The truth, the whole truth, half-truths, shades of the truth and other items admissible as Red-Blue Game news:
• Arizona played its 39th Red- Blue Game at McKale Center on Sunday afternoon and one record was set: Four NBA teams dispatched scouts to watch the game. Ordinarily, the NBA has enough patience to wait until November, or later, to start scouting for the draft, but this Arizona team is intriguing in so many ways.
Who isn't a potential draft pick?
I sat immediately to the right of scouts from Atlanta, Boston, Washington and Toronto and watched with interest as each filled a notebook with observations whenever someone like freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski and senior point guard Mark Lyons made (or didn't make) a play.
As UA legend Sean Elliott told the capacity crowd, "the athletic ability of this team is stunning."
• Ten players logged at least 20 minutes in Sunday's scrimmage, a figure that makes Sean Miller immediately popular in the locker room. But it is also a figure whose shelf life ends now.
"After today," Miller said, "not everybody will play the amount of minutes they aspire to play."
When the Wildcats re-convene today, the most unspoken dynamic will be how to split 200 minutes of game time among 10 talented players. To address that issue, Miller had Jud Buechler talk to his team.
In Arizona's treasured 35-3 season of 1987-88, Buechler was the third man off the bench, averaging 12 minutes and 4.9 points per game. He did not score in seven games altogether. He was the consummate team player, Mr. Chemistry, as likable as any player in school history.
Buechler has currency among Arizona's talented roster of 2012-13 because he helped the Chicago Bulls win three NBA titles and because he practiced against Michael Jordan for five seasons. Moreover, by the time Buechler left Arizona, he was a first-team All-Pac-10 forward who became a wealthy, 12-year NBA player.
Miller's post-Buechler message was succinct: "This isn't the place to pout," he said.
The UA's ability to keep its seven or eight leading players content and motivated - how to make the locker room a place of harmony - becomes as important as figuring out strategy against potential Top 25 opponents like Florida and UCLA.
• Just for fun, let's assume that Arizona's four greatest jumpers/dunkers in the 30 years were, in no particular order: Reggie Geary, Kenny Lofton, Andre Iguodala and Pete Williams.
Before that, on Fred Snowden's last team, Jeff Collins was almost unmatched as a leaper. And then came Hassan Adams, Chase Budinger and Richard Jefferson.
But I'm not sure any can go any higher than freshman Gabe York and sophomore Nick Johnson, who seem to have springs in their sneakers, and put it on display in Sunday's dunk contest.
But what mattered most Sunday was that Johnson appears to have found his shooting touch in the offseason. He made four three-pointers and led all scorers with 20 points. Of all the prep All-Americans on this team, Johnson probably gets the least public attention, yet he might've made the most progress from last year's loss to Bucknell.
Johnson is no longer just a guy, much like the freshman York, who is identified by his ability to jump high. He joked that, along with Kevin Parrom, he was part of the "20,000 shots workout plan this summer.''
As a freshman, Johnson shot .372 from the field. On Sunday, he was Arizona's most prolific shooter, making 8 of 17 attempts. If he shoots that well, the Wildcats will be a load for everyone.
• Senior point guard Mark Lyons can get to the rack. I suspect he's going to shoot about 150 free throws this year (he shot 134 at Xavier last season) and be willing, eager, perhaps, to shoulder the load at times of duress.
Those players are hard to find.
On Sunday, Lyons was aggressive and in the attack mode. If you've got a senior point guard like that, unafraid, you've got a chance to have a special season.
Lofton was a lot like that in 1988-89, when Arizona rose to No. 1 in the nation. But for all of Lofton's athletic gifts, he wasn't the shooter or creator that Lyons is.
Said Lofton after Sunday's game: "If they can just jell and play together, it's going to be something great around here."
Much like Buechler, Lofton is an expert on playing together. In the '88 Final Four season, his third year at Arizona, when he wanted desperately to play more minutes, Lofton did not start a game. He averaged just 3.8 shot attempts per game, but his contributions and attitude were irreplaceable.
If UA guards Kevin Parrom and Jordin Mayes adopt that approach this year, the Wildcats could be a Final Four team.
• During Sunday's game, the UA administration set up ticket-selling operations at two locations in McKale Center. For a team that sold out a scrimmage, it's odd that season tickets remain available.
Much of it is the economy; the cheapest season ticket at McKale, one ticket, is $409 per season.
It's ironic that the Red-Blue Game used to be a sellout during the Elliott and Steve Kerr days, mostly because it was the only time those without season tickets could get in the arena.
Now, 25 years later, the intrasquad scrimmage sells out to watch Kerr and Elliot, but regular-season tickets are available for an intriguing team with Final Four possibilities.
The difference: In 1988, being a national power was new and intoxicating. In 2012, people complain that the home schedule isn't tough enough.
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