"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Miller took on task unlike any other first-year coach

By Javier Morales Mind-boggling: If Arizona did not have the weight of a 25-year NCAA tournament streak, this year could actually be a feel-good story for the Wildcat basketball program under first-year coach Sean Miller. UA senior guard Nic Wise is required to do more than before in his career in yet another transition year Everybody loves the idea of starting from the ground up. Not as many are captivated by a struggling program trying to dust itself off. Miller has never used the word rebuilding to describe his job this season. Instead, he noted that his work includes “a fresh canvas” for a new creation of Arizona basketball. “What happened in the past is in the past,” he said. If only it was that easy. The past took on the form of senior guard Nic Wise and junior forward Jamelle Horne — a couple of Lute Olson recruits who figured to play more prominent roles than previously in their careers. The past took on the form of sellouts at McKale Center, continuing where Olson left off as the most attended arena in the Pac-10. The past also took the shape of Olson sitting about 15 rows up from the court that bears his name and that of his late wife Bobbi Olson. Miller used the word entitlement a couple of weeks ago to describe the mindset of some of the Wildcats. That word does not pop up during rebuilding years. Oddly enough, had Wise decided to play professionally in Italy this year, UA fans would not be as demanding of Miller and this team. They probably would understand if the UA was 9-17 right now without Wise instead of 13-13 and struggling to qualify for the NIT with him. Read the rest of this blog at TucsonCitizen.com and continue reading here for the rest of our Pac-10 Primer.

FIRST-YEAR COACHES How coaches are faring at their new school: COACH SCHOOL W-L NCAA? Anthony Grant Alabama 14-12 No Sean Miller Arizona 13-13 No Isiah Thomas Fla. Intl. 7-22 No Mark Fox Georgia 12-13 No John Calipari Kentucky 26-1 Yes Josh Pastner Memphis 20-7 ? Kevin O’Neill USC 16-10 No Tony Bennett Virginia 14-12 No Ken Bone Wash. St. 16-11 No Chris Mack Xavier 19-7 Yes ALL-PAC-10 IF THE SEASON ENDED NOW PLAYER TEAM POS YR PPG Ty Abbott ASU G Jr. 12.5 Patrick Christopher Cal G Sr. 15.9 Landry Fields Stan F Sr. 22.5 Reggie Moore WSU G Fr. 13.4 Quincy Pondexter Wash F Sr. 20.3 Jerome Randle Cal G Sr. 19.2 Isaiah Thomas Wash G Soph. 17.0 Klay Thompson WSU F Soph. 20.1 Nikola Vucevic USC F Soph. 9.8* Derrick Williams UA F Fr. 15.4 * – Rebounds per game PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Landry Fields, Stanford COACH OF THE YEAR: Herb Sendek, ASU FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Derrick Williams, Arizona

Arizona takes its Player of the Year Tour at the Bay area this weekend.

Stanford senior wing man Landry Fields is the odds-on favorite to capture Pac-10 Player of the Year honors, according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News and others. Miller stated this week that he would put Fields and Cal senior guard Jerome Randle — who the Cats face tomorrow — against anybody in the nation.

Normally a player of the year in a major conference garners attention from the NBA. How do Fields and Randle and others stack up currently as far as that is concerned?

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USC’s upset win over Washington damaging to conference

By Javier Morales

The more times teams in the upper half of the Pac-10 lose games they should not, the more likely it is the conference will embarrassingly have no more than two teams in the NCAA tournament.

If Cal wins the Pac-10 tournament, it is highly likely the Pac-10 will be represented only by the Golden Bears.

Give former UA interim coach Kevin O’Neill credit for rallying USC to a road win over Washington on Thursday night. But the Trojans’ win over the Huskies, who had a respectable RPI of 53 entering the game, makes it more likely that every team but Cal must win the Pac-10 tournament to land an automatic bid.

The Golden Bears’ 80-64 loss at Oregon State tightened the regular-season race as they are 9-5 with ASU and USC only a half-game behind at 8-5. Arizona and UCLA have only one more loss at 7-6.

However, winning the regular-season title in the Pac-10 this year is like winning the Great Alaska Shootout — Not much there other than a confidence booster for what lies ahead.

On to some of noteworthy links, including some involving Jordan Hill’s trade to Houston, where he will be reunited with former UA teammate Chase Budinger.

