Arizona at Memphis

Injuries ruined ESPN2's marquee match-ups - the crown jewel of their sextuple-header (six games in a row), and Kevin O'Neill added insult to ...injury by slowing the game down to crawl.

Despite playing without injured Jerryd Bayless and Brett Brillllmaier, the Meercats showed poise and managed to stay in the game, partially because of turning the game into a slower and uglier experience for the Tigers who wanted to break free and run wild all over the court.

Dozier showed how his unique skills make him a valuable member of the Tigers team. And so did Taggart coming off the bench and providing offense. Even Pierre "dancing bear" Niles made a guest appearance and forced a guard to turn it over. This was a team effort and the Calipari Tigers did not let the Comeback Cats attempt a comeback on them like they did with Kansas, Illinois, Texas A&M, Virginia, and just about every game they played.

With a shorter rotation, O'Neill was forced to play players he doesn't usually play. Kirk Walters was not bad actually and while Fendi Onobun had energy and movement, he showed why he didn't play last year: very poor decisions on offense. Jordan Hill showed some almost-NBA level moves on offense against Joey "Ben Wallace" Dorsey, but it has just a handful of moves, and not enough to turn the tide.

But something for Wildcat fans to worry: Just like many coaches (eg Tubby Smith in his first year at Kentucky), Kevin O'Neill has shown this year that he can coach and get things done with a talented group of players. However, do you really think the abrasive and no-nonsense Kevin O'Neill can recruit players the caliber of Budinger, Bayless, Jennings, Iguodala, etc? Unlikely! So when you look at the future of Arizona without Lute Olson but with Kevin O'Neill, the recruiting is not going to look as pretty. He will probably have to recruit the same way Tony Bennett recruits at Wazoo. But then again Tony Bennett is doing very well at Wazoo, so perhaps one cannot complain. Except the Wildcat fans are spoiled by waves and waves of talented NBA-caliber recruits.