Wildcat Notebook: Wildcats rolling into Pac-10 tourney
When the Arizona Wildcats suffered some untimely set-backs during the heart of their Pac-10 schedule, a handful of college basketball pundits began to use the dreaded “B-word” when discussing the Wildcats’ tournament future.
But three hard-fought road wins to close out the regular season have all but reserved Arizona’s spot in the Big Dance.
The Wildcats (20-9, 11-7 Pac-10) are the proud owners of one of the nation’s strongest at-large resumes.
They boast college basketball’s second-strongest schedule and hold the No. 13-spot in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI)—the complicated mathematical system used to judge a squad’s tournament worthiness.
Each of Arizona’s nine losses have come against teams who have spent time in The Associated Press top 25. Plus, they hold one of the three victories over the No. 7 Memphis Tigers—a 79-71 win on Dec. 20 in Tucson.
In addition, they finished tied for third in the remarkably strong Pac-10.
That’s not to say there aren’t reasons for apprehension when discussing Arizona’s tournament chances.
After tearing through their non-conference schedule, the Wildcats had no answers against UCLA, Washington State and USC—the cream of the Pac-10 crop.
Those three squads have one trait in common—discipline.
The Bruins, Cougars and Trojans each run patient, methodical offensive sets that force teams to play defense for the full 35 seconds of the shot clock.
With the exception of USC—the only team to lose to the woeful Arizona State Sun Devils in conference play—these types of teams force a squad to play solid, fundamental basketball.
With the Wildcats’ occasional lapses in concentration and sporadically cold shooting, teams in the UCLA mold will continue to give them problems.
Perhaps the most disconcerting element of Arizona’s season was its inability to protect its home floor.
In previous seasons, teams simply didn’t come into the McKale Center and win, unless they played near-perfect games.
This season featured the two worst losses of Lute Olson’s tenure, an 81-66 loss to the Bruins on Senior Day and the disastrous 92-64 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels.
That shellacking proved there was a clear division between the Wildcats and the nation’s elite.
The No. 8 Tar Heels were without the services of talented freshman Brandan Wright, but still managed to blow the doors off the Wildcats.
So, how will the Wildcats fare in the NCAA Tournament? That depends on their performance in this week’s Pac-10 Tournament, where the Wildcats hold the No. 5 seed.
Olson has made no secret of his disdain for this tournament.
“I think it is asinine that two teams will have to play 21 games against league opponents. I think it wears the teams down going into the NCAA tournament,” Olson said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I know all leagues have to face this, other than the Ivy League, and maybe they are a little smarter than the rest of us. If we are going to continue to have a tournament than our conference should go to a 16 game (regular league) schedule.”
Currently, ESPN.com’s bracket guru Joe Lunardi has Arizona penciled in as the No. 8 seed in the South region, where they’d face Kentucky in a battle to find out which Wildcats reign supreme.
The winner would face the formidable Kansas Jayhawks in round two in this hypothetical scenario.
In order for the Wildcats to move up in seeding—where they wouldn’t face a No. 1 seed in the second round—a stellar Pac-10 Tournament performance is mandatory, regardless of Olson’s disdain for the tourney.
The tournament kicks off this evening in Los Angeles, with the Wildcats playing their first-round game against the high-scoring Oregon Ducks tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
These squads split the season series, with Arizona taking the last game in Eugene 77-74.
If the Wildcats have any hopes of winning this tournament, Ivan Radenovic will have to maintain his stellar play.
After a rough performance on Senior Day, the Serbian forward won Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, sealed with his phenomenal 37-point, 9-rebound effort in Stanford on Saturday.
Two other Wildcats—Chase Budinger and Marcus Williams—also received accolades this week.
Budinger was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, with Williams earning a spot on the All-Pac-10 First Team. Radenovic and Mustafa Shakur received honorable mentions.
Budinger has averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest, with occasional flashes of brilliance. He is expected to return to Arizona for his sophomore season as the primary scoring option.
Williams is near the top of the Pac-10 in points (16.9) and rebounds (7.1) this season, while emerging as one of Arizona’s leaders on the floor. Many expect him to declare for the NBA draft this summer.
But before that happens, Williams and his squad have business to take care of this month.
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