Poof.
It could be very easy to come to that conclusion after the Cats announced Sunday night that Ashley and his 11.5 points per game are lost for the season. Despite Ashley going down, and the potential for the wind completely leaving the sails with Zona playing a generally uninspired first half, the team was only down by one point at the break.
The Ashley-less Wildcats even took the lead late in the second half after being down by as many as nine points, and they had a chance to win with an uncharacteristically perfect night from the free throw line, that is until Cal's Justin Cobbs sank a fall away jumper over the outstretched arm of 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski with 00:00.9 remaining.
Just like that, Arizona saw its season blemished and suddenly in doubt.
But, alas, this is what makes sports so great: the unpredictability. I mean, really. Did you really think the Seahawks were going to hang 43 points on the Broncos in the Super Bowl much less score the games first two points on a safety? If so, you're probably reading this from a yacht in the Virgin Islands.
Arizona needed some adversity after rolling off 21 straight wins to start the season. If they play on until the April 7 National Championship game in Dallas, there are 19 games to go, meaning the season is barely half over. You have to believe there are too many unpredictably good moments left for this team.
But still, they have to somehow replace Ashley. So several bench players who have been touted as Division I starters at any school this year but Arizona have an opportunity in front of them. Certainly none of them can match Ashley in sheer athleticism, but what can they bring to the court in heart?
Can Matt Korcheck battle his way to six points and three or four boards a game while playing the gnat to the opposing team's bigs?
Can Zach Peters literally shake off the concussions that have plagued him over the past season and a half to give up a handful of well-time fouls and generally take up some space down low to help keep Tarczewski fresh?
With Rondae Hollis-Jefferson seeing his already substantial workload about to increase, who will take his spot as the team's coveted sixth man? Gabe York, the Wildcats' seventh man off the bench, certainly has a lot to gain, as does Zona from his potentially lethal three-point shot. But the backcourt also needs to see a resurgence of Jordin Mayes to find his flow and lend ball harassing defense as well as a calming influence on offense to supplement the excellence of starting point guard T.J. McConnell.
Just as important in this equation is the play of Elliot Pitts, the least vaunted of Arizona's freshmen this year behind Hollis-Jefferson and future NBA Lottery pick Aaron Gordon. Pitts hasn't gotten many minutes this year, and if I didn't know any better I'd guess that he may have been in coach Sean Miller's doghouse a time or two, so does he grab the chance he's now been afforded?
Speaking of Gordon, the high-flying rebound machine actually needs to find a lot more consistency not only from the free throw stripe but from the field, as he's shooting only 46.8 percent from the field. Who is going to pick up the slack from the 52 percent a game the Cats lose with Ashley out?
A little adversity could be a very good thing for this season's Wildcats, and much of the country's sportswriting public seems to agree. Arizona only fell to No. 2 in this week's AP Poll, which signified that many think the Cats would've beat Cal if Ashley didn't get hurt. Maybe. Maybe not.
But what is known is that Arizona's true season starts now. We will soon really know just how destined the team is and if they further congeal or are torn apart. I'm voting, well hoping, at least, for the latter.
No comments:
Post a Comment