of hours, then go home.
Itβs another to spend six hours flying round trip to the center of the country and spend a night in a hotel β while trying to finish fall semester classwork β in order to do the same thing.
So Allonzo Trier (ineligible), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (ankle), Ray Smith (knee) and Talbott Denny (knee) didnβt make the trip to Columbia because of finals, UA coach Sean Miller said.
Staying home avoids the possibility of the injured guys swelling up with all that time in the air.
βItβs not worth the risk,β trainer Justin Kokoskie said.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
But while Trier wasnβt able to show his usual support on the sidelines, he did so digitally.
And with the Wildcats making 13 of 24 3-pointers Saturday, that was easy to do.
βSNIPE HEEEEEEEM RAWLEEEEEEE!!!!!!β Trier tweeted after Rawle Alkins stuck a second-half 3.
After one from Kobi Simmons, it was: βKobi !!!!!!!!!! SNIPE HEEM"
And after Kadeem Allen did it: βSNIPE HEEEEEEM DEEM!!!!!!!"
When the Star told Alkins after the game that Trier excitedly tweeted over one of his threes, the freshman guard grinned widely.
βReally? He said that?β Alkins said. βIβll check it out later on tonight. Thatβs my man. Allonzoβs a beast.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Wildcats ambled down to breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Arizona time, two hours earlier than they normally would on the day of a game. They also skipped their pregame shootaround.
βItβs a different feelingβ playing at 10 a.m., body time, UA coach Sean Miller said. βYou do the math β you wake up for pregame meal at 6:30, 7:30, whatever time it is, and I think it takes a maturity and a concentration from your group.β
Apparently they had it. Alkins, Simmons and Allen all played 37 minutes, and Simmons shrugged off a question about it after the game.
βWe do everything in practice like it would be a game, so when we get our here, our energy and intensity is ready for it,β Simmons said.
Alkins credited the UA staff and trainers for getting the players in shape, while center Lauri Markkanen said his experience helped.
βIβve been used to it playing with the (Finland) national team,β Markkanen said. βItβs just fun to play early and get home early.β
Arizonaβs charter was expected to arrive in Tucson in time for dinner. The Wildcats will have the same schedule next Saturday, when they will play Texas A&M in Houston at 10 a.m. Arizona time.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Saturdayβs game was a matchup of two of Division Iβs 25 youngest teams.
How do we know this? KenPom.com, of course.
The college basketball analytic website factors in the experience level of each player and how many minutes he plays for a team to come up with an βexperienceβ calculation.
So Arizona, which entered Saturday giving Markkanen 32.7 minutes a game while Simmons (28.3) and Alkins (29.1) were in the high 20s, was ranked No. 326 in experience out of 351 Division I teams.
Then thereβs Missouri, which starts three sophomores and has a leading scorer who is a true freshmen. The Tigers are 346, the sixth youngest team in America.
βWeβre a young group,β Missouri coach Kim Anderson said, βand we have our moments where you can tell weβre young.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Arizonaβs rare appearance in the Midwest was a likely draw for the 1,000 or so UA fans on hand Saturday. One former staffer drove all the way from Indianapolis.
Richard Paige, who served as Arizona basketballβs publicist from 2000-2013, showed up Saturday along with wife Lydia and four-year-old daughter Cora. The family made the six-hour drive after work on Friday and planned to head back shortly after Saturdayβs game.
Paige, who also drove from Indy to UAβs 2013-14 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor, figured it was a must.
UA basketball operations director βRyan Reynolds said it was the furthest east theyβre going to go for a pretty good period,β Paige said. βSo Lydia said, `Letβs go.β It was an easy trip to make.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
For Trevor Wells, a Kansas City resident who largely grew up in Tucson, the proximity of the game allowed him to see the Wildcats in person for the first time since the Wildcats clobbered Michigan⦠in the 1993-94 Fiesta Bowl Classic at McKale Center.
Wells was a student at Palo Verde High School then, on his way to becoming Arizonaβs 4A state champion in the 100 meters. He later ran track at Wichita State and has since lived in Kansas City, where he now runs a boot camp training firm.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
20: More free throws that Missouri (30) took than Arizona (10), a difference UA coach Sean Miller blamed on the Wildcatsβ undisciplined play and Missouriβs mostly zone defense.
11: More three-pointers Arizona (13) made than Missouri (4, on 18 attempts).Β
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
βWhat was it? 21-0? I mean, thatβs unacceptable. Thatβs not acceptable.β β Missouri's Anderson, on Arizonaβs game-clinching second-half run.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
For Arizonaβs many inactive players, itβs one thing to sit on the bench and cheer on your teammates for a couple of hours, then go home.
