GREG bRYAN / arizona daily star 2007

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UNKNOWN PENNELL NOW ARIZONA WILDCATS BASKETBALL COACH

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By the time Arizona lost to Virginia at McKale Center two weeks after Lute Olson left the Wildcats last November, Kevin O'Neill had seen enough.

By nature a strong believer in rugged man-to-man defense and a structured offense, the interim head coach decided then to largely scrap Olson's more freestyle philosophies. O'Neill said repeatedly he simply wasn't comfortable executing Olson's style of play.

So the Wildcats converted to "KO style" for the rest of the season. They always used a man-to-man, even as forward Jordan Hill consistently toyed with foul trouble, and they often had Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger running off screens.

Until Bayless went down with a knee injury on the eve of a Dec. 29 game at Memphis, nobody could complain. The Wildcats were 9-2 at that point, with the only losses against Virginia and at Kansas in overtime.

But down the stretch, opponents began to focus more than ever on Bayless and Budinger, who both averaged more than 35 minutes a game. Then point guard Nic Wise hurt his knee in early February, and the UA went 2-5 without him.

The Wildcats lost seven of their final 10 games, and by the time Olson returned to office in late March, talking about reverting to "Arizona basketball," he had plenty of followers.

Budinger withdrew from the NBA draft in part because of Olson and his style, while Jamelle Horne and Wise gave up the idea of transferring for largely the same reason.

Now, Olson's gone, but, unlike last season, much of his style will remain. Here's how:

Interim head coach Russ Pennell said he is focusing on installing a motion offense that allows Budinger and Horne a lot of freedom on the wing.

By doing so, Pennell says, the UA will become less predictable because foes won't gain much by watching tape of previous games. Opponents also may think twice about double-teaming Hill inside.

The motion also will let the UA take advantage of Wise's shooting as well as his passing, since he will often be playing off the ball.

"Once the ball's passed, you don't know who's the point guard anyway because we've got a four-man motion and guys are moving," Pennell said. "It'd be different if we're running a high pick-and-roll and one guy has the ball in his hand 75 percent of the time."

Budinger will also serve as a point guard and freshman Garland Judkins, if he proves ready, will help off the bench.

Wise and Judkins both have the speed necessary to keep the offense moving quickly.

"I'm real big on pushing the basketball down the floor," Pennell said. "If we have a good opportunity to score in the first 8 to 10 seconds, as long as it's a high-quality shot, I'm comfortable with them taking that."

The only problem, Pennell said, is that the freedom can be risky in inexperienced hands.

"The new players, some struggle in that because their reads are not very mature yet," Pennell said. "It's our job to identify that and give them a few rules, to allow the players with a little more experience an opportunity to touch the ball again."

In addition, the Wildcats also have to make sure they don't forget about Hill inside. Feeding him the ball cannot only result in an easy inside basket, but also pull defenders away from the perimeter.

"Obviously, Jordan Hill is a big weapon," Pennell said. "The big thing we've got to do is keep him out of foul trouble, protect him and give him touches."

The Wildcats will still use plenty of the man-to-man defense they favored under Olson but, in part because of a thin roster and Hill's propensity for foul trouble, they are mixing in a zone.

Associate head coach Mike Dunlap has been setting up a 1-1-3 formation that is much like a 2-3 zone after the first pass. Point guard Wise will likely line up at the top of the zone, with the shooting guard (probably either Budinger or Horne) behind him, with the other three defenders spread out closer to the basket.

Pennell said the main object of the 1-1-3 is to pin the ball on the sideline, flood the strong side and make it tough for opponents to reverse the ball.

"It's a very aggressive, attacking zone with tons of man-to-man principles," Pennell said. "That's why it's so good. It's a great complement for what we're doing with the man-to-man."

Wise compares it to the matchup zone ASU plays, with a lot of man-to-man style ball pressure. The only defenders who play a mostly traditional zone, Wise said, are the two most-interior players.

"It creates a lot of havoc," he said.

The defense does allow defenders to let go of their man if he drives inside. There, ideally, the Wildcats' interior defenders will take apart the driver.

"We're going to call it the 'Claw' from now on," Pennell said. "We were going to call it 'Wildcat,' and then we realized we had a play called that, so we're going to call it the Claw. Hopefully, it will be something really good."

Pennell said he didn't know how much the Wildcats would use the zone, saying it will probably depend on matchups, foul trouble and other game-specific concerns.

The Wildcats also will mix in a press that covers three-quarters of the court, assuming their energy levels are high enough.

"We won't really trap too much" in the press, Wise says. "But it causes their offense to make decisions and we will create a lot of turnovers."

Mike Dunlap eschews formal titles, but in reality, he's the defensive coordinator in charge of the "Claw" and the man-to-man. Pennell is handling the offense, while assistant coach Reggie Geary is working with the guards.

Both Dunlap (in Australia and at two smaller U.S. colleges) and Geary (the NBA Development League) have head coaching experience, while Pennell is a longtime former assistant at Oklahoma State, Mississippi and ASU.

Both Pennell and Dunlap, despite never having worked together before this season, say the chemistry is good between them.

"Obviously, Mike Dunlap, with his defensive experience is incredible," Pennell said. "He's a basketball genius; he really is. I call him 'The Professor.' He always laughs and tells me I'm making fun of him. But on the defensive side he's very innovative."

While some of Pennell's philosophical influences stem from Eddie Sutton, who used the motion offense at Oklahoma State, Dunlap's mentors include George Raveling, John Wooden, Pete Newell and Olson.

Dunlap was on hand in 1997 when Olson held a clinic in Adelaide, Australia, where Dunlap was coaching the professional Adelaide 36ers.

"I've been to a multitude of practices and clinics that (Olson) has done," Dunlap said. "He and I are very similar."

THE TRANSITION

Pennell said he "leans" toward the offensive philosophy of Olson, which is a good thing for the Wildcats who were excited about returning to a motion offense this season under Olson.

"They love playing this way," Pennell said. "You don't have to tell Nic Wise to push the basketball. Chase wants to run, too."

But it's not a mirror image of Olson's style. Onobun said Pennell has mixed in some offensive tweaks that Olson didn't have.

And defensively, the zone and press that Dunlap is mixing in are different than the defensive tactics of either Olson or O'Neill. While O'Neill was a devoted man-to-man coach, Olson sprinkled in a 2-3 or a 1-3-1 into his mostly man-to-man philosophy.

"Every coach has their own style," Onobun says. "There are some things we do that we did with KO. There are some things we do with Coach P that we did with Coach O. But basketball players adjust and that's what we've been doing. We move forward."