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Sean Miller: ‘we may not be that good’

Sean Miller

Arizona head coach Sean Miller watches his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Bryant in Tucson, Ariz., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. Arizona won 100-60. (AP Photo/Wily Low)

AP

Expectations are higher than they have ever been for Sean Miller at Arizona. Fresh off of a run to the Sweet 16 and with a dynamite 2013 recruiting class consisting of Aaron Gordon and Rondae Jefferson, the Wildcats will most likely open the season as a Top 5 team.

And, why shouldn’t they be ranked that high?

With the preceding two players entering the program and being immediate difference makers in conjunction with T.J. McConnell, who is one of the top point guards in the country, now eligible, Arizona has the pieces to make an even deeper run in the NCAA Tournament come March. Sure they’re young, but the talent is there, and Sean Miller is one of the best young basketball minds in the game.

Even still, Miller has his concerns.

He told AZ Central last week on his team’s high praise and preseason ranking: “It’s just the way it goes but I do believe with where we’re rated, how good we’re supposed to be, we may not be that good. I don’t know yet. We have a lot of interchangeable players but from a pure body perspective we may be one man down on the front line.”

At the time, the eligibility of forward Zach Peters, who transferred from Kansas due to be closer to his family after suffering multiple concussions last year, was in flux. It frustrated Miller, and only complicated matters of what his rotation would look like if Peters wasn’t ruled immediately eligible.

Fortunately for Miller, he can now breathe a little easier as Peters was finally ruled eligible by the NCAA.

Okay, so Miller now has that extra body he needed on the front line. But, what about his team’s ability to shoot the basketball, a department they were so strong in last season? Miller said in late August: “I don’t think there’s a college basketball program of the 347 that have shot more basketballs than we have this summer.”

A month later, his concerns about scoring from the perimeter are still there: “And shooting in particular, although I don’t know if I’d say we’re not going to be a good shooting team, we have a number of guys we’re going to count on that haven’t done it or are going to have to do it better so that remains to be seen as well.”

The three point shot was a big part of Arizona’s offense last season as they attempted 675 threes (56th in the country), and connected on 37.1% of their attempted (45th in the country). With graduation claiming Mark Lyons, Solomon Hill, and Kevin Parrom, plus Grant Jerrett leaving for the NBA after his freshman year, Arizona is without four of their top perimeter threats.

One of the major storylines to follow in the season’s opening weeks is what role Aaron Gordon plays within the offense. If he demonstrates the ability to play the three and knock down a jump shot at a high clip, that will certainly go a long way in putting Miller at ease.

Arizona, like every other team, has problem areas entering the year. Yet, even with Miller’s concerns which aren’t unfounded by any stretch, Arizona is still one of the top teams in the country. I will posit that that the Wildcats will indeed be “good,” rather than “not that good” as Miller claimed -- chalk that statement up by Miller as nothing more than preseason jitters.

Follow @KLDoyle11