Adia Barnes breaks down Wildcats' system — offense, defense, why they do what they do

Arizona is known for its defense under coach Adia Barnes. And rightly so. The Wildcats have disrupted and slowed or shut down some of the elite players in the Pac-12 over the eight years of Barnes’ tenure.

However, this year a sneaky surprise might be how well the offense has performed — especially with no real dominant offensive player.

In Pac-12 play, the Wildcats shot 44% from the field. Only three teams had a higher percentage: Stanford (45.7), Oregon State (44.4) and Colorado (44.1).

The Wildcats lead the league in 3-point shooting in conference games at 36.9%, just ahead of Colorado (36.2).

The Wildcats also ranked fifth in points per game (69.4) in league contests.

What are Arizona's objectives on offense? Is the UA defense too aggressive at times? What went into developing Barnes' systems?

Ahead of Arizona’s NCAA Tournament "First Four" game against Auburn on Thursday, Barnes took some time to talk about all of that and more. Here is a slightly edited portion of the conversation.

How did you develop your system?

A: “It was a mix of different coaches along the years. Remember, I had just come from Washington where it was pack line (a defense that isn’t as aggressive as Barnes’). When I looked at the recruits we were getting, the personnel, we weren't going to be able to play pack line and not be really big and be able to manufacture more points when you don't have a good quarter-court team.

"I thought about how we played in college. We pressed 40 minutes, we were up — super aggressive — and that helps manufacture points that lead to easy scoring opportunities. A lot of it just came from there and just a little bit of all the coaches that I've ever played for, plus (UA assistant) Salvo’s (Coppa) influence and how he had been coaching (in international play)."

As you know, fans always ask or even shout out “shoot” at times during games. When your offensive system is on point, why do you pass so much and seem to not take shots?

A: “It’s not good offense (to take those shots). Think about it: Score in the first eight seconds or shoot with under 10 (left on shot clock). That would mean if you have an advantageous opportunity in transition where you have numbers ... you go score. And those are high-percentage shots usually dictated off turnovers.

"Well, if you're going to take a shot after a first pass in 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 seconds, that's a bad shot and the bad shot is like a turnover. So, passing up open shots, getting paint touches and ball reversals, is analytically the highest-percentage shot. If you look at our analytics, a one-pass shot is like 15%. A paint reversal and a shot would be probably 26%. A paint touch, reversal and a shot, it’s like 1.4 points per possession. It’s really high.

"If you think of any half-court defense and teams in the Pac 12 that play the percentages, they're leaving people open who can’t shoot. Because if you're a good shooter, and you are Helena (Pueyo) and you’re open off a first pass, I’m going to let you take that shot.

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"If you think of how people play defense on you, usually people who can't shoot are the ones left open after a pass or two. So, those aren’t the shots you want. You want to work for an uncontested good shot after ball movement.

"When you look at the best offensive teams, you move the ball to get an uncontested shot. A quick shot — one that is off one pass — leads to an unorganized transition. Think about it: Helena has the ball, she reverses the ball and gets rid of it. And gets it back off action. Then the other team has had to play defense for 20 seconds, and then you are getting your best player in that situation to score. Defenses break down when you do that."

At times there is a thought that your defense might be too aggressive. Where do you think the line is between being overly aggressive and being just right?

A: “Sometimes we are overly aggressive, and sometimes that leads to layups. If you look at the numbers, we forced the most turnovers in the Pac-12, one of the top in the country. (Arizona's 629 turnovers from opponents rank 10th in the nation; its 11.6 steals per game rank sixth; and its 13.8% steal rate ranks fifth.) Sometimes with those traps you are going to give up some layups. I don't mind that because we're going to turn you over more than we're going to give up layups.

"Are there some games we probably didn't have the rotation and some teams killed us off the pick-and-roll? Yeah, but usually in those games, I've gone to two different types of pick-and-rolls and they were still killing us. I'd rather take chances try to get turnovers and then give up some wide-open layups sometimes."

How would you describe your system?

A: “We like to play up-tempo, but that doesn’t mean 90 possessions. We like to score in the first 6-8 seconds. If not, we should get a quality shot under 10 (seconds) with good offense. We play fast, but smart. Not just up and down, up and down (the court) without a purpose. 

“We don’t want to rush the offense and have a poor transition. It's just not the way you play basketball. You should work for uncontested good shots and put people in a position where they're successful. For me to have Breya (Cunningham) sit out there and take trail 3s, it’s not her strength. It’s better to reverse the ball, move it, have her to get the ball on the block where she is going to her right hand. That’s how she’s in the best position to score.

"Good coaching is getting the best out of you players. Having your players believe in more than even they think they can do. Have them go to the next level and do things they didn't think they were capable of. I think the sign of all of it coming to fruition is players getting better every single day. I think if you look at all of our players, they've all transformed. There isn't anybody that's regressed.

"Skylar (Jones) has improved. She’s put on like 15 pounds of muscle and is a different player. She’s attacking the basket on balance. Isis (Beh) is playing the best basketball she's ever played. They're all improving, and I think that as a coach that’s what you want them to do. You want them to improve and be more confident.”

You said that as a coach at times you might have to believe in your players even more than they do to get the most out of them. Who did that for you?

A: “(Former UA coach) Joan (Bonvicini) totally did. (Former Seattle Storm coach) Anne Donovan believed in me. A lot of different coaches — (former Seattle Storm assistant) Jenny Boucek always believed in me. But I think Joan in college. I wasn’t a good player coming out. I wasn't heavily recruited. Joan made me believe and know that I could play at this level. She fought for me, had a plan for me and just put me in a situation to be successful.”