Red-Blue chance for coaches, fans to get glimpse of team

By Patrick Klein

Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Arizona men's basketball team's annual Red-Blue scrimmage tonight is fixed.

The rosters for the teams are, anyway.

After scrapping the original rosters for the Red and Blue teams in hopes of creating better matchups, the Wildcat coaching staff has settled on what it expects to be two equally talented teams.

"We just want to make it highly competitive," UA head Coach Lute Olson said. "We want the players to operate in a close game environment."

The teams tip off at 7:37 p.m. at McKale Center. The game will be televised by KTTU-TV (channel 18).

The Red team is made up of guards Reggie Geary, Kelvin Eafon and Eugene Thompson, and forwards Michael Dickerson, Corey Williams, Ben Davis and Donnell Harris. The team will be coached by assistant Jessie Evans.

The Blue team features guards Miles Simon and Jason Terry, forwards Joe McLean, A.J. Bramlett and Jason Lee and center Joe Blair. They will be coached by assistant Jim Rosborough.

This roster may not be permanent Ÿ Olson hinted the teams could change even during halftime, so that coaches could look at different matchups.

Last year's game achieved the coaches' objective, as Simon's 15-foot jumper and subsequent free throw with .4 seconds left gave the Red team a come-from-behind 91-89 win. Simon scored a game-high 25 points while Blair added 20 points and nine rebounds.

The scrimmage is designed to introduce the new players to the atmosphere of playing at McKale and experience putting on the Wildcat uniform for the first time in a game setting.

"The ones who gain the most from this are those with the least experience," Olson said.

For new players, like freshman point guard Jason Terry, the scrimmage represents a chance to experience big-time college basketball.

"I'm excited to get out there, it should be a good game," Terry said.

For the ones returning, however, the game is just like any other.

"I'm just going to try and play my game," said Dickerson, a sophomore. "I won't do anything different."

Some of the more interesting matchups to watch include Blair (6 feet 10 inches, 265 pounds) against Davis (6 feet 9, 240 pounds), and Davis against Bramlett (6 feet 11, 205 pounds), a freshman who has been getting favorable reviews in practice by Olson.

The point guard position appears to be Geary's, but he will match up against Simon and Terry, both of whom could challenge Geary for playing time this year.

Olson said Williams had a slight muscle pull in his "knee area," and may see fewer minutes tonight.

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