Arizona coach Sean Miller is pragmatic – and forthright enough – to know 4-2 sometimes isn’t 4-2. For the Wildcats, 4-2 comes with an asterisk.

But it’s still November, and there’s a “high ceiling’’ for the Wildcats. But he’s already called this season and what’s ahead “a great challenge,’’ because there have been some obstacles and few answers, in part because it’s just a month into the season.

The questions are plentiful as Miller looks to mix it up with a new starting lineup and what could be a fresh start.

• When will junior forward Kevin Parrom return to form after being shot in the knee and hand just a couple months ago in a trip to his native New York? No question, Parrom’s progress will be a gradual thing. “He’s a mirror image of himself,” Miller said. “If Kevin isn’t injured, he’s one of our top three or four players.”

• Will junior Kyryl Natyazhko turn into a player who can provide more consistent numbers than he has? So far, he “hasn’t gotten the job done,” Miller said.

Read the rest of this story at FoxSportsArizona.com…

Sean Miller hopes to see better things from his team this week. Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Let me say this: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller is as straight-forward as they come. He tells it like it is or how it should be.

Not once has he misled anyone about how good his team is or isn’t. Improvement is all he’s looking for. He hasn’t gotten it lately. He’ll tell you that. And on Wednesday, he spoke of his disappointment of Saturday’s humbling loss game against Brigham Young University.

Readiness and confidence just wasn’t there. The question is: will it continue?

Miller hopes not. He’ll see if it does against Northern Arizona in Thursday night’s game in the Annual Fiesta Bowl Classic. He does wish one thing, that there was more practicing on fundamentals than playing the games. His team needs it, despite its 8-2 record.

Of course, the 8-2 is fool’s gold (as he’d say). Arizona is not really that good, although it looks like it is with its lofty record. Realistically, who has Arizona beaten? Not anyone, really. It’s beaten the teams it was supposed to and has lost to the teams it should have lost to. So we move on.

Thursday should be a win against NAU; Sunday should be a loss at North Carolina State. It is what it is.

“The way to respond, especially in the month of December, is to get back to work and practice really hard,’’ Miller said. “It’s about being more prepared and more ready.’’

He feels that it will happen. But again, he hasn’t blown smoke to say this is a top x,y,z team. He knows better, in part because he’s seen what they look like. He’s played on those teams; he’s coached those teams.

He does say his team is better and deeper. “But we’re still a work in progress,’’ he said. “We’re missing pieces. We shot six air balls against BYU. We can go a season and not shoot six. The stage frightened us. The stage was too big and the lights too bright. Our fight wasn’t there. ‘’

But will it come back?

“The danger is putting our season on one performance,’’ Miller said. “It’s difficult for any team to be on every night. And we weren’t. But I hope we can learn and bounce back. But it steals your confidence when you don’t see guys catching the ball, shooting air balls and not being ready.’’

He hopes – eventually – his team will be ready for the grand stage. Someday. Soon.

Will it come? The Pac-10 is as big as it’ll get and that soon approaches too. So, we will see.

Sean Miller shows his disappointment over his team's play in the second half against Cal State Fullerton. Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

You know deep down Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller wanted to say, “we were horrible’’ against Cal-State Fullerton.

He didn’t. He’s too smart for that. But, if you read closely what he had to say, he actually did. Well, sort of.

He might as well have said it. His Wildcats did in Arizona’s 73-62 win over visiting Cal State Fullerton. Arizona went in a 26-point favorite and left McKale thinking they’ve got to improve in the coming days before it faces Jimmer Fredette and the Brigham Young Cougars on Saturday afternoon.

Miller was and has been brutally honest about his team this season and he didn’t hold back on Wednesday night.

“We were fat and happy,’’ said Miller, whose team is now 8-1.

“We didn’t play together and we didn’t compete on every possession. We weren’t responsible on offense. Some of the shots that went up and what we ran (were not right). We were not executing what we do.

“We came into the game with that demeanor of we’re going to win by 20-some points. We’re not good enough to have that mentality. We have to do it with togetherness and effort and if either one of those isn’t a part of what we do, we will lose to anyone on our schedule.’’

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