Other articles by Bruce Pascoe:

UA's 3 of a kind beats Jacks Arizona Wildcats Basketball: UA beats NAU 74-57 NAU coach happy to take his lumps, play at McKale Cats catch break with mediocre schedule 4 games into season, Budinger displaying clear leadership skills Cats on brief break from hoops, but not mentally Arizona 69, Santa Clara 66 Loss is Santa Clara's fourth close one this year Judkins, in starting debut, blossoms as forward option Horne plays, sounds fine in Georgia

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Arizona still can't hold full-length basketball practices for three more weeks and won't play a regular-season game for a month after that.

But already, in limited workouts with Lute Olson's new coaching staff, wing Chase Budinger is noticing a difference. The Wildcats typically hold four half-hour practices a week with coaches, reaching the NCAA maximum of two hours a week, then often play pick-up games on their own.

"The good thing right now is that all the coaches are on the same page," Budinger said recently. "We're definitely going to bring back that Coach O style, running with motion and trying to push the ball. Those type of things are going to come back this year."

Budinger said he also is encouraged by the rest of the team, which has five newcomers.

"All the guys made improvements over the summer, and all the guys back have improved," Budinger said. "The freshmen who came in are a great group of guys. The best thing about them is they want to learn."

Arizona recruiting target Anthony Stover, a Top 150 forward in the class of 2009, is taking his final official visit to UCLA this weekend.

Stover's father, Craig, said the family moved up the visit so that Anthony could reach a decision sooner and get on with his upcoming season at Renaissance Academy in La Canada, Calif.

"Now, we're going to compile all the different things, the pros and cons, and have a sit down with the grandparents and everyone," Craig Stover said. "Then he's going to make the decision where he's going to play."

Stover's finalists are Arizona, ASU, Creighton and UCLA, though the Wildcats may have helped themselves during Stover's visit to the UA last weekend. Craig Stover said he was particularly impressed with lead recruiter Reggie Geary, associate AD Gayle Hopkins and academic counselor Lisa Napoleon.

"It was excellent," Craig Stover said. "Coach Olson is a living legend. He has a great staff and a great support staff … (Anthony) loves Arizona."

Even though the UA already has 10 perimeter players on its tentative 2009-10 roster — counting Budinger, who is expected to leave for the NBA next spring — the Wildcats still went all-out for California wing Keegan Hornbuckle, according to his high school coach.

Hornbuckle considered Arizona but ultimately committed to Colorado this week, because of the coaching staff and style of play, Campbell Hall High School coach Terry Kelly said. Kelly said UA assistant coach Mike Dunlap told Hornbuckle he was needed at the UA.

Dunlap "said they had a philosophy of trying to get someone with a real high basketball IQ and one with athleticism at each position, and Keegan had both," Kelly said.

After three unsatisfying seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, former UA guard Salim Stoudamire said he appreciates the new opportunity a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs offered him.

"This is definitely my second chance and it might be my last chance," Stoudamire told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But I know how to turn negatives into a positive. After these three years in Atlanta I can say that I've finally become a man.

"Being in a situation where I wasn't playing, it humbled me. It made me appreciate just being in the NBA a lot more. It made me work a lot harder and realize that this is a blessing," he said.

"There are only 400 and something guys in the NBA and billions of people in the world. So once you take that into account, your focus is there, your clarity is there and you can move forward."

Stoudamire, who played in just 35 games for the Hawks last season, found room in San Antonio in part because the Spurs opted not to retain his cousin, former UA standout Damon Stoudamire.

● Television analyst Jay Bilas wrote on his ESPN.com blog that complaints from Olson and UA players about last season's half-court execution and set plays were unfair shots at former interim head coach Kevin O'Neill.

"In short, it was Olson that created the situation that O'Neill and his team had to play their way out of last year," Bilas wrote. "That was 'Arizona basketball,' and Olson needs to take responsibility for it and stop blaming O'Neill and allowing the players to do the same."

● The Phoenix Suns will conduct closed practices inside McKale Center next Tuesday through Saturday mornings, with evening sessions Tuesday-Thursday and an open scrimmage Friday at 5 p.m. Suggested donations for the scrimmage are $6 for adults and $3 for children.