The Sun Devils took one on the chin in their own gym.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/azcentral sports

Arizona defeated Arizona State on Saturday afternoon in a very satisfying victory for Wildcat fans. It wasn’t just winning in Tempe. It wasn’t merely the 17-point margin of victory. It was beating ASU in a fashion that left no doubt as to who had the better team.

It was a sign that a return to the days of a one-sided hoops rivalry may be on the horizon.

The UA made 56% of its shots in the second half against Arizona State. The Cats got to the line 12 times after the break and made them all. Arizona had more rebounds and fewer turnovers than the home team. It all added up to a 25-10 run over the final 10 minutes to turn a close game into a blowout.

The Wildcats wore down the Sun Devils with superior depth and superior talent. It started with Solomon Hill driving through the ASU defense and dunking on the very first possession. You had freshman Kaleb Tarczewski throwing it down over two Sun Devils on his way to outscoring and outrebounding ASU junior center Jordan Bachynski. Mark Lyons finished off the win by attacking, attacking and attacking some more against a foul-hampered Jahii Carson.

Kaleb Tarczewski and the UA freshmen grew up a bit in Tempe.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/azcentral sports

People can talk about the suspension and foul trouble exposing ASU’s thin roster but having the troops to win the battle of attrition is part of fielding a strong team. Arizona State certainly benefited in 2008 when Kevin O’Neill attempted what seemed like a four-man rotation.

Devil fans can still say they lead the head-to-head series since Lute Olson retired, having won seven of the last 12 meetings. But Wildcats can confidently point to more telling statistical splits: Olson went 43-6 against ASU, the interim coaches went 0-5 and Sean Miller is now 5-2 against his in-state rivals.

There was definite concern after last year’s game. When ASU beat the Cats on the final day of the regular season to effectively end Arizona’s hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament bid, it became the first time the Devils had taken something away from the UA on the basketball court in three decades.

None of Olson’s six losses to the Sun Devils cost him a Pac-10 championship or spot in the tournament. Even though neither O’Neill nor Russ Pennell could beat ASU, both coaches got Arizona to the Big Dance. Miller’s first loss to the Devils was during his 16-15 season when there was no chance of making the postseason.

Last year’s loss was a big deal and it stung those in Red and Blue. When Wildcat fans got over the shock there was nothing left to do but mutter about waiting for the top-five recruiting class to arrive. ASU was expected to stay near the bottom of the conference and things would quickly go back to normal.

But then ASU put together pretty non-conference record and matched Arizona’s 3-1 start in Pac-12 play. Carson was a leading freshman of the year candidate, Bachynski was a shot-blocking demon and Carrick Felix was playing like the guy recruited by Duke. There was good reason for Wildcat fans to be nervous heading into this game.

Watching the Cats play with intensity and get contributions from multiple sources was more than a relief; it was reenergizing. The win was not quite to the level of Lute Olson pointing at the scoreboard but it was a strong move in that direction.

Now you can take a step back and see a very likeable trend: Sean Miller’s three wins in Tempe have been by 19, 15 and 17 points. His five total wins against ASU are by an average of 16 points. He has elite recruits coming to play with his elite recruits.

Little brother got some shots in while he could but big brother looks ready to go back to his bullying ways.

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Scott Terrell likes his rivalries to be one-sided. Demand your bragging rights on Twitter and Facebook.

Happy 15-year birthday, net!
Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images

The nets have been cut down. The basketballs have been put away. The upholstery has been extinguished.

The 2012 college basketball season is now in the history books. With the Kentucky Wildcats in the championship game you couldn’t blame Arizona fans for thinking of their own “One Shining Moment” 15 years ago.

March of 1997 was the month it all came together for Lute Olson and his brand of Wildcats. Thanks to modern technology you can relive the title game in its entirety for free. Join me for a dribble-drive down memory line.

0:00:01 – How did we survive without the score and clock on the screen at all times? We’re going to have to use the elapsed time on the video instead.

0:00:07 – Kentucky entered this game with a 35-4 record. The Wildcats would not beat that win total until this year’s team won 38.

0:00:54 – Mike Bibby scores the first basket of the game on a nice crossover in transition. I’m really surprised the tight-neck sleeveless undershirt didn’t take off.

0:01:03 – The first score graphic appears on the screen. I don’t think of the ‘90s as that long ago but, compared to TV today, this may as well be the 1977 championship game.

0:01:43 – Close-up of Michael Dickerson’s floating sideburns. I’m not surprised at all that trend didn’t take off.

