"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Believes hard work will improve NBA draft status

By Anthony Gimino and Javier Morales

Since Lute Olson arrived in Tucson, the longest gap for Arizona to go without a first-round selection in the NBA draft is five years, from Olson’s start in the 1983-84 season until 1988-89. That’s when Sean Elliott and Anthony Cook were selected in the first round, the first Wildcats to be picked that high since Larry Demic was the ninth overall selection in the 1979 draft. With Derrick Williams gaining more notoriety nationally as a potential NBA talent, Sean Miller and Arizona are a safe bet to avoid that five-year drought (Jordan Hill was the ninth overall pick last year). The question is whether Williams will try to be a first-rounder next year or the year after following his junior season.

Williams, the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, has NBA on his mind, especially after Thursday’s draft. “I’m done talking about people in this draft,” Williams’ Facebook status reads. “Just gunna sit back and relax. … 365 days and I could be there … But only hard work will determine that. Let’s get it in.” Williams, who is in Chicago this weekend participating in the NIKE Amar’e Stoudemire Skills Academy for power forwards and centers, must have been itching for a chance to prove himself as being NBA worthy after watching fellow freshmen like John Wall, Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins get selected among the first five picks in the NBA draft. Williams joined those guys and Kansas forward Xavier Henry, also selected in the first round Thursday, on the Sporting News College Basketball All-Freshmen Team. Before last season, Williams talked about extending his game to the perimeter as a wing player, but he was forced to play mostly as a post player because of a lack of talent and experience at that position. The fact that he is participating in the Stoudemire power forward and center camp shows that Miller and his staff want him to further develop his skills around the basket rather than work mostly on his perimeter ball-handing and shooting skills. That could partly be a result of Arizona failing to land power-forward recruits Kadeem Jack or Eloy Vargas. …

(more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Ex-UA forward plays three straight seasons without injury

Former UA player Andre Iguodala had his better games this season against LeBron James

By Javier Morales

EDITOR NOTE: Just a quick note before I get into Arizona’s NBA contingent. I communicated with Miami-Dade Junior College power forward Eloy Vargas tonight and he indicated to me that he does not talk about his recruiting process. Vargas is one of two likely remaining Class of 2010 recruiting targets for Arizona (Manhattan, N.Y., Rice power forward Kadeem Jack is the other). Vargas was respectful when he communicated to me and I was understanding because of the amount of schools interested in signing him. More to come on this.

One of the more interesting developments of the recently-completed NBA regular season is that former UA forward Andre Iguodala completed his third consecutive season without missing game — a 246-game stretch.

He was the only one among the 10 former UA players in the league to play all 82 regular season games. San Antonio’s Richard Jefferson and Phoenix’s Channing Frye each missed only one game and Atlanta veteran Mike Bibby was out for only two games this season.

Some other newsworthy items and links concerning the ex-Cats in the NBA:

• Iguodala did not back down to Cleveland’s LeBron James this season. He averaged 22.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games against James and the Cavs this year. His only higher total was 24.5 points averaged in two games against Oklahoma City.
• Despite playing six games less and averaging 10 minutes less a game than Frye, former UA guard Jerryd Bayless almost doubled Frye’s free-throw total. Bayless, in his second season with the Blazers, shot 242 free throws, making 201. Frye attempted only 121 and made 98. That shows Bayless was much more aggressive to the basket and Frye relied more on his newfound perimeter stoke.
• That’s not to say that Frye did not mix it up on occasion. He posted a career high in rebounds with 427, averaging 5.3 a game.
• Iguodala comments on the firing of his coach at the end of the season
• Jason Terry and the Mavericks will face Jefferson and the Spurs in the first round of the NBA playoffs
• The Spurs’ general manager is more of a supporter for Jefferson than the San Antonio fans
• Arizona Daily Star reporter Bruce Pascoe offers an informative update on Chase Budinger
• Thanks partly to Frye, the Suns are closing in on the franchise record for three-point accuracy

FORMER UA PLAYERS IN THE NBA (Thru 4/14/2010)

* -- Rookie season. Bold -- Career highs

Your Ad Here

FOLLOW US BY CLICKING ON THE LOGOS: Please help this site keep going:

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

FORMER UA PLAYERS IN THE NBA (Thru 4/14/2010)

* -- Rookie season. Bold -- Career highs

By Javier Morales

Thirteen years after leading Arizona to its first NCAA title, NBA veteran guards Mike Bibby and Jason Terry are still enjoying success on the court. Their respective teams — Atlanta and Dallas — are currently the No. 3 team in each conference with one week remaining.