Itβs another to spend six hours flying round trip to the center of the country and spend a night in a hotel β while trying to finish fall semester classwork β in order to do the same thing.
So Allonzo Trier (ineligible), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (ankle), Ray Smith (knee) and Talbott Denny (knee) didnβt make the trip to Columbia because of finals, UA coach Sean Miller said.
Staying home avoids the possibility of the injured guys swelling up with all that time in the air.
βItβs not worth the risk,β trainer Justin Kokoskie said.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
But while Trier wasnβt able to show his usual support on the sidelines, he did so digitally.
And with the Wildcats making 13 of 24 3-pointers Saturday, that was easy to do.
βSNIPE HEEEEEEEM RAWLEEEEEEE!!!!!!β Trier tweeted after Rawle Alkins stuck a second-half 3.
After one from Kobi Simmons, it was: βKobi !!!!!!!!!! SNIPE HEEM"
And after Kadeem Allen did it: βSNIPE HEEEEEEM DEEM!!!!!!!"
When the Star told Alkins after the game that Trier excitedly tweeted over one of his threes, the freshman guard grinned widely.
βReally? He said that?β Alkins said. βIβll check it out later on tonight. Thatβs my man. Allonzoβs a beast.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
The Wildcats ambled down to breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Arizona time, two hours earlier than they normally would on the day of a game. They also skipped their pregame shootaround.
βItβs a different feelingβ playing at 10 a.m., body time, UA coach Sean Miller said. βYou do the math β you wake up for pregame meal at 6:30, 7:30, whatever time it is, and I think it takes a maturity and a concentration from your group.β
Apparently they had it. Alkins, Simmons and Allen all played 37 minutes, and Simmons shrugged off a question about it after the game.
βWe do everything in practice like it would be a game, so when we get our here, our energy and intensity is ready for it,β Simmons said.
Alkins credited the UA staff and trainers for getting the players in shape, while center Lauri Markkanen said his experience helped.
βIβve been used to it playing with the (Finland) national team,β Markkanen said. βItβs just fun to play early and get home early.β
Arizonaβs charter was expected to arrive in Tucson in time for dinner. The Wildcats will have the same schedule next Saturday, when they will play Texas A&M in Houston at 10 a.m. Arizona time.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
Saturdayβs game was a matchup of two of Division Iβs 25 youngest teams.
How do we know this? KenPom.com, of course.
The college basketball analytic website factors in the experience level of each player and how many minutes he plays for a team to come up with an βexperienceβ calculation.
So Arizona, which entered Saturday giving Markkanen 32.7 minutes a game while Simmons (28.3) and Alkins (29.1) were in the high 20s, was ranked No. 326 in experience out of 351 Division I teams.
Then thereβs Missouri, which starts three sophomores and has a leading scorer who is a true freshmen. The Tigers are 346, the sixth youngest team in America.
βWeβre a young group,β Missouri coach Kim Anderson said, βand we have our moments where you can tell weβre young.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
Arizonaβs rare appearance in the Midwest was a likely draw for the 1,000 or so UA fans on hand Saturday. One former staffer drove all the way from Indianapolis.
Richard Paige, who served as Arizona basketballβs publicist from 2000-2013, showed up Saturday along with wife Lydia and four-year-old daughter Cora. The family made the six-hour drive after work on Friday and planned to head back shortly after Saturdayβs game.
Paige, who also drove from Indy to UAβs 2013-14 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor, figured it was a must.
UA basketball operations director βRyan Reynolds said it was the furthest east theyβre going to go for a pretty good period,β Paige said. βSo Lydia said, `Letβs go.β It was an easy trip to make.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe
For Trevor Wells, a Kansas City resident who largely grew up in Tucson, the proximity of the game allowed him to see the Wildcats in person for the first time since the Wildcats clobbered Michigan⦠in the 1993-94 Fiesta Bowl Classic at McKale Center.
Wells was a student at Palo Verde High School then, on his way to becoming Arizonaβs 4A state champion in the 100 meters. He later ran track at Wichita State and has since lived in Kansas City, where he now runs a boot camp training firm.Β
- Bruce Pascoe
20: More free throws that Missouri (30) took than Arizona (10), a difference UA coach Sean Miller blamed on the Wildcatsβ undisciplined play and Missouriβs mostly zone defense.
11: More three-pointers Arizona (13) made than Missouri (4, on 18 attempts).Β
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