If the grueling playing-time numbers that resulted from plugging mostly just four guys into three perimeter spots hasnβt made it obvious enough lately, Arizona coach Sean Miller put it bluntly on Saturday.
βWeβre starving for a perimeter player,β he said.
On Thursday at Utah, heβll get one. UA still expects Estonian freshman guard Kerr Kriisa to become eligible after serving an NCAA clearinghouse penalty of 19 games β 17 actually played games plus shelved games against San Diego and Oregon β giving the Wildcats a fifth player to plug into its three perimeter spots.
Kriisa was initially expected to become eligible on Saturday at Colorado but his timetable appears to have been moved up because Arizonaβs March 6 game with ASU was fast-forwarded to Jan. 25 (even though the Wildcatsβ postponed Jan. 16 game at Oregon might be added back later.)
Thatβs particularly good news for guards James Akinjo and Terrell Brown, who were both averaging more than 35 minutes in the three games prior to UAβs 71-50 win over Cal on Saturday β and who are scheduled to play two games at breath-sapping high altitudes over 48 hours this weekend.
Arizonaβs Terrell Brown Jr. passes during the win over Cal on Saturday at McKale Center. The UA backcourt will have some more help when freshman Kerr Kriisa is ready.
βHeβs a guy who can come in and keep things going,β Akinjo said of Kriisa. βKeep the lead or maybe (expand it) even further.β
Kriisaβs credentials suggest heβll be able to help at both guard spots. The rising star of his national team, Kriisa had 26 points while hitting 8 of 12 3-pointers to lead Estonia to a 92-85 win over Lithuania in an exhibition game pitting regional rivals last July.
As do Akinjo and Brown, Kriisa also has ballhandling skills that suggest he can take care of the point guard position when needed, too.
βWe are going to welcome him to our team because we are starving for a perimeter player and heβs that β he can play both one and the two,β Miller said. βHeβs an excellent shooter. Heβs a very good player and I think it will take some time for him to get comfortable.β
That last part is where Miller is cautious, however.
Kriisa has been working out with the Wildcats constantly since August, except for a week-long trip home to play in a FIBA game for Estonia in November, and after breaking his nose and suffering a concussion on Jan. 13.
Arizona guard James Akinjo has been forced to play more minutes in recent games for the depleted UA backcourt.
But itβs past midseason now, and Kriisa still hasnβt played in an actual game. Plus, the first two games heβs scheduled to play in are two of the Pac-12βs traditionally tougher road venues because of the travel required, altitude and (usually) quality of the opposition.
βItβs a very difficult situation for Kerr to play his first college game ever when everybody that heβs playing with and against are on game 15-16,β Miller said. βSo first things first. For him to be able to settle into a role where he can come into a game and sub out James, sub out Terrell, and kind of get a good feel for being out there. ...
βI mean, Iβm sure heβs incredibly nervous. The good thing for Kerr is heβs healthy. Heβs been able to practice with us really the entire semester, other than when he went home to play for his national team and when he suffered his concussion.
βHe practices with us. He goes to shootaround. He knows our plays. He knows our system. So heβs not starting from scratch there.β
Kriisa hasnβt been made available for comment since Nov. 5, during UAβs preseason media day, but he said then his adjustment from FIBA to college has been helped by the competition he faces every day in practice.
βI think everything is kind of more physical,β Kriisa said then. βEspecially when things go against James. James is on (me) every day in the practices. So I havenβt really felt that before. And in general (it is) more individual, more one-on-one, which is good for me also to get to improve on this aspect.β
Since then, Kriisa received another βwelcomingβ of sorts when he broke his nose and suffered a concussion in practice on Jan. 13, just before the Wildcats left to play at Oregon State. But in what may be another good sign for Arizona, Kriisa recovered quickly and was cleared to resume full practice activity before UA faced Stanford last Thursday.
Kriisaβs return to practice came at the very same time that small forward Bennedict Mathurin was trying to return from an ankle sprain suffered on Jan. 25 against ASU, suggesting maybe what was a difficult week for the perimeter wonβt happen again.
β(Kriisa) comes to us at a very, very good time,β Miller said.
