Stanford VS Arizona: Stepping into the limelight

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman forward Rick Anderson (22) jumps for a rebound against Holy Cross on Dec. 28, 1998 at McKale Center. Anderson, who started the game against Oregon State on Saturday, will again be in the starting lineup for the game against No. 3 Stanford tomorrow night.

But there he was, all 198 pounds on his 6-foot-8 frame. The freshman from Long Beach, Calif., played 16 minutes, scored four points and grabbed four rebounds.

And if fans haven't noticed him yet, they will tomorrow when he makes his second start at home against Stanford, the No. 3-ranked team in the country.

But before cynical fans cry out in protest, they should realize that Anderson, an avid surfer, is one of those guys who crowds come to love.

Despite his lack of physical strength, every minute Anderson spends on the floor he's flying around, trying to grab every rebound and make every play.

He is Eugene Edgerson with a jump shot.

"The primary thing that made this happen for Ricky is one, he has great work ethic," head coach Lute Olson said. "Two, he listens and tries to do the things you want him to do. The third thing is that he doesn't look for people to blame. That's the reason he's in that spot and some others are trying to get that spot back."

Anderson is only averaging 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game, but Olson has a craving for players who give everything he asks for - in practice and in games.

"Coach O sends a lot of messages and this is a message to Ruben and Traves," sophomore forward Justin Wessel said. "We thought we had a good lineup with Ruben coming in but coach wasn't happy with what he was doing. This is a message that he needs to start working harder, especially defensively."

While the likelihood of Anderson keeping the starting spot seems remote, Wessel said the freshman wasn't at all helpless on the floor.

"It's a big step for a freshman," Wessel said. "He wasn't playing a lot, now he's starting with the third-ranked team in the country coming in. He did good against Oregon State, though, so he'll be fine."

For the Wildcats' sake he better be, considering he will initially be matched up against Stanford shooting guard Kris Weems.

While Weems is only averaging 10.2 points per game, he has proven in the past that if given room to shoot the three, he can make life miserable. Against Nevada earlier this season, Weems erupted for 23 points on 5 of 7 three-point shooting.

"Weems is a good shooter, he is smart and he uses picks," Olson said. "You can't relax because if you relax, he's going to get a good look at the bucket."

Take a look at Anderson, and it's pretty clear he knows what's ahead of him.

"I am pumped up right now," said Anderson, who added that he is going to have to slow himself down a bit come game time. "When I'm in there, everything's going through my head, but I have to nail it out, put everything aside and just play hard."

But not too hard. The few opportunities Anderson has had to get some major playing time have been cut short by foul trouble, including four fouls against OSU.

"He needs to avoid the silly fouls that get him in foul trouble and limit his playing time," Olson said.

But Wessel said he understood what Anderson was going through, in that the game seems so fast when a player is young that sometimes stupid mistakes get made.

"He gets over-anxious and out of control sometimes, but as he plays more, he'll get more relaxed and get used to his role," Wessel said.

Just what that role is going to be is yet to be determined, but in the meantime the first chapter in Rick Anderson's career as a fan favorite should get underway at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow night at McKale Center.

Seth Doria can be reached at Seth.Doria@wildcat.arizona.edu.