The way sophomore Ira Lee explained it Tuesday, there’s no need for bracketology science, NET ratings or a deep Kenpom dive to assess the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament credentials at this point.
Eyeballs will do.
That’s why, after UA coach Sean Miller said Tuesday he didn’t feel the Wildcats were an NCAA Tournament team at this point, Lee responded this way when asked if he agreed:
“I mean, after the past two games, would you think so?” Lee said, referring to the UA’s blowout losses at USC and UCLA. “That’s all I can bounce back with that question.”
While the Wildcats keep their practices behind closed doors, their news conference remarks spoke both to frustration and guarded optimism as they attempt to avoid two more straight losses, on Thursday at ASU and on Feb. 7 against first-place Washington.
“The mood’s not happy-go-lucky,” Miller said. “We got blown out twice in LA. Nobody knows that more than us and things aren’t good right now. It’s up to us to fix those things and improve and be ready to go.”
Miller even spoke of needing to earn a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament and then “playing our best basketball of the season in Vegas,” in order to get the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It could be that dire. But still, Miller said they can control their effort, noting they had plenty of that during a good, competitive practice on Monday.
The problem is, once again, Chase Jeter didn’t take part. The UA center missed the past two games after taking a hard fall on Jan. 19 against Oregon State and suffering back spasms, and Miller said he sat out Monday with a still-uncertain future.
“I really don’t know” if Jeter will play Thursday, Miller said. “I think it’s really his call with discomfort, pain and how much better it’s getting. I do think he’s making progress, but I don’t know what that means, whether he doesn’t play against ASU and is able to play next week against the Washingtons or beyond.”
Miller said he couldn’t say whether it was just a matter of pain tolerance, or if Jeter could risk a worse injury by returning too soon. Jeter suffered a disc injury at Duke in 2016-17, but Miller says X-rays have come back negative on Jeter this time.
“We’re going to do what’s best for Chase,” Miller said. “Whenever he has the opportunity to practice or play, then we’ll take that next step.”
Arizona head coach Sean Miller pulls over guard Devonaire Doutrive for a little one-on-one during a time out late in the second half against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, Los Angeles.
Without Jeter and sophomore Emmanuel Akot, who quit the team earlier this month, the Wildcats have put more pressure on themselves all the way around: to make Lee and Ryan Luther hold down the post, to find more scoring elsewhere and to keep the defense motivated.
While Lee had a productive weekend in Los Angeles, averaging 11.5 points and seven rebounds, most of everything else was a bust for the Wildcats. The UA shot a collective 30.4 percent in the two games, and allowed the Trojans and Bruins to shoot a collective 52.2 percent on the other end of the court.
“The toll that it takes on a group when you’re constantly coming off a missed shot puts a lot of pressure on your defense, puts a lot of pressure on guys to keep pushing and playing with great effort,” Miller said. “It’s nice sometimes when the ball can go in. That’s encouraging. That allows you to feel good about the effort you have to put in on defense.”
WATCH: 'It's not OK to lose': Sean Miller, Ira Lee talk about expectations and bouncing back for ASU
The Wildcats are shooting just 40.6 percent over their eight Pac-12 games so far, and Miller said their shooting has been “something that’s plagued our team all season,” having become a concern back in October.
A lack of confidence appears to be making matters worse at the moment. Over the two games in Los Angeles, Luther was 6 of 21 from the field, Justin Coleman was 3 for 10, Dylan Smith was 3 of 15 and Brandon Randolph was 8 of 27.
“I think it’s already in their head to some degree and we’re trying to be the most positive coaching staff and team that we can be, and also at the same time be realistic,” Miller said. “One thing about a player, they appreciate the truth, and the truth is if you’ve missed 15 of your last 18 shots, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
“And it doesn’t mean you’re gonna make the next five. You can miss the next eight, 10, so we have that going around right now.”
While Lee expressed optimism that Jeter could return Thursday, Miller indicated that having to shift several players into different roles without Jeter hasn’t helped.
“The bigger picture is when the other team now knows that he’s not going to be playing and you start to look at the different roles that everybody really has from start to finish, it affects a lot of different things,” Miller said. “Everybody kind of has a different role. A different seat on the bus. Different expectations.”
In the big picture, of course, the Wildcats have already been through massive transition.
They lost all five starters and had their 2018 recruiting class torpedoed by a federal investigation, bumping role players on last season’s team, such as Lee and Randolph, into key spots now.
Even when Miller managed to piece together a roster by signing five players last spring, the Wildcats still had just four players for two post spots.
Then two of those four went missing: Akot quit, and Jeter was hurt.
So this. More hurdles.
“I’m not going to say I expected it to be this way, but adversity comes, especially in a basketball season,” Lee said. “Guys get hurt, guys leave. You never know what could happen. And right now that’s what we’re dealing with.
“But we will bounce back as a unit and I think that’s the biggest thing that’s happened between us. We’ve come closer. We’ve had to come closer and we’ll figure it out.”
Rim shots
- Already with four signees and commit Zeke Nnaji for his 2019 class, Miller said he was looking to add a sixth piece next spring with a transfer (four-year, graduate or juco) or possibly even another freshman.
- ASU coach Bobby Hurley told reporters in Tempe on Tuesday that freshman forward Taeshon Cherry is in the final stages of concussion protocol but was uncertain if he would be cleared to play Thursday. Cherry left ASU’s game last Thursday at UCLA after taking an elbow to the head and did not play Saturday at USC.
