Disappointing farewell

So long Mustafa Shakur and Ivan Radenovic. I imagine it is tough to end your college careers on such a low note after a season that showed so much promise early on. Careers in the NBA (perhaps) await.

I'm not really sure what to expect for next year. I suppose I am optimistic. How can you not be with two five-star recruits (Jerryd Bayless and Jamelle Horne) coming in? I would expect there to be a sense of urgency. Arizona had too much talent this year to finish the way they did. I hope they once again become a team nobody wants to see, rather than one everyone wants a shot at.

Four months ago, I didn't think I'd be saying this, but I'm glad football season is just around the corner. We may be witnessing the decline of the Arizona basketball dynasty under Lute Olson.

Ugly

U-G-L-Y. Only one word needed to describe how Arizona looked Thursday against Oregon. And it wasn't the new uniforms.

The Wildcats couldn't get anything to go down, and couldn't keep Oregon from scoring. The Ducks destroyed Arizona's defense with constant dribble penetration, and spot-on shooting. Aaron Brooks looked unstoppable. Ivan Radenovic, Mustafa Shakur and Chase Budinger had an insignificant impact on the game.

I wouldn't say I'm worried about how Arizona played today. I would say I'm disheartened; I thought the Wildcats would come out with focused intensity. Frankly they were outplayed by a quicker, more relaxed Oregon team.

Arizona will make the NCAA Tournament, but they're probably looking at an 8 or 9 seed. If they make it out of the first round they'll be looking at a match-up with the number one seed. Yikes.

Let's hope for an 8 seed. I wanna see what the new white uni's look like.

New uni's

Arizona will debut some new form-fitting jerseys tomorrow in their game against Oregon. Personally, I think they're pretty sweet. The baggy shorts with the tight jersey looks a little weird in the picture, but honestly, I didn't even notice it watching Florida play in them for the first time last week. I will miss the old bottoms, though - the new ones are rather plain.

In other news, I just picked up College Hoops 2K7. It's a cool game, but hard to be good at right away. I spent about an hour doing drills in practice mode, and still got blown out in my first game. Part of the reason I wanted to get this version instead of March Madness (EA Sports) is the chant creator. Although creating a good chant is a bit harder than I thought it would be - you can only make combinations of letters - it's a really cool feature.


Next year:

Freshman of the year

Just saw Chase Budinger was named Pac10 Freshman of the Year. At this point I don't even think of him as a freshman. Could a Naismith Trophy be in his future? He'll have to be more assertive to get that kind of attention, I think. To his credit, he flows within the offense so smoothly he doesn't really get a lot of hype unless he has a huge game (see performances at Washington and Oregon).

Thursday's game against Oregon should be pretty good. Arizona feels like they should have won the first one in Tucson, Oregon like they should have won the second in Eugene. A nice neutral court showdown for the rubber match.

On a side note: I just saw the movie Zodiac. I had heard of the Zodiac killer, but didn't realize how interesting the whole story is. I was horrified and amazed. The guy was either brilliant or extremely lucky not to get caught. Definitely very sick in the head. Go see it.