Sean Miller played eight players 21 minutes or more out of 24 possible minutes Friday and he knows the math doesn’t work like that after the Red-Blue Game.
Sometimes, though, his players think it does.
During his postgame interview after Friday’s Red-Blue Game, Miller said he sometimes gives his players a test of sorts. He described it:
“The way the test works is you have 12 eligible players and there’s 200 minutes in a college basketball game and if you score 80 points you’re going to be one of top 10 or 15 scoring teams on the country,” Miller said. “So you give them all that information and then ask them: Reasonably, knowing who’s in this room, how many points per game do you think you’ll score and how many minutes do you think you’ll be able to truly earn this year?”
Miller tallied up their answers and realized there was a problem.
“We have to find a way to play 263 minutes instead of 200, and we’re gonna average 156 points,” Miller said, drawing laughter. “That is the truth right there. I didn’t make that up.”
Maybe to help prepare his guys for the truth ahead, Miller spoke Friday about how coaching is partly about managing expectations, about having them realize that team success can benefit individuals – and he praised virtually everyone on his roster, especially the freshmen.
“I’d like to say maybe this freshman class has an opportunity to be maybe be our overall best freshman class that we’ve brought in,” Miller said. “But a big reason is their attitude. They have all been willing learners, people who listen to their older teammates and it’s a lot more fun to come in to the gym and practice and do the things we do when you have a young group like them.
“This time, we haven’t given any playing time out yet. Some guys will play more than others but I have a good feel for that group. They’ll have a lot of success.”
That said, there’s little doubt that freshmen Deandre Ayton, Emmanuel Akot and Brandon Randolph are going to earn plenty of time.
Miller raved about not only Ayton’s size and talent but also his attitude on and off the court (and weight room, where Miller said he bench-pressed 185 pounds 19 times).
“The thing about Deandre is he’s obviously a terrific basketball player and he’s a remarkable kid,” Miller said. “He has done every single thing that we asked since he stopped on campus, academically in the classroom, working hard in the weight room.
“There’s a lot of freshmen who have never lifted weights before they came to college. He was one of them. He might have had a sampling but not a real strength and conditioning program so you can imagine physically to be as gifted as him and not lifting -- sometimes when you’re like him, you don’t really think the strength and conditioning part is for you.”
“He’s become a more explosive athlete and a bigger, stronger more physical player because of all the hard work he has put it, and the same thing for his shooting.”
Meanwhile, Miller has already identified Akot as possibly this season’s defensive stopper, the role Kadeem Allen vacated.
“He’s as good of a defensive player as a freshman that we’ve ever had and I don’t say that lightly because of Aaron Gordon, Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson), Nick Johnson and then as guys like T.J. (McConnell), Kadeem, Kyle Fogg -- those guys really embraced the defensive end. They were terrific defenders.
“Emmanuel’s kind of like that now. That’s going to be a big role for him where he can get in the game and play different positions because we really trust his ability to defend. A lot of freshmen don’t think that way. It takes some maturity to realize defense means something but he’s very mature in his thinking.
“I think he’ll add a tremendous value to our team defense and be able to guard the other team’s best perimeter player. Kadeem did that every game and I think Emmanuel will be that person this year.”
Without Alkins until possibly December, the Wildcats could play either Akot or Randolph in his place at small forward. Miller said Randolph has “very explosive” ability on the offensive end but is developing defensively, while Akot has court vision and defensive ability.
Miller also said he’s been experimenting with putting Akot at power forward in some situations.
“There’s so many teams now that play small and we want to have that capability, and with Rawle being out that also gives us chance to play with a third perimeter player,” Miller said. “When (Akot is) back there he’s one of our best passers regardless of what position.”
Duke transfer Chase Jeter has been mixed in to regular practice rotations so far and Miller said he will not relegate him to scout team duty during the season while he redshirts.
“This is a year of development for him and he knows that,” Miller said. “He’s already getting better. He’s playing against Dusan (Ristic), Keanu (Pinder), Deandre every day and Chase is a big part of that competitive environment.”
“We treat him like he’s able to play. We don’t put him on the scout team. In my past I’ve found that develops guys in their sit-out year better. It keeps them more engaged and makes your practices more competitive than if we just put him on the sidelines and try to almost ask him to be the other team (as a scout-team player). I think he’ll be the beneficiary of that.”
Ray Smith appeared at the Red-Blue Game and Miller said he will continue to have an unspecified role with the team.
Smith played in the Red-Blue Game last season before tearing an ACL for the third time just over two weeks later in an exhibition against the College of Idaho. Two days alter, he retired from basketball at age 19.
“The winning, the losing, the team camaraderie, you miss that when you used to play and you no longer do,” Miller said. “And it’s happened at a very early age for Ray.”
Our full coverage from the Red-Blue Game is attached along with a PDF of the box score.
