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2008 Arizona Wildcats Basketball Predictions

Written October 29, 2008 by Luke Knight

Lute Olson was to return this season and fix interim head coach Kevin O’Neill’s coaching style and attitude that almost ruined everything Olson had built. Olson retired recently so Mike Dunlap will now be saddled with the chore of building on what Olson has done for the past 24 years. Olson had led the Wildcats to 24 straight NCAA Tournaments. Dunlap will be asked to lead the Wildcats to a 25th consecutive NCAA tournament, despite the fact that the Wildcats appear to lack the depth and firepower in the previous 24 seasons. Olson had already hired an entirely new coaching staff and lost three expected starters who chose not to play for the Wildcats this season so Dunlap will have his work cut out for him. Read on to see just how well we expect Dunlap will do with this Wildcat team. Check out BetUS where the Arizona Wildcats are +200 odds to win the Pac-10 Conference.

Jordan Hill should be the leader of the Wildcat frontcourt and projects to be one of the Pac-10’s leading inside forces. Hill is a versatile and mobile junior forward, who averaged 13.2 points and shot .620 from the field. The problem is Hill had 105 personal fouls last season, which was 34 more than any other Arizona player last season, and the Wildcats do not have anyone to fill in if Hill gets in foul trouble. Freshman Jeff Withey will get a chance to start immediately in the middle. He is 6’11” and 240 pounds, but not very polished offensively and not strong enough yet. Alex Jacobson, a redshirt freshman will back up Withey, but he may need another season to develop into a solid Pac-10 player. Senior Fendi Onobun will play the frontcourt, and is powerfully built, but he is not a true forward and is only 6’6” at the very tallest. Jamelle Horne, a sophomore who threatened to leave during the Olson-O’Neill disaster, will see some time at small forward, but will also like play power forward when Hill is in foul trouble. Horne is an explosive jumper, but not much of a shooting threat.

Chase Budinger is likely the best player on this Wildcat team, and the leading returning scorer with 17.1 points per game. Budinger explored entering the NBA Draft, but chose to return. Budinger criticized O’Neill for being soft and not playing good defense. Budiner can be a dominant scorer and will likely play small forward and shooting guard. He handles the ball and passes well. Nic Wise is the only true guard on the roster with more than 70 minutes as a college player since Jerryd Bayless bolted to the NBA after one season. Wise averaged 9.2 points per game and should add significantly to that. Wise also is a very good 3-point shooter. The off-guard spot is a little bit more troublesome as sophomore Zane Johnson will like be the first to get the starting nod and he averaged just 14 points total in his first college season. There are three freshmen who could see time as backups at both guard spots, although none of them were notable recruits.

Final Analysis

Arizona lost McDonald’s All-America point guard Brandon Jennings to Europe, which pretty much dropped Arizona out of a contender for the Pac-10 in our opinion. We have the Wildcats finishing in the middle of the pack in the Pac-10, and that is if Budinger and Hill can carry them that far. The lack of depth is a concern if either Budinger or Hill get injured or their level of play drops. Wise will be a solid point guard, but he is no Jerryd Bayless. It is difficult to see how this team will respond to the retirement of Olson. BetUS has the Arizona Wildcats at +5000 odds to win the NCAA Championships. This is a team to keep an eye on to see how the team and the NCAA basketball odds makers respond to Olson’s retirement.

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