Yes, it’s just four games in and yes, it’s not against the best competition out there, but Arizona has looked impressive in major stretches. Wednesday night was no different in its 85-60 win over visiting Cal-State Bakersfield.
“Right now, our guys are playing a good brand of basketball,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “They are unselfish. You can’t question our effort level. We make a ton of mistakes but what has been fun to watch is we seem to make less of those errors as we’ve played more games.”
Bring on more games. Because, what’s to not like so far?
They are playing with a good pace.
Arizona is athletic at every position and long in most.
Arizona has been unselfish and appreciative.
Arizona has been a pretty good shooting team so far.
All were on display on Wednesday in a balanced win.
“This year our team has played with an edge to us,” Miller said. “We’re really locked in to being a better group.”
Miller said he likes the quality depth, being able to go nine deep and maybe 10 later.
“You can see our offense is smoothing, we move the ball easier,” he said.
What’s also clear is it’s a team that isn’t shy to shoot the 3-pointer.
“We try to look at it like all coaching staffs – are they good shots?” he said. “Are we moving the ball. Are the 3-pooint shots a function of our offense. Tonight, we really did share the ball well.”
Of Arizona’s 27 baskets 21 came via an assist. Not every game will be like that, but this one was.
Clearly, the team is comfortable with one another. Five players scored in double figures as they shared the wealth in an easy game.
“We have a great locker room full of dudes,” said Terrell Brown, who had a team-high 16 points. “We all want to win; we all want to prove people wrong. We know that it’s not going to take just one person, just two people. It’s going to be a team effort.”
Jemarl Baker and Bennedict Mathurin each had 15 points. Azoulas Tubelis had 12 points and Dalen Terry added 10.
“They love the game,” Miller said. “They like being around each other. You can probably feel that when you watch them play.”
So far so good. Winning big helps.
“We’re moving in a positive direction,” Miller said. “We are better today than we were a week ago.”
More importantly, Miller’s team is better than what it was in Game 1.
“The key is can we continue to grow in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Adding: “They guys are fun to coach. They are eager to improve and I believe they are improving.”
Be sure to catch Steve and Jay Gonzales weekdays on “Eye on the Ball” on Fox Sports 1450 am from 3-4 p.m.
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