Arizona lost three of its last four games during the nonconference portion of the season, but the calendar has now flipped to 2020 and the Wildcats (10-3) are looking to reverse the trend as Pac-12 play begins this weekend against in-state rival Arizona State (9-4).
Each of Arizona's losses this season have had similar elements from poor shooting to defensive rebounding problems and foul issues. All those things have been in focus for head coach Sean Miller and his team over the last several days since his players returned from the Christmas break.
UA's extended layoff has allowed the Wildcats to dive deeper into the issues that prevented them from winning games over Baylor, Gonzaga and most recently St. John's.
Miller didn't shy away from what Arizona's problems are heading into conference play as he spoke with the media Thursday ahead of Saturday night's conference opener against the Sun Devils.
"It's not like I have a magic wand to all the sudden say, 'we're good,' at all three of those areas," Miller said. "But, we have to improve and be better. That's the job of a coaching staff. That's my job to make sure that those areas right there are areas that we can clearly improve.
"I would say that sometimes our improvement may be incrementally, but I will say that if we can improve in all three of those areas I think we'll be very successful as we move forward in the next couple of months. I would say that if those three areas don't change we're gonna win a few, we're gonna lose a few. I think that's how I really feel about things right now for our team."
The UA head coach has praised his team's attitude throughout the year and he said the team has continued to have a good attitude since returning from its break. Still, a good attitude alone doesn't equate to results and he understands his group has to be better in several areas to make noise in conference play.
Miller said whether or not his team is capable of winning the Pac-12 this year is simply a question he cannot answer at this time, but he does want his team to focus on improving first before it thinks about the bigger picture at this stage.
Something he honed in on Thursday was UA's fouling issues. The Wildcats have been prone to fouls on both sides of the floor and it is something Miller wants to see cleaned up.
"We foul a lot," he said. "Matter of fact we foul at almost an absurd rate. It's stupid. We're not a smart team when it comes to fouling. We foul in the post. We foul on drives. We foul at the end of the clock. We foul 3-point shooters.
"That's up to our staff to correct."
In addition to the fouling problems Arizona has had, Miller has made sure his team is focused on attacking the glass on the defensive end of the floor. He said Arizona's fouling is connected to its rebounding on that end of the court.
"Those two things go hand in hand," he said.
Miller is also concerned about the Wildcats' shot selection, which has been a big part of the three losses this year.
His message about what needs to improve has certainly made it to his players' ears this week as there is a clear understanding of the importance of that for the Wildcats heading into conference play.
"I think the biggest things we learned and have been focusing on and have been focusing on a lot in practice is just that we've gotta get better at defensive rebounding as a team and working on shot selection," senior center Chase Jeter said Thursday. "Making sure that in the paint touches. ... I think it's every 10 possessions we have 0.4 turnovers if the ball touches the paint.
"We've been getting a lot of good stuff out of that, so we're trying to emphasize that more heading into Pac-12 play."
Improving shot selection is going to be important and Miller made that clear when speaking about the topic Thursday.
"It's very, very straightforward ... you can't take stupid shots," the UA head coach said. "This isn't a circus act. This isn't an audition. This is, 'is the shot good for Arizona?' That shot that goes up is that a winning play is that a winning shot?
"How you determine that now, for us, is we have a lot more evidence. We've practiced almost 60 times. We have played 13 games. We're in the month of January. What percentage do you shoot? If you shoot 32 percent that's terrible. I could make the case you should never ever shoot the ball from that area. It's not a good enough shot."
Miller went on to say that players who take shots that are ill advised is a "selfish" way to play the game that hurts the team's chances of winning games.
The Wildcats will attempt to put it all together this Saturday when they host ASU at McKale Center. Tip off for the team's Pac-12 opener is set for 7:30 p.m. MST.
