Getting Defense

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat UA guard Jason Terry is getting a lot of open looks at the basket thanks to his defensive play. His 2.8 steals per game leads the Pacific 10 Conference.

"You take a look at Jason as a sophomore and you see that he has the ability to be an outstanding defensive player," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "With defense, it's not a matter of talent, you just need a great deal of mental toughness. You have to be tenacious and work 100 percent of the time. One player that really possessed this ability was Reggie Geary."

With Terry, defense is a matter of pride. While there is no statistic for grit or determination, it is hard to watch a UA basketball game and not notice Terry.

"You just have to look inside your heart and want to stop that guy from getting to the basket," Terry said. "You have to be disciplined and stay in your stance and react to what they do. It's tough to not have those lapses on defense, but you have to keep focused."

Terry's most recent defensive exploits came two weeks ago against California and Stanford. In the closely-fought Cal game, Terry shut down the league's top scorer in Ed Gray, holding him to 7 of 17 from the field and just 16 points. Terry was not finished there. The next night he did the same to Brevin Knight, allowing him just seven baskets on 17 shots.

"Jason brings so much intensity to defense," UA junior forward Bennett Davison said. "He really gives us a spark sometimes by harassing the opposing team."

While Terry has arguably been Arizona's most consistent player this season, he has had to deal with more than his share of setbacks. Coming into the season he was overshadowed by highly-touted freshman guard Mike Bibby. Now, just when he is coming into his own, he has been asked to come off the bench so the Wildcats can start junior Miles Simon. Terry will start tonight, however, because Simon has the flu.

"When we made the decision to start Miles, we did that with Jason's maturity in mind. We knew that he wouldn't take it the wrong way," Olson said. "If you look at our numbers situation over the last few years, you will see that seven guys consistently play. So who's a starter and who's the first guy off the bench is not going to matter that much in minutes. I'd be shocked if (Terry) would see himself as being thrust into the background."

Terry's improvement on the defensive side has resulted in better offensive opportunities. He is leading the league with 2.8 steals per game, many of which have led to transition baskets.

Twice this season, Terry has led the team in scoring and was the main reason for Arizona's comeback against then-No. 3 Utah. In fact, Terry now ranks third on the team in scoring (12.2 points per game) and second in assists (5.1 per game).

"I've concentrated on being more aggressive in the offensive end," Terry said. "I just feel that my role is to set the tone on defense and try and use that to get our offense going."

As for Terry's own individual goals, he is carefully eyeing Geary's school record of 208 steals. At of the midway point of this season, Terry has 58.

"My career goal is to break Reggie's steals record," Terry said. "But I have a lot of work to do before I can be at that level."