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SAN DIEGO — In the world of coaching, film is like truth serum — it ultimately cuts out all of the hyperbole and coach-speak and exposes a team for what it is.
At this point, neither Arizona coach Sean Miller or Weber State coach Randy Rahe have seen enough film to release their verdicts on the tendencies of each team, who the best players are, and what game plan they will try and implement against their opponent.
The coaching matchup is one of the better matchups in the second round of the NCAA tournament, featuring one of the mid-major’s best coaching prospects (Rahe) against a former mid-major darling that is now on the major level (Miller). Rahe’s dedication to his system is well-known, and it starts with players moving extensively with the basketball. Miller’s coaching is built on using superior athletes to dictate play, with a large amount of focus being spent on defensive positioning.
However, when it comes to dealing with the other team’s players, both coaches noticed strengths the other team has.
“We’re going to play a regular-season champion, a tournament champion,” said Miller, whose Arizona Wildcats won the Pac-12 regular season title. “Somebody (Weber coach Randy Rahe) who has been in the tournament before and (has) a fantastic 3-point shooting team. Anytime you play a team that is that prolific on offense, that has shooters like Weber State does, they’re the team who can be successful in the NCAA tournament.”
Rahe said he noticed how athletic Arizona is in his film study of the southerly Wildcats.
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“Pick your poison,” said Rahe, who is 0-1 against Arizona in his time at Weber State. “You look at them and they’re so athletic and they’re so talented at every spot. They’ve got a whole bunch of guys who are going to be playing against Damian (Lillard) in a year or two.
“But, you’ve got to start with (Arizona guard Nick Johnson and forward Aaron Gordon). Those two guys are special, and they’re special because they not only hurt you on one end but they hurt you on the other end. They’re both very good offensive players, and they’re both very good defenders. They’re scary because they’re so talented and so athletic. They’re a different level of athleticism.”
Weber is 0-1 against Pac-12 teams this season, with the Wildcats dropping an 83-60 game against UCLA. UCLA beat Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game, and Rahe said Weber can take encouragement from having played someone at Arizona’s level earlier in the season.
“We should have been down seven at the half (at UCLA), and I look back and we were playing right along with them,” he stated. “I watched the game tape, and they spurted us right at that 16-minute mark. Other than that, we played right with them. Our guys know we played right with them; I told them we played with them.
“We’ve played a lot of high-major teams, and we’ve played the UCLA’s in the past, and the Illinois (teams) and the Arizonas. And so, a lot of these guys have experienced that.”
Rahe said in order for Weber to win, it is imperative that the Wildcats maintain their style of play, regardless of what Arizona does.
“One thing that we’ve relied upon is we’ve got a good inside-outside balance,” he said. “We look at it as a team and how can we play. We’ve got to play how we play and that’s inside-out first and see if we have success there. If they double us, maybe we can get something on the outside. Just have balance.”