Cats' full-court press takes toll in final preseason warmup
This year's edition of the Arizona men's basketball team might not be used to running the entire game, but the strategy last night in McKale was the old press style: 40 minutes of Hell.
The Wildcats pressed Team Georgia throughout, interchanging lineups constantly to provide fresh legs on the court, and defeated Georgia 104-81 in their final exhibition matchup in front of 14,694.
Yet the team's full-court press took its toll in the second half, as Arizona was outscored 51-47.
Leading scorers |
| Hassan Adams Chris Rodgers Marcus Williams |
"We got a little tired, a little winded. We gave up too many open 3's and layups," said freshman guard J.P. Prince. "I'm sure we'll have a tough practice tomorrow, because (head) coach (Lute Olson) wasn't too pleased."
Olson said that Arizona's style of defense demands full effort from all five players on the court.
"You can't relax, playing the way we're playing," he said. "If one guy isn't doing his job we're going to give up a good shot, and they don't understand that yet. We can't have a letdown by anybody."
Senior guard Chris Rodgers finished with a game-high 22 points, despite missing seven of 10 shots in the first half.
He went 5-of-10 from behind the arc and had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
"I'm proud of the rebounds, because points are easy to score and everyone on this team is talented enough to put up points," Rodgers said. "But you really can have an overall game. That's when you know you really helped your team to win."
Arizona's offense started slow, but senior guard Hassan Adams did exactly what a team leader is asked to do, putting together a stretch with 8:28 left in the first half consisting of a 3-pointer, a cross-over dribble for a dunk and a smooth pass to Ivan Radenovic that the junior forward couldn't convert.
Adams finished with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while freshmen Marcus Williams and Prince scored 15 and nine, respectively.
"We did a good job in the first half, (but) we got lackadaisical in the second half," said senior forward Isaiah Fox, who had eight points and five rebounds. "I think that because the teams wanted to run up and down the court, and because we got up in the first half, we got lackadaisical and didn't do our job."
Olson said that he was most impressed with sophomore guard Daniel Dillon's pressure on the ball.
"We have no problem whatsoever coming with him, because we know he is going to defend," Olson said. "Right now, we can really bring Daniel in a number of positions."
The Wildcats rebounding was questionable overall, with Adams and Radenovic each pulling down just one defensive rebound, but sophomore Bret Brielmaier picked up the slack with a game-high 11 boards in only 14 minutes.
"(Bret) goes for everything," Olson said. "You didn't see Bret stand around. He goes hard, and I've felt over the last couple of weeks that he's been our most effective post guy all around."
"I wish we had another scholarship," Olson added. "He'd have it."
The Wildcats leave Saturday for Lahaina, Hawaii, where they will compete in the season-opening EA Sports Maui Invitational that takes place Monday through Wednesday.
Arizona meets Kansas in Monday's first round.