Sports
Wildcat Notebook: What happened to the Wildcats?
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| Scott A. Taras | Special to the Green Valley News Jerryd Bayless (left) and Chase Budinger watch from the bench during a basketball game at McKale Center in Tucson in this Nov. 28 file photo. |
By Nick Prevenas, Green Valley News
The Arizona Wildcats may have reached an abrupt conclusion on the hardwood, but there is hardly a sense of finality to the 2007-08 season.
Thursday night’s 75-65 loss at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers kept the Wildcats (19-15, 8-10 Pac-10) beneath the 20-win plateau for the first time in 21 seasons and wrapped up perhaps the most chaotic and controversial campaigns in Arizona basketball history.
Once Hall-of-Fame coach Lute Olson announced his leave of absence on Nov. 4, Wildcat fans knew this would not be a typical season.
Kevin O’Neill, who Olson brought in to replace popular long time assistant Jim Rosborough, took over the head-coaching duties. His gruff, intense style stood in stark contrast to Olson’s laid-back approach, but his defensive-oriented philosophy initially brought a much-needed dose of toughness to a program that had been criticized for a lack of grit in recent years.
Early wins at Illinois, UNLV and especially the rousing 20-point comeback against Texas A&M had Wildcat fans thinking this could be a special year in the Old Pueblo.
Jerryd Bayless had quickly established himself as one of the nation’s premier freshmen and formed a potent scoring combination with preseason Pac-10 Player of the Year Chase Budinger.
Jordan Hill continued his rapid maturation and gave the Wildcats a much-needed interior scoring presence.
Jawann McClellan anchored the perimeter defense and Nic Wise played well enough to remind Southern Arizona fans of the Jason Gardner era.
So how did such a talented squad brimming with potential stumble so badly?
Getting defensive
Olson specifically targeted O’Neill — a former UA assistant from 1988-92 — because of his reputation as a defensive coach.
During a 30-year coaching career that has spanned both college and the NBA, O’Neill has spent the majority of that time honing his hard-nosed, man-to-man approach.
He certainly has the credentials, having worked under Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Carlisle — two of the NBA’s most renowned defensive experts.
Did that philosophy translate to tangible results on the basketball court this season? Well, yes and no.
At times, the Wildcats — specifically McClellan — found ways to disrupt and discourage their opponents on the defensive end.
Other times, however, the urgency simply wasn’t there.
How many times did Wildcat fans have to endure the sight of Budinger losing track of his man on a back screen? How many times did a simple breakdown in communication lead to an easy lay-up?
No Arizona fan will soon forget the Mountaineers’ 11-19 shooting display from 3-point range.
Alex Ruoff (5-7) and Darris Nichols (4-7) are spot-up shooters who rarely put the ball on the floor, yet Wildcat defenders consistently played underneath the screens, allowing Ruoff and Nichols to fire away without so much as a hand in their faces.
An exhausting campaign
These defensive lapses certainly didn’t come from a lack of effort, however. They were more likely caused by severe physical and mental fatigue.
Bayless, Budinger and McClellan each averaged more than 35 minutes per contest — putting each in the top-five in the Pac-10’s playing-time category.
Factor in O’Neill’s exclusive reliance on man-to-man defense, and it’s no wonder the Wildcats appeared to be running on fumes during crunch time of every crucial contest during the past month.
Injuries to Bayless, Wise and Bret Brielmaier — not to mention the early-season transfer of Laval Lucas-Perry — shortened an already-thin Arizona bench, but the heavy regular-season workload proved to be too much to overcome against a balanced West Virginia squad.
Arizona had closed to within one with under five minutes remaining, but simply didn’t have enough left to get over the hump.
Arizona’s bench saw exactly 10 minutes of action on Thursday night — which is more or less the standard. No wonder the starters were exhausted.
Where’s Mr. Bayless?
Despite a remarkable freshman campaign that had local basketball fans wondering if this was the best first-year performance in Arizona basketball history, Bayless vanished on Thursday night, scoring a pedestrian 11 points on 4-10 shooting.
