Arizona Wildcats hand Lute Olsen his 1000th win

[yagsy]

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3238470

No. 15 Arizona gives Olson 1,000th win
Bob Baum / Associated Press
Posted: 13 hours ago

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -

Forty-seven years later, a packed house of 14,533 cheered on his 1,000th win on a court that bears Olson's name.
Channing Frye scored 19 points despite foul trouble and Hassan Adams slammed home a rebound with 40 seconds to play, allowing 15th-ranked Arizona to escape with a 67-62 victory over Utah on Saturday.

The victory made the 70-year-old Olson the 16th coach in basketball history to achieve 1,000 victories. The wins came in 11 seasons in high school, four in junior college and 32 in NCAA Division I.

"It's been a long haul," Olson said. "This victory brings back a lot of memories of a lot of nice young men and outstanding assistant coaches. It provides a nice flashback to some very memorable moments."

The latest win was no work of art, though, in a game played at the slow tempo Utah wanted.

Chris Rodgers had six points and a crucial assist in the final 3:39, including four free throws in the last 25.2 seconds. His two from the line with 2.7 seconds to go sealed the victory.

"Everybody wants the ball in those situations," Rodgers said. "That is what you live for. You want to get those shots down in close games."

Andrew Bogut, Utah's 7-foot Australian center, had 20 points and 10 rebounds on 8-for-10 shooting, but was scoreless after his rebound basket put the Utes up 56-51 with 5:41 remaining.

It was a matchup of two of the West's best post players.

"It was fun playing against a guy at my height and skill level," Frye said. "He is very good, very talented, but I had to come out and win on my home court."

Bogut came away unimpressed with Arizona's half-court game, which struggled against Utah's box-and-one defense.

"Arizona is just a bunch of athletes," Bogut said, "and they don't really run good sets. We were able to break those sets pretty easily."

Arizona's Salim Stoudamire, the team's leading scorer at 16 points per game, was hounded by Utah's Marc Jackson throughout the game. Stoudamire took just one shot and was scoreless in 30 minutes.

"It's as good a defensive job as I've ever seen on a guy who can score like he can," Utah coach Ray Giacoletti said.

Adams and Ivan Radenovic scored 14 apiece for Arizona (6-2). Richard Chaney scored 14 and Bryant Markson a career-best 13 for the Utes (5-3).

After Bogut's rebound basket, Radenovic sank a 3-pointer, then Rodgers made a 15-footer from the baseline to tie it at 56. Markson's two free throws gave Utah its last lead, 58-56, with 2:58 to play.

Rodgers penetrated the Utes' zone, then passed to Radenovic for a layup to tie it at 58-58. Jackson missed, and Frye's inside basket on a pass from Radenovic put Arizona ahead 60-58.

Bogut was called for an offensive foul on Utah's next possession, and Adams' spectacular rebound on Rodgers' missed 3-pointer made it 62-58 with 40 seconds left.

"That's one of my big ones," said Adams of the latest of his many power slams for Arizona. "It had an effect on our team so much. It got everybody going. That's what I try to do."

The Utes still had a chance to tie it after Mustafa Shakur made one of two free throws with 9.1 seconds to play to put Arizona ahead 65-62, but Jackson's pass to Markson sailed out of bounds.

Utah led by as many as nine points in the first half, was up 32-29 at the break and had a 53-48 advantage with 7:53 left.

Frye scored eight points early, but drew his second foul with 8:53 left and didn't play the rest of the half.

With Frye out, Bogut scored six in an 8-0 run that put the Utes ahead 27-18 with 5:30 remaining. Arizona scored the final four points of the half to cut the lead to 32-29 at the break.

Utah was coming off a 71-45 loss at Utah State.

"After the way we played last Saturday," Giacoletti said, "this is a step in the right direction."

[Baseball Guru]

Olson is one of the class acts in college basketball....

:hail:Lute

[yagsy]

1000 wins, it's amazing, isn't it? I love the way he goes about his business but I also love his ability to recruit really good players. The only player that I was disappointed in was Loren Woods who was messed up as an NBA player. This was not indicative of the type of guys Olsen would recruit. Gilbert Arenas is prolly one of my all time faves for recruits. He was incredible as a frosh (same year as Jason Gardner) and I'll never forget his first game on the collegiate level. He came out shooting and passing like senior.

Olsen knows his business and his program is one of the best. :thumbsup:

[Timberwolf]

Congrats to Lute.

