Question for Arizona fans

[WeAreDePaul]

I've been watching a lot of Arizona this year and I've come away convinced this team will go nowhere this year because of 2 reasons. 1, the obvious one, they have a horrible game coach.

#2, and this leads into my question to Arizona fans, is I believe that Parker Jackson Cartwright is a horrible player who affects his team in a negative way whenever he is on the court.

So, AZ fans, am I crazy to believe that PJC is that bad? I mean, I honestly think he hurts the team every time he plays and they would be better off with him riding the bench the rest of the year.

Watching PJC play, I feel like Adidas must be paying him $$ per dribble cause all he does is pound the ball into the ground non stop.

What really bothers me is PJC's inability to play with Ayton. There is no reason Ayton should average less than 25-30 pts per game. He's that dominant. I take that back, there's 2 reasons....Miller and PJC. They never attempt to get the ball to Ayton, or at least they don't do it enough. And its always the same...dribble out most of the shot clock, then finally dump it into the post for Ayton who then has to battle a double team and shot clock. They rarely try and get Ayton the ball other ways? Lobs? I can probably count on one hand the amount of lobs they throw to Ayton all year. Compare that to Mo Bamba who seems to get at least 5 back door lob dunks per game.

I really feel like they are wasting Ayton. He should be getting a minimum of 20 shots per game. They should try and run the ball through in at the START of every possession.

So Zona fans, am I overreacting or do you share the same sentiments about Miller ,PJC and Arizona's NCAA prospects?

 

[justyce1]

I'm not the biggest PJC fan, but he's shooting iver 50% from 3 and has a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio. So he's not as bad as you think. He's just not as good as I'd like him to be.

Bamba gets lobs because he has less skill offensively than Ayton. Ayton can score from almost anywhere on the court. But Ayton also plays with 3 other starters who are great offensive players in Trier, Alkins and Ristic. So he's not always gonna get 25 shots a game although I'd love him to.

Gotta realize Alkins has only been back for like 6 games so Miller is still trying to get the starters to gel.

AZ will be alright, they haven't lost since Alkins returned with wins over a full strength A&M and AssU. They are only going to improve.

 

[Airizona]

I think a lot of people overreact about Miller's coaching abilities. He is not a horrible game coach at all. You don't win as many games as he does if you are a horrible game coach.

He gets a lot of flack because he doesn't make as many in-game adjustments as he should, particularly on the defensive end and that is because he is dedicated to pack line. I'm not saying he is the best in-game coach by any means, but he is really hard headed about his defensive philosophy; although he has run some zone in the past when our personnel weren't as suited for pack line.

I think part of the problem with the pack line is that we get a lot of talent that doesn't stay long and it is difficult to learn the pack line. Virginia has one of the best defenses year in and year out because they have multi-year guys. We have had really really good defenses, but there are years when the young guys really struggle and Miller would rather have them struggle through learning than have them play zone which can be frustrating for fans.

PJC is one of mine and I think a lot of the fan bases' main issues with this team. He would be a fine back up pg at az, but he is not az caliber. Last night's game against Utah is a great example of his career here, he had an awesome first half and then played like ass in the second. If we had a legit pg I think we would be the favorite to win the title by far. Hopefully he can do a good enough job for us to get there.

I don't agree with you about Ayton either... look at his averages. He is killing it this season and Miller makes a point to get him the ball. I obviously think he should get the ball as much as possible (and prob more than he does now) because I'm pretty sure he is the best player we have ever had at az, but I don't feel like we are wasting him either. It sounds good to get him the ball every possession, but we have a ton of other talent and he gets doubled a ton.

I never understand why people count teams out of the tourny... did anyone think south carolina would be in ff last season? When you have a player as good as Ayton the chances go way up. We have some work to do, but we definitely have a good shot to make it to the ff.

