"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Who will lessen the demands on the UA’s lone senior?

By Javier Morales

Nic Wise will be asked to do a lot this year. The other Cats should ask themselves what they can do for him.

Before anybody starts anointing Nic Wise the Wooden Award winner or the Pac-10 Player of the Year, don’t forget about what the opposition is thinking: Hmmm. Wise is the only senior on a team that will have nine freshmen and sophomores. And he’s the point guard. If we neutralize him. What are they gonna do? No question: Arizona will see gimmick defenses this season that will be designed to prevent Wise from doing his thing. The same happened two years ago when Jerryd Bayless was the focal point of defenses. Of course, Bayless averaged 19.7 points a game and was a second-team All-American as determined by Sports Illustrated. But the frustration some times got the better of Bayless. Wise is a senior and Bayless was a freshman so Wise’s experience helps. However, Wise has more responsibility and expectations place on him unlike any other point guard we witnessed in the Lute Olson era. Not once in Olson’s 25 years did a senior point guard start without another member in the same class.

These are the senior point guards under Olson and the fellow seniors who started with them:

• Mustafa Shakur in 2006-07 (Ivan Radenovich)
• Jason Gardner in 2002-03 (Luke Walton and Rick Anderson)
• Jason Terry in 1998-99 (A.J. Bramlett)
• Reggie Geary in 1995-96 (Ben Davis, Joseph Blair, Corey Williams and Joe McLean)
• Damon Stoudamire in 1994-95 (Ray Owes)
• Matt Othick in 1991-92 (Sean Rooks)
• Kenny Lofton in 1988-89 (Sean Elliott and Anthony Cook)
• Steve Kerr in 1987-88 (Tom Tolbert)
• Brock Brunkhorst in 1984-85 (Pete Williams and Eddie Smith)

That’s nine point guards and not one had to endure a season with all the players younger than him. “(Wise) has to prove, and all of us do around him, that he can be a really great leader of this team because he has his hands full when you consider how many things have been thrown at him,” Miller said Wednesday at the annual media day at McKale Center. Wise said in a UA statement –he could not attend Wednesday’s
proceedings because of academic obligations — that playing without Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill (both of whom would have been seniors if they did not leave to the NBA): “It’s going to be a big task to be the one guy and the senior that everyone looks up to. You want to be the big man. I just got to live up to the role.” …

This ultimately means junior forward Jamelle Horne must continue his impressive development and become more of a leader, which UA coach Sean Miller addressed during Wednesday’s media day. Horne must relieve some of the pressure that will be placed on Wise. The same goes for UA freshman guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones, who figures to spell Wise at point guard along with untested sophomore Garland Judkins. “I think it’s going to be a process, honestly,” Horne said about his leadership role. “Last year, I was a vocal guy on the team as well in the locker room and on the court in practice. This year is definitely going to be on a new level with a ton of young guys. I’m going to be excited about having a ton of responsibility on my shoulders this year.” … Jones, a freshman with the psyche of a senior with his New York City, prep school and traveling-team background, wants to make Wise a better player, and enhance his NBA capabilities, by holding up his end in the backcourt. “It’s great for him to have help,” Jones said. “He doesn’t have to play 40 minutes a game. He doesn’t have to score 20 points a game. He doesn’t have to guard the smallest guards all the time. … He has somebody who can play in the backcourt with him and help him do those things. That’s just going to make his senior year even better and that’s going to make him a better player and a better pro prospect. NBA scouts will see whatever they didn’t see last year that made him come back. They will see that Nic should have been in the league this year. He’s just that tough and he’s just that good.” …

Jones is as much of a vocal leader as he is with this skills on his court. He is not one to hesitate to tell a teammate to pick it up on defense or to not be selfish on the offensive end. Miller and the UA coaching staff have allowed Jones to speak his mind in the workouts with some limitations. “They give everybody the opportunity to speak and to be basically a leader,” Jones said. “If you have that type of personality, if your personality is that of a leader, and you do it in a positive way, Coach Miller will allow that.” … Add Horne: One of the more eyebrow-raising statements Miller made Wednesday concerns Horne’s development. Miller admitted that he has not watched much film from last year because he will install a new system. He said many times that he has given the team “a fresh canvas to allow our staff and myself to get to know them from our vantage point.” Miller added, “Players improve. Freshmen who become sophomores, the light goes on. … So many times with what happened last year, whether it be good or bad, players improve. I think we have had quite a few who have worked very hard in the offseason and the preseason to put themselves in a good light, and Jamelle Horne is one of those players.” At the end of last season, Horne was coming on strong and becoming more of an asset. Natural progression means he can be one of the better players in the Pac-10 this season. All-Pac-10 anyone? … Hill is getting a difficult welcome to the NBA going against veteran Al Harrington in practice. The New York media made a big deal about Harrington scoring at will over Hill during practice Thursday. Newsday reporter Alan Hahn writes, “It was a typical scene on an NBA practice court. A rookie taking on a veteran. Come-of-age or comeuppance. Al Harrington made sure the latter held true with a barrage of jumpers over Jordan Hill after Thursday’s practice.” Unfortunately for Harrington, Hill increasingly became fierce on defense and the two banged knees, resulting in Harrington missing Friday’s preseason game. …