Can't add anything more than what yagsy said about him.

One of my favorite college basketball coaches.

[yagsy]

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3259220


Arizona wins despite Stoudamire's benching
Arnie Stapleton / Associated Press
Posted: 14 hours ago



MILWAUKEE (AP) - Salim Stoudamire kept his head up and encouraged his teammates. He didn't sulk or pout when things went wrong.

Now, that's what Arizona coach Lute Olson wants to see Stoudamire do on the basketball court.
Olson benched Stoudamire, his leading scorer, on Saturday, when No. 15 Arizona edged Marquette 48-43 despite the Wildcats' lowest scoring output in nearly 20 years.

Olson didn't like the way his senior star moped after being held to a career-low one field goal attempt in a victory over Utah last week, Stoudamire's third scoreless game in 101 at Arizona.

"It was just a case where I felt it was the only way for him to begin to gain a positive attitude," Olson said. "We just need him to meet team responsibilities as a senior when on the court."

Lesson learned, Stoudamire insisted.

He said he realizes that "regardless of what's going on (in a game) I have to be there emotionally for my teammates. I have to get everybody into it."

Marquette coach Tom Crean knew he hadn't caught a break when he heard Stoudamire wouldn't play: "You just knew they were going to come out with a real chip on their shoulder."

And he knew Stoudamire's replacement, Chris Rodgers, was no slouch.

"Chris Rodgers would start for most teams in America," Crean said. "He just happens to be behind some All-Americans at Arizona."

Rodgers keyed the victory with 16 points and six rebounds and made a key layup in the final minute when he blew past Steve Novak into an open lane.

Hassan Adams added 14 points for the visitors, including two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to seal the victory after he grabbed the rebound off his teammate Ivan Radenovic's errant 3-pointer.

Neither team scored much Saturday, combining for only three field goals over the last nine minutes. Arizona (7-2) hadn't been held to so few points since a 50-41 loss to Alabama in the 1985 NCAA tournament. And Marquette scored just four points over the final 10:07.

Arizona trailed 43-42 when Adams sank two free throws with 2:06 remaining. The Golden Eagles found it harder and harder to get off a good shot against the athletic Wildcats and never regained the lead.

Nearly half of Marquette's shots (24 of 49) were 3-pointers, and the Golden Eagles only sank seven of them.

Marquette (9-1), which had its 34-game home winning streak ended, got 14 points from Travis Diener, who became the school's career leading 3-point shooter but was just 5-of-17 from the floor. Novak scored 11 points.

Diener's four 3-pointers gave him 245, one more than Rob Logterman's old mark.

Diener (21.1-point average) and Novak (15.3), the Golden Eagles' top two scorers, combined to shoot 3-for-15 from the floor in the first half.

"You are not going to see two better shooters on one team than Novak and Diener," Olson said. "And in order to stop that you need five guys working together and I felt like we really did a great job defensively."

With his senior star rooting from the next seat over, no less.

[yagsy]

It was a close game. This is very typical of this team. Then again Marquette is a ranked team. Glad to see a win against a ranked team. :D

[yagsy]

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/recap?gameId=200412280017

Eastern Washington 45 at Arizona 79


TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Channing Frye made sure Arizona didn't overlook a struggling opponent.

Frye had 16 points, and the 14th-ranked Wildcats beat Eastern Washington 79-45 Tuesday night to advance to the championship game of the Fiesta Bowl Classic.
The Wildcats will play Richmond, a 69-68 victor over Butler, for the title Thursday night. Arizona is 38-1 in its holiday tournament, losing only to Mississippi State in 2000 while coach Lute Olson was at the bedside of his cancer-stricken wife.

"We want to beat teams bad," Frye said. "We've had enough teams come back on us to know that we can't let it happen again, especially at home."

Hassan Adams added 13 points and four steals. Frye also had four steals, contributing to Eastern's 24 turnovers.

"It was good, solid defense by everybody, even when we got (into) the bench," Olson said.

Marc Axton, a 1,000-point career scorer, went 3-for-12 against Arizona's pressure and finished with seven points. Reserve Paul Butorac had 11 points and Kenny Smith 10.

The Wildcats (9-2) won their sixth straight and handed the Eagles their worst loss of the season - one point worse than the 33-point defeat at No. 13 Washington on Dec. 5.

"They both are great teams," Butorac said. "It shows why they are the best in the Pac-10."

