Gabe York could be an underrated key to Arizona’s title hopes
PORTLAND — All alone in the corner with no defender in 10 feet of him, Gabe York clapped his hands, whistled and did everything but wave pompoms to get point guard T.J. McConnell to notice him.
McConnell spotting him a half second too late isn’t what’s important. York having the confidence to demand the ball is.
On an Arizona team that features an all-conference point guard and four potential NBA prospects in its starting lineup, York is as important to the Wildcats’ national title hopes as any of them. The undersized shooting guard is the best perimeter shooter on a team of explosive slashers and skilled big men, the guy most capable of shooting opposing teams out of the zone defenses Arizona is likely to see from now until its NCAA tournament run is over.
That’s exactly what York did Saturday in second-seeded Arizona’s 73-58 victory over 10th-seeded Ohio State in a round of 32 game in Portland. The 6-foot-3 junior scorched the Buckeyes for 19 points and sank four 3-pointers during a 19-8 second-half run that turned a back-and-forth game into a comfortable victory for the Wildcats.
“I’m definitely excited if teams want to keep playing that zone against us,” York said. “I have the capability of doing this on a day-to-day basis and I have the confidence because of how I’ve played lately. It’s just a matter of if I get those open looks.”
If York is able to follow through on his words and consistently knock down outside shots the next two weeks, that would go a long way toward addressing one of Arizona’s few weaknesses.
Defense is Arizona’s trademark as it showed again Saturday by throwing multiple defenders at D’Angelo Russell and limiting him to a season-worst 3 of 19 shooting night. Rebounding might even be a bigger strength for this Wildcats team as evidenced by their 21 offensive boards against the smaller Buckeyes. But Arizona still occasionally struggles to score and the Wildcats are most susceptible to those cold spells when opposing teams go zone and outside shots aren’t falling.
It happened against Oregon State in Corvallis when Arizona shot 4 of 17 from behind the arc in a 58-56 loss. It happened again in a loss to Arizona State a few weeks later when the Sun Devils mixed zone and man-to-man. Ohio State held Arizona to 10 of 31 shooting in the first half with a zone designed to wall off the paint, but York’s outside shooting helped the Wildcats shred that zone in the second half.
“A huge part of our success in the second half was Gabe knocking down those threes,” teammate Brandon Ashley said. “It made them space their defense out a little bit more and we were able to get the ball into the middle.”
It’s still exciting for York to play this big a role in an NCAA tournament victory because it wasn’t that long ago he wouldn’t have gotten off the bench in a game like this.
York didn’t even play a minute in 20 of Arizona’s games as a freshman including a season-ending loss to this same Ohio State team in the Sweet 16. That was so difficult for the former top 100 recruit from California’s Orange Lutheran High School that York admits he considered transferring to a school where he could play a bigger role after that season.
“My freshman year, I don’t even really like to think about it because I didn’t play at all,” York said. “I didn’t really feel like I was part of the team. I did question whether I was good enough to play here before, but my mom, my brother and God, they got me through it and I pulled through.”
For York, earning playing time was a matter of proving he could do more than just shoot.
He spent long hours the past two summers improving his playmaking ability off the dribble and working to become a more competent defender. Outside shooting still remains his greatest strength, but he is capable enough in other areas that he has earned the trust of the coaching staff and carved out a key role as a sixth man averaging about 25 minutes per game since mid-February.
In his last 10 games, York is an impressive 27 of 49 from behind the arc. He endured a rare scoreless night against Texas Southern in Arizona’s opening round victory, but Sean Miller did not hesitate to play him 30 minutes on Saturday night.
The threat of York’s outside shooting created space for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to catch the ball in the middle of the zone or T.J. McConnell to find driving lanes and attack off the dribble. Once Arizona did that, it was a pick-your-poison dilemma for Ohio State and frequently York benefited from that.
“They didn’t want to leave me and they didn’t want to leave Rondae in the middle,” Arizona guard Stanley Johnson said. “We’d run him to the same side of the floor me and Rondae were on and have three people in a two-person area. You have to choose me or him. They chose not to leave me. He was open and he knocked those shots down.”
Between the streaky Johnson and sweet-shooting reserve guard Elliott Pitts, York isn’t the only player Arizona has who’s capable of knocking down outside shots.
Nonetheless, York is clearly Arizona’s most consistent shooter, the guy most capable of making an opponent pay from the perimeter for zoning the Wildcats.
“Some of the shots I had today, I don’t think I’ve been as wide open all year,” York said. “If I get those shots again, I have to keep knocking them down.”
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
