Right on schedule

Sporting News, The, Jan 8, 1996 by Michael Knisley

You look over his schedule in November and December, and you see different things than he does. You see Michigan in November, but Lute Olson sees California this Thursday. You see Texas-El Paso in December, but Olson sees Stanford on Saturday. You see Georgetown in November, but Olson sees Washington State in February.

You don't think that far ahead. But Olson does.

It's probably why you're so surprised that Arizona is as good as it is. If it helps, you're not alone. The hacks and scribes who rank the nation's best teams in the Associated Press poll weren't looking very far ahead, either. They gave Arizona a handful of votes in the AP's preseason poll, but not enough to put the Wildcats in the Top 25. To be fair, the genius-in-residence at THE SPORTING NEWS, too, had them ranked No. 29 before those November and December games.

So here goes Arizona into the start of Pacific 10 Conference play, on maybe the toughest two-game road trip in the western half of the United States -- at California and Stanford in a three-day stretch. And it says here the Wildcats are ready, more ready to start the conference season than any other team in the land. Granted, Arizona was upended at home by equally surprising Syracuse, but that doesn't diminish what the Wildcats accomplished during an 8-0 start that saw them win the Preseason NIT. So bring on Cal. Bring on Stanford. Bring on UCLA and Washington State.

Bring 'em on, because Arizona spent its November and December prepping for 'em. Specifically, Olson found teams to play that gave his team the looks it'll see now. Michigan, as talented and athletic as it gets, looks a lot like Cal, as talented and athletic as it gets W the Pac-10, UTEP, which always plays Don Haskins' strong, defensive, halfcourt-control game, looks a lot like Stanford, which pounds and pounds and pounds and then pounds some more. Georgetown, letting Alan Iverson penetrate to stimulate the offense, looks a lot like Washington State, letting Isaac Fontaine slash the lane to ribbons. Syracuse? Well, Arizona hopefully will learn how to handle a zone, which the Orangemen used to stymie the Wildcats, because they can bank on seeing more.

Bring 'em on in January and February, because none of those earlier look-a-likes -- not Michigan, not Georgetown and not UTEP; not Arkansas nor Houston, could stop Arizona in November and December.

"I knew we'd be good," Olson says, "but you're never quite sure until you play. And I think now we've got a chance to get better, because the leadership of Reggie Geary at the point has been outstanding. It's obvious we have good balance, and I said before the season started that we'd be good because of the experience of our seniors. And I felt from the start that this would be our best defensive team because we've got good quickness and good, solid strength at each of the positions."

Their best defensive team? This one? That's a strong statement. Arizona over the last eight seasons has been one of the best defensive teams going, at least if you use shooting percentages as the measure. In 1989-90, Arizona ranked second in the nation in field-goal percentage defense. In '92-93, third. With the exception of last year, when they weren't in the Top 30, the Wildcats haven't ranked lower than 16th in field-goal percentage defense since the 1987-88 season. And this team is better than all that?

So the PAC-10 season begins, with Arizona having won more games than you thought it would. And with UCLA losing three more games than you thought it would. Here's one reason: When UCLA lost Ed O'Bannon, Tyus Edney and George Zidek, it replaced them with sophomores. When Arizona lost Damon Stoudamire and Ray Owes, it replaced them with seniors -- Geary at the point Corey Williams and Joe McLean at forward. In this era of high school players jumping to the NBA, how many teams around the country start four seniors? (Georgia starts five, but has freshmen playing behind them.

"I think Arizona is good. I think they're very good," says John Thompson of Georgetown, whose only 1995-96 loss has been to the Wildcats, 91-81 in the Preseason NIT final. "They play very well together. When we played Arizona, their maturity level was in front of a lot of people. It scared me when I saw them. When I looked at their roster and saw that they had a lot of mature players on the team -- guys who have played together before -- it scared me. December is not the time you want to be playing that kind of team.

"Now, whether that'll be the case in March it'll be a little tougher later in the year than it is now, because a lot of the teams you're going to play against are going to have kids who are a little older with a little more experience by then."

So maybe UCLA Coach Jim Harrick's sophomores catch up to Olson's seniors by March. But this is January; and for now, Arizona starts the PAC-10 with a tough road trip and no sweat. Why worry now? The Wildcats have seen it all before. Been there, done that in the big-time Oakland Coliseum, where they play Cal on Thursday. Been there, done that in Stanford's Maples Pavilion, with its springboard court that will be invaded by Arizona on Saturday. Been there, done that in Pauley Pavilion, where young players sometimes keep their eye on UCLA's national championship banners instead of the ball.