How can Arizona handle the high expectations for this season? Focus inward, UCLA coach says

As Adia Barnes enters her fifth season as Arizona’s head coach, expectations have never been so high.

The Wildcats have all the pieces to be mentioned as one of the best teams in the Pac-12 and in the country.

As we get closer to the opening bell for the season on Nov. 25, Arizona will be ranked in the AP’s top 25 and most likely in the top 10. These will be the first milestones for Barnes in what looks to be another historic season.

They will also be one of the top four teams in the preseason Pac-12 coaches and media picks.

This is heady stuff for a program that was picked to finish 12th, 11th, 10th and sixth by the same Pac-12 experts the last four years.

How will the Wildcats handle it all?

UCLA coach Cori Close, who has been there before, advises Barnes to “control the talk within your team.”

UCLA won the WNIT in Close’s fourth season as head coach; Barnes was in her third. UCLA was ranked No. 24 in Week 4 the following season, the same week and spot as the Wildcats. UCLA was ranked in the preseason Top 10 the very next season; Arizona is on track to do the same.

“What I’ve learned is, the more you can stay focused on that and get your players to understand what they brush off their shoulders and say, ‘Oh, I’m just not going to focus there,’ and what they really put their mind and energy towards, I think that will be a huge piece,” Close said.

“There’s a phrase that performance equals potential minus interferences. There’s no doubt that their potential is really, really high. And they’ve done such a great job putting themselves in a good position. I think the challenge is, especially when you haven’t been there before and everybody’s talking about it, to let interferences creep in — I know, that was a battle for us. And I think it’s a natural battle as you climb the ladder. I think we have that in life in general. … I think Adia has got a great plan. She’s got a great coaching staff, obviously a great team, and they’ll be ready to go.”

Close, like Barnes, says she doesn’t pay attention to the polls — especially not this year. UCLA’s coach believes Arizona is one of the elites in the league, however.

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“There’s going to be so much fluctuation and how many games you actually get in, how many opponents, against whom, but going into the season, I don’t think there’s many people that you would ask that wouldn’t put them (Arizona) in the top four in the number one conference in the country. And top four means you’re top 10, period,” Close said.

Pac-12 Networks analyst Mary Murphy is among those who agree that Arizona has made the big stage. She said it’s no surprise if you’ve been watching the Barnes-led program. Arizona’s challenge will be handling the changes around them during a season unlike any other.

“Everything this team faces now is different,” Murphy said. “They came here because they wanted to play in McKale with their crazy fans — they thrive off them. As you know sitting there on Fridays and Sundays every other week, you see the energy of that crowd and with Covid are fans going to be there (in January) and if so, how many?

“There are so many questions with COVID. One is a team’s discipline – do they stay disciplined with their routine? What teams stay disciplined so they can have a March? Last season’s preseason, Arizona barnstormed through it. With a compact schedule and not having that momentum this year, what does that mean for Arizona? All of that is different. You think you know, but they don’t even have a schedule yet.”

Murphy said one of the Wildcats’ biggest strengths is their “core four” of Aari McDonald, Sam Thomas, Cate Reese and Helena Pueyo.

The players accounted for more than 60% of the Wildcats scoring, steals and blocks last season — and more than 50% of their assists, too.

Pueyo was the Wildcats X-factor towards the end of the season, Murphy said. She liked how Barnes brought her along and she gained confidence. She’s one to watch, Murphy said, calling her “sensational as a great compliment to Aari.”

With the addition of Shaina Pellington, Lauren Ware, Trinity Baptiste, Bendu Yeaney and the others, the Wildcats are positioned for an exciting run.

“Arizona is in a beautiful place,” Murphy said. “If Adia can get two, three, four more rebounds per game with the addition of two defenders in Trinity and Bendu, the sky is the limit. It’s exciting. I can’t wait to see how it all gets put together.

“I wish people could go. I do think they’d be selling out McKale for the whole Pac-12 season.”