If anybody was wondering what the Arizona Wildcats' biggest weakness was going into the game against the Washington Huskies, that should be fairly obvious by now. Point guard play. No, I'm not suggesting that Arizona's Lamont 'Momo' Jones and Jordin Mayes should be playing at the level of Washington's Isaiah Thomas.
Thomas was electric, accounting for 22 points and 10 assists. Say what you will about his flops and his mouth, Thomas understands what makes a good point guard. To use an old cliche, you must be the 'quarterback' of your team. You must distribute the ball to your teammates. You must create shots for your play-makers. You must make your entire team better when you're on the court. Thomas was effective in all of these areas. Which made Arizona's PG play look that much worse.
Momo Jones and Jordin Mayes had just 4 assists. Combined. Momo in particular, looked more concerned with getting inside and scoring himself than getting the ball to somebody that was open. His comments echoed comments that I've heard all season. Momo is not a point guard. He is a shooting guard. "It's a tough transition every game," Said Jones. "It's just tough being a guy that wasn't a point guard and being brought into that. It's tough night in and night out. It wasn't harder or less harder than any other game."
"It's just tough going through those ball screens," Jones said. "We set a lot of ball screens, but not like that. It just wears you down, especially when you're going against 7-footers and guys who weigh 270 pounds hitting you constantly."
Arizona fans, we are now facing a precarious position. With varying reports having Derrick Williams as a top-10 NBA draft pick, it is very possible that he will bolt. We will absolutely need him back next season for this program to be able to be a real threat to any above average team. Perhaps more disconcerting, is the recent behaviour of Arizona commit Josiah Turner, the projected starter at point guard next season. One week, everything's fine. Then he's transferring high schools. Then he's staying at his school, but is off the team. Now, he's transferred to a prep school. This all makes me very nervous.
Arizona desperately needs a decent PG, and Josiah is supposed to be that guy. I can only hope that nothing else happens to jeopardize him wearing the red and blue next season, but we'll all have to wait and see.
Bear Down, Wildcat fans. There is a long season ahead.