Pac-12 Notebook: Hill’s assertiveness a huge key for Arizona as conference play gets underway
Ken Cross, Pac-12 Columnist
As we head into the first week of Pac-12 play, commencing between Christmas and New Year’s Day, we find UCLA far below the level that most people thought and at 10-2, Mike Montgomery has a very talented California Golden Bears’ squad, literally, loaded for bear, if Richard Solomon gets healthy and Jorge Gutirrez get well.
That leaves Arizona, which has been somewhat of a Jekyll-Hyde squad even though they are 8-4 and are using a late week date with Bryant College as a springboard into the Dec. 31 match up with rival Arizona State. Arizona is 8-4, but the four losses have come against the most credible teams on the schedule - Mississippi State, San Diego State, Florida, and Gonzaga last Saturday. Tuesday night’s 85-73 eclipse of a good Oakland squad should help U of A breed the confidence it needs going forward.
When the Wildcats rebound and play aggressive on the boards, they get results as in the win over Oakland and when they do not, they struggle as the 71-60 loss to Gonzaga showed last Saturday.
“If you look at rebounding, it was much better today,” commented coach Sean Miller after the win over Oakland, “Some of Oakland’s best shots were second chance opportunities when we didn’t get the defensive rebound.”
That plays right into the hands of center Solomon Hill, who was on his game with 23 points and 11 boards against the Golden Grizzlies. That output was antithicated, though, as he struggled with five and six points in losses to Florida and Gonzaga, respectively.
"It's easy to pile on after a guy after they have a bad game,” Miller noted, “It wasn't just Solomon because we didn't play well as a team and the coaches didn't coach well. You win as a team and you lose as a team.”
Hill was 8-of-10 from the floor against Oakland after going 1-of-7 against both Florida and Gonzaga. Hill’s presence in the paint is a must because he is generally playing 30-plus minutes and is a key catalyst in what Miller is trying to do in continuing to develop depth.
“If you criticize him, you have to praise him,” said Miller, who pointed out that Arizona’s win over Oakland might have been Hill’s best game in a Wildcats uniform, “I also want to point out that no one has worked harder than Solomon since we got back from Seattle. He’s been putting in extra work and getting up extra shots since we got back.”
With that, Hill knows his worth as he also knows with the beginning
of the Pac-12 schedule, he needs to attack the basket with more
precision in the paint.
“I sat down with coach and we looked at film of the San Diego State game and the Gonzaga game and talked about my shot selection,” noted Hill, “Gonzaga had their guy in the paint, so if I just pass and screen, it’ll make my guy guard me and I can get to the rim.”
Hill is 12-of-37 from the floor in Arizona’s four losses and knows that the Wildcats are waiting on him to lead by example.
“When I shoot poorly and turn the ball over, the record is there, he said, In the games we win I'm shooting 50%, passing efficiently and rebounding. I play well when I let the game come to me.”
Twitter: @kcrossizballin
Pac-12 newsstand: Quick reads from LA over to Boulder
UCLA’s David and Thomas Wear are identical twins on
identical hoops journeys. Read how they are playing bigger, more
pronounced roles than they or Coach Ben Howland might have
expected.
Arizona State coach Herb Sendek says the Sun Devils have a small
margin for error. Azcentral.com discusses why.
Colorado is keeping games in single digits. Will that carry over into the Pac-12 slate?
Washington’s loss to South Dakota State is “unacceptable” to Lorenzo Romar.
The USC Trojans finally had an offensive awakening in an 83-59 rout of TCU. LA Times writer Baxter Holmes discusses the outpouring of points in Troy.
Stat of the Week
Oregon State is off to a 9-2 campaign which is the Beavers’
best in 14 years. Last week, they dominated competition by
winning three straight contests by the average margin of 32
ppg. The Beavers collectively shot 52.6% from the floor,
30-of-57, over that triplicate of contests.
Spanning the Pac-12:
A quick look through each of the divisions
Northern Exposure – Angus Brandt of Oregon State has gone 16-of-19 for the Beavers in the Beavers’ last two games as he shoots 68.9% from the floor to lead the Pac-12…Oregon has used five different lineups in its 10 games this season. The Ducks’ latest was Devoe Joseph, Garrett Sim, and Johnathan Loyd in three guard spots with E.J. Singler at forward and Tony Woods at center…In Washington State’s 66-42 win over Western Oregon on Sunday night, the Cougars did not have a single double-digit scorer for the first time since last March’s 75-44 NIT loss to Wichita State. Marcus Capers led 11 Cougs, who scored, with nine points…Washington coach Lorenzo Romar had seven-foot center Aziz N’Diaye back Thursday night when the Dawgs hosted Cal State-Northridge. N’Diaye returned from a sprained knee as his presence is a must if the Huskies are to get their defense untracked…Stanford limits its opponents to 56.1 ppg. and has held eight of 11 below 60…Cal had a season-high 11 three-pointers in gong 11-of-20 in a 70-50 win over UC Santa Barbara Tuesday night. Allen Crabbe led with five of those nine.
