Ryan Finley

End the season right now. Lock it up. Send Dick Vitale back home to rest for another 12 months. Let Steve Lavin enjoy a cream rinse. Send Bob Knight "hunting" with people he "accidentally" shoots for another couple of months.

Because if the Arizona basketball team can play with the heart and smarts it showed in last night's win against Maryland, the season's over. Give Lute Olson another ring.

Well, maybe I'm overreacting, but ·

The Wildcats' season is barely a day old and already people are talking about UA being a contender again.

Hell, Vitale almost swallowed his tongue dishing out praise about "Diaper Dandy Will Bynum," and "Look at Luke Walton!," - which might as well be the junior forward's first name - in between audible gasps and bleeks and blurps and squeals that sent dogs throughout the country scurrying under beds.

This isn't your typical Arizona team. There isn't a whole lot of flash· yet. From what I saw on TV last night, there doesn't seem to be any sort of ego trouble · yet. There aren't any academic suspensions - unless you count Mike Schwertley, and I don't - yet.

What UA fans saw last night was the first step in the road to an NCAA National Championship. Still, it was only one step.

Can the Wildcats win it all this year? A week ago, I would have laughed so hard, I probably would have wet myself.

After all, Duke and Kansas can play with the best of 'em, and upstarts like Missouri and Florida (the team UA plays tonight in the IKON Classic Finals) will likely win their fair share of games.

Ask me today, and I'm not so sure.

The Wildcats showed flashes - and I mean brief, veeeerrrrryyy brief flashes - of greatness last night. LookatLukeWalton made some great passes and Rick "I get called for charging every time I touch the ball" Anderson showed some people - at least he showed me - why some have compared his style of play to "Saint" Shane Battier.

Will Bynum could take off for a layup, make himself a sandwich, change headbands, book a flight to go home for Christmas, check his e-mail and call his mom to tape re-runs of "Preps" before he actually hits the shot.

Salim Stoudamire, once he gets used to Arizona's system, has the talent to do things even his cousin, Damon, couldn't do here. Dennis Latimore, Isaiah Fox and Channing Frye defended their end of the court last night better than Tom Ridge and a platoon of Marines.

Coach Olson looked as animated as ever - I think a hair might have moved thanks to a gust of wind in the second half - and had the Wildcats playing like they don't know they're a bunch of freshmen and former role players.

It would have been so easy for the Cats to run out last night, get thumped, commit stupid fouls, take idiotic shots and bicker among themselves. It would have been easy to blame youth, a lack of talent, a shortage of decent practice players, a neutral court, a tough opponent and poor conditioning. It would have been so easy for them to lose. Only, they didn't.

That's enough to get Dickie V lost in thought.