Former UA guard Jason Terry says that he wants to coach at Arizona under Sean Miller when his NBA career is complete (US Presswire photo/Sam Sharpe)

LAS VEGAS — You know you have reached star status when John Thompson and Nancy Lieberman make it a point to welcome your presence.

That’s what happened when former UA guard and 11-year NBA vet Jason Terry walked into the Cox Pavilion here Saturday night. Thompson, the legendary former Georgetown coach, leaned forward in his chair to capture Terry’s attention and flashed that genuine John Thompson smile as he shook Terry’s hand.

Lieberman, one of the greatest women’s basketball players in history, grabbed Terry’s arm and asked incredulously, “What are you doing here?”

The answer to that question describes Terry in a nutshell: He cares about winning. He could be on a pleasure cruise right now, or at a nearby casino here in Las Vegas. Instead, he took a seat behind the Mavericks’ bench during the NBA Summer League game with Houston on Saturday night and shouted out some instruction as if he was a coach.

Speaking of that, Terry wants to coach, and he wants that to be at Arizona, unequivocally. That’s one of the topics he chatted with me about minutes before Dallas played Houston. Here’s the Q&A:

Q: What are your thoughts about your career now? You’re going to be in your 12th season. How much longer do you think you’ll be playing?
Terry: God-willing, I’ll play about six more years and then I will ride off into the sunset. What I’ve been doing lately is I’ve turned to (coaching) an AAU program in Dallas. This year, my sixth-grade girls took second place. Unbelievable (he said with excitement). You know, coaching kids and being out in the community that’s something I love to do and that’s something I’ll probably do in the future.

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Chase Budinger, shown here during the regular season, needs to be more attacking with the ball in the NBA Summer League, according to Houston coach Rick Adelman (US Presswire photo/Derick Hingle)

Last year at this time, Chase Budinger was the talk of the NBA Summer League with his torrid shooting. Now it’s Houston coach Rick Adelman doing the talking without all the compliments and some suggestions.

Adelman pulled Budinger aside Saturday night after the former UA wing player looked tentative again in a 3-of-7 shooting performance from the field, including 0-of-1 from three-point range, in Houston’s 87-78 win over Dallas at the Cox Pavilion. After two games, Budinger has played the most minutes for the Rockets (57:44 overall) and he’s made only 8-of-21 from the field (38 percent), including 0-of-4 from three-point range.

Last year, he made 68 percent of his field goals here and converted on 8-of-11 three-pointers in five games.

Different from last year, Houston wants to see how Budinger handles a playmaking role off screens, or if he can create on his own. He has five assists and three turnovers, which in Adelman’s eyes means he is not forcing the issue enough and getting others involved.

“We know he’s a great spot-up shooter,” Adelman said. “We want him to attack and handle the ball and try to expand his game so he can be more effective. He has to be more aggressive and be more attacking. He can pass the ball. He can do a lot of things. But he has to make it happen.”

Budinger is trying to get acclimated to an entirely different role than he had last year in Las Vegas. Last summer, he was hungry for a spot in the NBA and played with that type of passion. Now, more is expected of him, and his mental game has to adjust along with the physical aspect of being more of a ball handler.

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It took a half for Jordan Hill to wake up in Friday's NBA Summer League game, but when he did, he was a force (US Presswire file photo/Brett Davis)

LAS VEGAS — This city is famous for hangovers and that applied to the way Houston’s Jordan Hill began his first game of the 2010 NBA Summer League here Friday afternoon.

Hill, a 6-foot-10 center from Arizona, was extremely sluggish from the start in Houston’s 100-82 win over Phoenix at the Cox Pavilion. He was so out of sync that he had more fouls (four) than points and rebounds combined (one) toward the end of the first quarter.

“His focus and recognition needs to improve,” said Houston assistant coach Jack Sikma, a seven-time NBA All-star center who can write a book on proper footwork for a center. “The lack of focus and recognition shows up mostly on the defensive end.

“When you are defensive big, you really have to be ahead of the play and react.”

Hill, who visibly looked in a rut, picked up three fouls in a minute-span in the first quarter with either a reach-in call or a block attempt that was too late to develop. Hill picked up his fourth foul on another late attempted blocked shot attempt with 2:49 left in the first quarter (players are not disqualified here for fouls because of the scrimmage premise).

That’s when Sikma, who led the NBA in defensive rebounding twice during his illustrious career, pulled Hill aside during the ensuing timeout and gave him instruction and how to gain proper position defensively along the baseline.

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