This was not the same destructive offensive force who drove to the basket at will. This was not the same phenom who ran off three consecutive 30-point outings with a variety of pull-up jumpers and jaw-dropping crossovers.
Nope. This was a teenager who struggled to find a Plan B when defenses eliminated his Plan A.
Once teams figured out his weaknesses — driving to his left, passing out of the double team on the high screen-and-roll — Bayless fell off his torrid pace. He was still effective, but not dominant.
Arizona fans Bayless would expose West Virginia’s primary weakness — a lack of athleticism in the back court — and carry the Wildcats through the first round.
Didn’t happen.
For much of the contest, Bayless appeared passive. Granted, West Virgina did an excellent job bottling up Bayless, but great players tend to find a way.
Although most NBA draft experts project Bayless among the 10-best prospects available, Thursday night’s game proves that although his future may be bright, he still has a long way to go before achieving his ultimate goals.
The coaching
Of course, it would be unfair to force Bayless to shoulder the blame. The Wildcats wouldn’t have come close to making the tournament without him.
When an opponent figures out a way to contain a team’s best player, it is typically up to the head coach and his staff of assistants to figure out new ways to get him the basketball in a position to succeed.
Also, a head coach and his assistants typically devise ways to effectively use the bench to make sure starters are properly rested for the stretch run.
Obviously, for these things to happen, a head coach tends to have an open line of communication with his assistants.
O’Neill apparently doesn’t believe in this philosophy.
Never did Arizona’s head man address or even acknowledge Miles Simon or Josh Pastner. There was absolutely no collaborative effort in hopes of turning the momentum around.
This would seem strange on the surface, but this attitude has come to categorize O’Neill’s interim tenure.
Despite having useful pieces on the bench — Jamelle Horne, Fendi Onobun, Daniel Dillon, Kirk Walters, even Mohamed Tangara — each player struggled to find consistent minutes.
Despite occasional defensive lapses and a foul-prone big man in Hill, O’Neill stubbornly refused to even explore the possibility of implementing zone defenses, even as a backup plan when zone seemed to make the most sense.
This dedication and confidence in his system is part of why O’Neill has continued to land high-profile coaching jobs.
It’s also part of why the Wildcats’ season is already over.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
Thursday night’s 75-65 loss at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers kept the Wildcats (19-15, 8-10 Pac-10) beneath the 20-win plateau for the first time in 21 seasons and wrapped up perhaps the most chaotic and controversial campaigns in Arizona basketball history.
Once Hall-of-Fame coach Lute Olson announced his leave of absence on Nov. 4, Wildcat fans knew this would not be a typical season.
Kevin O’Neill, who Olson brought in to replace popular long time assistant Jim Rosborough, took over the head-coaching duties. His gruff, intense style stood in stark contrast to Olson’s laid-back approach, but his defensive-oriented philosophy initially brought a much-needed dose of toughness to a program that had been criticized for a lack of grit in recent years.
Early wins at Illinois, UNLV and especially the rousing 20-point comeback against Texas A&M had Wildcat fans thinking this could be a special year in the Old Pueblo.
Jerryd Bayless had quickly established himself as one of the nation’s premier freshmen and formed a potent scoring combination with preseason Pac-10 Player of the Year Chase Budinger.
Jordan Hill continued his rapid maturation and gave the Wildcats a much-needed interior scoring presence.
Jawann McClellan anchored the perimeter defense and Nic Wise played well enough to remind Southern Arizona fans of the Jason Gardner era.
So how did such a talented squad brimming with potential stumble so badly?
Getting defensive
Olson specifically targeted O’Neill — a former UA assistant from 1988-92 — because of his reputation as a defensive coach.
During a 30-year coaching career that has spanned both college and the NBA, O’Neill has spent the majority of that time honing his hard-nosed, man-to-man approach.
He certainly has the credentials, having worked under Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Carlisle — two of the NBA’s most renowned defensive experts.
Did that philosophy translate to tangible results on the basketball court this season? Well, yes and no.