Miller has been within a few points of the ff 3 times while at az and I think he will get there... hopefully this year

 

[WeAreDePaul]

thanks for the responses guys, interesting stuff. Is there anyone else who can run the point besides PJC? Or can someone teach PJC how to throw a lob to Ayton when he's rolling to the hoop in the PnR? I don't think PJC even knows that's an option.

I know AZ has a lot of other players who want the ball, but IMO they'd be a better team if those guys took a back seat and they made a much more conscious effort to run things through Ayton.

 

[Airizona]

We would def be better if we got ayton the ball more. We should have run the offense through him way more today cuz we couldnt hit anything from outside... we win comfortably if we play through him today

I think trier should play more point... we have barcello but he isn't good enough right now to run the offense... run trier alkins and randolph/smith and I think we are a much better team

ristic is such a defensive liability too it drives me crazy

 

[Big_O.]

We would def be better if we got ayton the ball more. We should have run the offense through him way more today cuz we couldnt hit anything from outside... we win comfortably if we play through him today

I think trier should play more point... we have barcello but he isn't good enough right now to run the offense... run trier alkins and randolph/smith and I think we are a much better team

ristic is such a defensive liability too it drives me crazy

Ristic was equally bad on offense today and this year, in general.

10 missed bunnies and countless missed passes due to bad hands.

That, coupled with millers continued inability to have his players break a zone, give me serious pause that we'll even make it to the SS this season.

Tough road trip, but very winnable.

 

[Scavenger]

We would def be better if we got ayton the ball more. We should have run the offense through him way more today cuz we couldnt hit anything from outside... we win comfortably if we play through him today

I think trier should play more point... we have barcello but he isn't good enough right now to run the offense... run trier alkins and randolph/smith and I think we are a much better team

ristic is such a defensive liability too it drives me crazy

Ayton is a total stud, but CU nearly gave the game away more so than Arizona just not running the offense enough through Ayton being the defining factor. Team comes out at halftime with the same intensity and the game isn't close. With that said, we're going to take it on the chin something nasty in Tucson. We have little depth since both of our big men are sidelined this year. The Pac 12, as always though, is a tough league 1-12 and people don't tend to realize that. CU could be the 12th team in the league, but the difference between the #1 team and #12 team isn't that wide.

 

[Justin112]

Sean Miller sucks. Get$ top classes every year and still hasn’t done anything in the tourney at zona. If they get bounced early again this year then he should be getting some heat

 

[WeAreDePaul]

Didn't see the game, but did see a highlight of PJC getting a weak layup rejected with a minute left.

 

[Airizona]

Sean Miller sucks. Get$ top classes every year and still hasn’t done anything in the tourney at zona. If they get bounced early again this year then he should be getting some heat

hot take

 

[Airizona]

Ristic was equally bad on offense today and this year, in general.

10 missed bunnies and countless missed passes due to bad hands.

That, coupled with millers continued inability to have his players break a zone, give me serious pause that we'll even make it to the SS this season.

Tough road trip, but very winnable.

Ya I was pulling my hair out when we kept going to ristic instead of ayton... we came out in the first half playing bahamas defense and I think that is what got us and we shot horribly from 3

 

[Justin112]

hot take

All trolling aside you can’t be happy with his time at Arizona can you? He has been a big disappointment. He is in his 9th season at Arizona and has no final fours... with the players that Arizona gets that’s not very good. Sorry

 

[ExitFlagger]

Surprised there's no talk about his comments from earlier.

 

[Airizona]

All trolling aside you can’t be happy with his time at Arizona can you? He has been a big disappointment. He is in his 9th season at Arizona and has no final fours... with the players that Arizona gets that’s not very good. Sorry

I would be happier with him if he had been to a final four, but they are hard to get to and he has been really close... if we don't get to one this year with the amount of talent we have I will be really disappointed... he is a good coach tho and I try not to overreact to losses, especially ones on the road... this weekend should be a good indicator of how hard it is to win on the road, look at all the other losses by good teams