Other articles by Greg Hansen:

Greg Hansen Sunday Notebook : Black learns golf's secret Greg Hansen : Tubac's 'Triangle' a 'Wreck' for golfers Greg Hansen : First stop Indianapolis Greg Hansen : Historically, 44th draft picks have brief or no NBA history Greg Hansen Sunday Notebook : USC, O'Neill a good fit Greg Hansen : For Miller, hard work is a legacy from father Greg Hansen: El Rio's No. 8 tee shot is intimidating Greg Hansen : ASU's Tucson pipeline pumps as rich as ever Greg Hansen : Tucson's Tyler appears calm before the storm at Bethpage Greg Hansen : Friends for life reunite

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So far this season, the UA's enduring man-from-the-stands, the Ooh Aah Man, hasn't made his presence known at McKale Center. Perhaps he is waiting for the Ducks or the Sun Devils or somebody more inspiring than San Diego State.

In his absence, emerging star Jordan Hill has supplied the aahs. On Saturday, spitfire point guard Nic Wise took care of the oohs.

And, indeed, through 11 pre-Christmas preliminaries, we have learned that Wise can play and that Hill must play.

As the identity of Kevin O'Neill's impromptu Arizona basketball team takes shape, it has been suggested that Chase Budinger is neither ooh nor aah. He has been, mostly, OK.

Yet Budinger remains the most compelling of the many parts to Arizona's 2007-08 basketball puzzle. Many in the UA audience are expecting him to be Sean Elliott and Richard Jefferson right now and, of course, he instead has been Chase Budinger, college sophomore, work in progress.

In Saturday's clinical 74-58 victory over the Aztecs, Budinger at times appeared disinterested. He scored 13 points in 35 minutes, missed a couple of free throws and shot 38 percent from the field.

People/critics who contend that Budinger is slow to become Mr. Superstar, would not enjoy getting in O'Neill's grill with that opinion.

"I hear it all the time, that Chase is a lottery pick,'' said O'Neill, who applies the Budinger puzzle to his own, pre-expansion, NBA math. "In 10 years,'' he continued, "there are only 130 lottery picks; everyone needs to let the guy grow into being Chase Budinger.''

If Budinger appeared to be only slightly above average Saturday — how's that for a high crime in college hoops? — it wasn't because he wasn't motivated. During the team's morning shooting session, Budinger felt a sharp pain in his back.

"It locked up,'' he said. "It's very, very sore and painful."

He admitted that he wasn't sure he would be able to play and that when he did, it was mostly on "adrenaline.''

How's that for a novel stat in the box score: Budinger: 13 points while on adrenaline

While hurrying to catch a flight home for Christmas, one he would share with his acquaintances from San Diego State, Budinger was literally on ice. He had a large ice pack strapped to his back, the kind you might see fishermen prepare to keep a large tuna fresh.

Budinger's knees were, as always, accompanied by ice packs, as were his ankles. Before he left the locker room, his body temperature must've plunged to 80 degrees.

O'Neill was impressed.

"I'm very positive about Chase,'' he said. "He's battling harder than he's ever battled.

"You want to be a guy who plays through something maybe you shouldn't play through, and Chase did that today.''

Introducing Chase Budinger, tough guy.

As the Wildcats develop around Budinger, O'Neill likes what he sees. He has cultivated a Mr. Everyman approach from senior Jawann McClellan, who on Saturday embraced that role. As the MVP of the so-called Fiesta Bowl Classic, McClellan did a little Luke Walton across the box score: seven points, seven assists, nine rebounds and a game-turning defensive performance against the Aztecs' Lorrenzo Wade.

While sophomores Hill and Wise have developed so well that the Wildcats now project into 20-game winners and NCAA tournament participants, freshman Jerryd Bayless has become the club's leading scorer (18.5) and assists man (4.2).

This is evolving into a one-for-all, all-for-one club, and Budinger appears to be buying that approach as much as anyone.

"We've had a very equal distribution in scoring,'' he said. "Everyone is very unselfish. We've gotten better every week and we're starting to get an identity as a team."

It was Budinger's way of saying, "this isn't my team; it's our team.''

Ultimately, the Wildcats will need Budinger to make game-changing plays at Gill Coliseum and Maples Pavilion and at other stops on the ridiculously difficult Pac-10 road. They would like to see him shoot more free throws, for example, which would reflect a greater tenacity on his part.

In Arizona's Pac-10 years, only Elliott, Khalid Reeves, Michael Wright, Jason Gardner and Sean Rooks have attempted 200 or more free throws in a year, which is the surest sign of aggressive basketball behavior. As a freshman, Budinger attempted 97 last season.

Thus far, he settles for jump shots rather than trying to beat an opposing player off the dribble and driving into the paint.

Leading 46-40 on Saturday, Budinger received a pass on the wing, faked a shot and drove hard toward the basket. With a 40-inch vertical leap, he was able to jump over the defense and score easily.

There was no foul, but there was progress.

"I want to see him do that,'' said O'Neill. "I want to see him put his head down and get to the basket more.''

For Arizona, a Budinger drive to the basket is not yet an ooh or an aah. But someday it could be.