0:02:14 – “Road to the Championship” graphics. Arizona’s largest margin of victory in the tournament was eight points. Kentucky won games by 38, 15 and 13. Survive and advance.

0:04:51 – UK’s Scott Padgett with a pick-and-pop three. He’s now an assistant coach for the Manhattan Jaspers. Now you know.

0:07:28 – “Over the last 10 years Arizona has the best win percentage in all of college basketball.” It was .812 compared to Kansas’ .799 and Kentucky’s .779. Thank you, Coach Olson. Thank you.

0:07:50 – The first-round losses are mentioned. Come on now, 2-seeds lose to 15-seeds all the time. Right, Coach K?

0:07:58 – Immediately after that we’re told Lute was 4-0 in Regional Finals (including at Iowa). Starting with the next season he went 1-3 to finish his career.

0:11:10 – Dickerson makes Arizona’s first 3-pointer and trips over Rick Pitino on the sidelines. Dickerson was actually the leading scoring on this team. He averaged 18.9 points per game to Simon’s 18.4

0:13: 50 – Arizona 16, Kentucky 13 at the 10:16 mark. Neither team shooting well.

0:15:15 – A young Eugene Edgerson pulls down a rebound. He hadn’t grown his hair out yet but his elbows were already flying.

0:19:50 – Kentucky shoots its first free throws with just over seven minutes left in the half. Arizona ended up with a 41-17 free throw advantage. Any UK fans watching this might start another riot.

0:27:55 – Tied at 28 with 3:37 left in the 1st half. Both teams are shooting under 40%. We’re reminded Arizona only shot 33% in the national semifinal game against North Carolina. Defense (and free throws) wins championships.

0:31:53 – Young Gene makes both of his only free throws of the night. They say he’s a 39% shooter on the year. How could any UA fan have been worried at that point?

0:33:40 – 33-32 West Cats at the half.

0:37:39 – Simon scores on a floater in the lane. He owned that shot.

0:38:55 – Simon commits a foul with 16.5 minutes left, his first foul in 115 game minutes. I guess he owned that too.

0:41:07 – Donnell Harris with the steal on one end and the offensive putback on the other. Arizona leads by six with 15 minutes left. Take a TO, Ricky P! Take a TO!

0:46:15 – With Arizona’s white warm-ups the Cats look like they’re ready for a karate tournament.

0:49:20 – Ron Mercer with a tip-in and we are tied at 44 with 11 and change remaining.

0:50:25 – Kentucky is really picking it up on the glass. Mercer with a circus and-one to give the East Cats the lead.

0:52:16 – Harris banks in a free throw. Again, why was there any worry?

0:57:08 – Jason Terry with a high-arcing three with Padgett in his face to give the UA a 55-54 lead with 6:35 remaining. Money player (in more ways than one).

0:58:20 – Harris goes over the back to join A.J. Bramlett with four fouls. Six minutes to go. Can you feel the 15-year-old anxiety??

1:02:44 – Scattered sequence: Kentucky steal, pass ahead to midcourt, Terry re-steal, crosscourt pass to Bibby who drains the three to break a 59-all tie at the five minute mark. Lots of jumping on the UA bench.

1:03:10 – Padgett answers with a three of his own. He is carrying Kentucky in the 2nd half.

1:08:28 – Bibby with a big offensive rebound and two free throws to extend the lead to three. The freshman point guard ended up with a team-high nine boards.

1:09:35 – But Bibby also had eight turnovers. He commits a charge after jumping to make a pass near midcourt with two minutes left. Two free throws from Padgett and UK is back in front.

1:12:12 – Simon leaks out on an inbounds play in the backcourt for a breakaway. Jared Prickett grabs him from behind and is called for an intentional foul. This could have just about iced things but Simon missed one of the free throws and Anthony Epps stole the inbounds pass.

1:16:15 – Mercer comes around a screen for a catch-and-shoot three to narrow the gap to one with 51.1 seconds left. I’m glad I know how this turns out.

1:16:50 – Bibby drive and dish to Davison for the layup. The lead is three!

1:17:00 – Epps with an up-and-under three past Bibby. The lead is zero!

1:17:10 – No timeout. Simon tries to go one-on-four and his shot doesn’t hit the rim. Overtime.

1:25:18 – Arizona makes five free throws around a lot of Kentucky misses.

1:28:18 – Padgett with a pump-fake and a good look at a three… Short! Simon grabs the rebound, gets fouled and the parade to the free throw line begins again.