Southern Hospitality – Ben Howland’s patented defense has been a major key in UCLA winning its last four games; albeit over inferior competition. The Bruins held Penn, Eastern Washington, UC Davis, and Cal-Irvine to a combined 66-of-199 for 33% to raise their record above .500 at 6-5…USC has struggled mightily on offense all year, but scored 83 points while shooting 51% in an 83-59 victory over TCU this week. Maurice Jones continued his stellar play with 25 points and seven assists…Colorado has played basketball for 112 years. The Buffaloes have never played on New Year’s Eve - until 2011, when they host Utah at the Coors Events Center in the Pac-12 opener for both teams...Utah leading scorer Josh Watkins experienced the highs and lows of the hardwood in back-to-back games. He had three in a win over Idaho State and came back with 26 in a 72-67 win over Portland on Monday...Arizona State is one of nine of the 338 NCAA D-1 schools which does not have a senior. The other eight are Albany, Binghamton, UC Irvine, Illinois State, St. Joe’s, Savannah State, and Toledo...Arizona’s Kyle Fogg is averaging 13.8 ppg. over his last five and shooting 48.9% from the floor.
Who’s Hot
Colorado Buffaloes guard Carlon Brown is CU’s leading scorer as he needs 19 points to break 1,000 for his career. Coach Tad Boyle lauds his ability to explode to the rim, especially in traffic. Brown has double figures in eight of Colorado’s first 10 games, led by a 23-point effort in a win over Western Michigan.
Who’s Not
The Washington Huskies on the defensive end of the floor – We all know the Huskies can transition with the best of them and they feature an offense that has three of the Pac-12’s top six scorers in freshmen Tony Wroten, Terrence Ross, and C. J. Wilcox. The key is going to be how well UW can defend. They are giving up 76.3 points per game and allow opponents to shoot 43% from behind the three-point line. The 92-73 loss to South Dakota State last Sunday should have been a major wake-up call for the Huskies. One major key is keeping center Aziz N’Diaye out of foul trouble as he is a shot-blocker who can man the interior.
Ken’s High Five:
Five freshmen who will be influential in the outcomes of their team’s seasons
1.) Tony Wroten, Jr., Washington – Wroten is second in the nation in scoring at 16.4 ppg. He has already become the spark plug to Washington’s offense with impeccable slashing abilities that allow him to get to the rim.
2.) Chiasson Randle, Stanford – Randle has proven to be a major key on the perimeter as he is second on the team in scoring and in three-point goals. He has started from day one in averaging 27 mpg.
3.) Nick Johnson, Arizona – The 6-2 freshman from Findley Prep in Las Vegas is one of four Wildcats averaging in double figures inside of Coach Sean Miller’s versatile lineup. Johnson has stepped in to start six games, scoring double figures in five, and topping out with a 19-point effort in a win over New Mexico State.
4.) Norman Powell, UCLA – The emergence of Powell is even more essential with coach Ben Howland having to dismiss Reeves Nelson earlier in the year. Powell showed his potential Tuesday night in an 89-60 win over Cal-Irvine where he had a game-high of 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
5.) Eric Moreland, Oregon State – He has a 7-foot-4-inch wingspan and at 6-10, he still has a thin frame. The Beavers have gone to more of an up-tempo game, so when they need stops, he may be start seeing more time in the clutch as a shot blocker. He had five blocks in a win over Illinois-Chicago and has four games where his rebound total was in double digits.
Cross-Continental Take:
League action commences before the New
Year
With the expansion of the Pac-10 into the Pac-12 came the realization that the league would make some changes across the boards in all sports and the hoops schedule was obviously at the top of the agenda. Now, with an 18-game regular season comes the opening of league play on Dec. 29/31 as teams will have a working definition of where they are before the ball drops in Times Square.
Four games highlight the league slate on Thursday, Dec. 29 with USC at Cal, Oregon at Washington State, and Oregon State at Washington all slated for 6 p.m. PST tips. The back end of the evening sees a UCLA team that has struggled go into surprising Stanford.
Two days later on New Year’s Eve, all 12 teams get in on the fun as UCLA is at Cal at 1 p.m. while Utah and Colorado clash in Boulder in their Pac-12 debuts at 4. A triplicate of games hit the 3:30 time slot with Oregon State at Washington State and USC at Stanford taking the court and Arizona travels to Arizona State for the initial encounter of the two teams from the desert.
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Internal Sean Miller photo
courtesy of Luke Adams, Arizona Athletics
Photography; internal Craig Robinson photo courtesy Ethan
Erickson
