Paris Clark plays fearlessly in Wildcats' exhibition win; fellow freshmen shake off nerves

Exhibition games have meaning.

Maybe not for in the standings, but in so many other ways.

Thursday’s 86-63 win over West Texas A&M was a time for the Wildcats’ heralded freshmen to work through their nerves. Maya Nnaji, Paris Clark, Kailyn Gilbert and Lemyah Hylton were playing in their first college game. Everything — putting on their uniforms, warming up, going thru starter introductions, sitting on the bench and checking into the game — was new.

“There are players learning what to do, the etiquette on the bench, what a game day looks like. It’s all new,” Barnes said. “So it’s a lot of stuff. Let alone learning all new plays, all new defense. It’s a lot of information. It’s like information overload for freshmen. But that’s a part of the process.”

Despite some turnovers, fouls and missed rotations, the freshmen played well. Nnaji scored three points, pulled down five rebounds, picked up an assist and blocked a shot. Hylton went 3 for 6, scoring six points, and added a steal and two rebounds.

Gilbert ran the offense with confidence and scored 10 points, including a buzzer-beating jumper at the end of the first quarter to give UA a 24-12 lead.

Clark finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and grabbed four steals.

Barnes was paying attention.

“I always say that you can play two minutes or or 22 — those minutes are important, what you do in those minutes,” she said.

“A perfect example of that is Paris. She was probably the sixth or the probably the eighth person, and she came in and she was a spark. Then she earned more minutes. And she played really hard. She was fearless and she was solid defensively. So she earned more minutes. Now as a coach, I have more confidence in her going moving forward.”

Patience on defense

Arizona had 18 steals against West Texas A&M, and one might think the Wildcats’ signature defense is already a well-oiled machine.

Not so fast. The Wildcats still have much to learn. Just last week, they installed a first-court press in practice.

Guard/forward Jade Loville said that the Wildcats need to shore up their transition defense and “trust each other on help side.”

This ramp-up is typical for the defensive scheme that Barnes runs. The UA will get another chance to fine-tune its defense Wednesday, when it takes on Cal State Los Angeles in another exhibition.

“Our defense will definitely be better, because we’re going to work on a lot of defense,” Barnes said.

“We’re going to have a lot of defensive practices, because we take too many chances. I want discipline, not over-aggression. I want aggressiveness with good rotations, then discipline. If you are going for a steal, you’re not 100%, then be solid and be in front of someone. Not like lunging here, lunging here, rotation, and then no help. Those things collectively, as a team, we have to get better at. We had no help side. Those are things that our identity is: really solid rotations. It’s OK. We’re just not there yet, but we’ll get there. I’m confident in that. I know that. ...

“I also have to take a step back and not be critical. ... OK, we have seven new players, four freshmen, who have never learned defensive rotations and it’s all new, and they’re trying. And they want to be good. I’m happy for that. Then we have three transfers, who came from all different styles and different coaches. That’s normal. That’s over half your team. That’s seven out of 12. I do have to give that some grace, some understanding and some patience.”

More conditioning

Thursday marked Arizona’s first game against another team since March, when the Wildcats lost to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Fifth-year senior Cate Reese said the Wildcats’ conditioning isn’t quite game-ready.

“We’re kind of tired. We were blowing gas. I was gassed in the first three minutes of the game, so I think that that was a little bit of a factor tonight but we’re definitely going to get better,” Reese said.

Barnes said her players will soon be ready for a long season. The way she put it, they have no other option.

“Great players never get tired, because when good players get tired, great players kick their ass,” Barnes said. “You look at the Sue Birds, you look at the Diana Taurasis, you look at Sylvia Fowleses — look at all those players, they don’t get tired. They’re never on the court gassed. ... They’re in shape. Fitness is never a factor, because then you can press, you can get shots and you’re not tired ... being ready to play good defense. All those things are ways you play on the court here. If you don’t do those things, it’s hard to play.”

Rim shot

Senior point guard Shaina Pellington scored seven points on 2-for-12 shooting. She also grabbed four steals, pulled down three offensive rebounds, had six assists and only one turnover. Barnes said she doesn’t think 12 shots is too many for Pellington to take. However “Shaina is too good to go 2 for 12,” she said. “But you have those nights. Then I said, ‘If you do that, then it’s good because she did other things.’ That’s what I love. In the pasts she would have not had that. She kind of stopped. I love the fact that her maturity (level was to keep fighting).”