After Filip Borovicanin blew up by averaging 32.3 points and 18.3 rebounds at a European U16 championship in October 2019, he was asked about his favorite moment in one of the games.
βAll the moments,β he said.
In a video still posted to YouTube that has attracted about 1,500 views so far, Borovicanin went on to rattle off the various areas in which he had improved, including defense.
Three seasons later, that sort of broad perspective may have helped him with the Arizona Wildcats. Because even though last season he was averaging 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists last for KK Beko in his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, Borovicanin found even those numbers wouldnβt translate into playing time at the U.S. college level.
At least not on this team.
βI think that to get more minutes and try to improve the game, you will help the team the most on the defensive side,β Borovicanin said Saturday, after UA beat Oregon State 84-52. βWe are pretty good on offense. β¦ Offense will come. So I try to give my best energy and try to lock in (defensively on) guys.β
While UA coach Tommy Lloyd went deeper in his bench Saturday than he has since a Dec. 13 blowout win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Borovicanin tied his season-high of seven minutes against OSU. He scored four points, off a 3-pointer and free throw, while also helping UAβs second group keep the Beaversβ shooting under 40% even after the top six Wildcats were done for the night with six minutes left to play.
Borovicanin said it hasnβt really been hard to adjust from playing a standout role to sitting on the bench with Arizona but did say βIβm just really excitedβ when the opportunity to play does arise.
As it turned out, Borovicanin didnβt need offense to keep earning minutes Saturday. He played well enough to stay on the floor for seven minutes before he hit his first and only field goal, a banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:27 to go.
βIt is what it is,β Borovicanin said.
Of the other three players on the outside of the seven-man rotation Lloyd had deployed for the Wildcatsβ previous four games, sophomore wing Adama Bal went 2 of 3 from 3-point range while earning praise from Lloyd for pulling down an offensive rebound shortly after entering the game.
Then there were UAβs two freshman bigs: Dylan Anderson had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes while Henri Veesaar β who began falling out of the rotation just after New Yearβs β added two points and two rebounds in four minutes.
βI want to play them all the time. But itβs just not how it goes,β Lloyd said. βSo tonight for them to get that opportunity, and for them to play pretty well β¦ I think for our young guys overall as a group itβs kind of the best theyβve performed. So Iβm happy with that.β
Borovicanin and the Wildcatsβ other subs could get more time this week. UA will play at last-place Cal on Thursday night, with a rest-day advantage because the Bears played at Utah on Sunday. Then on Saturday, theyβll face Stanford, which has been surging but also had to play on the road Sunday, at Colorado.
But Lloyd said he wasnβt going to take anything for granted on the road, especially with Stanford playing well, and he also indicated Saturday that he wasnβt going to mess with what works in his rotation.
Lloyd also said he would continue to evaluate whether to go with seven or more players based on how a game is going and, even after saying starters Azuolas Tubelis and Kerr Kriisa told him they would be OK sitting out the second half Saturday after UA built a 26-point halftime lead, Lloyd still went with his top seven players for the first seven minutes after halftime.
βThey wanted their teammates to play, because theyβre great teammates,β Lloyd said. βI told them, βI donβt want to do that because we need to keep our rhythm and keep growing our team.β
βAnd thereβs no disrespect in any opponent. And, hey, Iβm sitting there as a head coach thinking Oregon State could come out on a 10-0 run if we donβt have our stuff together.β
All of which means minutes could still be pretty hard to find for the Wildcats outside of the top seven.
Borovicanin, for one, is getting used to it.
βIt was hard,β Borovicanin said of UAβs shrinking rotation. βIt was hard for me of course to deal with that. But I tried to do my best in practices and coach gave me an opportunity tonight. I tried to do my best.β