Eastern Washington (2-9), a preseason favorite to repeat as Big Sky Conference champion, has lost seven straight during a difficult stretch which began against the Huskies and included consecutive games against Gonzaga and Arizona.

A week earlier, Arizona beat Manhattan 105-75 in its best performance of the year, shooting 52 percent to silence some early season critics. They kept up the sharp shooting against the Eagles, hitting 61.5 percent in the first half and 53.8 percent for the game.

Frye was 7-of-11 from the floor, including 6-of-8 in the first half when he scored 12.

"It was great to have an all-around game," Adams said. "It started defensively. That was big, because we are keeping the defensive intensity up."

The Wildcats led by 16 points at halftime and squeezed any suspense out of the game with an 18-6 run that featured seven straight points by Adams. Salim Stoudamire had four points during a 9-0 finish to the run, capping it with a spectacular reverse layup.

The 6-minute surge opened a 62-34 lead with 8:56 left, and both coaches sent reserves in to finish the game minutes later.

"They came out flying and were able to get into the passing lanes," Eagles coach Mike Burns said. "We were expecting it, but we just couldn't do anything about it."

Arizona made 13 of its first 19 shots and forced the Eagles into 13 turnovers by the 7:33 mark of the first half.

Frye made a layup for a 14-4 lead and a jump hook with 12:07 to go, increasing the lead to 16-7.

After a 3-pointer by Butorac, Arizona went on a 13-4 run capped by Daniel Dillon's 3-pointer for a 29-14 lead with 7:33 remaining.

Jawann McClellan, another freshman, gave Arizona its biggest lead of the first half at 39-23 when he made a free throw with 1.9 seconds left after getting an offensive rebound.

[yagsy]

I'm happy to see the Wildcats finally playing all around games. 'Bout time! Channing Frye is turning into a STAR. I love his game. Very unselfish player too, he's always moving.

[azwildcat88]

The guy to watch on the Wildcats is Jawann McClellan. He's a freshman guard who will be a star next year, once that cancer Salim is gone. He's nothing like his cousin Damon.
That's why Arizona folds under pressure because Stoudamire is not a leader. He wants things his way. That's why Olson sends him to the highway two or three times a season.
So does anyone remember the 1988 team of Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Judd Buechler, Anthony Cook and yes, Kenny Lofton. Final Four? That was a TEAM. I got to see them play live several times that year (when I graduated!). Lute's first true championship team that went like 35-3.
Today, you have to be either on the Forbes 500 list or inherit tickets to see the CATS play at McKale Center.

[yagsy]

Kenny Lofton? :eek: On the '88 TEAM? ARe you freakin serious? Then again, he sure does have alot of air time. :laff:

I will watch McClellan and I do agree about Stoudamire. Channing Frye is my guy! I love how he plays. I don't think this AZ team will make it further than the Final 8. Like you said, not till Salim is gone. Talk about potential that went to the head... :hmm: :laff:

But Still, "LET'S GO WILDCATS!" :D

[yagsy]

AZ gets another win for Lute beating AZ State today 97 - 79 rout. But that score doesn't tell the story. Watching the second half, with 14min to go, the score was 56-50, Cats leading. Then Salim Soudemire TURNED IT ON! He scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Mustafa Shakur just kept feeding Salim on the outside and Salim knocked down three after three. THERE'S that potential we keep hearing about. :hmm:

Channing Frye, a real star, scored a season high 21 points and Hassan Adams second-leading scorer, had eight points on 3-for-14 shooting, but had 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The most interesting improvement was Stoudemire playing unselfish basketball but not afraid to step up when needed. Funny how azwildcat88 and I were just talking about Salim and now, he's made liars out of us. :laff: Hope he keeps it up!

[azwildcat88]

Yags you are so right! Salim did step up. Unfortunately, as last year can attest to, he can't seem to do that on a consistent basis. Let's hope that consistency will be his middle name this season and he'll remain on Lute's "happy" list.
I can't say enough about freshman Jawann(a Man) McClellan had 7 points in 7 minutes (3 rebounds and an assist too). He's going to be a stud next year, you guys watch!

[azwildcat88]

Some quotes from Coach Olson :evillol prior to the CAL and Stanford games:

Jan. 3, 2005

Opening Statement
The kids were upbeat today. It’s been a long haul for us coming back on (Dec.) 26th and working out that night; the 27th, playing the 28th, working on the 29th, playing on the 30th. So we had no chance to give them a day off. They welcomed (the day off) yesterday. They were very upbeat today. I think they’ve been looking forward to league play.

