How does this team find a middle ground? Clark thinks he has the answer.
“I would just watch the last season when I was sitting out and there wasn’t enough of a focus on defense, rebounding, and running,” added Clark. “I feel like that’s what Justin and I are going to add. It felt like we would either have a great win or an awful loss and a big reason for that was slow starts in games. That all comes down to having the right mindset on the defensive end of the floor.”
And that’s where Simon should play a major role.
Svelte at 6-foot-5 with the physical attributes of Jevon Kearse in his prime, the former top-25 recruit spent his redshirt year working on his jump shot and regaining his edge, something that was lost during the 2015-16 season at Arizona when he was behind guys like Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Kadeem Allen, Gabe York and Allonzo Trier in the Wildcats’ rotation.
“My confidence level is completely different now,” Simon said. “Marvin and I are committed to defense and we’re committed to rebounding. There’s no denying that those are our priorities and that’s what we’re going to add.”
YES. Yes, yes, yes, yes.