1:31:09 – Simon makes free throws 13 and 14 for points 29 and 30. I went to the Dave and Buster’s in Irvine once and they had Polaroids of the customers who made the most consecutive free throws. Number one on the list? Miles Simon. I wonder how many tickets he got for that.

1:32:22 – “A Miles-stone victory for Arizona!” “Simon says, ‘Championship.’”

Pitino and Kentucky won the tournament in 1996. Tubby Smith won it with UK in ’98. Kentucky was that close to the only three-peat since Wooden. This year the Wildcats are champions once again.

As for Arizona? The transition from the Lute Olson era was anything but smooth but Sean Miller appears to be assembling the pieces needed to make a championship run.

Can he take the Cats all the way back to the mountain top? That’s the question and the waiting game. At least it won’t take 15 years to find out.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell felt a lot younger 15 years ago. Reminisce on Twitter and Facebook.

Lute Olson was on hand Senior Day to say goodbye to the last of his guys.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

They are the last remaining ties to Lute Olson, the final players signed before the legendary University of Arizona basketball coach retired.

Seniors Kyle Fogg, Brendon Lavender and Alex Jacobson are the last remaining Cats of Chaos. They have witnessed controversy and turmoil. They lived through the Wildcat program teetering on the brink of collapse only to come roaring back under Sean Miller.

With wins in their final two home games Lute’s last players are making a run at one final NCAA tournament berth.

The mere fact that they became Arizona players was seen as a sign the program was eroding. In 2007 UCLA was signing the top center in the country while Jacobson wasn’t even in the discussion. In an era of one-and-done he redshirted and ended up watching his head coach take a leave of absence.

A year later Fogg and Lavender played the same position and neither ranked as highly as the shooting guard recruits from seven other Pac-10 schools. Fogg needed a former Sun Devil player to convince a former Sun Devil broadcaster to help him become a Wildcat. He joined Lavender and Jacobson in watching Olson depart for the second and final time.

If Sean Miller hadn’t come in and saved the empire they would have been viewed as the soldiers on duty while Rome burned. Instead they are rightly being honored as players who persevered and carried the torch as it passed from the era of a Hall of Famer to an era of rebirth and great promise.

They won the final Pac-10 championship. They made March Madness memories in trouncing the defending champions in the Sweet Sixteen. Their place in Arizona basketball history was secure before this season began.

It looked like the seniors were going to quietly witness another transition, waiting for Derrick Williams to be replaced by the nation’s number one recruiting class. The expectations were low and few UA fans would’ve complained about missing the tournament.

These seniors have changed the narrative one more time.

Fogg has become the team’s leading scorer and the 6-3 version of Charles Barkley on the glass. Lavender has become the league’s best 3-point shooter since, well, Derrick Williams.

The result has been wins in seven of Arizona’s last eight games and the Cats have gone from NIT locks to smack dab in the middle of the NCAA tournament conversation.

The work certainly isn’t done. The UA has gotten hot while other bubble teams have suffered bad losses but one final pitfall remains. Beating ASU and its 236 RPI on Sunday is a must. Winning the opening game in the Pac-12 tournament is highly recommended.

Taking things for granted isn’t an option. But with seniors like this, that will not be a problem.

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Scott Terrell knows it’s hard to say goodbye. Say hello on Twitter and Facebook.

Can the football rivalry gap end up like the basketball gap?
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats beat Arizona State handily on Saturday giving Sean Miller his fourth win in five games against the Sun Devils.

Add in the UA football team winning three of the last four Territorial Cup games and Cat fans are swimming in bragging rights.

When was the last time the head-to-head in-state rivalry was this lopsided in the two highest profile sports?

Miller’s rapid rebuilding has moved Arizona Basketball past ASU and the gap is getting wider. The UA hoops program is back to striving for goals much bigger than just beating a rival, but it’s still a big deal for the fans. Life is especially good when you can point to the scoreboard in both football and men’s basketball.

Here is a year-by-year breakdown of the head-to-head results in the Arizona/ASU rivalry (from the Wildcats’ perspective) since both schools joined the Pac-10 in the fall of 1978:

The Sun Devils’ best combined run in the two sports took place right out of the gate. ASU went 3-1 against Arizona in the first four years of Pac-10 football and tacked on a 9-1 record in basketball.

The tables turned when Larry Smith knocked the Devils out of the Rose Bowl to start The Streak in 1982 and Lute Olson was hired to coach hoops in Tucson a year later. From the fall of 1983 through the spring of 1990 Arizona was 7-0-1 in the rivalry in football and 15-1 in basketball.