What are some of the things you are pushing for in practice?
Just an understanding that if you get in the right habits in practice, you don’t make silly mistakes in the game. The good thing that we are trying to defensively is not to allow the scout team to run their stuff.
We had an opportunity to have Miles (Simon) run the point for the scout team and that makes a world of difference. That gives us an opportunity to work in Daniel and Jesus with the blue teams (starters). What we do is to take the blue team against the scout team first one to 15 and then the reserves against the scout team first one to 15, so each gets a chance to work out.
Interestingly enough, the scout team beat the starters 15-13 and the second team beat the scout team pretty handily, but that may have had something to do with the fact that the scout team got no rest in between.
We’re getting better each day.

Is Miles going to be available often this semester?
Yes. He’ll be in school finishing up his degree. School starts next week. He makes a big difference with the guys on the scout team. He just has the ability to make everyone better. He’ll be with us the rest of the year.

Any thoughts on going on the road after last week’s results?
Anytime you go on the road, it’s critical. What’s it like for a team to come into McKale Center and win? Why is it so difficult? The team? Yes. The fans? Yes. The homecourt? Yes. Familiarity with everything here is everything. It’s the same problem when we go to Cal. They are going to have that place packed.
One thing about us no matter where we go is that it’s going to be one of the biggest games of the year for them. I’m sure the fans are already excited about our coming in. Up at Cal, the students will be waiting there for hours waiting to harass us when we get off the bus.
You just have to be much more efficient when you are on the road. You can’t let teams get a run on you.

Last year, Cal took Salim Stoudamire out of things pretty quickly. How do you think Salim will react now?
I think he would recognize that it’s not me against you. It’s me against your team. If you look at how efficient he’s been in the last four games, he’s taken an average of six shots per game and yet his scoring average is about 16 points and he’s shooting 75 percent from the field and 79 percent from three-point range. I think he’s matured a lot.
We are much more experienced now than we were a year ago (at Cal). Hassan was a starter a year ago, where he was a reserve before. Plus, we had no depth and Channing got in foul trouble. We just didn’t have any answer. Our depth is so much better. I think we can maintain defensive pressure for 40 minutes whether it’s full-court or halfcourt defense.

Can you talk a bit about Stanford’s Dan Grunfeld, and how he’s improved?
He’s a good shooter and he’s getting minutes now and the opportunity to shoot it. A year ago, he didn’t get a whole lot of time. He was off the bench for a few minutes and then back. He’s a good shooter who is shooting the ball well right now. It’s hard to get a few minutes here and there and have confidence in your shot.

Please talk about Hassan Adams and his transition to the perimeter?
He needs to put in a lot of time every night with his shooting. He’s never played on the perimeter. He never played on the perimeter in high school, so he’s having to learn (as he goes). His passing has improved, but he’s still making too many turnovers. He’s eliminated many of the turnovers with his ballhandling. That’s gotten a lot better. This is a very important year for Hassan to show that he can do the things from the perimeter that he can do. He’s really a competitor, but he needs to take more of that into the practice situations.

[azwildcat88]

Cats take three of four from California schools. And I have to eat my words about Salim Stoudamire. He's on FIRE. Let's hope he can carry the team to the next level as past Wildcat greats have:

Salim Stoudamire Named Pac-10 Player of the Week

TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona men’s basketball player Salim Stoudamire was named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week for Jan. 10-16, the league announced Monday.
Stoudamire, a 6-foot-1, 179-pound senior guard from Portland, Ore., led Arizona to a home sweep of USC and UCLA by averaging 26.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He connected on 57.6 percent of his field goal attempts (19-of-33), including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range.
He opened the week with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, two rebounds and three assists in the 77-68 win over USC and followed that with a season-high 32 points, including the game-winning trey with 2.5 seconds remaining. Stoudamire, who went 11-of-16 from the field against the Bruins, scored 24 of his 32 points in the second half, including 21 of Arizona’s last 27 points.
On the season, Stoudamire is averaging a team-leading 15.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field and 56.2 percent from three-point range. It is the third time in his career that Stoudamire has been recognized by the league office and the 62nd award all-time for the Wildcats, a Pac-10 best. It is the first such award for Arizona this season.
Seventeenth-ranked Arizona (14-3, 4-1 Pac-10) will next be in action on Thursday, Jan. 20, at Oregon. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST and can be seen nationally on Fox Sports Net.