Former UA guard Mustafa Shakur will not be in the NBA playoffs with Oklahoma City (which has signed him for the remainder of the season) but he is an important player for Tulsa in the NBA’s D-League playoffs.

Other former Wildcats assured to be in the NBA postseason include the ailing Luke Walton (out most of the season with a back injury) of the Los Angeles Lakers, Channing Frye with the Suns, Richard Jefferson of the Spurs and Jerryd Bayless of the Blazers.

Rookies Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill will be at home watching the playoffs despite Houston’s 39-38 record.

Also not in the postseason are the two best scorers Arizona has produced who are currently in the NBA — Gilbert Arenas of the Wizards and Andre Iguodala of the Sixers.

Arenas was sentenced last month to 30 days in a halfway house for bringing guns into the Wizards locker room. He avoided extended jail time. However, the three-time NBA All-Star will first serve two days of his sentence at the Montgomery County (Md.) Pre-Release Center, which means he will be behind bars at that time.

Don’t expect Arenas to be Tweeting while in the halfway house. According to a Washington Post report, residents can have visitors, and they are given access to a computer room to hunt for jobs. But Internet surfing, Facebooking and Tweeting are forbidden.

Also according to the Post, residents cannot have cellphones, laptops, video games or portable DVD players in their rooms. They can bring their own TV, no bigger than 13 inches, but they can’t have cable.

Read about career milestones reached by some ex-UA players on the jump

(more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Budinger and Frye pleasant surprises, others not faring well

ALL-STAR LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Chase Budinger rates as the 15th best rookie according to David Thorpe of Scouts, Inc. Jordan Hill ranks 39th.
• Former UA recruit Brandon Jennings talks about his surprising success in his rookie season with the Bucks
• ESPN reporter writes that former UA players Richard Jefferson and Mike Bibby are two of the biggest disappointments of the NBA season
• San Francisco Chronicle: For repentant athletes, Gilbert Arenas sets fine example
• Andre Iguodala “posterizes” LeBron James? Yes, he does in this video.
  

  ---

  Jason Terry: Jim Rome correspondent at Dallas’ All-Star festivities

  ---

  By Javier Morales

  One of the best recruiting pitches going for new UA coach Sean Miller these days are the 10 former Wildcats in the NBA. His message to recruits of the Classes of 2010, 2011 and even 2012: You can get there from here.

  If, for example, the Sixers’ Andre Iguodala makes ESPN’s Top 10 plays of the day — which is the norm more than the exception — chances are Miller or his assistants tell a recruit, “Check out ESPN’s top 10 plays. Did you see what Iguodala did? You know he played at Arizona right?”

  Iguodala, Phoenix free-agent acquisition Channing Frye, Houston rookie forward Chase Budinger and Dallas veteran Jason Terry have played well enough at the All-Star break to be shining examples for the Arizona program. While the season has seen some extraordinary individual performances — including Terry’s 36 points against Golden State on Monday — some of the ex-Wildcats are hoping for a reversal of fortunes.

  (more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Highest drafted UA player (No. 2 in 1998)

FORMER UA PLAYERS IN THE NBA (Thru 4/14/2010)

* -- Rookie season. Bold -- Career highs

CAREER MILESTONES FORTHCOMING

ANDRE IGUODALA:

• 1,974 assists: 26 from 2,000

• 6,985 points: 15 from 7,000

MIKE BIBBY

• 4,988 field goals: 12 from 5,000

JASON TERRY

• 4,984 field goals: 16 from 5,000

CHANNING FRYE

• 1,492 rebounds: 8 from 1,500

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Arizona team MVP in 2003-04

FORMER UA PLAYERS IN THE NBA (Thru 4/14/2010)

* -- Rookie season. Bold -- Career highs

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites