jeffry scott / arizona daily star 2008

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Mr. Man-to-Man could be reconsidering, if only a little bit.

UA interim head basketball coach Kevin O'Neill said Tuesday he was toying with straying from his base defense this week against Cal and Stanford.

The Wildcats could use either a 2-3 zone or a man-to-man with zone principles. Or they could use a hybrid, playing a box-and-one or a triangle-and-two defense.

"I may have to do some gimmick stuff a little bit," O'Neill said.

If he does, it would be to keep his starters on the floor and out of foul trouble. With two of the team's best three defenders — guard Nic Wise and forward Bret Brielmaier — out with injuries, the Wildcats lack depth.

In addition, the team made seven defensive miscues in the final 10 minutes in Sunday's loss to ASU, prompting O'Neill to remark that his team played "fake hard" — with effort, but not well.

Zone is not O'Neill's first choice.

"But there's a thin line when you're coaching, and it's my first year coaching here, between giving in and doing the right thing," he said.

O'Neill joked that a change would appease some UA fans.

"I have people yell it to me on the street if I'm driving in at 5 in the morning," he said. "'What the hell is wrong with you, O'Neill? Play zone.'"

The coach — or his administrative assistant — responds to every e-mail from UA fans. He said he "can't even count" the e-mails asking him to play zone. The response is the same way every time: "Thanks for your support; you may not agree with what we're doing, but please continue to be a Wildcat fan."

"If it would make everybody stop sending e-mails, I'll play the first five possessions in zone," he joked. "I don't have any trouble doing that. I don't think they're gonna like the looks of our zone, though, because if you're not playing well man-to-man and you give in to less accountability, you don't play very well in the zone either."

Playing man-to-man does not make him hard-headed, he said.

"I'm not being stubborn. I'm not like out to say to everybody, 'Kiss my grits. I'm not playing any zone.' That's not my intention," O'Neill said.

The Wildcats won't be able to match either Stanford, which plays at McKale on Saturday, or Cal when it comes to big-man depth. Stanford has twin towers Brook and Robin Lopez. Cal, plays six forwards — Ryan Anderson, Jamal Boykin, DeVon Hardin, Eric Vierneisel, Jordan Wilkes and Harper Kamp — more than seven minutes per game.

"For us to think we can play them straight-up with a smaller lineup is going to be difficult to do," O'Neill said.

Forward Chase Budinger suspects opponents "have found weaknesses" in the team's defense and said the Wildcats "don't have enough players" to go man-to-man effectively.

"Playing a zone could be, like, the only way we could really keep guys on the floor," he said.

In the long run, O'Neill still adamantly believes the best teams play man defense — "UCLA plays no zone. Stanford, a few possessions. Michigan State plays three possessions a game of it," he said — but realizes situations might dictate otherwise.

"If we didn't have injuries, I can assure you I would never play a possession of zone in my whole life," he said. "I believe in what I believe in. That's all there is to it."

In a perfect world, O'Neill would avoid the zone.

"When I came here, everybody was like, 'We need to play man and run more plays.' So now we play man and run more plays, and now it's, 'Play zone and run more.'

"There's always gonna be something, is my point. But we're going to have to make some adjustments, even if it's in our man-to-man, to make it more zonelike, to try to protect against certain things."

● When discussing fan response Tuesday, O'Neill said he understands the expectations of a program that has made 23 straight NCAA tournaments.

"Losing to Arizona State in a sweep for the first time in 13 years, that raises red flags to fans and to people," he said. "I understand that."

● Freshman Jamelle Horne could be available to play Thursday after injuring his left knee last week, O'Neill said. Horne practiced Saturday but did not play the following day against Arizona State.

"It wasn't an option in my mind, because he wasn't 100percent," O'Neill said. "Hopefully by the end of the week of practice, he'll be 100percent."

Forward Fendi Onobun broke a finger on his right hand Sunday, but O'Neill said he should play Thursday.

● Players are being forced to adjust to new roles. Case in point — Daniel Dillon, who went scoreless in 38 minutes Sunday.

"Daniel, God bless him, played 38 minutes the other night," O'Neill said. "That's asking a lot of Daniel, who in the past has never been a starter. His role has changed considerably.

"It's very difficult. To be honest with you, it's unfair to the players. I say in good spirit. It's unfair to a player to be put in a role he's not capable of handling."

Conceivably, O'Neill could seek offense from freshman sharp-shooter Zane Johnson in Dillon's spot.

"In fairness to Zane, he's a freshman," O'Neill said. "He's a first-year guy that probably isn't ready for that role either. It is what it is.

"Zane has to play, with the way we're built right now."

● Jerome Randle, Cal's starting point guard, has been cleared to play after suffering a mild concussion Saturday.