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With how San Diego State has emerged in the last few years, it has matched Gonzaga in terms of top West Coast teams other than the Pac-12 schools. UNLV is too inconsistent. New Mexico can’t last in the NCAA tournament.
Arizona-San Diego State is an enormous game for West Coast basketball. Reminds of UCLA-Gonzaga in the 2006 Sweet 16. Should be electric.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 27, 2014
Nick Johnson cheering on an important element that brought him to Arizona — former assistant coach Archie Miller, brother of Sean who is in the Sweet 16 with Dayton.
Yeah arch!!!! That's my dawg!!!!
— Nick Johnson (@Air_Zona13) March 23, 2014
Isn’t it refreshing that a star-studded freshman takes as much — or more — pride in his defense than anything else? That shows character right there.
Asked UA freshman Aaron Gordon if he was surprised he didn't make the Pac-12 All-Defensive team. He looked at me and said: "Real surprised."
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) March 26, 2014
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Seth Davis
— CBS Sports’ Seth Davis, who also writes for Sports Illustrated and is a noted author, just can’t seem to give Arizona its proper due. Davis, a Duke grad (go figure), did not place Nick Johnson among his first- or second-team All-American selections for the SI All-American team. That is a slap in the face and an utter joke. The other seven ballots from SI’s staff had Johnson at least on the second team. Johnson is one of the four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year award. Davis is the one who predicted a Belmont victory over Arizona last year in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Davis was allowed access to Arizona’s practice facility and was granted an interview with Sean Miller before the season. From my understanding, the local media (whom I have communicated with extensively over the last few weeks) — the people who work their behinds off and cover the Wildcats diligently — do not get the same access. Arizona must revisit its way of thinking and priorities. Gaining national notoriety might be good for the reputation, but people in Tucson and Arizona followers nationwide do not get the daily information they need about the Wildcats from Davis and his ilk.
Fran Fraschilla
— ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fracshilla, who gets out of the comfortable studio seat and watches games in person, commented last night as a guest on Sirius/XM that if Arizona limits the scoring of San Diego State guard Xavier Thames it can win by 12 to 15 points tonight. Fraschilla, the former coach at St. John’s and New Mexico, knows plenty about the Aztecs. He was an analyst for the San Diego State-New Mexico game on March 20. Thames, a former Washington State player who was the Mountain West Player of the Year, will likely see plenty of Arizona’s Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson defensively. In Arizona’s 69-60 win at San Diego State in November, Thames had 19 points but only produced two assists. In that game, Thames had only five points at halftime and Arizona built a 39-28 lead. His 14 points in the second half sparked the Aztecs’ rally but it was not enough.
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There are some good former players as coaches in the Sweet 16, including the Miller brothers, Florida’s Billy Donovan, Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, UCLA’s Steve Alford, Stanford’s Johnny Dawkins and Tennessee’s Cuonzo Martin, to name a few. An awesome slideshow to follow at the link.
Which Sweet 16 coach was the best CBB player? @UKCoachCalipari had some serious game. http://t.co/kYPxIzJsAe / pic.twitter.com/LPy40YQ7tz
— Sporting News NCAAB (@sn_ncaab) March 27, 2014
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— San Diego State has four former Arizona recruiting targets out of high school: Thames, Dwayne Polee II, Winston Shepard and James Johnson. Polee and James Johnson went east out of high school but returned after stints at St. John’s and Virginia, respectively. Shepard is a former teammate of Nick Johnson at Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep. Nine of Steve Fisher’s 11 primary players are from the state of California.
Best coach to not yet make the Final Four?
— Much has been written nationally this week that Sean Miller is one of the best coaches without a Final Four appearance. Let’s not forget that Miller is in only his 10th season as a head coach. He has two Elite Eights to his credit, which is a round longer than Steve Alford at UCLA has accomplished in his 19-year coaching career. In fact, Alford’s lone trip to the Sweet 16 before this season was in 1999 with Southwest Missouri State. He could never get Iowa and New Mexico over the hump. Maybe he can get to at least the Elite Eight with Ben Howland’s players this weekend. Lute Olson made his first trip to the Final Four with Iowa in 1980, his seventh season as a head coach. He was 45, the same age Miller is now. If anything the tag “best coach to not make the Final Four” shows that Miller can feel respected more than humiliated. It’s not like he is in his late 60’s and has 15 years of Division I coaching experience like Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan, who is also in search of his first Final Four.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
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