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#10 Arizona
Wildcats
Pacific 10
2004-05: 30-7,
15-3, 1st
2004-05 postseason:
NCAA
By
Joel Welser
The starting five is
pretty much up for grabs at
Arizona. And that is a very good thing. The depth hasn’t
been this good in Tucson in quite some time. Despite the lack
of a proven center, the Wildcats interior game won’t be a
problem with Ivan Radenovic at the power forward spot and two
capable centers in Kirk Walters and Isaiah Fox.
Who’s Out: That
center spot is left open due to the graduation of Channing
Frye. Frye averaged 15.8 points and a team high 7.6 rebounds
per contest. While nobody will replace those numbers, the
scoring slack will be picked up from other positions. There are
tons of options to replace Salim Stoudamire, but it won’t be
easy to replace the 18.4 points per game. Stoudamire shot 50.4%
from the floor and behind the arc and was one of the best
shooters in the nation last year. Little used Matt Brase has
also run out of eligibility.
Who’s In: J.P.
Prince at the point, Marcus Williams at the two and Fendi Onobun
as the small forward. We probably won’t see them all on the
floor together very much this year, but the group of freshmen is
the future of the backcourt. Prince will see minutes backing up
returning point guard Mustafa Shakur. The Memphis product has
great size at 6-6 and could give Shakur a run for his money.
Williams might be the newcomer who is most ready to contribute
right now, but he is stuck behind returnees Chris Rodgers,
Jawann McClellan, Jesus Verdejo and Daniel Dillon at the two
guard. Onobun has a solid mid-range jumper and works very hard
on the glass. He’s a Hassan Adams graduation away from major
minutes, but should see some playing time off the bench this
year.
Who to Watch:
Hassan Adams and Ivan Radenovic will be the big time scorers,
but the most important part of this team is the play of Mustafa
Shakur. After two disappointing seasons, the Wildcat faithful
hope this is the year that the 6-3 point guard blossoms into the
player everyone knows he can be. The numbers weren’t bad last
year with 8.1 points, 4.5 assists and 2.7 turnovers per
contest. Expectations were higher for a reason and Shakur has
plenty of room to improve. Without having to worry about
getting the ball into the hands of Salim Stoudamire, Shakur
could become a better team player. The scoring will be more
balanced this season and that always makes the job easier for
the point guard.
Projected
Conference Rank: The Pac 10 will be close and exciting this
year. UCLA, Stanford and Washington won’t be far behind, but
the Wildcats have the talent and depth to finish 1st
in the conference. No road game will be easy with every team
except Arizona State having legitimate NCAA dreams. The
shooting guard spot has plenty of options but the top two on the
depth chart have some question marks. Jawann McClellan won’t be
eligible until December and Chris Rodgers might miss a few early
games with a right knee sprain. Even without those two
available, Arizona can survive with Jesus Verdejo, Daniel Dillon
and Marcus Williams filling in for a while.
Projected
Post-season Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting
Five:
Mustafa Shakur.,
Junior, Guard, 8.1 points per game
Chris Rodgers, Senior,
Guard, 5.5 points ppg (injured to start season)
Hassan Adams, Senior,
Guard, 12.7 points per game
Ivan Radenovic,
Junior, Forward, 8.6 points per game
Kirk Walters, Junior,
Center, 2.4 points per game
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