By Craig Degel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 18, 1997

Title defense begins in 48 hours

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat UA junior guard Jason Terry (31) dishes the ball on a fast break during Thursday's exhibition game against the Melbourne Magic. Terry and the rest of the Wildcats are eager to officially begin the defense of their national title.

The countdown is at two days for the start of the Arizona men's basketball season. Defense of the national championship begins with Thursday night's game against Morgan State at McKale Center at 7:30.

The start of the Maui Invitational looms large over Thursday's game, however. Arizona will face Boston College in the first round on Monday with possible later round matchups with No. 8 Kentucky and No. 3 Duke.

UA head coach Lute Olson said yesterday at his weekly press conference that focus shouldn't be a problem though.

"Right now they're just excited about getting into competition," Olson said. "Things really happen in a hurry now.

"Once we get the game done this week, four games next week, and three games over a seven day period the following week there is a whole lot that is going to be known about our team and what adjustments that we need to make."

If there is any question as to where the minds of the Wildcats will be Thursday night, they were answered by Jason Terry at yesterday's practice.

After hitting a three pointer, Terry exclaimed, "Aloha."

He keeps growing and growing

UA recruit Ricky Anderson may be a lot bigger than the 6-feet, 9-inches he's currently listed at by the time he hits campus next fall.

Olson said he agreed to redshirt next year because doctors examined his growth plates and discovered he still has the potential to tack on more inches.

"He has size on both sides of his family. Every time you see him, it seems like he's grown," Olson said. "He was 6-8 when I was at his home visiting and now he's slightly taller.

"I think that it is great move on Ricky's part (by redshirting) because he can concentrate on the weight and gaining the strength he needs and learning the system."

Donnell Harris, Justin Wessel and Quynn Tebbs have all redshirted a season and should be large contributors this season.

"From our end of it, it is great because if someone gets hurt, we have an outstanding player that can be a real force for us in a practice situation." said Olson on Anderson spending a season on the practice squad. "We are thrilled with his addition to the group.

Silencing the critics

While it should be fun for Wildcat fans to watch the team's eight-day stretch in which they may possibly face Kentucky and Duke and ending with a Dec. 2 date with No. 2 Kansas, the coaches will have a hard time implementing changes throughout the tournament.

"We need to be pretty prepared about what we are going to be doing by Friday. Once you have planned a tournament where you have game after game, there is not much adjustment time in there," Olson said.

The Wildcats and Jayhawks will square off at the Direct TV Great 8 in Chicago in a rematch of last year's 85-82 UA victory in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

The players relish the opportunity to silence all the naysayers who say the Wildcats aren't for real.

"Definitely looking forward to that," UA center A.J. Bramlett said. "We're going to answer a lot of critics."

"If you don't look forward to games like that, you shouldn't be playing," senior guard Miles Simon said.

More on the UA schedule

Crammed in between the Maui Invitational and the Kansas game will be a game at McKale Center against UNC-Asheville. Four days after the Kansas game, the Wildcats leave for a little Texas two-step. They play Texas and Baylor on Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 respectively.

"We're not going to have two weeks where we are going to find out more about our team," Olson said.

Aside from the NCAA Tournament, Olson said he has never had a tougher two-week stint.