It's not typical during this point in the season for Sean Miller to make adjustments to his starting lineup. In a normal year he would be locking in his group for the stretch run of conference play to prepare the group for the Pac-12 Tournament and March Madness. This year is anything but typical, however, and Thursday night against Oregon the Arizona head coach decided to again make some changes by inserting freshman guard Kerr Kriisa into the starting five in place of Terrell Brown Jr.
Injuries and lack of consistency on both ends of the floor has forced Miller and his staff to make a few tweaks to the lineup throughout the season. The latest move was not done for either one of those reasons. Instead, the UA coach simply wanted to see what Kriisa showed as a starter just a couple games into his college career.
The Estonian guard made his debut last week on the road against Utah after sitting out up until that point because of NCAA rules. Kriisa provided the team with some intensity while also giving improved depth on the perimeter.
His knack for contributing on defense helped push Miller to make the move against the Beavers to help give the team an improved presence on that end of the floor.
"I would say coming off of the Mountain trip defense is really the priority for us trying to improve it," Miller said after Thursday's 70-61 win for Arizona. "I thought Kerr, with his energy and his ability to take charges and take pride in that area, why not give him an opportunity here early on? That's not really to the detriment of Terrell. It's just every once in a while, I think when you have a team like ours, to shake up the lineup keeps everybody on their toes and backs up me and our staff trying to become a more united, altogether better defensive group.
"That was the reason why."
Brown went on to have a productive game off the bench for the Wildcats with seven points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists making it a successful move all around.
"As you know, by the minutes that were given, Terrell did a really good job," Miller said Thursday. "He played 29 minutes. Kerr played almost 20. So I'm glad we have Kerr, but I though Terrell Brown did a really good job tonight. He made some key plays."
Kriisa finished with eight points in 19 minutes of action plus he remained active on the defensive end working to draw offensive fouls on Oregon State and remain disruptive.
"I think he did a good job," sophomore center Christian Koloko said of his freshman teammate. "He did what he was supposed to do. He was guarding I think one of the best shooters on the other team. I think he did a pretty good job chasing him off screens and all that. I think he knocked down two threes or three threes, so I think he really did a pretty good job for his firs start."
Fellow freshman Bennedict Mathurin is someone who has been moved in and out of the lineup this season so he understands first hand what it means to be a young player getting an opportunity to open the game.
"I feel like it was amazing for him to have his first start at Arizona," Mathurin said. "Kerr is a great player. I feel like he made a couple big shots, and he played hard defense. So, it helped the team."
Arizona is not set to play in the postseason this year, but Miller said knowing that didn't play into his decision to make a late move with his starting lineup. For the UA head coach the last month of the season remains focused on picking up victories, and he felt like Thursday's game was an opportunity to do that with Kriisa as part of the starting five.
"It's unusual for me, but this is a different team," Miller said when asked about tweaking his lineup this late in the season. "No, it has nothing to do with our end point this year. It has a lot to do with just we have so many new faces. There are times when you looked out there tonight and you have Kerr, Benn, Dalen (Terry) and Azuolas (Tubelis) in the game. You know those are four freshmen.
"I know we've played quite a few freshmen over the years, but the other guys it's not like they've been three-years starters on the court with them. So, I think just because of that it's kind of like a puzzle. Trying to keep our energy up, trying to keep us hungry, playing hard, playing maybe our best here in the month of February. That's our task, so we're really trying everything to get there."
UA will be back in action Saturday when it hosts Oregon in the first matchup of the season against the Ducks with tip off set for 12 p.m. MST at McKale Center.
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