By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Frazier ready to spell relief for Gardner, Arenas
Barring some freak accident that leaves a multitude of UA men's basketball players injured, junior forward Rick Anderson said that he'll sit out this season as a redshirt.
"I arranged three or four meetings with Coach (Lute Olson) before practice started and talked about how I really just need to develop and get better and better," Anderson said. "It's something that I think I need to do."
Anderson entered the UA program as one of the highest rated recruits on the West Coast coming out of Poly High School in Long Beach, Calif.
However, in his second season with the Wildcats, Anderson averaged only 4.5 points in 13.5 minutes per game.
Anderson said he reached the decision after asking his parents and high school coach all summer on the role he'd play within the Arizona roster.
Even when the Wildcats were operating with only seven players, Anderson's minutes were scant.
Now that Olson is boasting one of his deepest lineups in his tenure in Tucson, Anderson's playing time would likely be even more scarce.
It's not as if he'll be hanging up his sneakers entirely, though.
Under NCAA guidelines, Anderson can practice with the team throughout the season and says that he'll be spending a lot of time with UA strength coach Carla Garrett.
"My speed, my strength is probably the key right now," Anderson said. "So I am going to have this whole year working, getting better and better and am going to come back like an animal next year. You just watch."
Arizona coaches are likely to withhold the official decision until just before the Wildcats' first game on Nov. 5 against the California All Stars, but Anderson said his mind has already been made up.
If the Wildcats suffer another flood of injuries like last season, Anderson will be eligible to opt out of his redshirt year at any point.
In hopes of avoiding the all-too-common sophomore slump, point guard Jason Gardner spent a large part of his summer in the weight room with Garrett.
Gardner led the Wildcats' outside game last season by notching a team-high 70 three-pointers, but said he wants to add an inside game to his repertoire.
"In pick-up ball, I was trying to take the ball to the whole a little bit more while getting some bumps here and there," Gardner said. "My main thing (this summer) was working on the power issue and getting stronger."
Sometimes criticized for his lack of size, Gardner's work over the summer has garnered himself the praise of junior forward Richard Jefferson, who playfully called him a "buff midget."
"He's only 5-foot-9, but he's got the kinds of things you need," Jefferson said. "Jason goes out there as if he's a 7-foot-4 man. He just goes out there and works hard, tries to block shots, he gets down on defense and is diving on the floor."
According to his coaches, Gardner's work to fill out his uniform couldn't have come at a better time.
"Freshman to sophomore year is always one of the biggest times for improvement because of their recognition of what it takes to play at this level," Olson said. "Jason Gardner seems more confident of what he's doing and obviously he's increased his range with his additional strength. He's shooting with a lot of confidence."
Despite his muscular development and improved penetration abilities, the biggest relief for the Wildcats this season may be that Gardner won't have to be on the court as much.
While Olson steadfastly believes that his guards can run forever, the return of senior guard Lamont Frazier has UA coaches letting out a deep sigh of relief.
The two freshmen guards last season (Gardner and Gilbert Arenas) led the team in minutes played. Together, Gardner and Arenas clocked only 12 minutes of rest each game.
"I am excited for Lamont's return because Jason and I won't have to be playing 38 to 40 minutes each game," Arenas said. "If we can come off the court for breathers, we'll just be more energized for the end of the season. Lamont has cleared his head of all the problems and is really going to help the team out this year."
Frazier was out of action for the majority of last season because of an unreleased medical condition. Olson has said that he is now healthy and will contribute significant minutes in the backcourt.
"He is going to make a huge difference, in my opinion," Olson added. "He will allow us to play much more aggressively and much more up tempo with his presence."
Frazier said he plans on surprising everybody with his return.
"I like being in the back and nobody knowing about me," he said. "I am going to show everybody a different Lamont and if you forgot about me, you'll remember me this year."
