SANTA CRUZ, Calif. β Between a charter flight home Saturday night and Tuesdayβs scheduled game against Montana, the Arizona Wildcats didnβt leave themselves a lot of time to work on things.
But at least their agenda could be whittled down to one thing.
That is, not surprisingly, defense. Defense that allowed Stanford to shoot 52.7% despite flashing a little zone and, in what appeared to frustrate UA coach Sean Miller even more, defense that couldnβt pick up more than two offensive fouls from Stanford after being called for seven of its own.
The Cardinal won 78-75 Saturday night to hand UA (5-1) its first loss. Mondayβs game against San Diego has been canceled, giving Miller and the Wildcats an extra day to get things right before facing Montana.
βWe have to draw charges,β Miller said, launching a comparable but more serious and specific set of concerns that he did after Eastern Washington drew seven offensive fouls from the Wildcats on Dec. 5.
βWe have to cross-body block, we have to go vertical in the charge arc, like the NBA does. We have to leave the corner and get there late. I mean, thereβs so many things that I think we have to do a better job of to make our defense better.β
Miller continued. His defense is rated No. 35 in Kenpom.com’s defensive efficiency but, the way he put it, it could be even better if it learned to play the system that he says is in place this season. No doubt the Wildcats’ offense could improve by avoiding the way things are being called, too.
βItβs not up to the officials to adjust, itβs up to the coach, the staff and the players,β Miller said. βThe offensive fouls have really hurt us, so we have to look at that. But we also have to draw offensive fouls. We have to take charges. I donβt know if weβve taken more than maybe a handful of charges in six games, and right now you have to attempt to take anywhere between five and 10 a game. It just makes no sense not to do that.β
βLook, Iβm not trying to be funny. Itβs what it is. I mean that. Thatβs what we have to do. Our defense has to improve and thatβs one way we have to get back at it.β
The end of Saturdayβs game was Millerβs frustration in a nutshell. Stanford freshman Ziaire Williams drew an offensive foul from UA point guard James Akinjo with seven seconds left and the Cardinal up by one, effectively putting the game all but out of reach for the Wildcats.
Stanfordβs Oscar da Silva then drove and picked up a foul, hitting two ensuing free throws for the final margin.
Miller threw some extended glares at officials after the call and, after the game, didnβt criticize it so much as he instead praised Akinjoβs move.
βI thought the last drive, thatβs what you want β you want a hard drive at the basket with the help defender coming over,β Miller said.
Guard Jemarl Baker, whose 29-point effort wasnβt enough to rescue the Wildcats, said the last play was designed to get Akinjo βdownhillβ to make a play.
βAnd, I mean, we know what happened,β Baker said. βThey called it a charge or whatever. But things like that happen. We just have to get ready for next game. This game is over. It is what it is.β
For Stanford, there was another story. That one had the supremely gifted Ziaire Williams, a five-star wing the Wildcats also recruited heavily, risking himself to save the game.
βI tend to talk about Ziaireβs talent but itβs really just so people can hear that,β Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. βBut the important stuff is his character and the intangibles. Youβre talking about a player whoβs so talented and yet willing to give up himself and take that charge. Thatβs truly special β¦ putting his body on the line for his teammates.β
Maybe so. But while Miller noted how Williamsβ 16-point effort was damaging, he mostly praised da Silva, the all-conference forward who had 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, causing the inexperienced Wildcats headaches no matter if he was playing center or power forward.
βDefensively, we just had no answer,β Miller said. βWe were out-schemed. When we went small, they hurt us with second shots and they beat us with drives. Da Silva is such a hard matchup. Heβs clever, heβs smart, heβs experienced. He was really, really good last year and heβs even better this year.β
But Miller did toss out one way to somewhat gloss over all the inexperience defensively. So, even from a coach whoβs usually devoted to man-to-man defenses, this may be one of those seasons where the Wildcats throw out some zone as they did Saturday.
Last season βwe sprinkled it in probably more than I have as the coach here at Arizona and I think weβll utilize it in a similar fashion this year,β Miller said. βYou have to be good at it, though. It sparked us but it also gave up back to back 3s.
βI think itβs a great change-up, like a curveball to our man-to-man. We have to be smart and maybe mixing it in a lot of times helps take the rhythm away (from opposing offenses). Because we just canβt go toe to toe for 40 minutes with the personnel and experience of our team this year.β
