Miller's commitment to defense/development

[Bordercat]

I was one of those people, especially after our Bahamas trip, who felt we absolutely needed a zone. Heck even Miller remarked in a presser while on the island that he may have to deploy a zone. I have always felt it can't hurt to have another weapon in your took kit. I know that Miller's reluctance to mess with zone stems from the fact that it takes valuable time away that could be spent working on the m2m packline. I was pissed after the Bahamas presser when he said he would do some zone but didn't. The dude basically doubled down on his commitment to this defensive philosophy. "Do what we do". I have heard many analyst make pointed remarks that ____________ is a great coach is for their adaptability in defenses. Miller only catches shit for his commitment to the packline. But I'll be damned if it didn't pay off. He has this team defending at 2/3x the level they were at the beginning of the season.

I also would have given up on Dylan Smith a while ago. Probably some of the others too.

But here comes Dylan Smith last night knocking down 3 threes. Randolph has saved our butt too. Still waiting on Barcello to have his moment.

This could be another one of Millers coaching gems, like last year with a team full of freshmen. It aint easy doing what Miller does, yet here we are.

I remember Bilas saying while covering out game at UCLA last year something along the lines of, "damn.. here comes AZ".

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not pressing the panic button is an underrated virtue for a coach.

[CatFanOneMil]

Not pressing the panic button is an underrated virtue for a coach.

I think people underestimate "lineage" in coaches...Miller is actually mature for his actual years as a coach...(like TJ in the NBA) no one remembers that Miller is a relatively new coach in terms of storied programs because it seems like his name has been spoken regularly for a while...

Think about this as well...top NBA recruits have been coming through the desert at a rate that conference coaches make comments about it being unnatural...this from a "youngish" coach...

I think his father has made him mature, its in his blood and he actually has a knack for getting hsi teams up to a point of tournament play at the right time regardless of flunky starts.

[Bordercat]

Miller also committed to Ristic and PJC.. paid off.

Akot is another I am about to write off. Be interesting to see what Miller does with him.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Here's the thing. Even if the plan isn't perfect, having a long term plan to execute day to day gets you further than knee jerk reactions to what's going right and wrong. People improve year to year because what's expected of them is the same every day, week, month and year.

That's why I tend to be a hard liner against the ideas like "having a zone in your back pocket." Messaging is very important for college kids, and sometimes you hammer the principles of man for months, and then the light switch flips on. The importance of a consistent set of expectations, day to day work and markers for performance is hard to overstate.

The faith that things will click if you stick with the process is HUGE. Lots of people say it, Miller's teams have showed they believe it.

[SunnyAZ]

I still think the reasons for not using a zone are silly. And wish we used one every so often. But obviously Miller knows how to coach man defense. Don't think this team is gonna be a top 15 defense at any point this year tho.

[SunnyAZ]

how we feeling now?

[Longhorned]

how we feeling now?

Thank you. Great point. What one posts is relative to whether or not Arizona lost today. Better to post without the emotions. Easy to forget all the WTF road losses by great Arizona teams of the past. I’m glad Miller is charge. Also, there’s a ton of stuff overlooked in all these “I’m so depressed” posts. There’s a reason why the old men around here don’t post on game day.

[SunnyAZ]

how we feeling now?

Thank you. Great point. What one posts is relative to whether or not Arizona lost today. Better to post without the emotions. Easy to forget all the WTF road losses by great Arizona teams of the past. I’m glad Miller is charge. Also, there’s a ton of stuff overlooked in all these “I’m so depressed” posts. There’s a reason why the old men around here don’t post on game day.

we are ranked 77th in adjD, how's that a reaction to one game?

imagine if we were the 77th best team in the country, that would be baffling

[rgdeuce]

It feels a lot better when u think of these losses like "relapses" along the road of progress.

[SCCats]

imagine if we were the 77th best team in the country, that would be baffling

We could ask some UCLA fans how it feels.

[enfuego]

"I can't coach these kids..."

"These kids aren't playing for me..."

--- Sean Miller, January 6, 2018

[WildcatStunner]

"How does my ass look in these chaps?"

--- Bill Self

[zonagrad]

When Miller says the loss was on him, that he didn't have his team prepared, that he isn't reaching his players and it's his fault, he is not calling himself out. He's calling his players out in front of everyone by saying they aren't willing to bust their ass on every possession. When he says he can't reach them, he's really saying they aren't doing what they're asked to do.

Miller heaps tons of praise on guys like Ristic, Trier, PJC & Rawle to build them up. On Ristic he says he's always on time and leads by example. Of Trier, he's called him the hardest worker, putting in time before and after practice. Alkins too.

But dammit, I see guys who still don't know how to play 40 minutes of ball. They take off possessions constantly. They stand around flat footed on many possessions. I don't care if you stay late to put up extra shots for practice. Basketball, like almost any other sport, is a mental game. The game is won & lost by how smart you play on the court. And playing smart also means playing mentally tough so that your opponent is mentally and physically taxed trying to guard you and figure you out. If you bust your ass every single play, I guarantee your opponent will know it. They'll sense that there is no let up in you. And it's deflating to the opponent when you are like a fucking machine on the court going a hundred miles an hour in every direction.

