Olson Handles Bumpy Road as Well as Ever

A few years ago I would have savored this opportunity to kick the man when his program is down, to revel in the misfortunes that have befallen Lute Olson and the Arizona Wildcats as they limp into today’s Pacific 10 Conference semifinal game against UCLA.

I used to enjoy bashing Olson, loved watching that smirk get wiped from his face. But I turned around and he became a sympathetic figure to me with the dignified way he handled losing his wife to ovarian cancer on Jan. 1, 2001. As the Wildcats made their way to the championship game of the NCAA tournament that year, reporters asked Olson about his wife again and again, and he always dealt with it gracefully.

So now there’s even some admiration for the way he has put together a 19-11 NCAA tournament season despite a series of injuries and ingrates.

Arizona beat Stanford, 73-68, Thursday, even though its leading scorer was suspended because of a recent arrest on suspicion of drunk driving, and one of its experienced big men was sidelined because of a bad back. The Wildcats’ top reserve was a freshman walk-on. And they couldn’t have done it without a player who himself was suspended for nearly a month.

There are some Arizonans who believe this pitfall is of Olson’s doing, because he stopped bringing in top-notch talent.

Give some credit or blame to UCLA’s Ben Howland, who has slowed the siphoning of talent from Los Angeles. And give some credit, as other Wildcat fans do, to Olson for getting this much out of this topsy-turvy squad.

“Not everything is going to go smoothly for everyone,” Olson said. “I’ve been fortunate through the years that we haven’t had a lot of those distractions. This year, it’s been difficult. We’ve been in a constant state of adjustment it seems like.”

The latest and biggest adjustment was this week, when Olson suspended Hassan Adams for the Pac-10 tournament after Adams was arrested early Sunday. That followed a season in which sophomore guard Jawann McClellan was ineligible during the fall, then had season-ending surgery on his left wrist on Jan. 19, and senior forward Isaiah Fox sat out 10 games, including the last six because of a back injury.

So now Olson is reliant on Chris Rodgers, a player he kicked off the team on Jan. 18 but reinstated on Feb. 13.

Rogers had a nice sequence in the second half when he made a jumper, followed by a three-point basket, then blocked a shot.

And with the Wildcats holding a two-point lead with 90 seconds left, Rodgers made a jumper from the left side. He scored 12 points and had five of Arizona’s 13 steals.

“I just tried to be ready when my time came,” Rodgers said of his month in exile.

“It was difficult on Chris Rodgers,” Olson said. “But I think it’s made him a better player, a better person as a result of that.

“Hassan’s situation is just ... it’s unfortunate. But we have to make that adjustment. As you can see with our guys, they’re going to play. If somebody’s not there, then somebody has to fill in. They’ve been doing that all year long.”

Has this season made Olson a better coach? It’s hard to expect someone who’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame to improve after 33 years as a head coach. But you might say he’s different.

“I think coach has been a lot more high-energy,” said guard Mustafa Shakur. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs.

“You should expect that from your coach, to try to get the best out of you. He’s been trying to just find the right things to say and things to really push us. I think it’s going to be OK.”

So, apparently, is Olson. He looks so similar to his earlier days at Arizona that you might forget he’s 71. During the NCAA tournament last year he described his workout regimen, which included hourlong sessions on the elliptical machine or walks through the hills of Tucson.

He seems to talk a little slower, though. Maybe that’s the age. Or maybe it’s the byproduct of age and wisdom making him a little more hesitant before he speaks. (Although he jumped the gun when he said the Wildcats were looking forward to playing UCLA before the UCLA-Oregon State quarterfinal even started.)

The roles have shifted, UCLA is now in the position of power for today’s game. One thing remains the way it has over the last decade: The Bruins still have to beat Arizona to get what they want.