Arizona Basketball: Has Arizona's Sean Miller Started Better Than Lute Olson?

Sean Miller knew that he had big shoes to fill when he took the men's basketball head coaching job at Arizona in the spring of 2009.

He was fully aware that his performance would be judged by one standard: How does he compare to U of A legend, Lute Olson?

Instead of being intimidated by Olson's success, Miller has embraced him and the program's tradition of excellence. Instead of burning bridges, Miller works hard to demonstrate unassuming respect for the much-loved creator and builder of Arizona basketball.

ESPN's Dana O'Neil quoted Miller as saying:

"

What I understand is that Coach Olson gave 25 years of his life to this program. He built this and he's always welcome here. I want him to be viewed as the father of this program. I'm just the current caretaker.

"

Miller's humility and hard work have quickly put Arizona back among college hoops' elite.

How does Miller's first five years (2009-2014) at the Wildcats' helm compare with Olson's initial half-decade (1983-1988)?

To evaluate how Miller matches up so far with Olson, we will look at how well both did in their first five seasons at Arizona in three key areas: conference play, overall record and postseason performance.

Conference Play

Olson and Miller both had challenging first years in Pac-10 play.

Olson's 1983-84 squad went 8-10 (eighth place) in the league race. Miller's initial team (2009-2010) was slightly better, going 10-8 (fourth place) in the conference season.

Both coaches progressed nicely after their opening campaigns. 

Olson led the Cats to two first-place conference finishes (1986, 1988) in his first five years while posting an overall conference mark of 64-26 (71.1 winning percentage). The best of Olson's first five teams was the 1987-88 Wildcats, who posted a 17-1 conference mark, with their only loss coming on the road against Stanford.

Miller's men also secured two conference titles (2011, 2014) while winning one less league game (63-27; 70.0 winning percentage) during the same time period.

Miller's best team so far at Arizona was last year's crew (2013-14) that went 15-3 in Pac-12 play. All three losses occurred after Brandon Ashley went down with a broken bone in his foot in a road game against Cal on Feb. 1.

You cannot get much closer than these two were for their first five conference seasons.

Overall Record

Very few coaches have significant success in their first year in a new program.

Olson and Miller were no exceptions.

Fresh off of taking the Iowa Hawkeyes to the 1982 NCAA Sweet 16, Olson's first Arizona squad struggled.

The Wildcats started the season losing 11 of their first 13 games. They regrouped to win nine of their last 15 games for a first-year record of 11-17.

Even with winning just 11 games, Olson had started to set the program back on track. The year before he showed up, the Cats posted a 4-24 record under Ben Lindsey.

Miller, like Olson, also left behind an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance (2009 at Xavier) to come to the Old Pueblo.

While Miller's opening games as the U of A's coach were not as bleak as Olson's, he still had a challenging first showing. The Wildcats never really clicked, going 16-15, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since Olson's first season.

But, it did not take either Olson or Miller long to get their respective ships righted.

Olson's next four teams went a combined 97-34 (74.0 winning percentage), for a five-year mark of 108-51 (67.9).

Miller's next four teams put up an impressive 113-33 record (77.4 winning percentage), for a five-year run of 129-48 (72.9).

With the help of two 30-win seasons, Miller has an ample edge on Olson in total wins (21) and winning percentage (5.0+) in their first five years. 

Postseason Performance

The most important gauge of a college basketball coach's success is how well they do during March Madness.

Piling up regular-season wins without making deep runs in the NCAA tournament creates questioning and criticism.

Both Olson and Miller achieved good postseason success in their first years at U of A.

Arizona was not a program that made regular appearances in the Big Dance before Olson arrived in 1983. In fact, it had only been invited three times in school history (1951, 1976, 1977).

After not being selected for the tournament in his first season, Olson led the Wildcats to appearances in each of his next four seasons. Actually, this initial run was just the beginning of a string of 23 consecutive years of taking U of A to March Madness.

In his first three NCAA tournament appearances at Arizona, Olson's teams were eliminated in the first round. In his fifth season at U of A, Olson's 1987-88 Wildcats made it to the Final Four. This was the first of his four Arizona trips to the national semifinals.

Miller has taken U of A to the NCAA tournament in three of five years, with one additional trip to the 2012 NIT.

In Miller's first three March Madness appearances at Arizona, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight twice (2011, 2014) and the Sweet 16 once (2013).

Even though Olson broke through the Final Four barrier in his fifth season, Miller's initial body of postseason work at Arizona is more impressive. Multiple trips to the "second weekend" require a high level of skill and great degree of consistency.

Olson's total postseason resume is hard to beat. But Miller's early accomplishments put him slightly ahead of the Hall of Famer.

Conclusion

As the 2014-15 Cats have opened with two impressive wins, Miller has crossed the career 250-win mark and looks to add to his notable coaching profile.

He has started his time in Tucson by outdistancing the legendary coach that put Arizona basketball on the map.

For some diehard Olson devotees, this might be a hard pill to swallow.

Now, over the next several years, Miller has the larger task of trying to surpass Olson's career successes in victories, conference titles and NCAA tournament exploits.

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