By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Entering the season, UA men's basketball fans knew their team was going to be loaded with depth, but question marks still surround the idea of formidable backup for sophomore point guard Jason Gardner.
Enter senior Lamont Frazier.
Last season, Gardner played 36.6 minutes per game, but UA head coach Lute Olson may have found reason to break up Gardner's marathons in the quick-footed Frazier.
Those leery of Frazier taking over the Wildcat offense when Gardner needs a rest took a collective sigh of relief following his performance in Arizona's 104-66 win against the EA Sports California West All-Stars this past Sunday at McKale Center.
In 15 minutes off the bench, the Arizona fast-break offense didn't skip a beat when Frazier took hold of its reins as Frazier notched six points and four assists without turning the ball over.
Frazier played in only seven games last season because of an undisclosed medical condition but said he's already feeling comfortable calling the signals with Gardner on the bench.
"I am just going to get in and try to do the same job as him, or better," Frazier said. "I can start just as well as him, so I am just going to get out there and work hard. I just want to win."
Frazier has reaped Gardner's praise in the process.
"I think he had a great game, and I was excited for him," Gardner said following Sunday's game. "He had a couple of layups and good defense. I think me and Lamont coming in and out is going to help each one of us out and is going to wear the defender down."
Senior forward Eugene Edgerson has said throughout the preseason that if the second five Wildcat players formed their own team, they could dominate in most conferences.
With the way Arizona's backups played Sunday, Edgerson might be right.
That second five - Frazier, Edgerson, senior forward Justin Wessel, freshman guard Travis Hanour and sophomore forward Luke Walton - combined for 47 points and 23 rebounds against the EA Sports California West All-Stars.
Though all five starters scored in double-digits, Walton's 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench garnered him the player-of-the-game nod in Olson's eyes.
Walton said playing time will not be a factor this season.
"You go out there and you put in all you can the whole time and then you're going to get a break of five or six minutes," Walton said. "With how much we like each other, it doesn't matter who's in. As long as we play like we did (Sunday), no one's going to be mad about playing time."
While the idea of playing with a 10-man rotation may seem foreign to the Wildcats, a team that operated with seven players at last season's end, their balanced attack looked seasoned Sunday.
"The single most impressive thing, from my end of it, was that we played really unselfishly as a team," Olson said. "They gave the ball up, the open man got the ball, no one was looking for himself or his own shots. There was some really good passes."
Arizona's depth could pay off late in the season and into the NCAA Tournament.
"I think our depth is one of our biggest assets," senior center Loren Woods said. "We can always run people to death. With 10 or 11 guys, we're going to be able to run a lot of guys in and out of there and will be able to compare with some of the bigger teams in the country."
