If you have a player with rare qualities who can control the game on both ends of the pitch, you use him as much as possible, right?
right?
Maybe not.
Two days later University of California‘s Adi Mara He put every inch of his 7-foot-3 frame to excellent use v. Wisconsin – He made all seven shots in scoring a career-high 22 points, played self-defense, grabbed rebounds and was repeatedly picked off by counterparts who had no choice but to foul out – His coach said use of the sophomore center would remain situational.
“It would be great if Aday could average 22 the rest of the year,” the coach said Mick Cronin last Thursday of Mara’s breakout after being used sparingly during the first half of the season, “but I also think — you know, look, this is just happening.”
Cronin noted that forward William Kyle III, who is also fighting for a bigger role, enjoyed a similar breakthrough during UCLA. Recent win over Iowa Statewhere he made six of seven shots, only to concede playing time to Mara against the Badgers because Cronin thought the latter game was a better game for Mara.
So, no, Mara’s big show wasn’t just a show Aha! Second place to his coach, which automatically led to a bigger role for the team’s tallest player, despite Mara making every shot and eight of 11 free throws while grabbing five rebounds and blocking a season-high two shots in 21 minutes.
“It gives you more options,” Cronin said. “What it does is be able to enhance what you’re capable of at Aday – we won two games, we got production from two games [big] Guys, I was saying that we have to train them better and get them to play according to their abilities.
Based on his recent pattern, expect Cronin to give Kyle more minutes against smaller, faster teams while featuring Mara more against bigger teams that aren’t as athletic.
Cronin looked like he was still committed to starting Tyler Bilodeau at No. 5 rather than pairing Mara or Kyle with Bilodeau, who has struggled defensively. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard took the unusual step of mentioning Bilodeau by name, a reference to his issues defending ball screens, while discussing the Badgers’ offensive success.
“We were able to knock down some threes early with Bilodeau,” Gard said.
Cronin said using more size instead of a front line that includes the 6-9 Bilodeau and 6-8 forward Eric Dele Jr. has its drawbacks.
“Some teams play with four guards, which makes it very difficult,” Cronin said. “But it’s what we’ve been working on since Will came back [from an unspecified medical procedure] What you saw in the Iowa game was Will guarding the perimeter and Tyler guarding the bigger man because Will is faster on the perimeter, so we can do that. It’s hard to do that with Tyler and Addie but we were able to do it against Wisconsin because of the lineup.
“But there are other ways to try to do some things to be able to play if you want to play with those two guys together and the other team is smaller. There are some things we’re working on.”
Neither Bilodeau nor Daile hesitated when asked how much they would love to play alongside Mara.
“It’s great to have him out there,” Bilodeau said. “He’s very dominant in that position. We see that every day in practice. We know we can always turn to him and then very defensively, he’s a great presence in the paint.”
Said Dailey: “I love playing with Addai. I mean he’s easy to play 7-3. He’s easy to throw lobs to. I’ve been doing that all year, just giving him passes, you know, he can finish them. He’s just been helping us, you know, He brings a different dynamic to our attack and defense as well, just being the protector we just have to keep him going.”
Kyle stays ready
With Mara in control, Kyle did not play in the second half against Wisconsin until Cronin brought him on for defensive purposes with 30 seconds left.
Trailing by two points, the Badgers had a chance to tie the score or take the lead. Kyle made sure nothing happened.
Measuring Wisconsin goalie John Blackwell’s every move, Kyle had the difficult task of defending against both the shot and high shot of 7-foot Steven Kroll.
“He was kind of focused on the rim a little bit, so I was kind of waiting for him to jump in the air, because, like, when you jump in the air, it’s kind of hard to do,” Kyle said of Blackwell. passes. … So, as soon as I saw him go up in the air, on his shot, I kind of committed to it — I didn’t expect to block it, I just tried to challenge it, and then, fortunately, I blocked the shot and it was just a big play.
Trap game?
Washington has lost five straight games and is 1-7 in the Big Ten. However, the Huskies (10-9) could be poised for a big performance, especially on their home court, in their game against the Bruins (13-6, 4-4) on Friday night in Seattle.
Alaska Airlines Arena is where Washington defeated Maryland and only lost to Illinois after a last-minute fumble. Cronin said he expects Huskies guard DJ Davis to fully recover from a recent ankle injury and center Frank Kepnang to play after missing the last 17 games following a knee procedure.
“They’ve improved a lot,” Cronin said of the Huskies, who lost by 11 points to the Bruins in December at Pauley Pavilion. “If they make a few shots, they’re dangerous.”
