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A symbol of Sean Miller’s balance: Lauri Markkanen went through November and December as the Arizona Wildcats’ top productivity player overall by far, but he was not the top producer in any of the December games.
Fellow frontcourt player Dusan Ristic held that distinction in five of the seven games, including Friday’s 67-62 win at California. In the other two games, Rawle Alkins had the top productivity rating at Missouri and Chance Comanche against New Mexico.
Ristic’s productivity rating in December games was .781 compared to Markkanen’s .611, still a solid rating.
A generally good barometer:
.850-plus: Pac-12 Player of the Year caliber (A+ grade)
.700-plus: All-Pac-12 caliber (A)
.600-plus: All-Pac-12 honorable mention caliber (B)
.500-plus: Mostly good performances (B-)
.400-plus: Mostly average (C)
.300-plus: Mostly below-average (D)
.200-lower: Mostly low (D-)
Ristic’s consistent play, especially on offense, has made it possible for wing player Rawle Alkins and shooting guard Kobi Simmons to thrive in recent games. The emergence of both of those players in December coincided with Ristic’s productive outings.
Ristic helped establish a good inside-outside game by taking advantage of his opportunities in the paint. He can draw defenders away from Markkanen and Arizona’s perimeter players when getting the entry pass. His play also allows for zone defenses to collapse, allowing more penetration possibilities and more open looks from the perimeter.
Ristic’s 80 percent shooting from the field in Arizona’s win over Cal en route to 16 points was his third game of 66.7 percent or better with at least 10 field goal attempts. Ristic was 8 of 11 (.727) with two free throws for 18 points versus UC Irvine (Dec. 6) before going 8 of 12 (.667) with two free throws for 18 points against Texas A&M (Dec. 17).
A key element in Arizona’s success will be Ristic sustaining his productivity level while improving on the defensive end as well.
#UA basketball's Dusan Ristic has scored in double figures in seven of his past eight games https://t.co/e49uzQlCUg
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) January 1, 2017
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 sort=”desc”]
Player,Pos,G,S,PP,MIN,PR
Lauri Markkanen,PF,14,14,356,449,.793
Dusan Ristic,C,14,14,237,341,.695
Rawle Alkins,SF,14,14,247,431,.573
Keanu Pinder,PF,14,0,113,229,.493
Kobi Simmons,SG,14,9,202,428,.472
Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,8,7,101,224,.451
Kadeem Allen,SG,13,12,173,394,.439
Chance Comanche,C,14,0,104,249,.418
AVG 5-9.9 MIN,,,,,
None,,,,,
AVG 1-4.9 MIN,,,,,
Kory Jones,G,2,0,0,4,.000
Tyler Trillo,G,6,0,-1,26,-.038
Jake DesJardins,G,4,0,-1,8,-.125
Paulo Cruz,G,6,0,-5,17,-.294
TOTAL TEAM,,14,,1512,2800,.540
[/table]
PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
[table sort=”desc”]
Name (Year),G,S,PP,MIN,PR
Derrick Williams (2011),38,38,1190,1141,1.043
Sean Elliott (1989),33,33,1128,1125,1.003
Chris Mills (1993),28,28,838,870,.963
Sean Elliott (1988),38,38,1167,1249,.934
Damon Stoudamire (1995),30,30,964,1092,.883
Mike Bibby (1998),35,35,905,1124,.805
Jason Terry (1999),29,29,877,1107,.792
Nick Johnson (2014),38,38,848,1254,.676
Total,269,269,7917,8962,.883
[/table]
PREVIOUS GAME
ARIZONA 67, CALIFORNIA 62
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
[table sort=”desc”]
Player,Pos,PP,MIN,PR
*Dusan Ristic,C,27,28,.964
*Lauri Markkanen,PF,17,31,.548
*Kobi Simmons,SG,16,31,.516
*Kadeem Allen,SG,13,34,.382
*Rawle Alkins,SF,11,31,.355
Chance Comanche,C,7,20,.350
Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,4,20,.200
LESS THAN 10 MIN,,,,
Keanu Pinder,PF,-3,5,-.600
TOTAL TEAM,,82,200,.410
[/table]
ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
*-Honolulu
**-Las Vegas
***-Los Angeles
****-Houston
[table sort=”desc”]
Date,Opponent,Results,TeamPR,Productivity Leader,Pos,PP,MIN,PR
11/11,*Michigan State,W/65-63,.395,Kobi Simmons,SG,22,26,.846
11/15,Cal State Bakersfield,W/78-66,.560,Lauri Markkanen,PF,48,36,1.333
11/18,Sacred Heart,W/95-65,.805,Dusan Ristic,C,31,22,1.409
11/21,Northern Colorado,W/71-55,.565,Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,35,34,1.029
11/24,**Santa Clara,W/69-61,.510,Keanu Pinder,PF,12,12,1.000
11/25,**Butler,L/69-65,.390,Lauri Markkanen,PF,17,21,.810
11/30,Texas Southern,W/85-63,.705,Lauri Markkanen,PF,35,29,1.207
12/3,***Gonzaga,L/69-62,.420,Dusan Ristic,C,17,23,.739
12/6,Cal-Irvine,W/79-57,.635,Dusan Ristic,C,32,30,1.067
12/10,at Missouri,W/79-60,.556,Rawle Alkins,SF,27,37,.730
12/14,Grand Canyon,W/64-54,.450,Dusan Ristic,C,19,31,.613
12/17,****Texas A&M,W/67-63,.545,Dusan Ristic,C,27,26,1.038
12/20,New Mexico,W/77-46,.680,Chance Comanche,PF,25,23,1.087
12/30,California,W/67-62,.410,Dusan Ristic,C,27,28,.964
[/table]
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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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