The next best UA run was 1995-’96 through 1998-’99 when the Cats went 3-1 in football and a perfect 8-0 on the hardwood.

ASU got some football revenge after that with a 7-2 stretch (overlapping three Wildcat coaches) but Olson continued to dominate on the hoops side of the equation.

(How much of a Devil-killer was Lute? Miller would have to turn his 4-1 start into an 8-1 record to have a better career winning percentage against ASU than Olson did in 23 years. 43-6 (.878) will be hard to beat.)

Thanks in large part to Coach Olson, in the 34 years since joining the Pac-10 Arizona State has won the football game and the basketball season series against the UA in the same academic year only four times, and only once (2007-‘08) since 1981-’82.

That 2008 basketball season is the only thing keeping the current four-year stretch from being among the best on the Arizona side. Herb Sendek took all three games from Russ Pennell that year.

Sean Miller is doing his part to get it back. Tim Kish did his part with an impossible-to-beat undefeated record in his one Territorial Cup. Can Rich Rodriguez stick it to his old defensive coordinator and keep the run going?

He’ll make a lot of friends among Wildcat Universe if he does.

* * *

What made the Wildcats’ victory in this year’s Territorial Cup even more significant was the teams’ records coming into the game. If you look at the win disparity it was one of the biggest upsets in the series’ history.

The 2-8 Arizona team beat 6-4 ASU for a win disparity of four. That matched the aforementioned ’82 upset when the UA’s 5-4-1 team took down the 9-1 Sun Devils. But the coach to overcome the largest win deficit was Mike Stoops when his 2-8 squad shocked Dirk Koetter’s 8-2 team in 2004.

ASU’s all-time biggest rivalry upset in terms of overall record took place in 1952. That year’s Sun Devil team was 3-2 when it defeated the 5-2 team from Tucson.

It was the only time Arizona State beat an Arizona team with a win disparity greater than one. Wildcats will say, “It’s because we beat you all the time.” Sun Devils will say, “It’s because we always have a better record.”

And the rivalry lives on.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is hoping for some more good-old-days. Remember the future on Twitter and Facebook.

It's all about the trophies.
Photo by Robert Deutsch/USA Today Staff

It’s been a quiet summer for college sports.

Well, there have been scandals and rumors of scandals but after last year’s tectonic shifts this summer has been downright placid.

Unless someone wants to start whispers of Alabama and Auburn to the Pac-12 we have time out west for more reflection. Arizona‘s place in Pac-10 basketball history has been established. Where do the Wildcats fit in on a national level?

Because of John Wooden the college basketball historical landscape is rather flat. A large portion of the total national championships have been won by a few programs. As a result it’s possible to move up the all-time list relatively quickly.

(College softball is the same way with Arizona’s Mike Candrea and UCLA’s Sharron Backus hoarding all the hardware. As a result Arizona State moved into a very elite group with its second softball championship this year.)

When the Connecticut Huskies cut down the nets this past April they made the leap from the second tier onto the A-list. Here are all schools that have at least three national titles:

UCLA 11
Kentucky 7
Indiana 5
No. Carolina 5
Duke 4
Kansas 3
UConn 3

We aren’t talking about nothing but pre-TV championships either. Of the above seven programs, five are among the six schools that have multiple championships since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. If you were good in the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘90s and 2000s, you’re really good.

(UCLA and Indiana are the two all-time greats who have only won it all once in the last 27 years. Florida is the only school with two titles in the era of 64+ teams that didn’t have a prior championship.)

The Supreme Seven also include five of the six programs that have hit double-digits in Final Four appearances. The Hoosiers only needed eight Final Fours to win its five championships while UConn leads the way in efficiency with three titles in just four trips to the Final Four.

(The sixth school with at least 10 Final Fours only has one championship to show for it. Can you name it? Think football, vacated vests and pants-for-tats.)

Seeing UConn in this exclusive club is bound to cause some head-shaking among Arizona fans. Jamelle Horne’s shot was this close to getting the Cats past the Huskies and giving the UA a chance to move into the tier that Connecticut just left.

In terms of championships the second level is made up of seven schools that have won it all twice. That’s why Arizona’s exits in 2001, ’03 and ’05 were such missed opportunities. If Lute Olson could have a guided a second team through the tournament he would joined some select company.

