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Deep Impact


[Picture]

Nicholas Valenzuela
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Sophomore forward Richard Jefferson joins sophomore Michael Wright, junior Loren Woods and the freshmen tandem of Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas in the starting lineup for the UA men's basketball team this season. Jefferson is a swing forward who will swap playing time with fellow sophomore Rick Anderson.


By Bryan Rosenbaum
Arizona Daily Wildcat,
November 16, 1999
Talk about this story

Sure, they lost an All-American point guard and an All-Pacific 10 Conference center.

Sure, they have an all-freshmen backcourt.

If that's not all, two of their best players can't play this season.

Two players will redshirt the season, senior forward Eugene Edgerson and junior Luke Recker. Edgerson is concentrating on graduating in May, while Recker must sit out a year because he transferred from Indiana. Both are able to practice and will be there to give the team competition throughout the year.

"We've got a lot of competitiveness now," Edgerson said. "Only five guys are on the court at one time, and guys are going to be playing hard."

Even without all the aforementioned weapons, the 1999-2000 Arizona Wildcats have all the tools necessary to challenge for Pac-10 honors and beyond this season, thanks to good team chemistry and a surplus in depth.

"At this point, I'm tremendously pleased with the effort we're getting from these guys, both physically and mentally," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "I'm tremendously pleased with the team chemistry. This team is clearly always about the team."

Everybody but Jason Terry, A.J. Bramlett and Jason Stewart return from last year's 22-7 team, led by Freshman All-American and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Michael Wright.

Wright is the team's leading returning scorer (13.9 points per game) and rebounder (8.8 rebounds per game). He worked on his conditioning over the offseason and should be a force to reckon with this season.

Add junior center Loren Woods to the paint and Arizona has one of the most intimidating front lines in America. Woods had to redshirt last year after transferring from Wake Forest, but has already been named one of the team's co-captains. The other is senior guard Josh Pastner.

"I knew before the season started I'd be called on to provide leadership," Woods said. "Basically, a captain is a leader. Josh definitely has influence on the guys off the court, and I have to be a leader on the floor."

No matter how consistent Wright and Woods are inside, Arizona's season will once again depend on its perimeter play, which wasn't always consistent - witness last year's 61-60 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Oklahoma.

Sophomore swing forward Richard Jefferson, already one of the best leapers in the conference, is showing signs of being one of its top all-around players. That doesn't mean he's guaranteed to start, since sophomore Rick Anderson has been competing hard every day in practice against Jefferson.

Anderson, who sat out Sunday's exhibition against the California All-Stars with a strained back muscle, has improved tremendously over the offseason and has been shooting the three-point shot well as of late.

"It doesn't matter who starts, I think it's more important to finish the game than start it, personally," Jefferson said. "We're more athletic than a lot of teams. We have more athletic ability on our team than a lot of NBA rosters do."

In time, the backcourt duo of Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas, both freshmen, may be considered one of the all-time best at Arizona. They'll have to learn on the fly, since both are being asked to produce immediately since sophomore guard Ruben Douglas has left the team.

"I'm shocked because we need Ruben, I need him because I make a lot of rookie mistakes and he helps me because he's already been there," Arenas said. "(Not having Douglas) does make a difference, we need everybody to get by."

Fans have been impressed by Arenas' jumping ability and his knack for being in the right place at the right time, which has led to him being the team's third-leading rebounder during the two exhibition games.

"Gilbert has been a tremendous surprise," associate head coach Jim Rosborough said. "He's got great basketball talent, great basketball I.Q. and is very coachable. Those are the three ingredients we like."

Gardner has received a lot of attention as well, being flooded with comparisons to former UA greats Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby and Terry. While he likes being compared to those players, Gardner is more concerned with the present and future.

"I think there will be a lot of pressure, but I think everybody will help me out," Gardner said. "Coach Olson never said anything about me being like Terry or Bibby or anything, that's what's helped out a lot. The players haven't said, you need to do this and this and this."

Junior college transfer Lamont Frazier, who has had medical problems throughout the first couple weeks of practice, is expected to play tonight against Kansas State. Without Douglas, the four-guard rotation is reduced to a three-guard rotation, and none of the them have any Division I experience.

Against smaller guards, junior John Ash may come in and contribute. As always, Pastner's name will be chanted if Arizona is up by a comfortable margin.

Off the bench, redshirt freshman Luke Walton can play any of the frontcourt positions, as can junior Justin Wessel. Freshman center Robertas Javtokas has experience from playing with the Lithuanian National team, and should do a good job backing-up Woods.

Freshman walk-on Mike Schwertley will also add depth to the swing forward and shooting guard positions.

"It's definitely a luxury having 10 players who can play 20-25 minutes a game, but it also leaves no room for error," Woods said.


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