Arizona lacks true point guard -- and smart shot selection

It’s also true this was an opportunity misspent. In a 65-57 loss to Southern California at the Galen Center, the Wildcats got only 8 points from their All-America candidate, Derrick Williams, and 9 from their second option, guard MoMo Jones. They shot 35.8 percent from the field mostly because they didn’t work all that hard to do better.
If Arizona is to become a team to fear on the NCAA Tournament bracket, its progression will need to continue by first addressing this two-word phrase: shot selection.

Certainly the Trojans guarded Arizona hard, at least they did for the few seconds of the shot clock that were expended on each Wildcats possession, particularly in the first half. Bigs Alex Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic challenged Williams and made it difficult for him to get access to the ball in dangerous situations, so those around him fired up a numbing series of one-pass jump shots.
The Wildcats missed eight of their first nine 3-pointers, and it was no wonder because so many of those shots were fired off balance, with USC defenders in their faces. This is where Arizona misses having a natural point guard to take command, to generate high-quality shots, to settle down overzealous teammates.
Jones is not a natural in any of these areas. He has become proficient in terms of getting the Wildcats into their passing-game offense without turning over the ball. He hasn’t had more than three turnovers in a game since early January, and only hit that number twice in the last month. Not bad for a converted scoring guard.
He is not actually in charge of the Arizona offense, though. No one seems to be. Coach Sean Miller calls the action he wants to be run with a simple signal from the sideline, and he was a heck of a point guard in his day, but without someone on the floor assuring the team gets the most out of every trip, the Wildcats will struggle against elite opposition.
It’s not as though Arizona can’t score. The Wildcats rang up 87 points in last weekend’s victory over Washington. They’re averaging 76.4 points in Pac-10 play. But with all the Big East teams likely to enter the Tournament, the odds are pretty good the Wildcats end up playing somebody who plays Kevin O’Neill-style defense. They can’t react like this.
By the time Arizona began to take a serious approach to offense, it was in a 5-point second half hole that quite easily could have been a double-digit lead.
USC did not gain its advantage by playing brilliantly. The Trojans missed at least four uncontested layups and hit only one of their 10 attempts from 3-point range. One of the key plays in their dominance of the initial portion of the second half occurred when guard Jio Fontan airballed a jump shot, but Stepheson rebounded and converted a layup, drawing a foul for a 3-point play and 37-34 lead.
The Wildcats were in a 44-all tie when Williams began to take the approach that any drive of his was likely to be an improvement over the average Arizona trip in this game. He scooped in a layup the first time down, then drew a foul and made a couple of free throws the next time down. But this revelation, that there might be one hole in the USC defense, did not register with his teammates. Williams didn’t get another look on the next four trips.
The game turned on what was, on this night, a typically empty Arizona possession. Williams got one touch above the circle, but the lane was clogged by a teammate posting up and the opponent defending him. The Wildcats got tied up but had the arrow in their favor, but after inbounding could not get off a shot before the 35 seconds lapsed.
Arizona’s defenders didn’t bother to double-team Vucevic down the stretch as they had for much of the game, and he took advantage by scoring six consecutive points that tied it at 56. When Stepheson and Marcus Simmons rejected consecutive layup attempts by Jones, the Trojans made four free throws in a row to take a 60-56 lead.
Was this a tough road loss for Arizona?
It was an unnecessary road loss, for sure.

Cardinals, Pujols unlikely to reach deal before Wednesday deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a spirited last-ditch effort to sign Albert Pujols before his self-imposed noon deadline Wednesday, offering him an eight-year contract believed to be worth in excess of $200 million, people familiar with the talks told SI.com. However, several people connected to the negotiations believe the sides will not have an agreement in place before the deadline, setting the stage for free agency at year's end for the three-time NL MVP.

According to sources, the Cardinals' latest offer is short of $30 million per year. Pujols, 31, has been seeking a deal greater than the record 10-year, $275 million contract that Alex Rodrguez signed with the New York Yankees before the 2008 season.

Both sides have made concessions during talks that have stretched over months, but in recent days no one was expressing great hope for a quick resolution.

While the main goal for Pujols was always to top A-Rod, Pujols' agent Dan Lozano at one point in the negotiation with the Cardinals proposed that part of a deal include a piece of the storied team for Pujols, which would have made Pujols a player/part owner, in just one of the attempts by either side that still appears to be going nowhere.

Hours before the noon deadline, there is little evidence the sides will bridge the large gap that has separated them for months. While the Cardinals' exact offer is not known, it presumably has to be higher per year than the $25 million salary the Phillies gave Ryan Howard last season.

Lozano's apparently unsuccessful attempt to acquire a piece of the team is unconventional and perhaps even unprecedented, but it is not explicitly disallowed by baseball rules, which only prohibit part ownership of a competing team by a player. Had Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt agreed to take Pujols as a limited partner, commissioner Bud Selig would have had to approve the complicated arrangement, which would have had to allow for a provision for transfer of Pujols' shares in the event he were later traded (although for a practical matter, that may not have mattered since Pujols already has veto rights over trades as a 10-and-5 player). So while Lozano's request wasn't technically impossible, it would have complicated things.

Lozano, as well as Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak have been scarce in recent days as they've been sought to talk publicly about negotiations -- though that shouldn't necessarily be taken as a sign they are busy making serious progress. A source familiar with the talks suggested the sides were "speaking different languages" as of a week ago, and so far apart in talks that a deal by Pujols' deadline had virtually no chance of being completed by Wednesday. Pujols' camp has said that if no deal is done by Wednesday, he will not discuss money with the team during the season, almost guaranteeing he will become a free agent.

In a brief interview with SI.com last Novermber, DeWitt expressed his belief that the Yankees must regret their $275 million investment in A-Rod, though the Yankees have not said that's the case. The Yankees are also in better position to do a longer deal since they will have the DH as an option in the last years of Rodriguez's contract.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa opined Tuesday that the players union is trying to coerce Pujols to try to go for a record contract in free agency, an assertion that players union chief Michael Weiner denied. La Russa, a lawyer as well as a manger, might just be trying to set things up for blame for someone other than his Cardinals or his favorite player should a deal not get done.

"It's not accurate at all. We've had no conversations with Albert Pujols or Dan Lozano about the numbers of the contract," Weiner said in a phone interview. "Albert is a sophisticated and experienced player and he has a very experienced agent."

Other teams are not allowed to discuss publicly Pujols' situation, but speculation around the game is that Pujols may be able to get his 10-year deal elsewhere, perhaps even from the Chicago Cubs. Two competing executives said they believe the Cubs, who have the resources and need, not to mention several big contracts coming off their books after the season, to do a monster deal to steal the greatest star from their archrivals.

Should Pujols become free, there's no telling who may get involved. But while he would be extremely coveted by many teams, one person familiar with the thinking of the Yankees, the biggest free-agent players with the most money, suggested that star Mark Teixeira's presence would make them an illogical fit for another A-Rod type deal for a first baseman, even an all-time great first baseman.