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One man’s opinion of Arizona’s All-Freshman team through the years, broken down to three teams:
First Team
Mike Bibby PG
Jerryd Bayless SG
Sean Elliott SF
Al Fleming PF
Bob Elliott C
Second Team
Eric Money PG
Salim Stoudamire SG
Stanley Johnson SF
Michael Wright PF
Derrick Williams PF/C
Third Team
Jason Gardner PG
Coniel Norman SG
Chase Budinger SF
Aaron Gordon PF
Channing Frye C
The 15-deep list does not even include some of the Wildcats’ career great players who had all-freshman seasons in the WAC, Pac-10 or Pac-12: Russell Brown, Sean Rooks, Khalid Reeves, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, Hassan Adams, Andre Iguodoala, Nick Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Arizona’s long line of standout freshmen should include this year’s team with freshman guard/wing Allonzo Trier averaging 13 points a game while shooting 53 percent from the field and 81.6 percent (40 of 49) from the free-throw line.
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Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:
Allonzo Trier exploded again Wednesday night for Arizona. @SteveRivera95 has more on his progression this season — https://t.co/d74sqkFWyi
— GOAZCATS.com (@GOAZCATScom) December 10, 2015
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He is coming off a 27-point performance in an 85-72 win over Fresno State on Wednesday, a game in which Sean Miller noted that his freshman “was the difference between us winning and losing … He carried us.”
At Trier’s natural position, shooting guard, he would have to pass Bayless, Stoudamire and Norman to crack the top three. That’s a very, very difficult task, but with the way Trier has emerged in the first nine games, who will doubt him?
What Trier is going against:
— Bayless, who averaged 20 points in his first nine games in Kevin O’Neill’s interim season (2007-08), has the Arizona freshman scoring record with 592 points while averaging 19.7 points a game. Symbolic of how he attacked the basket, Bayless went to the free-throw line an incredible 223 times and made an Arizona freshman-record of 187. Trier (presently 40 of 49 from the line) is on pace to attempt close to 170 free throws by the end of the regular season.
— Stoudamire, the 2001-02 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, is second behind Reeves in three-point field goal percentage for a freshman. Reeves made 46.3 percent of his shots beyond the arc while Stoudamire shot 45.3 from that range. The significant difference: Stoudamire made a freshman-record 73 three-pointers in 161 attempts while Reeves attempted only 67 and made 31. Trier is an uncharacteristic 7 of 25 (only 28 percent) from three-point range. He is on pace to make 24 of 86 three-point shots in the regular season.
Coniel Norman was the most prolific freshman scorer per game in Arizona history (University of Arizona photo)
— Norman was Arizona’s first all-conference selection as a freshman when the Wildcats were in the WAC in 1972-73. The backcourt of Money and Norman is the best freshman backcourt combos not only for Arizona but in the history of college hoops. Norman held the school’s freshman scoring record of 576 points before Bayless broke it. Norman played well before the inception of the shot clock and three-point line. Bayless also played in 30 games as a freshman while Norman played in only 26. Norman averaged 24 points a game as a freshman, which ranks second in Arizona history behind Reeves’ mark of 24.2 as a senior 1993-94. Trier averages 13 points a game. Fair guess: He nor any other freshman will ever break Norman’s scoring average mark.
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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)
SEASON PRODUCTIVITY RATING
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ARIZONA 85, FRESNO STATE 72
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
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Allonzo Trier converting 83.3% of shots at rim. (Stanley Johnson last year, 52.7%). My story on Trier: https://t.co/hNmRk0uqqz
— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) December 11, 2015
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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.
