EUGENE, Ore. – Six minutes into his postgame media conference -- having discussed Deandre Ayton’s mindset, Sean Miller’s disappearance, whether he’d want to coach the Wildcats permanently, Allonzo Trier’s status and a bunch of other off-court issues – Lorenzo Romar stopped himself.
“Anything about the game at all that you might want to ask,” Romar said. “Or do you have that covered?”
Nothing was really asked about the game, other than how Ayton approached it following ESPN’s bombshell report that UA coach Sean Miller was caught on a federal wiretap allegedly discussing a $100,000 payment for the star forward.
“Oh, he’s getting through it,” Romar said of Ayton. “You look at his play tonight and it seemed like he handled it pretty well.”
When asked how it was for Ayton to handle it, Romar said:
“You remember when you were 19? Not easy. Not easy for anyone,” he said. “Again, I thought he did a great job and handled it in a very mature fashion.”
Guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright also complemented Ayton.
“I think he’s handled it like a professional,” he said. “He’s a high-character guy. … I think the last 24 hours have probably been difficult for him but he’s handled it like a professional and it’s really good to see.
“We needed him. We needed him. I don’t think we’re in the game without him. He just gives us heart, and that’s how he plays each game. Down the stretch I wish we could have done a little bit more to give him the ball, give him some more lobs, but we’ll take that and move on."
Romar said the Wildcats’ play in their overtime loss was an indication of how they were able to stay focused, and when asked if it was tough for them to do so, he said:
“It’s difficult, but kids are pretty resilient at this age,” Romar said. “I also think coach Miller has done a phenomenal job of keeping things together, just every day coming and bringing it at a high level, keeping guys focused. I think that has a lot to do with it.”
When asked if Rawle Alkins’ technical foul for jawing at Oregon’s Kenny Wooten was a result of cumulative emotion from the day, or just a dumb decision, Romar said:
“I can’t say that,” he said. “I’m not gonna call it a dumb decision. But guys compete. It was a hard-fought game. Everyone was competing in there and sometimes those things happen. Sometimes those things happen that way. I’m sure he would like to take it back if he could. But sometimes those things happen when you’re competing at a high level like that. He was playing very hard tonight.”
Among other things Romar was asked:
-- Whether he would be interested in coaching the Wildcats permanently. Romar said he didn't look at it that way, that Miller is the coach.
-- What his reaction was to the report that an agent recorded a $10,000 payment to his former Washington guard, Markelle Fultz.
“I didn’t know anything about that until I read it.”’
-- Romar was asked about “arrows” being thrown, including to him over the Fultz issue, and what he would say to the critics who are throwing them about what’s going on in college basketball and particularly at Arizona:
“I would have a whole lot to say but I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to talk about that right now at this point.”
-- On what the worst thing about this all was:
“I don’t know the answer to that. I just see this as I am part of a group. I’m part of a team. And when you’re in the foxhole, man, you’re trying to figure out how to win. You don’t have time to sit back and think, with self-reflection, how it’s affecting you. We’re just trying to tackle each day and trying to stay with it.”
-- On what he told the Wildcats in his pregame address:
“Well, coach Miller talked to his team. ... it’s just a situation that was tough. If our leader isn’t out there with us … I don’t think we’ve gone out there and done anything without his presence, so it’s tough, but again I thought our guys were phenomenal in how we came out and began that game.”
-- On what he told them postgame:
“We talked about what I said at the outset. Too many second chance points and too many turnovers.”
Romar was referring to his initial remarks, when he spoke before any questions were asked. Oregon scored 20 points off of 17 UA turnovers and had 22 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds, so Romar referred to the total of 42 being the difference.
“Forty two is the number. That was the game," Romar said. "They did a really good job of applying pressure, picking us up in full court, and getting us to turn the ball over … our inability to keep them off the backboards really hurt us. I thought we did a decent job of defending but then they would get the ball back and they would score. I was really proud of our guys how we came out, the focus that we had. It was really good to see but we didn’t finish the game.”
Our full coverage is attached to this post.
Among the national coverage from Saturday, Lindsay Schnell of USA Today says Miller should step aside and ESPN's Kyle Bonagura summed up the Wildcats' day at Oregon.
Meanwhile, Jon Wilner of the Mercury News says Miller's presence at the Pac-12 Tournament would be a "wrecking ball" to the high ground Larry Scott has tried to position the conference as having toward the issues in college basketball.
Steve Kerr said he was "disappointed" to hear about the allegations against Arizona.
And former Kyle Kuzma didn't confirm nor deny the report an agent paid him money when he played for Utah.
