FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
[rps-paypal]
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
— NAU has a player from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei — junior forward Alessandro Stecca — who was a teammate of Stanley Johnson’s during the former Arizona player’s time there. The Lumberjacks also feature freshman forward Isaiah Thomas (yes, another one) from Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, a hoops factory that produced Ivan Rabb and former Arizona forward Brandon Ashley. Give credit to former Arizona staffer Jack Murphy for going after players from top-notch winning programs who are exposed to big-time atmospheres and coaching at that level. The Lumberjacks have 11 freshmen on their roster. Give Murphy a couple more years and NAU will be winning the Big Sky title and playing in the NCAA tournament.
— Murphy’s recruiting philosophy: Don’t feel compelled to stay within the state to draw talent, which was the case with previous staffs there because of the Lumberjacks’ lower-profile status in the Big Sky. Murphy is much more worldly than that. Murphy learned from his time under Lute Olson and Josh Pastner that recruiting should have no boundaries. Murphy has only two players from Arizona but five from Florida and California and two from Chicago. Arizona has never been a hotbed of talent with only a few (Sean Elliott, Lafayette Lever, Mike Bibby, etc.) rising up on occasion.
— Anybody else amazed that Gabe York, mostly a career reserve until this season as a senior is about to crack the top 10 list for three-pointers made at Arizona? York has made 156 three-pointers, seven shy of Matt Muehlebach for No. 10. York is averaging .075 three-pointers in his 2,077 career minutes. Salim Stoudamire, who tops the list with 342, made one at a .089 clip per minute in his 3,848 career minutes. At the same amount of career minutes as Stoudamire, making three-pointers at the same rate as now, York would finish with 289 threes, which would be third-best behind Stoudamire and Jason Gardner (318).
THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS CAREER
[table “” not found /]
— Arizona has a 30-game winning streak against NAU dating to 1968. The last time the Wildcats lost to the Lumberjacks in Tucson was at Bear Down Gym in 1966, two years before Sean Miller was born. That ended a 12-game losing streak for NAU against Arizona. The Tucson Citizen’s account of the game compared NAU center Clarence Zimbrick (15 points, five rebounds, six blocked shots and eight assists) to Wilt Chamberlain and Lew Alcindor. You remember Zimbrick don’t you? …
— Great stat published by Arizona’s media relations department on how Arizona responds against top individual players in the second half this season as opposed to the first. Boise State’s Nick Duncan and James Webb III, Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis, and Fresno State’s Marvelle Harris combined to make 32 of 52 shots (61.5 percent) in the first half against Arizona and only 16 of 35 (45.7) in the second half. Opponents overall are shooting 47.1 percent in the first half while averaging 33.2 points while in the second half they are at only 34.2 percent and 28.3. Opponents are shooting only 20.7 from three-point range in the second half after shooting 32.1 percent in the first half. In other words, Miller’s defensive adjustments and the way the Wildcats play their man-to-man can grind down opponents. …
Previous result:
ARIZONA 88, MISSOURI 52
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
[table “” not found /]
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
NAU (2-6) VS.
NO. 13 ARIZONA (9-1)
Tip Time: 8:06 p.m. MST
TV: Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein/Steve Lavin/Matt Muehlebach)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Ryan Hansen)
THE SERIES
Overall: Arizona leads 96-27
In Tucson: Arizona leads 66-6
Current Streak: Arizona won 30
Sean Miller vs. NAU: 5-0
Last Meeting: Arizona won 77-44 in Tucson (12-23-2013)
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 (a Vietnam War POW) 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:
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
[table “” not found /]
PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
[table “” not found /]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
HOW ARE THEY DOING?
Present RPI ranking of non-conference opponents Arizona has played according to KenPom.com. The Wildcats’ RPI rating is No. 15. NAU has an RPI of No. 274.
[table “” not found /]
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
LONGEST McKALE WIN STREAKS
[table “” not found /]
#ArizonaWildcats 44 straight wins at McKale. At same pt in 71-game streak beat UCLA & @Pac12Networks' Don MacLean https://t.co/iMwlplqgw7
— AllSportsTucson.com (@AllSportsTucson) December 16, 2015
[/ezcol_1half_end]
ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
*-John Wooden Legacy in Fullerton/Anaheim (Calif.)
[table “” not found /]
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.