It’s interesting to note that of the seven programs to win exactly two basketball championships, four did it in back-to-back years. Add the 1998 Triangle-and-Two game to the list of missed opportunities.

(And now Utah is in the Pac-12 to remind Cat fans of it every year. How nice.)

There is certainly more to a successful program than just national championships but NCAA tournament success is the one currency accepted across conference lines. The Wildcats hope Sean Miller quickly gets another crack at moving the UA into tier 2, where he can set his sights on UConn once again.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell thinks the more you know about the past, the better you can dream about the future. Look both ways on Twitter and Facebook.

Sean Elliott will have something to say about this.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

One school boasts John Wooden. The other school boasts the guy who broke Wooden’s conference wins record.

In the summer of 1978 UCLA was three years removed from Wooden’s retirement. Arizona was the new kid on the block and five years away from hiring Lute Olson.

What followed were 33 years of the biggest and best basketball rivalry in the west. But which program was the best in the Pac-10?

The USC Trojans were easily the best football team in the conference. When you win the league twice as often as anyone else there’s no debate.

Baseball is close but I’m giving the nod to Stanford over ASU. The Cardinal had one fewer Pac-10 title but more conference wins and more College World Series appearances. Besides, the best team of the Pac-10 era can’t be 5th in the conference in national championships.

Basketball is different. The Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins were both among the national elite and their levels of dominance were almost identical. How almost is almost?

From 1978-’79 through 2010-’11 Arizona won 732 men’s basketball games. UCLA won 731.

But a winner must be declared. That’s what We The People do. And so we break it down:

The Bruins won 410 Pac-10 games compared to 398 for the Cats. Advantage: UCLA

Arizona won 12 Pac-10 championships while UCLA won 10. Advantage: ARIZONA

(Since the Wildcats and Bruins never shared a conference title it means the pair won exactly 2/3 of the total championships. Disadvantage: Everyone Else)

The UA went to the NCAA tournament 26 times, UCLA received 25 bids, and both schools vacated two appearances. Advantage: ARIZONA

UCLA won 47 tournament games but vacated the five wins from 1980. All 44 of Arizona’s tourney wins are valid. Advantage: ARIZONA

Both programs reached the Sweet Sixteen 13 times during the Pac-10 years but that pesky 1980 run doesn’t count for UCLA. Advantage: ARIZONA

On the court UCLA led with five trips to the Final Four while the Cats only had four. In the court of NCAA law both parties are tied at four.

Comparing the sanctions, each team went one-and-done in the 1999 tournament and did so with an ineligible player, Jason Terry for Arizona and JaRon Rush for UCLA.

The UA’s big hit was vacating all 19 of Kevin O’Neill’s 2008 wins and his NCAA tournament loss due to the shenanigans at the end of Lute Olson’s tenure.

UCLA had to let go of its 1980 Final Four appearance due to the shenanigans at the end of Sam Gilbert’s tenure (and – wink, wink – only the end). Cheating Advantage: UCLA

Some say the best individual team of the Pac-10 era was Arizona’s 1988 squad but I say you can’t be the best all-time if you’re not even the best that year. UCLA’s 31-2 (later changed to 32-1 due to a Cal forfeit) 1995 team won both the Pac-10 and the national championship. Bonus points for producing one of the greatest plays in college basketball history. Advantage: UCLA

(However, if you look at Championships Won by Coaches Who Weren’t Fired, it’s Arizona 1, UCLA 0.)

((What’s the opposite of getting fired? Getting into the Hall of Fame and getting an award named after you.))

To compare the best player from each side you first have to determine UCLA’s best Pac-10 player. Was it Ed O’Bannon or Don MacLean? MacLean is the conference’s all-time leading scorer but O’Bannon was Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year in 1995, he won two conference titles to MacLean’s one, and he has the national championship. Plus, O’Bannon is one of only two Pac-10 players to win the Wooden Award and MacLean isn’t even the most famous Don McLean. Advantage: Pie

The other Wooden Award winner? Arizona’s Sean Elliott.

Elliott won three Pac-10 championships, played in the Final Four, broke Lew Alcindor’s scoring record and is the only two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (bad timing, David Greenwood). Advantage: Arizona

(But in the Worst Knee Injury to Best Player category? Elliott had the world’s largest knee brace but O’Bannon needed a part from a dead guy. Advantage: Pain)

Add it all up, sprinkle in this writer’s bias, and the Arizona Wildcats were the best basketball program in the Pac-10 era. Start printing the t-shirts.

