The Weekly Wildcat
July 11, 2006

(The Weekly Wildcat will appear each week on Tuesdays as part of a running series, updating Wildcats supporters on the sports happenings at the University of Arizona)

The following article first appeared on my other now extinct website on March 17, 2006 and was written during Arizona’s first round basketball game against Wisconsin in this year’s NCAA Tournament. I’m rerunning the article in two parts as a prelude to the many running diaries that will be written during the upcoming football season.

Running Diary – Arizona versus Wisconsin (March 17, 2006)

NCAA First Round Game: Tip-off 9:30 AM PST

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Some initial thoughts…Both teams have had up and down seasons. Player suspensions, injuries, underachieving stars, poor inside play, terrible outside shooting; the list goes on and on. However, both have enough talent to make some noise in this tournament, especially Arizona where Villanova’s carefree, up-tempo style bodes well for the Cats who prosper on causing turnovers and getting steals that lead to transition buckets. This season has been such a disaster for Arizona that the only thing that could come even close to removing the bitter taste in many Cats supporters’ mouths is a respectable run in the tournament. While many of us remember the incredible turnaround the 1997 national champion team was able to make, reality tells us that this team is incapable of such an accomplishment. That team had a true leader in Miles Simon, a future NBA wonder boy in Mike Bibby, a supremely athletic and budding star in Michael Dickerson, and a supporting cast of role players who actually embraced the roles Lute Olson set for them. This year’s team has an identity problem, which has led to a consistent stream of inconsistent performances. One step forward, two steps back has been the norm for my beloved Wildcats this season and I sincerely hope that Arizona’s men’s basketball team can somehow find a way to take two steps forward this weekend and leave the backpedaling for another time.

The following are my keys to the game:

For Arizona, the Cats must match Wisconsin’s intensity. Referees in the NCAA Tournament typically favor the aggressor and coming into the game, Wisconsin’s hard-nosed reputation may cause the refs to swallow their whistles as the Badgers attempt to bang the Cats around early on. Second, Hassan Adams must produce numbers similar to his season averages. If he’s a no show, Arizona will be on the first flight out of Philly by sunset. Third, Mustafa Shakur must breakdown Wisconsin’s defense by penetrating the lane and scoring. When he does, the Cats look great. When he doesn’t, they play like they did in three losses to UCLA this year.

For Wisconsin, the Badgers must keep themselves between their man and the basket on defense. Arizona runs an NBA style motion offense that looks to score early in the shot clock. If they don’t get a good look on their first or second option, they’re big men get sedentary watching their guards over dribble. Second, the Badgers must win the three point contest. If Arizona outscores them from the three-point line, that means the Badgers are shooting poorly from the perimeter because the Cats are the Pac-10’s worst outside shooting team. Third, Wisconsin must out rebound Arizona. There’s little doubt that both teams will miss plenty of shots in this game so the team who wins the rebound battle or more accurately, prevents the fewest second and third chance points, will most likely win what I’m anticipating to be a closely contested game.

Deep breath, deep breath and…here…we…go…

Welcome everyone to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city Bernard Shaw once made reference to when describing the epitaph to be scribed onto his tombstone, “Better here than in Philly.”

Arizona 2 Wisconson 0

First possession ends with Mustafa Shakur driving the lane and dishing to Ivan Radenovic for an easy lay up.

Arizona 8 Wisconsin 0

It appears Arizona got an advanced copy of my keys to the game. Wisconsin has two turnovers, no rebounds and the Cats have already made two uncontested lay ups by guards penetrating the lane and assisting others.

Arizona 10 Wisconsin 3

This is a nice looking floor. Props to the Wachovia Center. Arizona just went on a mini run to make it 14-3. Timeout Wisconsin.

Coming out of the timeout, it appears that Hassan Adams has picked up his second foul. We’ve only played four minutes so this is not good. I find it ironic that in the NCAAs, the refs typically let everything go. I mean, you practically have to cause a puncture wound for someone to the blow the whistle and yet Hassan already has two fouls, the latest coming at half court. Pretty ticky-tack in my opinion.

Arizona 17 Wisconsin 5

CBS just turned away from our game. Um…somebody?

Arizona 19 Wisconsin 8

Radenovic just hit another baby hook. The refs just called another touch foul on Arizona. Did they not get the memo? I can hear the chants now from the fans in the Astrodome during the Bad News Bears game from the seventies….”Let them play, let them play, let them play!”

