Each week the Pac-12 microsite will run down our weekly superlatives, which typically will include a Team, Player and Newcomer of the Week, along with our weekly Power Rankings.
Team of the Week: California
Sam Singer’s Three In The Closing Seconds In Seattle Gave The Golden Bears a Road Sweep (Cal Athletics)
Hey, we said it last week when Arizona earned a road sweep — win a pair of games away from home and that team will be our team of the week. When you’re the Golden Bears and those wins break a six-game losing streak — the latter of which coming in a 90-88 barnburner won when a reserve sophomore guard hit an ill-advised last-second step-back three — you’re a lock for the award. And what’s more, with a home stand against the Los Angeles schools (which have combined to go 1-8 on the Pac-12 road, with that one win UCLA at USC) coming up, the Golden Bears have a chance to get something started. Don’t be surprised to look up when the calendar flips to March and see California, once left for dead in conference play, sitting squarely in the middle of the Pac.
Player of the Week: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sophomore, Arizona
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s Defensive Dominance Was A Key To Arizona’s Sweep of the Oregon Schools (Mike Christy, Arizona Daily Star)
I’m not going to go back and do the research, but I would guess that in the five-ish years I’ve been handing out these awards on a weekly basis, I’ve never given POTW to a guy who averaged 11 points, 5.5 boards and a single assist per game. But, you see, Jefferson didn’t win this week’s award because of what he did when the Wildcats had the ball; he won it because of what he did on the other end of the court. Against the Oregon schools, he was tasked with guarding their best players, Joseph Young and Gary Payton II. For what it’s worth, Young is a 6’2” guard who shoots about half of his field goal attempts from three, while Payton is a 6’3” do-everything guard. Jefferson? He’s a burly 6’7” forward who looks like he could start at defensive end for Rich Rodriguez. But rather than be overwhelmed by the quickness and perimeter focus of the guys he was tasked with checking, he took them both completely out of their games. In a blowout win over Oregon, he held Young to just 12 points on nine field goal attempts and did an excellent job keeping limiting him as an offensive factor. Against Oregon State, Payton made only three of his 13 shots and turned it over five times to boot. In a week where Washington’s Robert Upshaw necessarily dropped out of the race, Jefferson proved his credentials as the top Pac-12 candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.
(Also receiving votes: Askia Booker, Colorado)
Newcomer of the Week: Katin Reinhardt, Sophomore, USC
It’s been a rough first season back in the Southland for Reinhardt. After an up-and-down freshman campaign at UNLV where he was a lightning rod for all sorts of criticism, there was hope that a return home would provide a fresh start. But with 12 losses in the team’s first 21 games and the sophomore struggling to shoot the ball early in the year, those same complaints sprang up early and often. Last Thursday night against Colorado, however, we were reminded of why the transfer can become a big-time player, as he hit 9-of-18 three-point attempts on the way to a 35-point explosion to keep the Trojans fighting the Buffaloes down to the wire. Consistency is still an issue (he followed up that Thursday explosion with just six points against the much stingier Utah defense on Sunday), but with Jordan McLaughlin drawing defenses with his penetration, Reinhardt is going to have plenty of opportunities to knock in clean looks.
(Also receiving votes: Kevon Looney, UCLA)
Game of the Year Candidate
In a week where there were four Pac-12 games decided by a single possession, four overtimes (split between a pair of games) and three games in which a team scored at least 88 points and lost, there were no shortage of candidates for Game of the Year this week. But while Sam Singer’s game-winner for Cal over the Huskies was fun and DaVonte Lacy’s battle with Chasson Randle’s was spellbinding, the game that we’re likely to remember at the end of the year is Colorado’s three-overtime win at USC. Sure, this was not a game between two great teams looking to pad their resumes and the execution was sloppy at times. But three overtimes speaks for itself. And Askia Booker going for 41 points (including 19 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line in the overtimes), outdueling Reinhardt’s 35 and Nikola Jovanovic’s 30, was special.
Power Rankings
It’s now been three straight weeks that we’ve had Arizona, Utah and Stanford in the same three spots atop our power rankings. Also as always, the middle of our poll is a mess. UCLA moves up to #4 this week and Arizona State moves up to #7. What do those two teams have in common? They’re both coming off a home stand. They’ll both need to find a way to win on the road next week to maintain their new lofty ratings.