Hunter Dickinson was the “it” guy during his senior year at DeMatha Catholic High School near Washington D.C. He was student body president. He had a 4.0 GPA. He was a sturdy 7-feet 1-inches, 260 pounds and a McDonald’s basketball All-American.
Dickinson saved his final recruiting visit for Duke, invited by Mike Krzyzewski to the much-ballyhooed “Countdown to the Craziness” gala at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Dickinson chose Michigan over Duke, and things somehow got even better during his freshman season. He was a consensus second-team All-American. He was the Big Ten freshman of the year. Dickinson averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Wolverines’ Big Ten championship team.
He became the most feared big man in college basketball.
But on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Dickinson was colossally outplayed by Christian Koloko, who wasn’t even a full-time starter for his Sierra Canyon High School team, a three-star prospect who was not in high-profile demand, recruited by UC Davis, Creighton, Long Beach State, Cal and Arizona.
If you toss out Deandre Ayton, it was surely the most significant performance by a UA big man since Derrick Williams had a 32-point, 13-round double-double to beat Duke in the 2011 Sweet 16.
Koloko was so dominant, with 22 points, four blocked shots and what seemed like a gazillion dunks, that Dickinson had little or no presence. Arizona won 80-62, after which a crazy question popped into my head:
On paper, wasn’t Arizona better than this a year ago?
And yet this Arizona team, as currently constructed and coached, would be a 10-point favorite over the slow-and-go Wildcats of a year ago. Jordan Brown? James Akinjo? Terrell Brown? Jemarl Baker?
You can call off the missing persons dispatch. As Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after Sunday’s game: “If the secret’s out, the secret’s out.”
Arizona has a chance to be really good — much better than most of us thought.
The fascination of Sunday’s blowout victory over No. 4 Michigan is in the way Lloyd and his staff correctly plotted the Koloko-vs.-Dickinson inside battle, a subplot inside the bigger plot of forcing Michigan to play Arizona’s “Air Raid” pace.
After examining hours of game film, UA coaches surely discovered that Dickinson doesn’t move well, isn’t a shooter and was mostly a fixed presence in the paint. Koloko could spin around Dickinson for quick and reliable flip-hooks, a move that has developed into a considerable asset.
The first factor was to determine if Koloko would be intimidated by Dickinson’s reputation and physical stature. He was not. As Lloyd said in his postgame statements: “I think (Koloko’s) a problem for anybody. For a while, he didn’t believe it. I think he believes it now.”
Winning the battle against Dickinson opened the court for Arizona’s push-the-pace offense. Michigan was a half-step slow, too deliberate and not used to shooting quickly. The Wolverines tried to run with Arizona.
By doing that, Juwan Howard’s club essentially threw gasoline onto the fire.
Once the Wolverines lost their discipline and engaged in an “Air Raid” strategy, they were doomed. They started sprinting up and down the court instead of passing the ball with purpose. I think Lloyd’s offense works — and will continue to work — because when the opponent gets tired, it loses judgment.
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson was just 4 for 10 from the field in Sunday’s game against the UA.
No, the Wildcats aren’t there yet, but the variables are lined up. They share the ball. They’re unusually quick, fluid and instinctive. The leading scoring threats, Koloko, Benedict Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis, offer different styles. They’re big and mobile. They don’t need a point guard dribbling the shot clock under 10 seconds, hoping for a good look.
They create their own good looks with more effective movement and passing than previous Arizona teams.
In its last 64 games, Michigan had allowed 80 points just six times. It is ranked No. 251 in KenPom.com’s tempo analytics. No way did Howard want to get in a race with Arizona, but that’s exactly what happened.
What’s crazy is that KenPom lists Arizona as the tallest team in college basketball, which usually leads to deliberate, pass-it-inside offenses. But this UA team might be as fast as any in college basketball, too.
It is a rare and altogether exciting combination.
One caution: It’s not like this is going to be as easy as it looked Sunday in Las Vegas. Over the next six weeks, Arizona plays road games at UCLA, USC, Tennessee, Illinois, ASU and Oregon State. A month ago, that looked like a possible 0-6 series of roadies. Now? Maybe 2-4 or 3-3.
When opposing Pac-12 coaches get a look at Arizona’s victory over Michigan, there will be a collective groan throughout the conference. This is a league of defensive coaches. Arizona will now create the most difficult game prep for every Pac-12 opponent.
The Pac-12’s four most respected coaching matchups are probably Washington State’s Kyle Smith, UCLA’s Mick Cronin, Oregon’s Dana Altman and Colorado’s Tad Boyle. They’re all nitpickers. They’re all traditional walk-it-up coaches.
In fact, if you go back 30 years, the only fast-paced Pac-12 coaches were Lute Olson, UCLA’s Jim Harrick, Washington’s Lorenzo Romar and, when he had Lonzo Ball at point guard, UCLA’s Steve Alford.
Before leaving Las Vegas, Lloyd said that the two most important things you can give a basketball team are (1) a sense of calm and (2) confidence.
A month into his debut season as a head coach, Lloyd has not only done that. he’s also added a third item — credibility.
