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16 days and counting to Miller Time (Nov. 15 vs. NAU)

Olson averaged a Sweet 16 trip once every other year

DAY16

By Javier Morales

All you need to know about the UA basketball program with only 16 days remaining until the season-opening tip-off between the Wildcats and NAU at McKale Center:

    MikeBibbyMike Bibby grabbed 16 rebounds in the two 1997 Final Four games
  • Former UA coach Lute Olson took 11 Arizona teams to the Sweet 16 during his career. That’s roughly an average of a Sweet 16 appearance every other year while he coached the UA.
  • Wisconsin, the UA’s opening opponent in the Maui Invitational in a few weeks, was 3-16 against Olson-coached teams.
  • Jason Gardner was not shy from the three-point line in the UA’s 2001 game against Kansas. Gardner attempted a school-record 16 three-point attempts and he made eight in the game.
  • Not trying to be depressing, but the UA’s longest losing streak in school history is 16 games — and Ben Lindsey had nothing to do with it. The bad stretch occurred during the 1958-59 season.
  • Jerryd Bayless made all of his school-record 16 free throw attempts against Stanford on Feb. 16, 2008.
  • Mike Bibby scored 39 points in the UA’s Final Four victories of 1997 but most impressive were his 16 rebounds against North Carolina and Kentucky.The rebound totals show how dangerous of a player Bibby was at Arizona. Grabbing the defensive board generally led to fast break situations. He had eight assists in the games.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 12:10 AM and is filed under UA basketball countdown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “16 days and counting to Miller Time (Nov. 15 vs. NAU)”

  1. Oldwest2 Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 7:19 AM

    The run to the 1997 championship was a total team effort for sure, but make no mistake about it Mike Bibby was the glue to that team.

    39 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, the most telling number i think is 16 rebounds, from your guard no less, this leads to fast break points for sure.

    Bibby had a calmness about him during his playing days here, it appeared he was in control of the game, his team and his play, all elements needed by your floor leader.

  2. H M-R Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 8:28 AM

    Interesting quote from Kevin O’Neill to an LA journalist.

    Heaven knows I’m no fan of KO and what went down during his interim year with the Cats. That said, this quote demonstrates a little class on his part.

    http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/archives/2009/10/happy-ending.html

  3. Anthony G. Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 10:01 AM

    KO said that in the main group interview (actually to a question from Bruce Pascoe). KO has always taken the high road on the record. Maybe not so much off the record. But you have to think this guy knows a few secrets that he hasn’t spilled — for his sake and for the UA’s sake.

  4. H M-R Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 10:50 AM

    AG – Concur with your thinking as to what he might otherwise be saying.

    I recall before his interim season and a day before Lute took his leave-of-absence we were having the annual UA basketball dinner in Sierra Vista where Lute was to be the guest-of-honor. Lute didn’t make it and KO was his stand in. As KO delivered his remarks (from the asst head coach perspective) my thoughts were that we were lucky to have him. I thought his comments about emphasizing defense and his personal experiences in the NBA would be very beneficial.

    Then overnight (quite literally) things changed. As the season wore on and I could reflect on his dinner comments in light of the demonstrated coaching performance it was easy to see how the two points he emphasized to the Sierra Vista supporters were dragging down the team’s results.

    College hoops is not the NBA. If he continues to hold to the principles he refused to compromise while the interim head coach at UA he will fail miserably at USC. I do not wish him ill, but he must be more flexible or the result is inevitable.

  5. Anthony G. Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 10:57 AM

    H-M-R,

    Not to say KO handled everything perfectly, but I’m willing to believe that circumstances that season dictated that we didn’t see the best of anybody — from Lute, KO, the players, the administration, etc. Nobody knew if they were coaching or playing for the short term or the long term. That’s a baaaad way to be.

    I still believe KO would have been a perfect assistant coach next to a strong Lute. Even Lute, after he came back and they had a falling out, told me he thought it would have worked.

    Problem is, a little KO is a lot and the team got way too much of KO that season. As KO was fond of saying, it is what it is.