At times, the Wildcats — specifically McClellan — found ways to disrupt and discourage their opponents on the defensive end.
Other times, however, the urgency simply wasn’t there.
How many times did Wildcat fans have to endure the sight of Budinger losing track of his man on a back screen? How many times did a simple breakdown in communication lead to an easy lay-up?
No Arizona fan will soon forget the Mountaineers’ 11-19 shooting display from 3-point range.
Alex Ruoff (5-7) and Darris Nichols (4-7) are spot-up shooters who rarely put the ball on the floor, yet Wildcat defenders consistently played underneath the screens, allowing Ruoff and Nichols to fire away without so much as a hand in their faces.
An exhausting campaign
These defensive lapses certainly didn’t come from a lack of effort, however. They were more likely caused by severe physical and mental fatigue.
Bayless, Budinger and McClellan each averaged more than 35 minutes per contest — putting each in the top-five in the Pac-10’s playing-time category.
Factor in O’Neill’s exclusive reliance on man-to-man defense, and it’s no wonder the Wildcats appeared to be running on fumes during crunch time of every crucial contest during the past month.
Injuries to Bayless, Wise and Bret Brielmaier — not to mention the early-season transfer of Laval Lucas-Perry — shortened an already-thin Arizona bench, but the heavy regular-season workload proved to be too much to overcome against a balanced West Virginia squad.
Arizona had closed to within one with under five minutes remaining, but simply didn’t have enough left to get over the hump.
Arizona’s bench saw exactly 10 minutes of action on Thursday night — which is more or less the standard. No wonder the starters were exhausted.
Where’s Mr. Bayless?
Despite a remarkable freshman campaign that had local basketball fans wondering if this was the best first-year performance in Arizona basketball history, Bayless vanished on Thursday night, scoring a pedestrian 11 points on 4-10 shooting.
This was not the same destructive offensive force who drove to the basket at will. This was not the same phenom who ran off three consecutive 30-point outings with a variety of pull-up jumpers and jaw-dropping crossovers.
Nope. This was a teenager who struggled to find a Plan B when defenses eliminated his Plan A.
Once teams figured out his weaknesses — driving to his left, passing out of the double team on the high screen-and-roll — Bayless fell off his torrid pace. He was still effective, but not dominant.
Arizona fans Bayless would expose West Virginia’s primary weakness — a lack of athleticism in the back court — and carry the Wildcats through the first round.
Didn’t happen.
For much of the contest, Bayless appeared passive. Granted, West Virgina did an excellent job bottling up Bayless, but great players tend to find a way.
Although most NBA draft experts project Bayless among the 10-best prospects available, Thursday night’s game proves that although his future may be bright, he still has a long way to go before achieving his ultimate goals.
The coaching
Of course, it would be unfair to force Bayless to shoulder the blame. The Wildcats wouldn’t have come close to making the tournament without him.
When an opponent figures out a way to contain a team’s best player, it is typically up to the head coach and his staff of assistants to figure out new ways to get him the basketball in a position to succeed.
Also, a head coach and his assistants typically devise ways to effectively use the bench to make sure starters are properly rested for the stretch run.
Obviously, for these things to happen, a head coach tends to have an open line of communication with his assistants.
O’Neill apparently doesn’t believe in this philosophy.
Never did Arizona’s head man address or even acknowledge Miles Simon or Josh Pastner. There was absolutely no collaborative effort in hopes of turning the momentum around.
This would seem strange on the surface, but this attitude has come to categorize O’Neill’s interim tenure.
Despite having useful pieces on the bench — Jamelle Horne, Fendi Onobun, Daniel Dillon, Kirk Walters, even Mohamed Tangara — each player struggled to find consistent minutes.
Despite occasional defensive lapses and a foul-prone big man in Hill, O’Neill stubbornly refused to even explore the possibility of implementing zone defenses, even as a backup plan when zone seemed to make the most sense.
This dedication and confidence in his system is part of why O’Neill has continued to land high-profile coaching jobs.
It’s also part of why the Wildcats’ season is already over.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
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