LOS ANGELES – Now that one set of Allonzo Trier questions are finally answered (for the most part), we can get to another.
Like, do the Arizona Wildcats now have a chance to win the Pac-12?
Can they get a No. 1 or No. 2 NCAA tournament seed?
Can they make a home-state appearance – and first overall in 16 years – in the Final Four?
And, most imminently, do they now have a better chance to upset UCLA at Pauley Pavilion?
The last question is as difficult to answer as any of the others.
Trier obviously brings an instant dose of talent, depth and go-to scoring ability that the Wildcats have needed all season. But his first game back, on less than 24 hours’ notice, brings a few issues.
Even though he’s been practicing fully all season, unlike an injured player who is returning for the first time, Trier will still be playing his first college game in over 10 months. He’ll have to re-adjust to game speed and college officiating, which has been further tweaked in offensive players’ favor this season.
Trier will have to guard against playing with too much emotion, which can result in rushed shots, foul trouble or any number of other issues. No doubt UCLA fans will be all over him about his failed drug test, too, which could further raise his emotions.
His teammates might actually have to do the same thing, such as making sure they don’t try to rush a pass to Trier in an effort to have him make a splash when it might not be advisable.
The Wildcats will have to create new roles for everybody around him. Even though Trier has been working in with the first team in practice all season – which should mean Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins will be used to having him share the perimeter – several players will see slight tweaks to their roles right away.
To some extent on Saturday, and more so in the long run, UA coach Sean Miller will have to determine exactly how to get there. Whether or not he starts in the near future, Trier’s presence will mean Miller will have to determine how many minutes and how many shots everyone loses – especially Alkins and Simmons, since Kadeem Allen's defense means he likely will stay on the floor as much as possible without losing sharpness.
One possibility might be that Alkins stays fulltime at small forward, Trier plays mostly three but some two, while Simmons keeps playing the one and two. Allen would also still stay in largely the same role, playing mostly the two but going defensively against the best perimeter threat, regardless of position.
While Miller hasn’t been available to us since the Trier news came up after 9 p.m. tonight, he did tell Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy of his concern:
“It will be a challenge – tough first game to welcome him back,” Miller told DeCourcy. “He has been practicing the entire time, so in a few weeks he should be fine.”
In the short term, there is one additional benefit to Arizona of having Trier for the matchup with UCLA: The Wildcats now have five players for the three perimeter spots, meaning they can go small on a full-time basis if needed, never having to play Lauri Markkanen at the three again (at least defensively).
Miller said before the Wildcats practiced Friday afternoon that not being able to go small adequately was an issue against uptempo-minded USC. (It wasn’t clear when Miller spoke then if UA had received news of Trier’s clearance, though Miller said nothing of it and I was told beforehand that any questions about Trier would result in the interview ending immediately).
“When a team goes small against us, you have to remember how big we are,” Miller said. “Last night (Thursday at USC) was our final test that when teams go small we have to counter that. We have kind of stayed true to who we are, kind of letting Lauri do the best he can. But when you’re down points and you’re shooting threes, and playing that fast, tomorrow’s game will be like that.
“We have to be able to play a smaller lineup to be adjust and match up better. We have to play really good offense.”
With that, Miller transitioned into his concern that his mostly young team might get sucked into the Bruins’ frenzied ways.
“We can’t get caught up in trying to do the things that we don’t do,” he said. “We have talented players and we’re a good team. But for us to move the ball that quickly and take some of the shots that they shoot, that’s their game. We have to stick true to our game. With a young team, it’ll be interesting to see how we do.”
Magic Johnson is expected on hand for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Day, and Lonzo Ball says in the L.A. Times that "you can't ask for a better stage than that."
The Orange County Register noted Alford saying "something's got to give" between UCLA's offense and Arizona's defense.
Here are links to school-produced game notes from Arizona and UCLA.
Our full advance coverage of the UA-UCLA game is attached to this post. Please note that deadlines for all stories were before news of Trier's return surfaced, though we did manage to get in a short item on Trier in print after deadline, and a fuller news story online.
We also thought maybe it was appropriate to attach an old photo of Trier actually playing, last season at Pauley, on this post instead of the usual shots of him wearing sweats...
