TULSA, Okla. - This is what I wrote on my notepad the first six times Derrick Williams attempted to score Sunday night:
Missed three. Bad shot.
Stuffed by two Texas guys.
Air ball. Rushed it.
Missed in heavy traffic, forced it.
Two free throws made.
Missed three-ball. Too quick.
And yet the Wildcats led 19-12.
At halftime, Williams was 0 for 6 afield. And it got worse: MoMo Jones, Kevin Parrom, Jamelle Horne and Jesse Perry were a combined 0 for 8.
That's 0 for 14 from five integral players, five men who had been on the court for a cumulative 49 minutes.
How did Arizona ever beat Texas to get to the Sweet 16?
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"The days of advancing based just on good shooting have ended," said UA coach Sean Miller, and then he made his case by referring to the importance of reserve center Kyryl Natyazhko's 16-minute performance that didn't produce a point and just a single rebound.
"His stats are irrelevant," the coach said.
Natyazhko is a very large young man. He is listed at 6 feet 11 inches and 264 pounds, but if you stand next to him in the locker room you know those figures are false. He must be 285. He put that body in harm's way for 16 minutes Sunday night at the BOK Center. He was a beast, knees and shoulders everywhere. He intimidated Texas center Tristan Thompson, took him out of his game.
Thompson, a likely NBA lottery pick someday soon, was averaging 13.4 points. He did not score during Natyazhko's 16 minutes on the court.
This is not the sleek-and-swift Arizona basketball machine that went to 25 consecutive NCAA tournaments, out-manning almost everybody in its path. If there was a knock on those UA teams it was that they were soft and malleable, often satisfied when so much more remained.
Sean Miller has changed the culture. These guys will knock your block off (allowable under NCAA rules, of course). He does not settle or compromise. Many would have been happy with 21 victories and an 11th seed in this Big Fiesta. Instead, this young team and even younger coaching staff didn't stop counting.
This group has won 29 games and is in the Sweet 16. Who's the national Coach of the Year? Sean Miller.
Aside from Arizona's epic burst to the 1997 national championship, this team has achieved more based on its resources and talent than any in school history.
Miller coaches every game as if it's his first game. He is the closest thing, in demeanor and preparation, to a young Mike Krzyzewski in college basketball. When he entered his team's joyous locker room Sunday night, Miller got down to business in record time, forgoing hugs, backslaps and impromptu dances.
It was time to coach, not celebrate. The first thing Miller said was, "When you look back at the month of August, when you've gotta run on the track and lift weights … this is what I meant."
The method paid off in the madness.
"The toughest teams survive," Miller said. "Nastiness is required."
Miller's team was the most ready to play at tipoff Sunday night. Texas looked the way so many of those early-exit Arizona teams of the '90s looked in the NCAA tournament: tentative and nervous, playing not to lose.
"I think we just came out too anxious," said Longhorn guard J'Covan Brown. "Too anxious, moving too fast instead of just letting the game come to me like I did in the second half. I was out of sync. … Our body language was terrible."
By the time the Longhorns regrouped, Arizona had enough in the bank to take it to the limit.
One thing that might have escaped your notice during this month of harrowing, improbable basketball, is that Arizona has made more three-point baskets than any in school history. That's absurd. There isn't a recognizable killer-shooter on the club, no one to compare to Salim Stoudamire, Steve Kerr or even Matt Othick.
But Miller is so skilled in X's and O's that whenever a coach elects to surround Williams with two (or three) defenders, the Wildcats have flipped the ball to the perimeter and buried a series of treys.
Jordin Mayes here, Brendon Lavender there. Kyle Fogg has made six treys in a single game this year. Parrom has made four in a game.
Arizona has now made 283 three-pointers this year. Only Arizona's 1994 Final Four club, with 279, was in the same neighborhood. Who knew?
Miller didn't merely develop Derrick Williams; he developed a better team than anyone could have expected or imagined.
Contact Greg Hansen at 573-4362 or ghansen@azstarnet.com
