If it were up to Sean Miller, social media probably wouldn't exist for Arizona basketball players.
And some other things. But the UA coach is also trying to let his players have some freedom, even as Kevin Parrom says that he didn't post some items that were posted on his Facebook page recently.
"I would like to take their phone, their Facebook, their Twitter, their freedom, their keys to their room, their card, and send them all to the same building on Friday night," Miller said. "But part of the world we live in -- that age group of 19, 21, 22, 23 -- there's just a lot of things happening in their lives, and as an institution, as an athletic department and as a coaching staff, we try our very best to give as much freedom as we can so they can grow as people, as students, as athletes. And there's always kind of a give and take with that."
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Miller, who asked his players not to tweet during the 2010-11 postseason, said he was "sure it's true" that Parrom's Facebook account was hacked (as Parrom says). Arizona is attempting to shut it down.
"We're working to address it," Miller said. "It's a crazy world we live in."
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Miller said today he's looking at having a defined period of time where Jesse Perry can play center. Perry, of course, already has been doing so but Miller said he wants to be more organized about it, since Perry only knows about 20 percent of what he needs to know at center.
"I don't think that's the answer for 40 minutes, but for us, carving out a period of time where Jesse plays the five not only puts Jesse in a different role but it allows us to play some of our best players with Jesse," Miller said. "That's what we're all trying to do as coaches, put that best group out there."
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Also during today's news conference, Miller said San Diego State will be UA's biggest challenge yet this season.
"I am not saying this as coachspeak," Miller said. "They're a very good team. Their record speaks for that. And I think it'll be a tremendous challenge for our crowd and our team to have a chance to win on Wednesday."
-- He said it was yet to be determined whether freshmen Angelo Chol and Sidiki Johnson will have much of a role Wednesday, but said Chol would get a chance.
"Hopefully his role will keep growing," Miller said of Chol.
-- He was also pleased with Josiah Turner's play in New York, though he said the Wildcats were hurt more by allowing dribble penetration against Mississippi State than they were by the Bulldogs' big men. That's a fault of all the UA guards, he indicated.
"Josiah, Kyle, Brendon, Kevin, Nick -- we have a lot of depth in our backcourt but each of those guys has to get better and we have to do a better job as a coaching staff to get them to keep their man in front, and not give up dribble penetration because when you (allow drives), bad things happen to your defense.
"If we had great size some of those drives wouldn't cause the problems they cause. Part of what we're working on with Josiah is to continue to make him better on defense. But I was pleased with the way he played. I hope it's just a starting point for him."
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Arizona dropped from No. 15 to 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, while Mississippi State jumped in at 24. The Wildcats are also ranked No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
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Oregon State's Jared Cunningham was named the Pac-12's player of the week after averaging 36 points in the Beavers' wins over Hofstra and Texas at the Legends Classic in New Jersey.
