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Surprise: Another rushing of the court after an Arizona loss (YouTube video screen shot, click on photo to access video)
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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)
OREGON ST. 58, ARIZONA 56
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
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PAC-12 RPI RATING
Present RPI ranking of the Pac-12.
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OREGON ST. 58, ARIZONA 56
Arizona’s lowest productivity rating of the season last night (.365) coincided with frontcourt starters Kaleb Tarcewski and Brandon Ashley combining for only three productivity points in 52 minutes.
That’s a combined productivity rating of .058, far below their combined season rating of .515.
Arizona coach Sean Miller, a football fan, did something similar to a football coach pulling the starting quarterback after an ineffective three quarters. He sat Tarczewski and Ashley in the last five minutes of the loss, but even then, it did not matter as Oregon State continued to hit shots and be the aggressor against the Wildcats’ smaller lineup.
Miller and his staff are looking for more consistency from Ashley and Tarczewski, especially on the boards and on defense, in addition to contributing on the offensive end.
In last night’s loss, they combined for only nine points on 3 of 11 shooting from the field, three rebounds (Tarczewski had none) and one turnover without an assist.
Tarczewski, with a struggling season productivity rating of .477, has yet to lead the team in productivity in a game this season. Ashley (.550 for the season) has led the Wildcats once, in their win over Gonzaga, when he posted a ,500 rating.
After that victory over Gonzaga, Ashley was lauded as the difference maker for the Wildcats. Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic tweeted: “Arizona might have the best wings in the country, but no one is more important to its Final Four hopes than Brandon Ashley.”
Since that game 37 days ago, Ashley has posted a subpar .480 rating in eight games. He was at .618 overall after the win over the Bulldogs.
The change in confidence is at the defensive end when Ashley is matched against smaller, more athletic forwards. His lateral quickness is lacking against such players like UNLV’s Christian Wood and Oregon State’s Daniel Gomis. That leads to frustration from Ashley and Miller and it showed in both losses.
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Brandon Ashley works in traffic during 1H. Something #ArizonaWildcats finding a lot of early vs. Oregon State pic.twitter.com/nNkJPxlbff
— Mike Christy (@wildcatphotog) January 12, 2015
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Fed up with #arizonawildcats defense again, Sean Miller considers mixing in some zone & other notes from Corvallis: http://t.co/xM2I5TKEHc
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) January 12, 2015
HOW ARE THEY DOING?
Present RPI ranking of Arizona’s non-conference opponents. Arizona is No. 9 with a strength-of-schedule ranking of No. 85.
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Ashley’s struggles in the losses to UNLV and Oregon State have coincided with those of starting wing player Stanley Johnson. His productivity rating for the season is a respectable .720. In the two losses, Johnson has posted a rating of only .387.
The Wildcats can ill-afford any of their players to have substandard games. Miller is in search of consistency from all of them, from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
Four regulars are now below .500 for the season — Gabe York (.490), Tarczewski (.477), Jackson-Cartwright (.463) and Elliott Pitts (.268).
Miller has 15 regular-season games to raise their productivity ratings along with correcting Ashley’s slump. A lot of time remains in the process, as he calls it.
With his track record and the talent involved, there is reason to believe the productivity will come on a more consistent basis.
3 top observations of #ArizonaWildcats’ loss at OreSt: Zone ahead?/As Stanley Johnson goes so goes UA/What loss means http://t.co/EEsN3k1Epg
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) January 12, 2015
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SEASON 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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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