• Anthony Gimino of TucsonCitizen.com reports that Houston’s trade could be good for first-round bust Hill
  

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  Houston GM Daryl Morey is being lauded for the Rockets’ moves before the NBA trade deadline, including the acquisition of former UA center Jordan Hill as part of a three-team trade
• Houston general manager Daryl Morey tells the Houston Chronicle that he likes Hill’s potential
  

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• The Bleacher Report recently published a blog that stated Budinger should start for the Rockets
  

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• The Bleacher Report also published a rundown of the top 10 surprises the NBA trade deadline, one of which includes praising Morey for his impeccable moves
  

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• O’Neill tells the L.A. Times after tonight’s win over Washington that nobody thought the Trojans will still be in the Pac-10 race after 13 games
  

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• Washington coach Lorenzo Romar blames impatient play and ill-advised turnovers for his team’s loss at home to USC
  

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• Cal guard Jerome Randle tells the San Jose Mercury News that he is “very upset about tonight’s game” at Corvallis
  

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• The Oregonian reports that Ducks coach Ernie Kent defends his program after losing another game, this time to Stanford at Mac Court
  

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• UCLA routs Washington State on the road despite losing senior forward James Keefe for the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury

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UA standouts from last season together again with Rockets

RELATED LINK: Don’t write of Jordan Hill yet (Dime magazine)

By Javier Morales

How’s this for irony?

Two of Arizona’s Three Amigos — Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill — from a year ago are reunited in Houston, hometown of the other amigo: UA senior guard Nic Wise.

Hours before the NBA trade deadline Thursday, the Knicks shipped Hill, Kevin Martin and Jared Jeffries to the Rockets in exchange for Tracy McGrady as part of a three-team trade that included Sacramento.

The Kings are sending Sergio Rodriguez to the Knicks. Meanwhile, the Rockets are shipping Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey to Sacramento, which also receives the Knicks’ Larry Hughes.

There are many cases in which former Cats have played together in the NBA, most recently last year when Channing Frye and Jerryd Bayless were together in Portland. The reunion of Budinger and Hill is one of a few of its kind involving players who also played together at Arizona.

That list includes:

• Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler with the Bulls from 1994-98.
• Brian Williams, later known as Bison Dele was a teammate of Kerr of Buechler with the Bulls in 1996-97. Williams and Buechler were teammates with the Cats in 1989-90.
• Sean Elliott and Kerr with the Spurs from 1998-2001.
• Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson with the Vancouver Grizzlies from 1999-2001.

Hill, the No. 8 selection in last year’s draft, becomes the third ex-Wildcat to be selected among the first 10 picks of his respective class by the Knicks only to be released or dealt in three seasons or less. Larry Demic was the ninth pick overall in the 1979 draft but his injury-riddled career ended in 1982 after only 206 games with the Knicks. Frye was traded by New York to Portland two years after the Knicks picked him eighth overall in 2005.

Demic, Hill and Frye were all power forward/centers at Arizona.

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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.

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Shot unfortunately comes after buzzer at half

TUESDAY’s GAME (Tucson time)
Phoenix (Frye) at Dallas (Terry), 6:30 p.m.

MONDAY’S GAMES
Denver 93, Philadelphia 83 (Iguodala 31 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast)
New York (Hill DNP) 93, Portland (Bayless 14 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast) 84
Utah 104, San Antonio 101 (Jefferson 7 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast)

FEATURED EX-CAT LINKS:

>>Iguodala figures to have big games ahead (ESPN.com)
>>Jordan Hill’s pigtails are judged (Yahoo! Sports)
>>San Antonio needs to find the Richard Jefferson they traded for (BleacherReport.com)
>>NBA & ABA players who attended the University of Arizona (Basketball-Reference.com)

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Ex-UA forward looking forward to Iverson’s presence

THURSDAY’S GAMES (Tucson times):
Boston at San Antonio (Jefferson), 6 p.m.
Houston (Budinger) at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Atlanta 146 (Bibby 12 pts, 0 reb, 5 ast), Toronto 115
Cleveland 107, Phoenix 90 (Frye 22 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast)
Orlando 118, New York 104 (Hill 2 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast)
Washington 104 (Arenas 22 pts, 2 reb, 9 ast), Milwaukee 102
Dallas 117 (Terry 18 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast), New Jersey 101
Oklahoma City 117, Philadelphia 106 (Iguodala 28 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast)
Houston 102 (Budinger 19pts, 5 reb, 0 ast) at L.A. Clippers 85

FEATURED EX-CAT LINKS:

>>Chase Budinger: USA Today links
>>Knicks resisting urge to rebuild on the fly (SI.com Blog)
>>NBA & ABA players who attended the University of Arizona (Basketball-Reference.com)

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76ers must learn from how Spurs plug players into system

SUNDAY’S GAMES
Detroit 94, Atlanta 88 (Bibby 13 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast)
Phoenix 113 (Frye 15 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast), Toronto 94
Orlando 114, New York 102 (Hill DNP)
Houston 100 (Budinger 7 pts, 5 ast, 1 reb) at Oklahoma City 91
San Anthonio 97 (Jefferson 7 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast), Philadelphia 87 (Iguodala 21 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast)

MONDAY’S GAME (Tucson time)
Philadelphia (Iguodala) at Dallas (Terry), 6:30 p.m.

FEATURED EX-CAT LINKS:

>>Writer critical of Jordan Hill’s pre-game focus (SLAM Online)
>>Another writer critical of Richard Jefferson’s defense (48 Minutes of Hell)
>>NBA & ABA players who attended the University of Arizona (Basketball-Reference.com)

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