It was just like old times watching the Cats and Bruins compete for the 2011 conference championship. If both programs are on their way back to national prominence the Pac-12 has the true advantage.

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Scott Terrell has apples and oranges for everybody. Look the other way on Twitter and Facebook.

Lute Olson was used to stomping on the rest of the Pac-10.
Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

The official birth of the Pac-12 is Friday, ending the conference’s 33-year run as a 10-team league.

If you’re a fan of the Arizona Wildcats and averted your eyes during the look back at Pac-10 football, it’s safe to come out now.

Here’s how the schools stack up in terms of won-loss record, NCAA tournament appearances, Final Fours and championships after 33 years of Pac-10 basketball.

Last week we thought it was interesting that only three teams had won the Rose Bowl more than once in the Pac-10 era. In hoops only three teams even posted a winning record during the same span. How’s that for top-heavy?

The two heavyweights separated themselves even more on the list of conference championships:

The UA and UCLA combined to win 2/3 of the titles. It’s fitting they battled until the final weekend for the last Pac-10 championship.

To give Sean Miller something to shoot for, here’s the all-time conference championships list for the PCC/AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10:

Cal, you’re next.

Stepping onto the national stage we have the Pac-10’s participation in March Madness (which does not include vacated years):

Washington needed this year’s appearance to move into the upper division where it joined the other three participants in the 2011 Big Dance.

UCLA’s fifth Four during the era was vacated.

As far as national championships the basketball side of the conference was less successful than football. After a post-expansion drought UCLA won it all in 1995 and the Cats cut down the nets two years later. It looked like the Pac-10 was back on top but no one from the conference has been able to break through since.

Arizona lost the championship game in 2001 and the Bruins were the runners-up in 2006 but that’s it. The league is definitely overdue for someone carrying the Pac flag to the top of the mountain.

The first Pac-12 coach to win a title will be instantly tied for the most championships out of the conference since John Wooden.

Take aim, Coach Miller.

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Don’t change that dial. The look at Pac-10 baseball history is on the horizon!

- – - – -

Scott Terrell wonders if Idaho still hangs its two Pacific Coast Conference banners. Celebrate your championships on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you still feel the love?
(Tucson Citizen photo)

Saturday began with Sean Miller as the Arizona Wildcats’ head basketball coach. Saturday ended with the same guy in the same position.

All is well in the Wildcat Universe.

At least until next time.

Let me make this clear: I am very glad Sean Miller is still the coach at Arizona. Nothing about the last two seasons has lessened my opinion that he has the potential to recruit, develop and coach at an elite level.

It’s no secret that other schools are going to try and lure him away. It’s understandable that East Coast programs are going to think they have a chance based on Miller’s geographic history.

So it wasn’t a surprise Maryland wanted to talk to Sean Miller. The same was said a couple months ago about North Carolina State.

The surprise was this time Miller listened.

We don’t know what he heard. We don’t know how serious he took the conversation. We do know UA athletic director Greg Byrne thought the situation was serious enough to announce he was doing everything in his power to “keep Sean Miller as our coach.” You don’t have to work on keeping someone who isn’t considering leaving.

A coach also doesn’t have to announce he’s committed to a program unless there are doubts about that commitment.

The source of the doubt is this: If Maryland was able to get a meeting, what’s going to happen when a real elite job opens up?

People were making it sound like Miller had no choice but to listen to the Terrapins. You can’t throw around terms like “top five job” and “top ten job” like they’re shoe sizes.

The top five college basketball jobs (in alphabetical order) are Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA. After that you don’t have to think long to come up with a list of schools with greater and/or more recent success than Maryland: UConn, Florida, Michigan State, Syracuse, Louisville, Ohio State… Yes, even Arizona.

When Gary Williams announced his retirement and Sean Miller’s name immediately came up, people debated if Maryland was a better job than N.C. State.

The comparison should’ve been between Arizona and Maryland and, using the same 20-year window, here are the results:

It’s hard to argue Maryland is a step up, and yet Miller took the meeting.

What do the Terps have that the Cats lack? Location, location, location. That’s not going to change and it’s why Arizona fans are going to be on pins and saguaro needles every time a decent job opens up east of Willcox.

No, Sean Miller didn’t walk out on the marriage. He didn’t cheat on his basketball bride. But her self esteem took a hit and it will continue to waver if he keeps flirting with those cities with the fancy mass transit systems and sexy population density.

