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Arizona Basketball notebook: UA not worried about playing Bayless too much
Arizona basketball coach Kevin O’Neill played Jerryd Bayless 39 minutes last Saturday in Houston after Bayless missed four games with a sprained knee, but O’Neill says he is not concerned about overextending Bayless.
“I’m not worried about that at all,” O’Neill said. “I’d worry about Cliff Robinson (who played for the Nets at age 41 last season) overextending himself or some other 15-year vet in the NBA. But a young, athletic, strong kid like Jerryd, he’s not going to overextend himself. We have to watch him in practice.
“That’s when we want to make sure we don’t overextend him.”
JOKING JOHNSON
• Stanford coach Trent Johnson’s dry sense of humor was clearer than ever this week on the Pac-10 media teleconference call. When asked how much the Cardinal was better with Brook Lopez in the lineup, after academic ineligibility and a team suspension kept him out until Dec. 19, Johnson noted, “We only lost one when he was out. Two when he came back.”
True, but the losses were to UCLA and at Oregon, and Lopez is known to be one of the Pac-10’s best players. So Johnson was kidding, of course.
Johnson noted that Brook and brother Robin have become steadier players as sophomores this season. “The biggest improvement is their ability to keep their composure,” Johnson said. “They can play through some foul situations and have improved from the standpoint of making better decisions.”
BIGGER, BUT BETTER?
• Even with a pair of 7-footers in the middle, history suggests Stanford will have trouble with Arizona’s athletic players in tonight’s game. Johnson has seen it too many times before.
“Their quickness, athleticism and skill level have always caused us problems, and I don’t anticipate that to change,” Johnson said. “You look at their talent, their skill level: They’re still good and Coach O’Neill has done an excellent job with injuries and adversity.”
WILDCATS IN HIGH-DEF
• Tonight’s game will be the third of four UA regular-season games offered on Fox Sports Net HD, with the Jan. 31 game at USC also to be available.
Already, the network aired the Texas A&M and Oregon games in high-definition, among the 44 college basketball games it is showing in that format this season. The network aired just 13 last season and plans to increase coverage next season, according to network spokesman Brett Hansen.
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