Interesting philosophy. Although the Texas game this year certainly improves their schedule Barnes clearly indicates she'd rather have a weaker non-conference schedule than conference. That philosophy is the reverse of successful coaches of such as Geno.An interesting piece in scheduling from Barnes as well:
“Head coach Adia Barnes is kind of over the schedule discussion simply because of how difficult the Pac-12 is. She also had difficulty finding teams willing to play an up-and-coming Arizona team this season.
‘My first year, people were off the hook and now we’re having a tough time finding games,’ Barnes said. ‘But it’s a good problem. But we will have tougher competition, but we won’t ever have eight ranked. We won’t play Mississippi State, UConn, Baylor. Like, we’re just not because I get those in the conference and that’s enough.’”
Ok, I read her quote 3 times on the schedule and it still makes no sense to me. It doesn’t give clear specifics of who then she is trying to schedule if not the top few teams. I just don’t buy her logic. She’s been there for a few years now and knew the team was getting better. I want to root for coaches who show logic and accountability. At the moment, I am giving her an incomplete. Her schedule needs to improve SIGNIFICANTLY next year to be considered a strong coach.Nice overview of the Wildcats.
The game Sunday in Tempe will be great.
What we know about Arizona women’s basketball heading into Pac-12 play
When the No. 18 Arizona Wildcats put the finishing touches on their win over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, they had already reached a historic milestone. Their 11-0 opening to the season was the best...www.azdesertswarm.com
"Along with the No. 8 field goal percentage in the country on offense, they also have the No. 1 opponents’ field goal percentage on defense. They are No. 5 in opponents’ points per scoring attempt, No. 1 in opponents’ points per play, and No. 3 in steal rate."
Last year the December game was in Tucson and the Wildcats held the Sun Devils to 39 points. I'm hoping this is not going to be a repeat of that.
Freshman Pueyo is going to be a great one.