Arizona coach Sean Miller ran into one problem on the court during the Wildcats鈥 exhibition games in Spain earlier this month, but it was a good one to have.
He had to start figuring out who to get the ball to.
Does he go with the all-around scoring powers of Allonzo Trier and Rawle Alkins? The fast-rising skills of freshman guard Brandon Randolph? Pound it down low to the reliable Dusan Ristic? Have Parker Jackson-Cartwright or Dylan Smith fire up some opportunistic 3s?
Or just let DeAndre Ayton use his freakish 7-foot athleticism to spin and dunk around guys who won鈥檛 have a chance to stop him?
The answer, naturally, was a little bit of everything. Miller hopes to do the same in the upcoming season, too.
鈥淣obody can do it alone,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淓specially if you鈥檙e trying to compete for the top prize, whether that top prize is when you go to the tournament in the Bahamas 鈥 (or) you go to the conference regular season championship. No one can do it alone.鈥
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Especially because, as the Wildcats also found out in Spain, all those options are never guaranteed.
During their second game in Spain 鈥 and what turned out to be their last, since a July 17 terrorist attack in Barcelona led to canceling the finale 鈥 Alkins sat out with a strained shoulder, freshman forward Emmanuel Akot sat out the second half with a sore knee and walk-on guard Kory Jones tore his ACL on the very first possession he played.
All that served as yet another reminder of how fragile the Wildcat roster has been the previous two seasons, thanks to injuries and off-court issues. There were back-to-back preseason ACL tears to five-star forward Ray Smith in 2015 and 2016, in-season injuries to Kaleb Tarczewski (2015-16) and Jackson-Cartwright (2016-17), plus half-season suspensions of Elliott Pitts in 2015-16 and Allonzo Trier last season, among other issues.
鈥淲ith injuries and foul trouble, a lot of times that player you鈥檙e thinking of isn鈥檛 even available for part of the year, or a given moment,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淢y experience is that at the Red-Blue Game, every team we鈥檝e had appears deeper than they are. That鈥檚 a fact. Sometimes there are things that are out of our control, whether it鈥檚 because of an injury or an off-court situation takes a player away like Allonzo a year ago. But sometimes there鈥檚 good fortune, and let鈥檚 hope this year that鈥檚 not the case.鈥
So far, aside from their issues in Spain, the Wildcats appear to be pretty fortunate. They may have the nation鈥檚 No. 1 preseason team, loaded with a variety of skills, experience, size and athleticism.
After returning from Spain last week, Miller shared some impressions of his new weapons:
- Randolph was something of a surprise standout in Spain, averaging 15 points per game on 48-percent shooting and starting for Alkins in the second game. But Miller also said freshman Alex Barcello is a 鈥渞ock solid鈥 option in the backcourt, likely to share some backup point guard duties with Trier and Akot.
鈥淎lex and Brandon 鈥 those guys are two of our best but they鈥檙e able to do more than we anticipated. We recruited both to be more than just shooters but clearly they have a well-roundedness earlier in their career than maybe we anticipated.
鈥淏randon, as he鈥檚 gotten stronger, his athleticism really stands out. He鈥檚 also a clever passer for somebody who plays off the ball. Alex has always been a great competitor, but defensively, he has a chance to be like a T.J. McConnell, where he鈥檚 a bulldog, he can guard the other team鈥檚 best perimeter player.鈥
- Ayton was less of a factor than expected in UA鈥檚 first game, a 69-point blowout win in Valencia, with 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting and nine rebounds. But he pulled out a variety of moves three days later against much better competition in Mataro, collecting 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting and 10 rebounds.
鈥淥nce he got through the first game, he was a lot more relaxed in the second. Like all the one-and-done guys we鈥檝e had, you don鈥檛 just flip a switch. All these guys need a little patience. They need help to accomplish what they came here to accomplish. 鈥 (and while) Brandon Randolph looked like a senior out there he鈥檚 going to have moments in November when maybe he鈥檚 going to look like a freshman.鈥
- Miller said he was also encouraged by Akot, even though the versatile Canadian was hurt in the second game, and fellow freshman forward Ira Lee, who averaged six points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench.
鈥淚ra鈥檚 a great athlete and what you see now is a glimpse of what he鈥檚 going to become. He鈥檚 going to help us on offense and defense, and he doesn鈥檛 look like a freshman physically. He鈥檚 going to be able to impact our team with his ability to do a lot of different things.
鈥淲ith Emmanuel, I鈥檇 really say the same thing. With his size and his passing (he can make an impact offensively) and, like Alex, he has a chance to be an excellent defensive player. He reminds me of (Rondae) Hollis-Jefferson type of guy. He can guard a variety of players.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 talking about DeAndre, and rightly so, but those four other (freshman) guys are exciting. We鈥檙e excited to have them and coach them.鈥
- Dylan Smith, a redshirt sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from Asheville, averaged 11.0 points and hit half of his eight 3-pointers. But it鈥檚 still uncertain if Smith will be a spot reserve brought in for shooting or a regular rotation player.
鈥淎ll that remains to be seen,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淒ylan did play very well on the trip which was great to see. Some of the anxiety of not being out there for a year I鈥檓 sure he felt but he really shot the ball well and that鈥檚 something we know he can do. We鈥檙e working with him on other things and the year that he had with our program practicing every day is clearly to his advantage.鈥
- Arizona鈥檚 other 鈥渘ewcomer,鈥 associate head coach Lorenzo Romar, used UA鈥檚 trip and its preceding 10 practices to further learn his new environment after a 15-year run as Washington鈥檚 head coach.
Romar鈥檚 Huskies have caused considerable trouble for Arizona, winning five of the first seven games against Arizona in the Miller era, and Miller said the Wildcats are likely to incorporate some of Romar鈥檚 offensive philosophies.
鈥淲ith Lorenzo, for me, it鈥檚 to allow him to truly be himself and think like a head coach, and to put his stamp on our program because his career speaks for itself, his career as a player and the fact that he won a national championship as an assistant at UCLA鈥 in 1995, Miller said. 鈥淣ot to mention just who he is as a person and his way of being able to connect with so many different people 鈥 parents, young players, seniors. The last thing I would ever want him to do is tippy toe around what he should and should not do. 鈥
鈥淔rom an offensive perspective, I think there鈥檚 lot of things we loved about the way his teams played. We have to be true to ourselves because there鈥檚 a lot of things we believe in, but to add some of his thoughts and allow him to make us better, it would be foolish for me or for anybody not to allow that to happen. To have Lorenzo here is a gift and I think it鈥檒l impact us in a significant way.鈥
