Arizona Basketball

Arizona Wildcats’ alley oop inbounds play brings back memories


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WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY RATING?:
PP: Productivity Points (Points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, FGs made, FTs made added together and then subtracted by missed FGs, missed FTs, personal fouls and turnovers)
MIN: Minutes played overall
PR: Productivity rating per minute played (Productivity points divided by minutes played)

ARIZONA 69, SDSU 60
PRODUCTIVITY RATING

* — STARTERS
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Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon

One of Lute Olson’s signature plays was the alley oop inbounds pass for a dunk or easy layup that served as a momentum builder for the Arizona Wildcats.

Alley oop inbounds passes to Anthony Cook (long arms) and Richard Jefferson (athleticism) come to mind as the most successful and electrifying for Olson.

Sean Miller made the alley oop inbounds pass work last night, going to the athletic Aaron Gordon, at crunch time in the Arizona Wildcats’ 69-60 win at San Diego State. The accompanying video, another fine production from the Arizona video crew, shows in slow motion Gordon’s pass from T.J. McConnell that broke the Aztecs’ back.

With Arizona up by four with only 1:22 left, McConnell threw the in-bounds pass from the baseline to Gordon after Nick Johnson was guarded too closely for the initial attempt. Miller counted on Johnson’s athleticism for the play.

McConnell took advantage of Gordon’s soaring ability to put the ball in the hoop over San Diego State’s Dakari Allen.

“That’s a play we run,” Miller told reporters after the game about the inbounds alley oop play. “Especially with Aaron’s talent, we knew he will go up and get it, and he did.

“He’s an incredible player. What separates him is how he is as a person. He is fun guy to coach, a fun teammate and a very hard worker. We’re lucky to have him.”

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Gordon’s own teammates are in awe of his ability.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” McConnell told reporters about the alley oop play. ”Well, maybe Blake Griffin, but what he did was amazing.”

This game was won individually by Johnson (who tied a career-high with 23 points) and Gordon — the leaders of the game in this site’s productivity rating.

However, as a team, the Wildcats emerged victorious because of only three second-half turnovers against San Diego State’s fullcourt pressing defense and a 39-28 rebounding margin. The last time Arizona played the Aztecs at Viejas Arena in 2009, San Diego State beat the Wildcats 63-46 largely because they controlled the glass with a 36-22 margin.

Future NBA player Kawhi Leonard had 12 of those rebounds in that game. Future NBA player Gordon had almost his third consecutive double-double in his third collegiate game last night. Gordon finished with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Gordon now leads the Arizona Wildcats in productivity through the first three games. His rating is at .831, followed by Brandon Ashley (.787) and Johnson (.733).

Arizona was victorious despite a team productivity rating of .490, which was indicative of the Wildcats’ foul trouble (24 fouls).

Stat of the game: McConnell, who has 20 assists with only six turnovers this season, equaled San Diego State’s assist total for the game. He had six assists and two turnovers. The Aztecs tallied only six assists and nine turnovers.

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ARIZONA OVERALL
PRODUCTIVITY RATING

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ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
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ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
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WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report, Lindy’s College Sports and TucsonCitizen.com.

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