The best-case scenario is this past weekend was the speed bump in the Arizona/Miller marriage that solidifies the partnership for the long haul. Lute Olson was courted by Kentucky after – that’s right – his second season in the desert. In his autobiography Olson described how close he came to taking the UK job and how it came down to a gut feeling that “just didn’t feel right.”

By the time Kentucky came calling a second time four years later, Lute said the talks didn’t get nearly as far because his wife, Bobbi, decided she couldn’t leave their family.

That’s when this goes away. You need Miller to get to the point where being closer to family isn’t an issue because he is the family. When the kids and grandkids talk about going back home and they mean Tucson.

That’s when Sean Miller becomes a Lute Olson, Jim Boeheim, or even Gary Williams. Is Miller going to get there? Or will his wandering eyes lead him astray?

Arizona fans running the guy’s real-life wife off of Twitter isn’t going to help any.

When this merry-go-round starts up again, please – for our collective sanity – let’s try to handle it a little better next time. We the People of the Internet can’t blindly believe every report about a “done deal.”

(By the way, credit is due to ESPN 980 radio in D.C. for 1) admitting they were wrong, and 2) apologizing.)

We must also refrain from instantly handing out blame based on unnamed sources and publicly (yet anonymously) slandering people who – theoretically – we’re rooting for to help our favorite university win sporting events.

At least recruits Shabazz Muhammad and Chris Thomas know that UA fans get really worked up about Wildcat hoops.

So buckle up, Cat fans. We might not even get through the rest of the summer without another significant job opening. What if Coach K ends up with the Lakers? Or Jim Calhoun suddenly decides he wants to go out on top?

Basketball love knows no rebounds.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell doesn’t handle rejection well. Observe his fragile heart on Twitter and Facebook.

Hoops hopes have been high since Sean Miller arrived in Tucson.
Photo by Renee Bracamonte/Tucson Citizen

It’s impossible to say the Arizona Wildcats basketball team did anything but overachieve in 2011. Sean Miller has the UA hoops program back on track and ahead of pace.

So where does that put Miller in terms of his biggest quest: Living up to the standard set by Lute Olson?

Back in November I would have been happy with something like 11-7 in the Pac-10, getting into the NCAA tournament as an 8-seed, beating the 9-seed, then putting up a good fight for a half against the No. 1.

Instead Miller bagged his first Pac-10 title and topped it off with three very exciting NCAA tournament wins. All told the Cats almost doubled their win total from the previous year, which is really hard to do unless you start with about seven.

Let the Lute comparisons begin.

Some may say it’s not fair to Miller but it comes with the territory. He didn’t take a job at Oregon or USC. As the McKale Center pregame video said before every home contest: This is Arizona.

And Miller’s fine with it. He wouldn’t let Olson flash his national championship ring before every game if he wasn’t comfortable under the spotlight of Lute’s accomplishments.

Miller is confident he’s going to win at Coach Olson’s level, and he’s off to a great start. Lute didn’t win a Pac-10 title until his third year at Arizona. He didn’t win his first tournament game until his fifth season.

Some may say Miller is taking advantage of a down Pac-10 but the league was even worse in Olson’s early years. In 1984, Lute’s first season in Tucson, the Pac-10 only got two teams into the Big Dance and they were both 6-seeds. In ’85 four Pac teams made it but none was seeded higher than 5 and they all lost in the 1st round.

Olson’s first Pac-10 championship team posted the exact same 14-4 record as the 2011 Cats and it only got them a 9-seed. Second-place Washington was a 12 and, again, both Pac teams lost in the opening round.

When Arizona exploded onto the national scene in 1988 it was the Pac-10’s first No. 1 seed since Oregon State in ’81 (and the Beavers lost their first tournament game that year).

So Miller doesn’t get docked any points for the level of competition. The big difference, of course, is Olson took over a four-win team that hadn’t been to the tournament in six years (with only three appearances total) while Miller inherited a program that had been built by Lute Olson.

You also can’t deny Miller got a boost from the Tim Floyd effect. Miller’s direct recruits from his first class, Kevin Parrom and Kyryl Natyazhko, were both contributors this year but they came off the bench. All three of Floyd’s recruits started, and Derrick Williams ended up being one of the five best players in the country. The only question is: Should Tim Floyd Day be April 2, the anniversary of his press conference announcing he was staying at USC, or June 9, the day he got fired? Maybe it should be a two-month-long celebration for Wildcat Universe.

(By the way, when Floyd was being interviewed for the Arizona job the rationale was that he could bring recruits with him. Jim Livengood managed to hire a better coach, and get Floyd’s recruits anyway. Coincidence or genius?)

