Arizona Wildcats use film study, analytics to gain edge during grueling season

During a long season, basketball teams experience moments of confusion and clarity. Moments of energy and gassed legs. And times where it all clicks.

The Arizona women’s basketball team has felt all of this. Before Pac-12 play started, the Wildcats couldn’t seem to get a grip on the defense that coach Adia Barnes wanted to run.

That all changed during a stretch in which they held three ranked teams — Stanford, Cal, and Oregon — to under 63 points.

Oregon, which has now climbed to No. 7 in the polls, averages more than 80 points per game. The Wildcats were down by one at the half to the Ducks. Against Cal, UA missed a last-second shot to come up two points short of the upset. UA put it all together against Colorado last Friday to pick up its first Pac-12 victory of the season.

In each of these games Arizona has been adding another layer to its defense to make it even harder for their opponents to adjust and react on the fly.

Friday against No. 23 Cal, Arizona will get another chance at cracking the code. The Star sat down with assistant coach and defensive coordinator Sunny Smallwood this week to learn more about how they plan to do it.

“The team’s defense has significantly improved,” Smallwood said. “It’s because of a lot of things Adia has implemented and the players’ great job of buying in, and it puts us in games now. It starts simple and grows in sophistication as you go. By the time you get to February there is a lot.

“Last year we were super-athletic, could fly around and play full-court defense because we had the numbers. This year we don’t have as many players and we have to find different ways to put pressure on people. So we are still mixing defenses. It’s a different system, yet complicated in its own right.

“You have to build your system to meet the kids. Adia has a vision for the system she wants to play and is always tweaking it to fit the kids. I like that she is one of those great coaches who is extremely flexible to do that. That’s why she is going to be great in this business.”

Designing the UA defense starts with the numbers and lots and lots of film.

Graduate student manager Maddie Searle sits next to Smallwood during games and grades the defense. She writes down what defense the Wildcats are playing, how many stops they get, personnel and matchups. This helps when Barnes asks questions in games, and when the Wildcats re-evaluate during the week.

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“It all comes from, ‘What we are doing well? What (are we) not doing well? What needs to change? What doesn’t need to change?” Smallwood said. “That’s the bottom line.

“For instance, all through preseason our transition ‘D’ wasn’t very good. So we did a lot of things to that, which has done wonders.”

It worked. Arizona held Cal to 39 percent shooting Stanford to 37 percent and Colorado to 32 percent.

UA held a slight lead with all three teams in points off turnovers: 9-7 against Cal, 15-14 versus Stanford and 11-10 against Colorado.

Arizona coaches also rely on data from software that breaks down all the Pac-12 teams, offensively and defensively and by player. The data collected shows how teams fare against man-to-man defenses and zones.

And then there’s the film. The coaches review games, practices, individual players and opponents. They also make clips to aid in teaching players. And then they drill down to the key takeaways from reminders to new wrinkles in the defense. All of this before the next practice — a Saturday morning after a Friday night game or even a Tuesday night before a Wednesday practice.

Smallwood was out recruiting recently. She attended 7:30 p.m. game; by 9:30, she was back in her hotel room and ready to watch UA’s practice film from earlier that day. Smallwood spent the next four hours reviewing the film, going to bed 1:30 a.m. Smallwood woke up at 4:30 a.m. and headed off to the airport.

Arizona’s players see the value in watching film, Smallwood said.

“They are all constantly asking for extra video,” Smallwood said. “All three of us (assistant coaches) are doing everything we can to give them what we got for defense and offense. They want to be great and aren’t satisfied with what is happening.

“It’s a time when you talk about it, do it, see it; talk about it, do it, see it; talk about it, do it, see it … until for some reason it finally clicks. Here’s Kat (Wright), a fifth-year senior, and she wants to make the most of every single second. Or Lindsey Malecha, who is a walk-on and doesn’t see herself as a walk-on. She sees herself as somebody who wants to contribute yet knows her role.

“I appreciate this group of girls.”