Budinger hopes to help Arizona regroup

by Jeff Goodman

Updated: July 16, 2008, 3:28 PM EST 36 comments

Interim coach Kevin O'Neill managed to extend the Wildcats streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances to 24, but not without upsetting Olson and the majority of the players on the team.

Jerryd Bayless bolted after just one season, partially because he was a guaranteed lottery pick and also due to the fact that last year under O'Neill left such a sour taste in his mouth.

Olson told O'Neill he was no longer wanted and is now back in the NBA as an assistant coach, former Wildcat star Miles Simon was fired and Josh Pastner, who was as much of an Arizona homer as there was, left to take a lateral position at Memphis.

One of the program's top recruits, Emmanuel Negedu, asked out of his letter-of-intent and is now a freshman at Tennessee.

Point guard Nic Wise thought long and hard about transferring out of the program, but opted to return to Arizona and now will be the starting point guard with the recent news that the nation's top recruit, Brandon Jennings, is heading overseas instead of following in the footsteps of all those ballyhooed Wildcat point guards.

But Olson is smiling. He has an extraordinary amount of trust in his revamped staff — which includes former NBA assistant Mike Dunlap, ex-Wildcat player/coach Reggie Geary and Russ Pennell, who has coached at rival Arizona State and also under Eddie Sutton.

He's also got a pair of potential lottery picks in Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill.

"We're going to play Arizona basketball this year," Olson said. "And get back to what we've been."

Budinger, the athletic blonde-haired San Diego native whose stock had fallen so low after last season that he wasn't even a first-round lock, wasn't sure whether he would return to college until the 11th hour.

"It was the most difficult decision I ever had to make," said Budinger, who admitted he wouldn't have come back if Olson didn't return to the sidelines. "It came down to a half-hour before the deadline. It went right down to the wire."

There are only a couple of other teams in the Pac-10 that can realistically match up with the 1-2 punch that Olson can throw out on the court in Budinger and Hill. UCLA boasts a backcourt tandem of Darren Collison and freshman Jrue Holiday, Arizona State features the inside-out duo of James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph and USC will have wing Demar DeRozan and big man Taj Gibson.

"Obviously, we'd be better with Brandon," Budinger said. "But we're still going to be good without him."

Jennings was a big-time talent, maybe one that could have brought Olson another Final Four in the twilight of his Hall of Fame career. However, Jennings has also shown the ability to forget about his teammates and that could have hindered any chance of this team displaying some much-needed chemistry.

Olson has vowed to re-install the free-wheeling, up-tempo style that made several NBA executives gush when discussing Budinger during his freshman season. This past season, O'Neill implemented an offensive system in which plays were called each time down the floor and the players went strictly to a man-to-man defense despite having little depth.

"I know this year it's going to be my team," Budinger said. "Last year the style killed me. Coach Olson recruited all of us to play his style and when Coach O'Neill came in he changed the system and we just weren't built for that kind of play."

"Not only that," he added. "They were just different. Coach Olson is very positive and doesn't swear while every other word from Coach O'Neill was a cuss word. It was a very negative environment and extremely confrontational."

Budinger wasn't the only player who watched his confidence plummet. Bayless also admitted it affected his play down the stretch last season and several other players appeared to play scared.

While it was a season in which Budinger and his teammates would like to forget, he also understands it will help him this season.

"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Budinger said.

Budinger said he's looking forward to "having fun" playing basketball again.

"It just didn't feel like normal basketball," he said. "We'd even get yelled at for cheering after a big dunk. I can't wait for this year so much, to get back to that style that Arizona basketball is known for — highlight-reel dunks. You didn't really see any of those last year from anyone. Last year really took away from everyone's aggressiveness — and it probably hit me the hardest."

Budinger isn't naive to the fact that it's a pivotal year — not just for Olson, but the program as a whole. Olson is 20 wins shy of the 800-plateau and Budinger wants to make sure he gets Arizona back to where it was when he signed with the Wildcats.

"It's a big year," Budinger said. "We need to bring the love of Arizona basketball back because we didn't have it last year. I think it's going to happen."