Jason Terry is garnering impressive support from Wildcat fans at WILDABOUTAZCATS.com and elsewhere to have his jersey No. 31 retired at Arizona. As recently as Saturday morning, 92 percent of the vote (207 respondents) favored Terry. How many NBA players would lobby to be Sixth Man of the Year in the NBA? Jason Terry told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News his goal this season is repeat as the NBA’s sixth man of the year. Sefko writes that Terry might actually be the Mavericks’ seventh man. “The 6-2 guard is making sure Dallas coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t forget about him now that improved depth surrounds Terry and the starting five,” Sefko writes. Terry told Sefko: “No doubt, I’m going to be looking at coach, making sure he pulls me off of there first, so I can keep my status.” … The voting for the UA’s most popular player is impressive, with more than 450 people responding to our poll, and the overwhelming leader is Sean Elliott, who has pulled in nearly 30 percent of the vote. To be exact, the latest look at the poll shows 451 respondents and Elliott has 131 votes (29 percent). Steve Kerr is next with 70 votes (16 percent), followed by Tedy Bruschi with 49 votes (11 percent). Surprisingly, the others receiving votes category includes plenty of selections. Terry has 11 votes in that category and Richard Jefferson and Jason Gardner each have seven. The highest vote-getter among female athletes is clearly former softball ace pitcher Jennie Finch with 34 votes (8 percent). … Midnight Madness was showcased on ESPN on Friday night. Did anybody else think Kentucky’s introduction of John Calipari was over the top? Spotlight in a darkened arena. Confetti everywhere. We will take Miller’s low-key style in such an event over Calipari’s approach any day, especially considering the young team Miller has toHigh-profile recruit Adreian Payne of Dayton (Ohio) Jefferson attended West Virginia’s Midnight Madness and one report indicated that Payne has narrowed his choices to West Virginia and Kentucky. Payne visited the UA campus last weekend. The report by Bob Hertzel of the Times West Virginian does not cite any sources.

Don’t be surprised if Bobby April, the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, becomes the first former UA assistant coach to be a head coach of an NFL team before the end of the season. The Bills’ Dick Jauron is on the hot seat and rumblings on ESPN’s NFL shows this week indiicated Jauron will probably not last the season and April would take over on an interim basis. April’s longest tenure as a coach was the seven years he was on Larry Smith’s staff at Arizona from 1980-86. During that time, Arizona became known for its special teams, particularly blocking kicks and the emergence of place-kicker Max Zendejas and punter Ruben Rodriguez to elite status. … FYI, a former UA head coach has never become and NFL coach as well. ASU has featured two: Frank Kush with the Colts and Daryl Rogers with the Detroit Lions. Both were busts at that level. …

Friday Night Lights. Las Vegas Valley High School prospect Garic Wharton, who has committed to Arizona, continues to amaze in the return department. Wharton took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in Valley’s 12-6 victory over Rancho on Friday night. It was his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season. Wharton, featured as an option quarterback, also gained 147 yards on 27 carries. He completed only 2 of 8 passes for 33 yards and an interception, but he will not play quarterback at the Division I level. You can read a Q & A that I recently had with him at TucsonCitizen.com. Wharton has rushed for 631 yards on 115 carries (an average of 5.5 yards) with five touchdowns, although he figures to be more of a receiver in college. … Another impressive outing for a UA football recruit Friday night: Jerry “J.J.” Whittaker scored four touchdowns in a 49-3 victory for Oceanside (Calif.) over Westview. Whittaker, a receiver-defensive back, had three touchdown receptions of 15, 11 and 46 yards and he ran for a 10-yard score. Whittaker has 23 receptions for 355 yards this season for his unbeaten team (which is 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in its class in California). … Another UA recruit, quarterback Matt Brown of Allen (Texas) played a significant role in his team’s 51-7 victory over Plano on Friday night. Allen scored on its first eight possessions and Brown was part of four of them. He ran for a 5-yard score and he passed for the three others. Brown, who completed his first six throws, connected on a 31-yard toss to junior Jonathan Lee to make it 14-0 and then hit senior Alex Pastor for back-to-back touchdowns of 30 and 8 yards, respectively, to make it 28-0.

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Tags: Garic Wharton, J.J Whittaker, Jamelle Horne, Jordan Hill, Lamont "MoMo" Jones, Matt Brown, Nic Wise, Sean Miller

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