Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Arizona's bench problems
By Joe Kaiser
If Arizona is going to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament this March, it'll probably need more production out of its bench.
"One thing that's hurting us is we have to get better play from our bench," Wildcats coach Sean Miller told the Arizona Daily Star. "If you're me, you're scared to sub in the second half (at Utah), and as we ride those five starters, late in February, sometimes fatigue can set in. Even with their best intentions, to me, we're not the fresher team, we're the more tired team. And that starts with guys coming in off the bench playing better."
So far this season, junior Jordin Mayes and sophomore Angelo Chol have both barely contributed offensively, which is a pretty big surprise considering the promise each showed earlier in their careers in Tucson. That's left the burden for bench production to fall on freshman Grant Jerrett and senior Kevin Parrom, the latter of which moved into the starting lineup in place of Brandon Ashley in Arizona's last game.
One potential solution could be ESPN 100 freshman Gabe York, who has played even more sparingly that Mayes and Chol thus far. Miller tells the newspaper that he'll look to get the young combo guard more minutes, which is a drastic change considering that York hasn't even appeared in the past four games and been a DNP-CD in 15 games overall this season.
