"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

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.
  

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

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  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…)

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Sixth man on UA’s ‘97 title team

[TABLE=32]

CAREER MILESTONES FORTHCOMING

ANDRE IGUODALA:

• 1,982 assists: 18 from 2,000

• 6,989 points: 11 from 7,000

MIKE BIBBY

• 4,988 field goals: 12 from 5,000

JASON TERRY

• 4,986 field goals: 14 from 5,000

CHANNING FRYE

• 1,500 rebounds: Achieved with eight rebounds at Indiana (1/13/10)

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Highest drafted UA player (No. 2 in 1998)

[TABLE=32]

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

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A potential NCAA tournament bid goes through senior guard

STREAK FACT: When the UA’s streak began on March 15, 1985, the Wildcats had only three previous NCAA tournament appearances: 1977, 1976 and 1951.

By Javier Morales

How unlikely is an Arizona NCAA tournament appearance this season?

About as improbable as two last-second shots by Nic Wise to win consecutive games.

UA coach Sean Miller was fortunate Wise was on the floor to create the buzz that put Arizona in a positive light nationally for once. No other player on the roster could have nailed a three-pointer without squaring up against Lipscomb, or drive three-quarters of the court for a layup past three defenders against North Carolina State.

Aside from his two buzzer beaters, Wise scored 30 points — including 16 of Arizona’s final 19 points — in an overtime thriller over Colorado in Maui. Those three games could have been — should have been? — three losses but Wise saved the day. Arizona is a handful of possessions from being 3-8 right now but Wise was the difference in a three-win swing.

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Ex-Cats look to be healthy and playoff-bound

FEATURED EX-CAT LINKS:
>>Slumping Terry plans to stay aggressive (ESPN.com)
>>It took a few years but Channing Frye is back (Dime magazine)
>>NBA & ABA players who attended the University of Arizona (Basketball-Reference.com)

At Christmas time, almost three months into the season, Arizona’s NBA contingent should have asked Santa for these gifts of hope: Gilbert Arenas: A continuation of recent play for the Wizards — two straight wins — and continuing the Agent Zero theme instead of the failed quiet Gilbert experiment. Andre Iguodala: Some patience. It will be another long season for the Sixers. Jason Terry: As the link above suggests, Terry wants his shooting touch back. Terry’s shooting percentages (.428 on field goals and .338 on 3-point shots) are by far the worst of his six-season stint in Dallas. He’s averaging 16.4 points per game, a drop of more than three points from last season, when he earned the league’s Sixth Man of the Year honor.

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His behavior and friendship with Tarkanian questioned

By Javier Morales

Perhaps Bobby Knight should phone his good buddy Jerry Tarkanian today and call off his friendship with the former embattled UNLV coach, who built the Running Rebels program and tore it down just the same with recruiting violations.

Or Knight should call and apologize to all those former Indiana players whom he personally belittled during practices, questioning their manhood (to put it mildly), as is well documented in the book “A Season on the Brink”.

Knight criticized Kentucky coach John Calipari for affecting the integrity of the game because two of the programs Calipari has coached — Massachusetts and Memphis — have fallen under the NCAA microscope and received sanctions for violations.

This statement alone at a fund-raiser for the Indiana Hall of Fame shows how much Knight is still full of himself. Why did he find a need to take a shot at Calipari at such an event? I can understand maybe a forum on NCAA Coaching Today, but an event for the Indiana Hall of Fame? He should have taken the opportunity to talk about his integrity, since he is a legend in that state. Perhaps he did not have enough material so he went after Calipari.

Don’t get me wrong, the violations Calipari allowed to happen on his watch at UMass and Memphis are troubling.

(more…)

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If in Dallas, visit the Hard Rock Cafe for a taste

Jason Terry’s popularity is so wide-ranging in Dallas, that it has extended to Mavericks fans ordering the Jason Terry Legendary Burger at the Hard Rock Cafe there.

Terry and Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas have created a signature burger cooked the way he likes it: 100 percent Angus beef, lettuce, tomato, three cheeses, pineapple, mayo and barbecue sauce.

“You gotta have barbecue sauce. You see, everybody uses ketchup and mustard, but the mayo and the barbecue sauce gives it a nice sweet taste,” Terry is quoted as saying by the Dallas NBC-TV affiliate.

The Jason Terry Legendary burger is available now through the end of the Mavs’ regular season at the Hard Rock’s Dallas location. This is the first time the Hard Rock has ever named a menu item after an athlete. Tucson does not have a Hard Rock Cafe but an establishment would be Wise to get with Terry to offer his signature burger to his fans in the city.

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