With former UA assistant Archie Miller taking the head coaching position at Dayton the first nut from the Sean Miller Arizona coaching tree has been planted. Normally having someone work for you two years doesn’t make him part of your legacy but Archie has a slightly longer relationship with his big brother Sean.

Miller does have Chris Mack, who replaced him at Xavier, but he won’t help Arizona any. The only thing missing from Lute Olson’s 25-year tenure at the UA was a blue-chip heir. Many Olson assistants went on to run their own program – Kevin O’Neill, Jay John, Jessie Evans and more – but none had enough success to be considered as the top Wildcat. Josh Pastner is still out there (and he’s off to a strong start at Memphis) but he came in too late to be Roy Williams to Lute’s Dean Smith.

Could Archie Miller be Roy Williams? Are we crazy to think Sean Miller can be anything close to Dean Smith?

(Yes, we probably are crazy. But, for the record, it did take Smith six years to win the ACC and go to the Elite Eight for the first time.)

That’s how great 2011 was for Arizona Basketball. The sky is again the limit and every dream is allowed.

Even the crazy ones.

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Scott Terrell is trying not the notice that UConn is now in the championship game. Help him focus on the future on Twitter and Facebook.

No back-to-back this time.
Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

I’m a pretty optimistic guy.

I tend to expect positive things to happen. I think the next day will be a good day at work. I believe tomorrow I’ll handle things better with the kids. I keep renewing my Arizona football season tickets.

But even I wasn’t that optimistic.

The goal this year was simply making the NCAA tournament. You know, the kind of season USC had. Now the Arizona Wildcats have a Pac-10 championship, two Pac tourney wins and three March Madness wins! With two of them coming against half of the four statistically best teams in the country!

(Speaking of USC, if the coaching thing doesn’t work out for Kevin O’Neill he might want to try sports handicapping. Although he might have some competition from the Round Mound of Studio Analysts.)

Sean Miller isn’t just playing with house money; he took enough of the house’s money to buy a second house.

If the Texas game was gravy, and the Duke win is icing, what would beating UConn be? A digestif?

The turning point for Arizona on offense was with 18.5 minutes left in the 2nd half. Derrick Williams drove into the lane, three defenders collapsed on him and he kicked it out to Kyle Fogg who drained the 3. Duke got exactly what it wanted – Williams giving up the ball – but Derrick’s teammate showed it wasn’t going to be a one-man show any longer.

After that MoMo Jones forgot he’d only scored two total points in the last three halves and scored eight points in six minutes to help turn a Wildcat deficit into a double-digit lead.

But the daggers came with eight minutes left. First, Williams shook his man at the top of the key and hammered one home. Then, two possessions later, Jamelle Horne grabbed an offensive rebound and absolutely posterized the Duke poster boy. Kyle Singler didn’t score from that point on, Lute Olson got to smile on CBS, and the Blue Devils never got closer than 11.

The end of the game was surprising in its lack of drama. Duke was the anti-Illinois. No backcourt traps, no made 3s, no shrinking lead. Instead of leading a ferocious comeback, Singler was pulled early.

It helps to play in front of a friendly crowd, doesn’t it? Although, something to keep in mind, Arizona didn’t exactly have success playing Regional Finals in Anaheim in both 1998 and 2003.

But neither of those opponents was a true eastern team. You want every advantage you can get when facing the University of Connecticut. No team is hotter than the Huskies and no player is hotter than Kemba Walker.

It may come down to which team can get its star to the free throw line the most. In UConn’s amazing eight-game winning streak Walker has attempted at least nine foul shots seven times, and Derrick Williams is the free throwingest player of them all.

Does Williams have another superstar game in him? Can MoMo remain the scoring sidekick? Can Solomon Hill continue to do work in the paint? Will Fogg, Parrom, Horne and Mayes deliver the timely shots from beyond the arc?

Neither Arizona nor UConn was supposed to be here. But the bracket says one of them has to go to the Final Four.

The Final Four! It’s an incredible opportunity for a college basketball player. Sean Miller will have more chances like this, but these players might not. Jamelle Horne certainly won’t. Derrick Williams probably won’t. The three guys on the roster who are losing their scholarships next year won’t.

It’s greedy to ask an overachieving team to give you more. Very greedy.

But when you’ve already mastered nasty, what’s wrong with a little greed?

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Scott Terrell has a need for greed. Make your demands on Twitter and Facebook.