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.

Arizona's staff showed the tape of UCLA's Lorenzo Mata, growling at Chase Budinger after blocking his shot and no one on the squad got back in Mata's face.

"Everyone in the room was pissed," Arizona associate head coach Jim Rosborough said. "We're done taking bologna. We've got to get real angry. We need to have an edge."

*You have to be an ESPN Insider to read the rest of Andy Katz's story. I am not.

But I am very encouraged by the second of those two paragraphs. I think Arizona is finally seeing the big picture. After playing at a mediocre level by Arizona standards virtually all of Janurary, and certainly last week against the L.A. schools, Arizona has finally realized they are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle: killer instinct. Clearly, UCLA has it. So why not use video of the PAC10's new "standard" as motivation?

The next step: actually establish that edge on the defensive end. Then we'll see who's done talking baloney.

"A great call by the officials"

I don't care what anyone says about Mustafa Shakur, he will be missed.

?

Who knows what will become of this season for Arizona?

What once looked so promising - winning 12 of their first 13 - has turned into a nightmare the likes of which have literally never been during the Lute Olson era (read: 5 home losses including the two worst since Olson arrived at the U of A) .

It is disappointing as a fan, sure, but it must be far more disappointing for members of the team, coaches and training staff. I mean, it's not as if they all decided this season was unimportant, and therefore aren't working hard.

Of course, I still love watching Arizona play. I'm already looking forward to the next Thursday after the Saturday game has just ended. But the luster of Arizona basketball just isn't there anymore. Gone are the days when I expected blowout wins over teams like Oregon State, Washington State and ASU. I'm actually a little concerned about Arizona's ability to win at Arizona State next week after watching the Sun Devils beat USC three days after the Trojans owned the Wildcats.

I keep hearing that Arizona doesn't play defense, and really I agree. It's not like they just stand around, but if you watch a team that plays great team defense, they are pressuring the ball constantly, forcing turnovers. And since Lute Olson has always insisted that defensive intensity feeds your offense, I wonder if that - in a way - has been turned against him. Where his teams past have fed the fast break with a surplus of forced turnovers, giving Arizona the image of a run-and-gun team, his teams today seem to concentrate on scoring first, defending second. You'd have to ask high school recruits to be sure, but I bet most of them choose Arizona because of the offensive prowess Lute Olson teams have a reputation for.

Add into the mix the fact that Arizona has limited depth, and you've got the recipe for a team that doesn't have the stamina to really commit to playing 40 minutes of nose-to-the-grindstone defense. That may be why they have trouble winning close games. If you don't execute offensively (see last four minutes against USC), you have no failsafe.

So I guess that doesn't bode well for the rest of this season. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure a lot of people gave up on the 97 team, and they ended up winning the National Championship. Arizona's gonna need to get hot fast.

What a weekend

Arizona is a good team. I'm not editorializing here; that is straight from Oregon head coach Ernie Kent after the Wildcats defeated his Oregon Ducks 77-74 Saturday. Arizona is a good team.

In case you are still skeptical, here's a little perspective:

14 teams have gone into Oregon's McArthur Court and lost - that includes UCLA. Only two teams have won: USC and Arizona.

Arizona has not lost to a team lower than 44 in kenpom.com's Ratings Percentage Index (North Carolina-1, UCLA-2, Oregon-20, Washington State-28, Virginia-31, USC-44).

Arizona has 5 wins over teams in the RPI top-50 (Memphis-8, UNLV-10, Oregon-20, Stanford-35, Illinois-42).

The tournament resume to-date is strong, but at least three tough games remain. Arizona hosts USC (AP 19) and UCLA (AP 2) before going on the road to face ASU, Cal and Stanford (AP 25).

This season is really starting to get interesting.