Puzzling Pair : Will Arizona Soar or Flail With Ex-Mater Dei Guards?

Riding the emotional ebbs and flows with Reggie Geary and Miles Simon, Arizona’s starting backcourt and ongoing enigma.

The high:

Geary sitting on the court with Simon standing over him, both of them grinning and slapping hands in can-you-believe-this bliss. Arizona whipped Georgetown, 91-81, that night to win the preseason NIT. The two guards made it possible.

The low:

Geary, with his eyes cast downward, and Simon looking up, fixed on the scoreboard and the clock. The two scowling and glaring in I-can’t-believe-this dejection. Arizona took a beating that night in its Pacific 10 opener, losing, 99-75, to California. It was Lute Olson’s worst defeat since becoming the Wildcats’ coach in 1984. Again, their two guards made it possible.

It has been that kind of bungee jump for Geary and Simon. Between the giddy days in November and the hard road in January, they have strutted and stumbled, with a long path still ahead.

Is Geary the most overrated player in the Pac-10, as one magazine labeled him, or another in a line of dangerous Wildcat point guards? Is Simon one-dimensional and slow, as portrayed in preseason publications, or the perfect complement to Geary, as they had been at Mater Dei High four years ago?

It all depends on what day it is.

“Things can turn around so quickly,” Geary said. “We always have to keep that in mind. We have to stay on our toes.”

Even when they are being stepped on.

“People said a lot of bad things about us before the season,” Geary said. “When all is said and done, people are going to recognize what kind of backcourt Arizona has.”

That, again, depends on the timing.

Against Georgetown, the answer seemed clear. At one point, Geary moved from the top of the key to the baseline in a blur to block an Allen Iverson shot for the third time. Moments later, Simon blew past a Georgetown defender to hit a jumper and stop a Hoya run.

And so it went in New York. If they could make it there, couldn’t they make it anywhere?

On the left coast Thursday, the answer also seemed clear. Just not so positive.

Geary almost begged the referee not to call a technical foul after he had pushed the ball into a Cal player’s chest. Simon was smothered by quicker defenders and grew so frustrated he also left with a technical foul. Geary finished two of 11 from the field. Simon was one for seven. New York seemed so long ago.

“None of us have ever been concerned about Reggie and Miles,” Olson said. “The staff, their teammates, me; there was never any question about their abilities.”

Arizona won its first eight games, beating Arkansas, Michigan and Georgetown, and was ranked as high as third. But the Wildcats are 2-2 in their last four games, losing to Syracuse and Cal, and had slipped to ninth before the Cal loss.

Maybe there was good reason for that preseason skepticism.

Geary and Simon were tagged as poor imitations of recent Arizona backcourts, which maybe wasn’t the fairest yardstick.

Two years ago, Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves were All-American guards and pushed the Wildcats into the Final Four. After Reeves moved on to the NBA, Stoudamire picked up the slack last season, averaging 22.8 points and 7.3 assists and was the conference’s co-most valuable player. He became the Toronto Raptors’ first pick. Reeves is now with the Charlotte Hornets.

In stepped Geary and Simon. Basketball magazines waded into them. One said the Wildcats would finish no higher than fifth in the Pac-10 because their backcourt was too slow. Arizona was not ranked in the preseason poll--the first time since 1987 that it was not among the Top 25.

“We saw all that stuff, but we didn’t pay any attention to it,” Simon said.

Then he added: “We feed off the non-respect. We keep playing as if we’re not ranked and we have to prove ourselves to the media and others. We know we have something good here.”

Others were sure, too.

“At the Pac-10 media day, people were talking about UCLA and Stanford [to win the conference title],” Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder said. “I played Arizona without Stoudamire last season and Geary and Simon were tough. Any talk about teams that could win it all had better include Arizona.”

Geary, a 6-foot-2 senior, had not played point guard since high school and hardly seemed to have the credentials. He played small forward and off-guard during his first three seasons at Arizona and earned a reputation as an oppressive defender. But his offensive skills hardly kept opposing coaches up late at night.

He averaged 6.2 points and 3.6 assists opposite Stoudamire last season, Geary said he was slowed by a foot injury and pointed out he didn’t have a dunk--a Geary passion--from January on, in games or practice.

But his leadership qualities were called into question. As an example, people cited the friction between Geary and Olson over playing time last season. It resulted in a postgame shouting match between Geary and assistant coach Jessie Evans, a meeting with Olson, and, finally, a comment from center Joseph Blair that “the main thing Reggie has to do is keep his mouth shut.”

That’s hefty baggage for a guy asked to be the Wildcats’ next floor leader.

But two years of playing point guard against Reeves and Stoudamire in practice paid off. Geary has insisted on being the Wildcats’ leader and he’s not bashful about it when he screams at opponents and dresses down teammates.

“Reggie is vocal and isn’t always the most popular guy on the court because he’s so demanding,” Olson said. “But he’s the guy they all want to play with.”

Geary is averaging 7.6 assists, tops among Pac-10 players. He had 12 assists against Arkansas and 10 against Georgetown in the NIT.

“If I can’t play point, why are there always four guys with their hands raised looking at me every time I have the ball?” Geary said. “They know I’ll get it to them.”

Simon, a 6-4 sophomore, made a nice transition to college basketball last season and averaged 8.9 points. Still, he was inconsistent, partly because a dislocated finger sidelined him for 10 games. He made four of six shots, including three of our three-pointers, against eventual Final Four participant Oklahoma State early in the season. But he was also two of six in the Wildcats’ loss to Miami of Ohio in the NCAA first round.

There were questions about his overall game. He was a shooter--when hot--but lacked a range of abilities to be a full-court threat. Furthermore, he was not a baseline-to-baseline burner.

“I don’t think that was fair,” Olson said. “Miles was a freshman. He has made a quick adjustment to the style at this level. He’s much more confident and aggressive.”

And he still scores, only more frequently. He is second on the team, averaging 15 points. He had 22 against Arkansas and a career-high 26 against Rutgers.

“Yeah, Miles had that funny knack of scoring points, that’s all,” Geary said.

Said Simon: “We feed off each other and cause havoc.”

So where will the ride end?

“There’s a lot of fuel on that fire,” Geary said. “We laughed about what those magazines said about us. Now we got to show them.”