Already having installed season captains for the first time in his 10 seasons at Arizona, coach Sean Miller says his staff is also giving out six new game awards.
They鈥檙e so new, in fact, that at least one of the winners doesn鈥檛 even know about them.
Miller said junior guard Dylan Smith earned the defender and hustler of the game awards in Arizona鈥檚 90-60 win over Houston Baptist on Wednesday, having collected nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal plus other accomplishments that didn鈥檛 go in the box score.
鈥淚鈥檓 just doing what coach asked me to do,鈥 said Smith, when asked about winning the defender award. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know that was an award. It鈥檚 good to win it, I guess. We won the game but we still have areas to improve on.鈥
While the awards may be new, the feedback behind them is not. Miller said his staff and players always review, praise and critique individual performances. The awards are just a way to add recognition that might be shared publicly if the staff desires, and Miller said he would have UA start posting them 鈥渁s we move on to the next game.鈥
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The other game awards also include the top overall player, sixth man, playmaker and screener.
鈥淲e call it feedback, what we did well, what we didn鈥檛 do well and which players did this exceptionally well and in some cases what they didn鈥檛 do well as an individual,鈥 Miller said.
鈥淏ut now we are categorizing for them so they have the player of the game, the guy who statistically did the best job. The hustler of the game, somebody who makes hard plays to the ball, draws charges 鈥︹
The sixth man of the game honor, for the non-starter who helped the most, Miller said 鈥渋s a big, big award. You want depth and different people to contribute in different ways.鈥
It was pretty clear that sophomore wing Brandon Randolph was the Wildcats鈥 top player on Wednesday, with 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while Miller indicated point guard Justin Coleman received extra credit toward the playmaker award for a game in which he was officially credited for two assists and four turnovers.
鈥淚n Justin鈥檚 case, three or four passes could have been an assist,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淎 guy just missed a wide-open shot. So we take that into account.鈥
Miller said the defender of the game is not only the player who collects steals and blocks but also 鈥渏ust really embodies the qualities we want to see,鈥 while adding that the screener of the game 鈥渟ometimes (is a player who) is unselfish and overlooked.鈥
Smith鈥檚 two awards came despite a 1-for-5 shooting effort.
鈥淭hat says a lot about him,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a better shooter than he鈥檚 shown and he鈥檚 doing those other things. I think his teammates really respect that. I know I respect that, and we鈥檙e looking forward to him settling in, taking good shots, and making some of those as well.鈥
That鈥檚 been the only problem with Smith lately. Counting his 1-for-8 shooting in the Red-Blue game, Smith is shooting a combined 20 percent from the field in four appearances, including his 1-5 effort on Wednesday against Houston Baptist.
A 34.1 percent 3-point shooter in 2015-16 as a UNC Asheville freshman before transferring to Arizona, Smith said the slump dates back to the Pac-12 Tournament last season in Las Vegas. Over three games there, Smith was 1 for 11 and missed all 10 3-point shots he tried.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had a slump like this,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淭his has been going ever since Vegas but I鈥檒l be fine. Shots are gonna fall. I鈥檝e just got to regain my confidence back on the floor and I鈥檝e been shooting it well in practice.鈥
Smith said he knows he can also help with defense and rebounding, of course, which a big reason Miller does not appear overly worried.
鈥淭hey just haven鈥檛 fallen and sometimes when you鈥檝e worked as hard as our guys have this offseason, you want to get off to a good start,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淲hen it doesn鈥檛 happen right away you can put more pressure on yourself. I don鈥檛 look at Dylan at all as playing scared. Playing scared means you鈥檙e not doing anything out there.
鈥淗e鈥檚 doing every single thing we鈥檙e asking him to do and I think it鈥檚 really a matter of him settling in, just trying to take a quality shot and not worry about the consequence of a miss or make and moving on. 鈥 There鈥檚 a lot of other aspects of the game that he can help us with and he鈥檚 really done that.鈥
Rim shots
- The Pac-12 Networks added former UA standout Richard Jefferson to provide analysis both at games and in-studio this season, a dual role that former Wildcat guard Matt Muehlebach has also been holding. The No. 13 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft after a three-year career with Arizona, Jefferson announced his retirement last month after 17 seasons in the NBA.
- Miller did not say anything when asked about a Yahoo report that said the NCAA has been given the go-ahead to start taking information from the federal investigation and begin investigations. Some schools named in the federal probe and trial last month could receive quicker resolutions as a result, though any inquiry into Arizona may still wait until after the scheduled April trial involving former UA assistant coach Book Richardson.
