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Opinion by Greg Hansen : Bench that was once fun now just plain numbTucson, Arizona | Published: 03.22.2008
WASHINGTON
Not even the all-knowing, all-showing CBS cameras captured Fendi Onobun leaving the Arizona Wildcats bench with about nine minutes remaining in Thursday's NCAA tournament.
Onobun missed about three minutes of game time, unavailable if Kevin O'Neill had (fat chance) wanted to deploy Onobun in a desperate attempt to overhaul West Virginia.
None of the UA coaches was made aware that Onobun had bolted for parts unknown (the bathroom, perhaps?) And even if Josh Pastner or Miles Simon had witnessed Onobun's exit, would they have been able to get a message to O'Neill?
O'Neill did not acknowledge or talk to his assistant coaches during Thursday's game. I personally did not observe an O'Neill-to-staff exchange during any game this season. There could have been one but probably not two.
At about 12:30 a.m. Friday at the Verizon Center, O'Neill told reporters that he didn't speak to his assistants because "I'm the head coach.'' At 12:35, Chase Budinger confirmed that indeed there was just "one voice'' all season on the coaching staff. At practice. At games. One general. No lieutenants.
That's how absurd the fractured UA basketball program has become.
I've rarely seen a basketball team lack soul the way the 2007-08 Arizona Wildcats lacked soul. It was a joyless journey to nowhere.
When O'Neill last coached at Arizona, from 1986 to 1989, the No. 1-ranked Wildcats were the happiest family in the college hoops universe. The Gumbys, starring Harvey Mason, Matt Muehlebach, Bruce Fraser, Jud Buechler and Sean Rooks, were a dynamic sideline troupe that resonated with genuine joy and loyalty.
The Gumbys were at the foundation of the basketball empire Lute Olson built. This year's UA bench was more like a reverse of the Gumbys. Call them the Ybmugs.
On Thursday, those men sitting on the UA bench were lifeless. Only when fellow benchmate Bret Brielmaier scored late in the game did several of them jump to their feet and show anything remotely close to support/encouragement.
Otherwise they might as well have gone AWOL with Onobun. Who would have noticed? Who would have cared?
I will maintain forever that O'Neill coached a 19-15 team to a 19-15 record. His methods were unorthodox, to put it simply, and his stubbornness ultimately puzzled players, fans, staff, associates and administrators.
But given the material on hand, Arizona had no business winning 20 games, challenging for the Pac-10 title or advancing in the NCAA tournament. Those variables fall back on Olson, who left the program short of players and talent.
O'Neill evaluated those on his bench as non-players, unable to help his team win, and so he didn't give them a chance to do so. He trusted so few people within the program that he became a One Man Band.
He earned every cent of his $725,000 pay, fodder, actually, an unfortunate soul who tried to replace a legend and failed. What a surprise.
O'Neill knows how to coach. It's not like Steve Lavin drawing up X's and O's. He's engaging and a laugh riot most of the time. But, as O'Neill proved at Northwestern and Tennessee, he's probably not a guy suited to coach college kids.
No UA player will publicly say that he didn't enjoy playing for O'Neill, but it's a good bet that athletic director Jim Livengood recently gathered input on the subject from Jerryd Bayless and Budinger.
Had those players supported O'Neill, it's possible there would not have been an Olson-is-coming-back news conference last week.
The disharmony within the program — from managers to the top — became exceedingly apparent.
Some of the problem was that there was no Jim Rosborough around to be the middle man and a respected voice of reason. Another mistake was that Pastner, who is the most loyal and supportive man in the business, was inexplicably shoved aside.
Perhaps, given a year to hire his own assistants, O'Neill and his team would've been all smiles and played with more fire down the stretch. Happy families don't necessarily win basketball championships, but they probably survive to play and coach another year.
Thus, the UA has little choice but to hope O'Neill leaves with a handshake and a smile and not with an exchange of threats from rival attorneys.
After losing to the Mountaineers, O'Neill said he expects to be coaching for 20 or 25 more years, and it would be a surprise if he doesn't. The NBA will find a place for him because, if nothing else, he'll be a terrific scout and player evaluation analyst.
But his return to Tucson, triggered in part by 1988 Wildcat star Steve Kerr, proved that it is not 1988 at McKale Center and it is not going to be that way again.
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