That means always positioning yourself on the floor to be in position to make a positive play. That means always boxing out your man. And if you're man doesn't bother to follow his shot and is lazy, then you read that play too and adjust accordingly to put your body in position to make a difference. It means being active on the floor at all times. It means moving without the ball not to get yourself an open shot, but to tire out the guy guarding you and making him work more than he wants to. It means moving without the ball to get your man out of rebounding position. It means changing direction when your man is trying to get back on defense to guard you so he has to work even harder to stay with you. It means being a mental "pain in the ass" for your opponent so that he has no clue what your next move is going to be. It means baiting the guy guarding you with a specific move over and over again to set him up for the real move you want to make at a critical point in the game.

[Hank of sb]

When Miller says the loss was on him, that he didn't have his team prepared, that he isn't reaching his players and it's his fault, he is not calling himself out. He's calling his players out in front of everyone by saying they aren't willing to bust their ass on every possession. When he says he can't reach them, he's really saying they aren't doing what they're asked to do.

Miller heaps tons of praise on guys like Ristic, Trier, PJC & Rawle to build them up. On Ristic he says he's always on time and leads by example. Of Trier, he's called him the hardest worker, putting in time before and after practice. Alkins too.

But dammit, I see guys who still don't know how to play 40 minutes of ball. They take off possessions constantly. They stand around flat footed on many possessions. I don't care if you stay late to put up extra shots for practice. Basketball, like almost any other sport, is a mental game. The game is won & lost by how smart you play on the court. And playing smart also means playing mentally tough so that your opponent is mentally and physically taxed trying to guard you and figure you out. If you bust your ass every single play, I guarantee your opponent will know it. They'll sense that there is no let up in you. And it's deflating to the opponent when you are like a fucking machine on the court going a hundred miles an hour in every direction.

That means always positioning yourself on the floor to be in position to make a positive play. That means always boxing out your man. And if you're man doesn't bother to follow his shot and is lazy, then you read that play too and adjust accordingly to put your body in position to make a difference. It means being active on the floor at all times. It means moving without the ball not to get yourself an open shot, but to tire out the guy guarding you and making him work more than he wants to. It means moving without the ball to get your man out of rebounding position. It means changing direction when your man is trying to get back on defense to guard you so he has to work even harder to stay with you. It means being a mental "pain in the ass" for your opponent so that he has no clue what your next move is going to be. It means baiting the guy guarding you with a specific move over and over again to set him up for the real move you want to make at a critical point in the game.

In my opinion, this is exactly right. However, I'm not positive Miller's statement is a form of effective coaching or strategy; Miller's comment strikes me as a passive aggressive statement and, perhaps, too much so--a veiled warning that 'its going to be his way or the highway' whether the players like it or not.

The player's did not play as a team and, off and on, some players bridled showing, at best, confused play or just lack of effort (Trier).

By now the starters know what is expected of them; Arizona lost this game because Miller's players flat out didn't respond to his coaching.

[zonagrad]

Lute was no different. It was always his way or the highway. What's disappointing is that Trier, as much as he's lauded as a gym rat, doesn't give great effort on every play when the ball is not in his hands. And his defensive effort has always been so-so at best. And the only way to have a player understand that is to show him the video frame by frame where he loses intensity guarding his opponent or takes plays off when he doesn't have the ball.

[Hank of sb]

Lute was no different. It was always his way or the highway. What's disappointing is that Trier, as much as he's lauded as a gym rat, doesn't give great effort on every play when the ball is not in his hands. And his defensive effort has always been so-so at best. And the only way to have a player understand that is to show him the video frame by frame where he loses intensity guarding his opponent or takes plays off when he doesn't have the ball.

You are right but Lute tempered that hard edge with with like FIVE 17-1 Pac-10 seasons, four FF's, etc. Yes, Lute was stubborn and even seemed like a prick at times but Bobbi and Coach Rosborough were always there to help smooth things out.

More importantly, unlike Sean Miller, Lute was NOT stubborn; he adapted each year's team to the players he had that year; he played man-to-man (not 'pack line' man-to-man); and, most importantly, he emphasized offense, not defense. Big differences all around.

When you compare the two you end up with, Lute, a man enshrined in the Hall of Fame and, Sean, a man fast becoming another Ben Howland.....except a BH without a single FF.

Look, its literally unanimous on these boards (save Jason Scheer) that the twin towers thing is not working--that Ristic needs to be subbed out. From my eye I see a lot of potential with Ira Lee and I like Pinder's play as well. To boot, both players play taller than Ristic with their hops so what's to lose by playing them. Heck, both players are better defensively as no player could be worse than Ristic defensively.

That said, we'll probably win 80%+ of our games this year (75% to date); maybe we'll win the Pac season, but so what. And that's a lot of losses, BTW. A true 4/5/6 seed.

The above says it all. It's not that much fun.

It's not the losses; it's the vibe.

[Bordercat]

I'll take a 4 seed.

I'll take a regular season championship. Both will likely happen.

Calm down everybody. The kids didn't show up to play the first half because less than 48 hours before they were in SLC playing before another crazy/nasty crowd, which was on the heels of an insane environment at McKale.

Let down game? Yep.

This type of game is so common in college basketball. I've seen year after year.

Chill out. We will be alright.

Miller pours his soul into each and every team. He has the right to be exasperated when his team, particularly his upper classmen fail to do the same.

Still wish Miller toss out a little zone when a team like Colorado is going bananas like they were today.