By
Chris Martin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Jefferson, Arenas featured match-up at Pepsi Red/Blue Game
The outcome of tonight's annual Pepsi Red/Blue Game for the Arizona men's basketball team may not depend so much on the players but on the coaches.
With head coach Lute Olson watching the game as a bystander; associated head coach Jim Rosborough and assistant coach Josh Pastner will coach the Red Team and will be pitted against assistant coaches Rodney Tention and Jay John of the Blue Team.
"The Reds are a six-point favorite, mainly due to coaching," Rosborough said jokingly. "There is a six-point favorite, but we can't talk about gambling."
The Red Team, which consists of junior forwards Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright, senior forward Eugene Edgerson, sophomore guard Jason Gardner, sophomore forward Luke Walton and freshman guard Travis Hanour, will have its hands full against a talented and veteran Blue Team.
To the players, though, the game is much more than an exhibition, as season-long bragging rights are on the line.
"I know when we get the teams set there is going to be a lot of talk back and forth," senior forward Justin Wessel said. "I am so excited for this game."
The Blue Team, which consists of sophomore guard Gilbert Arenas, freshman forward Mike Schwertley, junior forward Rick Anderson and a trio of seniors - center Loren Woods, guard Lamont Frazier and Wessel, will have to contend with a versatile and athletic Red Team.
Freshman forward Andrew Zahn, senior guard John Ash, freshman guard Jason Renne and sophomore guard Russell Harris will rotate between the Red and Blue Teams.
"It should be a good game," Pastner said. "The teams are evenly matched."
If the first two weeks of practice are any indication, the game will go down to the wire.
UA's first team scrimmage ended in a tie. During a team scrimmage this past Saturday, Frazier hit a buzzer beating three-pointer to give his team a victory.
The most intriguing match-up of the night may be between Jefferson and Arenas. The two have been guarding each other during the first two weeks of practice and have had a difficult time defending each other.
"Offensively, we both have our way with each other," Jefferson said.
Jefferson said that he has had trouble with Arenas' quickness to the basket while Arenas has been at a disadvantage due to Jefferson's four inch height advantage.
"It has been good for Richard to guard him," Rosborough said. "Gil is an extremely talented kid."
Besides being the first exhibition game of the season for UA, the Pepsi Red/Blue Game will give the team its first chance to get used to actual game situations in front of a sizable crowd.
"We have been playing well in practice, but when there's 12,000 people out there it's a little different," Jefferson said.
Edgerson agreed.
"It is going to give us a sense of what we need to work on before Maui," he said. "We are so focused on playing the way we need to be playing."
The Wildcats' first official game is Nov. 20 against Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.
Tip-off for the Pepsi Red/Blue scrimmage is at 7 p.m. in the McKale Center.
