Arizona Wildcats Basketball Tickets

Coming off of a disappointing season, the Arizona Wildcats will hope for bigger and better things under legendary coach Lute Olson in 2007.

A team that was considered to be a possible Final Four contender before the 2006 season even began, Arizona stumbled late in the season before securing an eighth seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats couldn't even get out of the first round, falling to Purdue, 72-63.

Arizona went 20-11 and 11-7 in the weak Pac 10 conference. They started the season by losing to Virginia by three on the road but then managed to string together 12 straight victories, including two wins over ranked opponents.

Arizona's biggest problem in 2006 was an inability to stop anyone on the defensive end, a problem they have had the past couple of seasons. They've also lacked a go-to guy on the inside, leading critics to question their physical and mental toughness.

The future for the Wildcats is bright, with a couple starters from last year's team returning for the upcoming season. The most notable return will be junior Chase Budinger, who showed a knack for scoring but was a bit too streaky at times. If Budinger can become more consistent, Arizona might

Other key players returning from last year's team include junior Marcus Williams and junior Jordan Hill.

The team will need to fill some holes with the departure of three key seniors, most notably Ivan Radenovic, who gave the team their only real low post scoring threat. The team also loses starting point guard Mustafa Shakur and guard Jawaan McClellan.

Arizona likes to play an up-tempo style, which works in their favor because of the number of great athletes on their team. However, it also leads to a lot of turnovers, something else the team will need to work on if they should live up to those Final Four expectations.

While Shakur was a great player, he had a tendency to try to make the spectacular play instead of the right one. Arizona might actually be better off now that they will have someone else running the point guard position.

Look for an exciting season from the Wildcats, as they should challenge UCLA for the Pac 10 title if they can improve on their team defense and chemistry issues.