From: gln@cs.arizona.edu (Gary L. Newell)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Early impressions of Arizona for 92-93
Date: 4 Sep 92 22:18:43 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson


 I've watched the cats practice (unofficial practice of course) a few times
in the past week and thought I'd give my early impressions of the team. This
is of course early and subject to change once the coaches have a chance to work
with these guys....

 Returning players:

Flanagan - reports are that the knee is in fine shape. He seems to be moving
well and playing with enthusiasm and confidence - he may play more minutes than
most would expect.

Stokes - seems to be back to 100% with the leg and although he is still
ripped, it looked as if he has picked up some foot speed in the off-season.
Still needs to become a better leaper though...

Mills - looked like he put on some muscle in the upper body. Moves very well
though for a guy his size - outside shooting looked good.

Reeves - tough to call, played pretty lazy through the games I watched. Must
become a team leader in games if he wants his career to be much more than
a "what could have been..."

Stoudamire - still mighty quick. If this team develops as I think it might,
he has a chance at a big career. The cats have more team speed than they
have had in quite some time and if they try to take advantage of it, Damon
could become the key player.

Derron Johnson/ Ray Owes - didn't see either at any of the practices. I have
seen Owes around but I have no idea what Johnson is doing - as much as this
kid's attitude bugs me at times you really haver to say that he has gotten a raw
deal from this program. He is the local kid who broke all the state records
and was promised the world by Olson, only to end up red-shirted as a freshman
and receive effectively no useful playing time in the seasons that followed.
He should have transfered two years ago...

 I think that is it for returning players....

 New guys:

Rigdon (??) - the kid from UC-Irvine. Played against Othick and did quite
well. Seems to have reasonable range on his jumper but is a bit daring
on the offensive and defensive ends. He has a habit of trying to sneak in
on the off-side for rebounds and also likes to follow his shot from outside -
got burned a number of times by his defender breaking up court and pinning
him in too deep. This may have been simply the way he plays in meaningless
pick-ups and not a ket part of his game...

The california guards(McLean and the other guy) - definite red-shirts
unless there is an injury to one of the upper-classmen. Both showed pretty
good speed but looked lost most of the time.

Bohanon - Disappointing so far. Skinny, easily-blocked, Ed Stokes-like,
jumper. Needs to bulk up if he is going to be effective inside. Good
speed though.

Williams (Illinois kid) - looked great! Unreal ball control. Moves like
Arizona has never seen before. Unless Olson manages to kill his game, he
looks like the best prospect they've ever had. He was clearly one of the
best players on the court (possibly the best along with Mills) and seems
to be a gym rat. Made some drives to the hoop that were spectacular. If
I had to pick a freshman that would not red-shirt it would be this kid
although he plays the most contested position on the team. This kid
is going to make Johnson regret he stuck around.... Has a great
outside shot as well. Incredible arc on it. Only problem is he has a
slow release on the jumper and I expect that he will need to alter
this slightly.

Blair (Houston) - Big body. Lousy range (makes Ed Stokes look like Steve
Kerr). Slowest player on the team. Plays very strong underneath and if
he gets the ball in dunking range he will be very difficult to stop,
but he dogs it up and down the court and his hands aren't particularly
good.

 I have no idea if Sean Allen is here or if he has transfered or if there
are any attempted walk-ons this season.

 This team is weak inside. Mills would be wasted if moved to power
forward and so I would expect some sort of "two-wing" offense much
of the time, with Chris playing D on the opponent's big forward. Stokes
will start at center but I can't see the cats getting much offense
from him. Reeves and Stoudamire will probably start the season at
guard but I expect Rigdon to earn his share of time. I would predict:

Center - Stokes
Point Guard - Stoudamire
Shooting Guard - Reeves
Forward - Mills
Forward - I'll go with either Owes or Johnson but don't be surprised to
see Williams grab this spot fairly quickly if things go bad early in the
season. Another possibility is Flanagan grabbing the big forward
spot and Mills playing the single wing.	

 Bench - Owes or Johnson, Williams, Rigdon, Bohanon, Flanagan,

 Redshirts - McLean, other cal. kid, Blair.

Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college