Offense ahead of defense in early practice sessions
Wildcat: With almost two weeks of practice done, how do you feel the men's basketball team is performing?
Pastner: Well, right now, practice is going great. The guys are working hard, we have been going hard, and you can just tell the guys are anxious to play against an opponent. You can't fault them, they have been working their tails off. Some of our scrimmage games in practice might be some of our better games of the year, the way how intense they are.
How have freshmen Andrew Zahn and Travis Hanour progressed during the first two weeks of practice?
They have been good. Travis has done a good job, as the weeks have gone on, he has actually, confidence-wise, gotten a lot better. He is shooting the ball pretty well. Andrew is banging inside hard, he's been banged up, he's been injured a little bit, but he just played so hard.
Has the team experienced any injury problems early on?
Just like nagging things, nothing serious - maybe a deep thigh bruise here and a sore ankle there. Nothing serious, nothing that would cause anyone to miss practice or anything. Right now, everyone is healthy, and that is the main key.
How much fun have you had now that you are strictly coaching and not participating in drills and scrimmages as a player?
I kind of love it because even when I was a player, I was kind of a coach, but was a background-type coach. Now, I have a little more say - more official say - it is neat and I am enjoying it. It is a great experience just to be around this team and follow this team is a dream come true.
What would the strengths of the team be right now, so early in the season?
Definitely the strength of the team, right now, is our experience. You can tell the way we handle ourselves in practice, guys have been through it and done it already, so they know what to expect. I would say from more of a technical standpoint, that offensively, we are pretty tough to guard. We have so many weapons, so many guys. It is hard to just shutdown one guy because we have a lot of scoring from all five different positions.
What would the weaknesses be since the team is so strong offensively?
Weaknesses, I would definitely say defensively, we need to get more tough on defense. I like us to kind of have a nasty attitude defensively and really scare people. We have to get that kind of aggressiveness and attitude defensively, and also, we have to do a better job on the defensive boards. Those two things we are going to take care of before our first game.
Is the coaching staff looking for a specific player to lead the way defensively?
That is just going to come from the veteran leadership. When you look at guys like (senior center) Loren (Woods), (senior forward) Justin (Wessel), (senior forward) Gene (Edgerson), (senior guard) John (Ash) and (junior forward) Richard (Jefferson), those guys in there. They are going to have the veteran leadership and, with (junior forward) Michael Wright, are going to have to carry the load.
Is there a sense of urgency on this team, especially with the potential of so many players leaving after the season?
Absolutely, because they know with this team, you don't get this many opportunities to have this type of team - to have a shot to win a national title. There is a sense of urgency, and I am glad there is a sense of urgency. I would rather have a sense of urgency than playing just kind of relaxed and not having a sense of going real hard.
What player or players have really surprised the coaching staff with the improvement in their play so far this season?
(Junior guard) Ricky Anderson has just been awesome in practice, he's been great. It looks like he might redshirt, so he might not be playing any games. So the guys who are going to be play in games; (sophomore guard) Gilbert Arenas has been great. The starting five has all been great. Richard, Gilbert, (sophomore guard) Jason (Gardner), Michael and Loren have all done a great job.
Chris Martin can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.
