Cretaceous Cats: Arizona Dino-Sized ‘Wildcats’ Talent From the Jurassic Film Era
By Brad Malone
2001 Jurassic Park III
This one is a stinker. One redeeming thing about this movie is Dr. Alan Grant returns.
Basically a kid is stranded on an island full of dinosaurs and his parents lie and trick Dr. Grant into helping them track the kid down.
2000-01 Arizona Wildcats 28-8, National Title Game
This squad made it to the Final Four for the third time in school history. It might have been the most talented team Lute Olson ever had at Arizona.
Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton and Loren Woods all played in the NBA. Add college standouts Micheal Wright and Jason Gardner into the mix and the Cats had a mean rotation.
Arizona Wildcats
If it wasn’t for a Luke Walton broken thumb and a Gilbert Arenas shoulder injury, the Cats might have added a second national title to their resume.
The Cats fell to the Duke Blue Devils in the title game 82-72.
Player/Character Comparisons
Jason Gardner/Dr. Alan Grant
Jason Gardner’s jersey hangs in the rafters at McKale Center, but he is the least talked about player who has had that honor given to him.
When the Cats won the title in 1997 in Indianapolis, it made an impression on a young Jason Gardner because it took place in his hometown.
Gardner was a bulldog who was a minutes eater. He helped continue the legacy of point guard U by being an extension of Lute Olson on the court.
In Jurassic Park 3, Dr. Alan Grant played the role of point guard and without his help no one would have left the island alive.
Josh Pastner/Trevor Morgan
Josh Pastner was a wiz kid when he was at Arizona. When he first got here, Arizona fans thought he was just the team’s No. 1 cheerleader. They eventually found out there was more to the kid than that. In just two and a half years Pastner received his degree, and it seemed he collected a new degree every three weeks until he left Arizona.
Pastner never lost a game he played in while at Arizona. He may have been an extra coach on the bench, but Lute Olson was not going to give him a chance to play unless the Cats were ahead by a very comfortable margin.
Pastner’s undefeated streak lives because Coach Olson decided not to put him in the game when the Cats got humiliated at LSU in the 1999-2000 season.
Like Pastner, Trevor Morgan was also a wiz kid. Morgan found a way to survive on an island full of dangerous dinosaurs for eight weeks before help arrived.
It is surprising in the movie how smart Trevor is because his parents played by William H. Macy and Tea Leoni do everything they can to try to be eaten by dinosaurs. Miraculously they survive until the end of the film when the military arrives.
Morgan’s smarts are also apparent when he confesses to Dr. Grant that he has read at least two books in his life. The first one by Dr. Grant. The other by rival Dr. Ian Malcolm.
Next: 2015 : Jurassic World