Arizona was scheduled to return to practice Thursday after a four-day Christmas break, having an entire week to prepare for its Jan. 3 opener against Colorado.
However, when asked about his priorities for the week of practice ahead, UA coach Sean Miller appeared to be disconnected from a Pac-12 conference call. Miller and his players are not expected to be available for comment again until next week.
Earlier, I asked Miller if Ira Lee was fully cleared to return to the team after having been scheduled for three days of house arrest through Thursday morning.
"I'm not familiar with what you're talking about," Miller said.
When asked his thoughts on Lee's plea agreement, Miller said "we've already given our statement on that."
Miller has not addressed the plea agreement and how it might affect Lee's ability to be with the team, but UA issued a statement on Oct. 30, saying it would suspend him for its Nov. 7 opener against Houston Baptist "due to a violation of the universityβs student code of conduct and Arizona Athleticsβ community standards related to an incident earlier this year."
MORE: Wildcats resting, practicing while Pac-12 sweats out final week of nonconference play
During the teleconference call, many Pac-12 coaches cited injuries and putting players in new roles for the league's collective nonconference struggles.
The team picked to win the league, Oregon, may have as many issues as anyone. Not only were the Ducks without five-star freshman Louis King early on, but coach Dana Altman said they will now be without forward Kenny Wooten for 4-6 weeks after Wooten suffered a broken jaw against Baylor. The Ducks are also without Bol Bol (foot) and Abu Kijab (ankle).
"Guys are going to have to step up," Altman said. "Francis (Okoro).. Miles Norris will get an opportunity. We'll have to play small a little bit."
While UA and Washington have a long week to prepare in practice for the conference season ahead, and Colorado is only now taking a holiday break because it played in the Diamond Head Classic, all other Pac-12 teams will be in action this weekend.
Utah will host Nevada on Saturday (noon, Pac-12 Networks) in the league's best nonconference opportunity left, while UCLA will attempt to stop its bleeding against Liberty later that day (4 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
Not surprisingly, after three straight losses, Liberty was the subject Bruins coach Steve Alford kept turning to when answering questions during the call.Β
"We have one 40-minute game left against a very good Liberty team," Alford said. "Thatβs our biggest concern just making sure we take these 40 minutes and really get ready for conference."
Alford also said his team needs to do a better job of screening and spacing.
While most coaches prefer to not have a game at all or to play one against a lesser opponent in the week leading up to Pac-12 play, Krystkowiak has a pretty difficult challenge.Β
But the Utah coach said he and Nevada coach Eric Musselman wanted to play the game and that the date was the only one that worked. They will return the game in Reno next season.
"Thatβs one of the key ingredients of scheduling that a lot of people overlook," Krystkowiak said. "Logistics is a big part of it and we wanted to play an elite team. Itβs not very often you can play an elite team and coach Musselman and I have known each other for a while. Itβs maybe not the best of timing for us."
