Arizona has a wild notion.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

Arizona is coming to the Willamette Valley for games Thursday at Oregon State and Saturday at Oregon with the Wildcats tied for the Pac-10 lead, back in the top 25 after a brief absence and adding its sixth man back to the playing roster.

So why should anyone doubt UA coach Lute Olson when he says this team will be a better version of the Wildcats than last year?

Uh, well ...

`Probably, people thought I was crazy,' Olson said.

Well, nobody went quite that far but ... better than last year?

`By February,' is what Olson actually predicted.

Some perspective, then. In February of last season, the Wildcats went 7-1, on their way to winning the Pac-10 regular-season title and eventually coming within an overtime loss to Illinois - in Chicago - of reaching the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That Arizona team, which finished 30-7, was led by Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire, now scoring their points in the NBA.

And this Arizona team will be better?

Yes, Olson repeated Tuesday in the Pac-10's teleconference with league coaches, it will surpass the play of last season's team.

First of all, the 24th-ranked Wildcats (10-4, 3-1) are adding 6-foot-4 sophomore Jawann McClellan in time for Thursday's game in Corvallis after he concluded a course between the normal sessions of classes at UA to regain his eligibility.

`He's going to be a huge contributor,' Olson said. `He's our best perimeter shooter as far as consistency, and he'll be one of our top two rebounders. He's very aggressive in terms of going to the basketball.'

McClellan will be the first Wildcat off the bench, Olson predicted, becoming `a regular part of the rotation immediately.'

As a freshman last season, McClellan averaged 5.8 points in 15.5 minutes per game, and made 39 percent of his three-point shots, the best outside shooting accuracy of any of the returning Wildcats.

Arizona already starts a lineup in which four players average in double figures, led by Hassan Adams at 20.5. The starter not in double figures is Ivan Radenovic, averaging 9.1 points, and he scored 27 points in last weekend's two games after a push from Olson to become more aggressive at the offensive end of the court.

The 6-10 Radenovic has become the de facto post player in an altered starting group, when 6-7 freshman Marcus Williams was put in the lineup and 6-10 Kirk Walters was taken out.

Olson said Walters has shown increased aggressiveness in recent practices, which may prompt more playing time for him. But in a Pac-10 not exactly full of talent in the middle, do the Wildcats really need a true post player?

That's especially true because of Adams, the 6-4 senior listed as a guard by the Wildcats but capable of playing on the inside.

`Hassan doesn't hurt you playing whatever position he plays,' OSU coach Jay John said. `He can rebound and score no matter who is defending him.'

Olson said a big key to Arizona's recent success - the Wildcats have won eight of their past nine games - is that Adams `feels very comfortable in his spot as the team leader and go-to guy,' a role the Wildcats always seem to nicely fill from season to season.

While Olson defended Arizona's seemingly sluggish 2-3 start to the season by stating earlier `we haven't played patsies in terms of our three losses,' he also acknowledged the Wildcats needed to find out who they were and how they would play without Frye and Stoudamire, who could be automatic points when it was needed.

`It took us a while to adjust,' Olson said in late December. `We had some guys who thought they were Salim who weren't and now we're being much more selective in our shots.'

More than Arizona's shooting, it's been what the Wildcats have done to the offenses of opponents.

Arizona has seven times this season held the other team to less than 40 percent shooting from the field, and the Wildcats are benefitting greatly from defensive pressure the length of the court that has forced opponents into an average of 22.2 turnovers, which includes UA's average of 11 steals per game.

`This is going to be the best defensive team that we've had,' Olson said.

Adams leads the Pac-10 in steals with 2.8 per game and fellow senior Chris Rodgers is next at 2.7.

`Chris is the best on-ball defender we have ever had,' Olson said.

`Chris' weakness defensively is that, away from the ball, sometimes he doesn't rotate and he relaxes a little bit. Part of it, probably, is that he puts so much energy into guarding the ball. But he's the best we've ever had.

`He has great feet and quick hands and he loves the challenge defensively. No one has the effect on the court that he has on the defensive end.'

All that, and now the help for the offense with the addition of McClellan.

`Our team really needs a good outside threat,' said Williams, who could be one of the Wildcats who loses playing time to McClellan. `He's been real good in practice and he's been aggressive.

`I don't know what Coach will do, whether he'll throw him in there or ease him in, but whatever it is, I'm all for it.'

CAPTION(S):

Arizona coach Lute Olson has led his team to a 10-4 record after the Wildcats started the season 2-3.