The Arizona Wildcats take pride in their defense, and it shows.
They narrow down passing lanes, force bad passes, get deflections, swipe steals and wear down offenses.
It’s not just the eye test. The numbers back it up, too.
Arizona ranks No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 28.8% shooting. The Wildcats are second in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 44 points per game.
No one, not even UA coach Adia Barnes — who implemented this defensive system last season — thought the Wildcats would be tops in the nation so quickly. The 18th-ranked UA hosts Tennessee State on Thursday night.
“I knew we’d be solid defensively, but I did not expect this,” Barnes said.
How did they get there? It started with a plan.
Barnes was a defensive specialist when she played in the WNBA — it was how she, an undersized player, could carve out a space in a league that only has 144 of the world’s best players. Barnes came from a program, Arizona, that pressed for 40 minutes a game under former coach Joan Bonvicini. As a pro, Barnes played for defensive minds like Brian Agler and Lin Dunn.
Barnes selected what she liked and built her own defensive philosophy. She left out what she didn’t like and what didn’t fit her players.
“I didn’t so much want that body in the passing lane, but I wanted something more aggressive than the pack line,” she said. “When I was (an assistant) at Washington, we did the pack line, but you have to really be bigger. And you have to control the boards and you play percentages. And we couldn’t do that here and manufacture more points. We weren’t going to control the boards. We weren’t big. So that wasn’t the style.
“And we’re not ‘40 minutes of hell’ — running, jumping and pressing all game. We don’t have the athletes for that. Two years ago, I wanted to play faster, but … if you’re not getting stops and you’re not controlling the boards, you can’t play fast. I just said, ‘OK, well, if I want to play fast, we have to get back to that blue-collar, tough, aggressive defense because we can score more points by getting steals.”
Barnes built Arizona’s plan around her most dynamic player, point guard Aari McDonald.
It took a while for things to come together, in part because of Arizona’s lack of depth. McDonald averaged 36 minutes per game and Sam Thomas averaged 34.
“When playing a lot of minutes, you take possessions off,” Barnes said. “You can’t play hard for 38 minutes — you just can’t, it’s not physiological.”
The more the Wildcats played in the system, the more they understood. And the more success they had, the more they bought in.
“They saw the success we had last year winning the WNIT,” Barnes said. “Once they achieved success, they were even more hungry. They knew it was good — they saw it. It’s the understanding. Now, with more experienced starters they can show the freshman ‘uh-uh, you are supposed to be here.’ They are helping each other.”
Arizona Wildcats forward Sam Thomas (14) tries to block UC Riverside Highlanders forward Marina Ewodo (2) during a game at the McKale Center, on Nov. 29, 2019.
This year’s Wildcats want to be even better on defense. It’s their identity.
“Defense is a main part of who we are as a team,” said forward Cate Reese, the reigning Pac-12 player of the week.
Barnes has seen gains from Reese and McDonald. Thomas is stronger and Dominique McBryde is even more agile for a big. Amari Carter is a great defender and Barnes said, “we haven’t missed a beat without Tee Tee” Starks.
Starks is sitting out the nonconference with a shoulder injury. While it still seems different without Starks, Carter fits the system — she has 15 steals.
Arizona ranks 14th in the nation with 109 steals. McDonald leads with 22, Thomas has 17, Helena Pueyo has 14 and McBryde and Reese have 13 apiece. While Barnes puts an emphasis on steals, she doesn’t give a number for each game as she wants it to come naturally with good fundamentals.
“I don’t look for a number because the problem is sometimes I put a number then everybody starts reaching and getting out of position that for everything, so I’d rather them be disciplined and not go for steals unless they are 100%,” Barnes said.
When the defense is on — whether it’s holding UC Riverside to 27 points or even having a good five minutes within a game — Barnes wants it to be both aggressive and disciplined.
“We want to break the timing of the offense,” Barnes said. “If we’re proactive and playing the way I want to play, we are making them catch it beyond the 3-point line, we’re not pressuring really far out unless we’re in full-court situation. And then breaking the timing, not allowing easy passing angles. …
“Our defense is creating our offense. Now we’re really good in transition. We’re really good at getting stops and steals and then it leads to fast break points. ”
