The postseason is when a head coach really needs stability from his players.
Rawle Alkins, although only a freshman, can be that kind of player for Sean Miller. His remarkable steady production all season bears that out.
Alkins has not swayed from an extremely high productivity rate to a very low one from week to week. His production has been constant and that’s what Miller needs the most out of that wing position, which became perilously shallow of depth after Ray Smith retired from knee problems and Allonzo Trier missed the first 19 games.
Alkins has been a rock.
After the first 10 games, Alkins’ productivity rating was .569
After the first 20 games, it was .577.
After 30 games, it was .572.
Many of the other players have gone through worrisome slumps or flashes of productivity strength. Alkins has stemmed the tide.
“I just do whatever coach tells me,” Alkins said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
You never see him showboat after a dunk. You never see him get irate at refs. You never see him mouth off at opponents.
He is not bent on scoring 20 points a game because he understands his role among other standouts.
“Honestly, I don’t think about scoring the ball as the main focus,” Alkins said after grabbing 15 rebounds against ASU last week. “I think about making the right plays, making the right decisions all the time. I don’t come into games thinking ‘I’m going to get 20 tonight;’ sometimes it just happens.
“I go with the flow of the game, I try to do whatever it takes to win and I don’t want to be known as a one-dimensional player. I want to be known as a guy that can do it all, do a little bit of everything. A lot of a bit of everything.”
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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PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
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PREVIOUS GAME
ARIZONA 73, ASU 60
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
[table “” not found /]
ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
*-Honolulu
**-Las Vegas
***-Los Angeles
****-Houston
[table “” not found /]
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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