Arizona's fortunes rise with Bayless back
Scouting reports on Jerryd Bayless probably warn defenders to beware of the Arizona freshman guard's quickness, strength, outside shooting and defensive intensity. They also might need to add this:
Don't talk trash to him.
Houston found that out Saturday when guard Robert McKiver said something to Bayless just before they played a non-conference game. Bayless, playing for the first time after missing four games with a sprained knee, torched the Cougars (11-3) for a career-high 33 points to lead the Arizona Wildcats to an 85-71 road win.
It was a much-needed lift for Arizona (11-5), which went 1-3 without Bayless, including 1-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference. With Bayless back, the Wildcats will look to get back into the Pac-10 mix when they travel to the Bay Area to play Stanford tonight and California on Saturday.
How valuable is Bayless? Arizona interim coach Kevin O'Neill compared him to some of the players he worked with when he was an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, including Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince.
"We had a bunch of really competitive guys, and he's along the lines of those guys," O'Neill said. "He's a great competitor and he loves the game. He's a guy that we depend on, obviously, an awful lot."
The season has been quite a roller-coaster ride for the Wildcats, who have been without coach Lute Olson since he went on leave for personal reasons Nov. 4.
"We were under the impression that Lute might be back at any time, so I was very hesitant, early in the season, to change anything at all or do things that I was comfortable with that I knew he wasn't comfortable with," O'Neill said. "But as it's gone along, I just had to take the approach that I have to coach the team the best I can and coach the way I know how to coach."
O'Neill has been a head coach at Marquette, Tennessee and Northwestern, and Arizona has announced he will be the school's next head coach when Olson retires. He said there are subtle differences in his coaching philosophy and Olson's -- O'Neill prefers to run more set plays, more man-to-man defense.
"But the basic principals are probably the same," he said. "But I've got to do what I'm comfortable with as a coach, so there've been some variations as we've gone along."
Olson, 73, told the Tucson Citizen last week that he intends to return next season but has stayed away from practices and games, saying it would be disruptive. He said he is pleased with the way the team has played under O'Neill.
"They've done a great job with the team," Olson told the newspaper. "With Jerryd (playing), those close losses would be wins."
Hope remains high in Tucson that the Wildcats can overcome the 1-2 conference start. Health issues remain -- Bayless said the knee affected his defense against Houston, and forwards Chase Budinger (flu), Jordan Hill (foot) and Bret Brielmaier (shoulder) aren't 100 percent this week. But Pac-10 coaches remain wary of playing the Wildcats.
"Nothing's changed in terms of their talent, their skill level," Stanford coach Trent Johnson said. "They're still good, and they're still special."
Note:
UCLA is asking fans to leave former coach John Wooden alone during home games. The 97-year-old coach is a popular draw at his seat behind the Bruins' bench, with people forming a line to get his autograph. The no autographs request was announced by the school at the request of Wooden's family. "It all wears on him," UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins said. "He just wants to be able to come and enjoy the games."
Coach Ben Howland said he suggested a year or two ago that fans be asked to leave Wooden in peace. "It's long overdue," Howland said. "It's not an autograph signing session. He'd be there all day just doing that. He never says no to anybody about anything."
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