Bear Down Wildcats

People love basketball in Tucson. Lute Olson, Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats, certainly, get the credit for that. It’s often referred to as a “basketball town” because of that. Brandon Miller is putting that to the test. Miller is a co-founder of the Tucson Buckets, a new entry into the American Basketball Association (ABA), a semi-professional basketball league.

“Tucson’s got over 1 million people,” said Miller, the club’s general manager and no relation to UA’s coach. “If we can get one or two percent of that to support the game they already love, that’s an easy sell.”

On paper, sure. Historically? Not so much.

Talks to bring an ABA franchise to Tucson in 2001, with games to be played at the Tucson Convention Center, flamed out due to “economic uncertainty.”

In 2007, it was seemingly a sure bet, with a team name (Tucson Flame) and scheduled start date (in November) announced. November arrived, and the Flame, well, flamed out, too, never picking a coach, or a roster, and folded.

But Miller is trying again with the Tucson Buckets, and this time he’s confident it will work out. The season is set to begin in November, and the Buckets are planning to play either at Tucson Convention Center or Pima College.

The schedule, Miller said, should be 30 games — 15 home, 15 away. Tryouts for players will take place on Saturday at Sporting Chance Center on West Curtis Road and North La Cholla Boulevard.

“I think it’s gonna work out this time because I’ve already been in the community,” Brandon Miller said. “We’ve done nothing but keep it community-based, and that’s gonna be the difference between having a team that stays and a team that leaves; we have the foundation in Tucson.

“This is something I think the community can stand up for,” he added. “We’re a basketball community. We’ve got the U of A, so ... I feel like there is gonna be a huge support.”

Miller, who’s lived in Tucson on and off for the last 13 years, came up with the idea for a Tucson-based ABA team after he tried out for San Diego’s franchise, the San Diego Surfers, last year.

“I just had a desire to bring one to Tucson,” Miller said. “I contacted the ABA and they thought it was a wonderful idea because they have a team in Phoenix (Arizona Scorpions) already.”

The Buckets already have a coach for their first season in Mario Ramirez, the men’s coach at Pima College from 2005-08. The team is still in the process of hiring the rest of the coaching and training staff going into Saturday’s tryout.

The modern ABA — famously a direct competitor of the NBA in the 1970s and once the home of names like Julius Erving and George Gervin — re-established itself in 2000 but hasn’t exactly been known for its stability in recent years. In its first six seasons, a reported 50 teams folded operations in the league’s first six seasons. In 2014-15, there were 66 clubs, but none played a full 30-game schedule.

Still, Miller is expecting more than 60 prospective players to show for Saturday’s tryout. On top of that, he’s in the process of pursuing a couple of former Wildcats — Brendon Lavender, a reserve at the UA from 2008-12, and Joseph Blair, who played at the UA from 1992-96 and most recently was an undergraduate assistant on Sean Miller’s staff.

“We’re looking for about 15 people that like the game,” Brandon Miller said.

“We’re looking for height, we’re looking for size. But we also need individuals that understand it’s not just basketball, it’s a business. We want to look at helping to further careers. If you play one season with us and then you go overseas, that’s ideal.

“But,” he added, “this is the foundation to take the chance and play the game you love.”