Arizona vs UTEP: Player Grades

Welcome back everyone for another year of player grades. Just as a recap of how this works, after every basketball game I go back and hand out letter grades for all the players, team, and coach. Before we start let me give you a quick look at what the different grades mean to me. A=Player had an awesome game, and most likely exceeded what we expected. B=Very solid game, made some mistakes, but overall a good game. C=Average game. Did nothing super special. D=Below expectations, not a good game at all. F=Just terrible. Now that we took care of what the grades mean, let's get right down to business.

Team Grade: B- The team defense was improved over their opening game, however that is only half the game. On offense we were solid until the second unit came in. They seemed to really struggle to create opportunities for themselves and for others. On the positive side we shot 48.9% from the field and an amazing 50% from the 3 pt arc. Free throws were another bright spot going 19-23. We also had 14 assists on our 22 FG's. The one area that I am sure Sean Miller is unhappy about is the fact we had 19 turnovers. That is just too many.

Solomon Hill: A- Solomon was Mr. do everything last night. He really stepped up when the team needed him, and showed he is the leader of this team. His overall stat line really shows this with his 10 points 4 assists and 6 rebounds. Sean Miller rewarded him with the most minutes on the team at 33.

Grant Jerrett: B His stat line isn't anything amazing, but he was very good last night. His length caused problems for the other team on defense, and he was efficient on offense. He still needs to work on his post moves, but already he causes a huge mismatch for the other team. You have to play a big man on him, but he has shown confidence and ability to hit the 3pt shot. His 7 points and 7 rebounds are a good balance for him.

Kaleb Tarczewski: B- I almost gave him a C grade, but after looking at his stats I decided that he's still very young, and he was more efficient than I was giving him credit for. I have such high expectations that it wasn't really fair to expect all these great things right away. The good was 8 points on 2 of 2 shooting and 4 of 5 from the line. That is a nice efficient game. The down side is he had 3 turnovers, and for a guy that doesn't touch the ball much on offense, that is too many.

Mark Lyons: B+ I know its early, but I have no doubts that bringing in Lyons was a positive for this team. Yes he can be a little selfish at times, but right now this team needs him to be a little selfish at times. He took a few bad shots. But I think its clear that his ability to create for himself and others, and his experience is going to carry this team while the younger guys develop. He lead the team with 17 points on only 9 shots. The only reason he did not get an A is because he only got 1 assist last night. He's not going to be getting 10 assists a game, but I expect around 5 at least.

Nick Johnson: C+ Honestly I don't really remember much of Nick from last night. That is not a good sign from a starter. I don't expect him to be a star on this team, but I do expect him to do a little bit of everything. His defense was good as usual, but on offense he really needs to find a way to become more involved. He finished with 7 points 2 assists and 2 rebounds. It's nice to see him get a little bit of everything, but I would expect a few more assists and rebounds each game.

Kevin Parrom: B I really appreciate Kevin. The personal issues hes had to deal with, and the injuries would have crushed most players. Not Kevin though, he is an inspiration, and every time I see him on the court it makes me smile. He isn't going to take over a game, but last night he did exactly what we needed, and that's a little bit of everything. He had 7 points on only 2 shots, and hit all his free throws. Plus he had 3 assists and 4 rebounds. That is a pretty good line for only 18 minutes.

Jordin Mayes: D Maybe I am expecting more out of Mayes, but our offense really was lost last night when he was running it. Overall 1 point just isn't going to cut it from Mayes. He did have 3 assists which is a plus, but he was below average last night.

Angelo Chol: B+ Chol did exactly what we needed from him and a little more last night. He came in and only played 13 minutes, but he played with lots of energy and shot 3-4 for 6 points. I have to question the fact he doesn't have a block on his stat line though. Its not his fault, but it felt like he had 10 blocks in the game.

Brandon Ashley: B- Ashley had a good stat line with 9 points and 5 rebounds. However, his shooting was only 3-8 which is a bit lower than I would like to see for a big man. For that reason I gave him a slightly lower grade than I wanted to. He is a solid big man though, and will be a huge piece of our bench.

Gabe York: INC Gabe only play 4 minutes, so I have a hard time grading him. The one thing that sticks out in my head is when he lost his dribble and turned it over. However, I think its clear that he has a ways to go, and hopefully will come around towards the end of the year so that we have a sniper out there.

Sean Miller: B+ Its always hard judging a coach because you don't really know what he is asking of his players. However, they came to play defense, and looked to have much more energy. He will always get a good grade whenever I look at the talent we have out there though.