Intentional Growing

First blog ever! And sorry to say, it won't be pretty...

University of Alabama-Birmingham 71, Arizona 70

Growing pains. Everyone gets them, and no, they are not fun. What I've come to realize in the past 2.5 hours is, growing pains affect teams as well.
I understood that this would be a transitional season, one that would become much like the final episode of a television show before the spin off. Lute Olson out, interim head coach Russ Pennell in, basically gliding through this season until the new era begins.
I get that, I truly do.
What is hard to swallow is last night's mind-boggling loss to Alabama-Birmingham, a mid-major on the rise, but not supposed to be coming out of Tucson with a win.
From the start, the Blazers took it to the Wildcats, nailing 13 three-pointers, and shooting 45 percent on the night.
It's not that the Blazers looked amazing on the court, but what irks me and other Arizona fans is the fact that the Wildcat defense was non-existent for 35 minutes.
Seniors Robert Vanden and Lawrence Kinnard made four three point buckets each, and every one of the baskets came at the most iinopportune moments for the Wildcats.
The Cats, continually living up to their nickname, "cardiac", battled back to bring the score to a 71 point tie with thirty seconds remaining. Freshman Kyle Fogg, in his excitement over scoring the tying bucket made the freshman mistake of not realizing that with a tie game, there is no need to foul.
Needless to say, he fouled, giving the Blazers one of the biggest gifts ever to come out of McKale Center.
The fates must have been rooting for the beleaguered Wildcats however, as Aaron Johnson missed the front end of a one and one, giving Arizona time to set up for the final shot.
Point guard Nic Wise, painfully taking time for the final shot, pulled up for an off-balance fade away jumper and, missed.
With Arizona's tallest man on the court, Jordan Hill too far under the basket to even have a chance at a rebound, Birmingham's Paul Delany took the loose ball with two seconds left, and... was fouled with eight tenths of a second on the clock by Wildcat sophomore Jamelle Horne.
Let me repeat, SOPHOMORE.
I understand that this transitional season will be tough. There is no interim or assistant coach who can take the place of Lute Olson, especially on such short notice.
It is understood that the team will need time to find its true self, and come together to play as one.
And in the big picture of things to come, we shall all look back on this loss and believe that this season was meant to sail as gently as possible through rough waters ahead, until a new captain could be found.
In the mean time, the growing is painful.
-JMB