UA basketball: Cats acing chemistry

After Arizona blew away ASU on Sunday, forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson said the Wildcats team chemistry is 100 percent better than it was at the beginning of the season.

That was true, UA coach Sean Miller said.

On Sunday. But that was four days ago. Now its Thursday, when the Wildcats face Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena.

After tonight, theres a long weekend in the Willamette Valley before the Wildcats game Sunday at Oregon State, giving UA players a chance to hang out together but also maybe visit with or take phone calls from friends and families and advisors and, well, who knows what happens next?

Anything goes when youre a team of pro prospects, the way Miller explained it, if youre not careful.

Ill judge our chemistry on Jan. 4 thats when we played Arizona State and then Ill do it all over again the next day, Miller said earlier this week. Because it only takes one day and you can go from having this tight-knit group that will go on vacation together to disarray.

Theres just so many people tugging and pulling, and theres so much selfishness at the core of college basketball, that you dont have chemistry for long periods of time. You have to work at it every day.

This week, some of UAs chemistry challenges surfaced publicly. Miller changed his lineup for the first time this season Sunday, inserting Hollis-Jefferson and Elliott Pitts over Stanley Johnson and Gabe York, and UA announced late Tuesday afternoon that freshman forward Craig Victor was transferring.

But Miller, speaking before the Victor announcement, said things internally were fine for now.

Its a constant work of progress, and I dont mean that in a negative sense at all toward our group, Miller said. I think if people are honest, thats the way it works today.

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UA basketball: Cats acing chemistry