ESPN: Arizona Wildcats a giant ripe to be slayed
Feb 5, 2015, 5:08 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
There’s no arguing that the Arizona Wildcats are playing some pretty good basketball these days.
Since falling to Oregon State by a score of 58-56 on Jan. 11 they have reeled off six consecutive wins, knocking off Colorado, Utah, Stanford, California, Oregon and Oregon State by an average score of 74.3 to 54.5, and improving their record to 20-2 (8-1 in Pac-12).
They’re ranked sixth in the country and appear poised for another high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and it is for that reason ESPN’s Peater Keating and Jordan Brenner (in an Insider piece) list the Wildcats as a “Giant that could fall” to a lower seed in March.
Noting that Arizona is absolutely one of the best teams in the country, they point to the ‘Cats struggles on the offensive glass as a real concern.
As big and athletic as the Cats are with Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley, Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, they are only slightly above average on the offensive boards. Per Kenpom.com, they grab 32.4 percent of their missed shots, which ranks 126th in the nation. That matters because these Wildcats are not an offensive juggernaut. Although they rank 14th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (115 points per 100 possessions), they have shown that they can go cold at inopportune times. In their loss to UNLV in December, the Cats shot just 42.6 percent yet grabbed only seven of 39 available offensive rebounds (17.9 percent). It was the same story in a two-point loss at Oregon State: poor shooting (37.8 percent) compounded by a weak effort on the glass (19.4 percent).
The writers point out that it’s rare for any team to shoot well for six consecutive tournament games, meaning it has to find other ways to win, with offensive rebounding being the easiest for a team with superior size and athleticism.
It’s a fair point, but it does not quite tell the entire story for the Wildcats.
After all, while they are not quite the rebounding juggernaut they were last season, when they averaged nearly 39 boards per game (12.6 offensive), they are an improving offensive team that seems to be finding its groove on the defensive end.
And as the article states, Arizona in theory should be a good rebounding team given its personnel, and recently head coach Sean Miller said he has been hesitant to “unleash” his team’s offensive rebounding for fear of earning unnecessary fouls. An excuse? Maybe, but then it’s also possible Arizona, if and when it really needs to crash the glass, will be able to do so.