Arizona 24 Wisconsin 8

So far Arizona owns the boards. Hassan just re-entered the game. Coach Olson doesn’t usually play guys with two fouls in the first half so we’ll see what happens.

I’m waiting for CBS to leave the Arizona game for one that’s more competitive.
Still waiting…

Yep, there it is. Time of death on the Arizona game is 9:54 AM. Thanks CBS. Thanks Guggenheim Grotto. Thanks to me for not ordering Direct TV’s March Madness package. Outside of Dan Rather, I absolutely cannot stand CBS. Oh wait, I hate Dan Rather too.

Arizona 31 Wisconsin 11

I had to check espn.com for the score. Mustafa just set up Marcus Williams for a three pointer. That’s four assists for Mustafa, the Philly kid returning home to play in front of 34 friends and family he was able to get tickets for. What a nice Arizona boy he is. I hope he plays well today.

Arizona 35 Wisconsin 13

I’m stepping away for a minute. I’m searching other websites for a pod cast of the game.

Arizona 35 Wisconsin 18

7:39 on the game clock. I managed to find an audio broadcast of the game on Yahoo Sports. YAHOOOOOO!!!!

The radio announcer just informed us that Arizona passed on their morning shoot around today because of the early start. Nice pointer, Mr. Announcer. This isn’t so bad.
Sweet! Another rebound for Arizona.

Actually, listening to the game on the radio is pretty excruciating. I just realized that the audio cast is about a minute slower than the CBS score updates so not only am I typing, I’m listening and trying to avoid looking at the ticker tape on the television.

Arizona 37 Wisconsin 26

Gee…what a surprise. CBS turns off the Arizona game and Wisconsin goes on a 15-2 run. Wow, CBS producers. You must be shocked. I mean, this never happens. You guys are so good at directing the viewers from game to game…I’m shocked that you’ve once again gotten it wrong. Actually, I’m not. This just reminds me why CBS stinks at covering the NCAA tournament.
Meanwhile, CBS is making my case for me. There’s only one game that’s not at halftime right now and it’s the Arizona game. And guess what CBS is airing right now. COMMERCIALS. They also went to Greg Gumbel in the studio for a brief second to re-show us the Davidson versus Ohio State halftime score. Hey, thanks guys. It’s all good. I’d rather watch commercials and meaningless commentary instead of live action (sorry, I felt a sarcasm swell forming and had to let it out).

Arizona 46 Wisconsin 30

Still watching commercials on CBS. Unbelievable.

Arizona is 19-31 from the floor. I can’t remember the last time we shot over 60% in a half. I think it was back in the Reagan Era when Sean Elliot was a sophomore. I’m kidding of course, but watching this team this year has resulted in a tremendous amount of brain cells being killed since early February.

More commercials…I’ve almost given up.

Hey, Mr. Announcer from Yahoo just dropped another dime on us. The Arizona swimming team is in first place after the first day of competition in Athens, Georgia at the NCAA swimming championships.

We’re under a minute in the first half…

CBS has taken us to the Davidson game. The announcer just said Arizona’s Marcus Williams was hit on the arm during a jump shot. No foul called, result…air ball. Can’t refs figure this stuff out? Best shooter on a team throws up an air ball after contact from ten feet out and what, they think he misjudged the distance. So much for the NCAA stressing to officials this year that they must protect the shooter. I guess this rule only applies to Duke’s J.J. Redick and Gonzaga’s Adam Morisson.

HALFTIME

Arizona 46 Wisconsin 34

Sensory system overload, sensory system overload, sensory system overload.
Here’s the situation. I’m listening to the game on Yahoo Sports. I’m in a “virtual” admission line at www.ncaasports.com/mmod to gain Internet access to live video feeds of the game. The website is telling me I’m the 130th person in line. What does this mean? There’s also a running clock in the corner that tells me the next admission ticket will be punched in 42…41…40…39 seconds. Make that 35…34 now.

When I figure out what all this means I’ll let you know.

Wow…this is awesome. I’m in the video on demand. I’m selecting the Arizona/Wisconsin game. Let’s see what happens.

By the way it’s still halftime. Getting close though.

Give me a break. I can’t watch the Arizona game via Video on Demand because the game is blacked out by my local CBS affiliate who is airing the game. Damn CBS! Damn them!