Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:45 pm
This last year must feel like a blur to Coach Lloyd. From being a little under the radar as one of our top coaching targets to getting this job offer to getting the roster sorted out to starting practices to starting the season on a tear...and so on. Now he's on the Jim Rome show a couple days before the S16, Pac reg season and tourney titles in hand. #1 seed in his region. It's unreal.
Let's get two in San Antonio, Tommy!
Lloyd was coach in waiting for a program that’s been to 7 consecutive Sweet 16 and 2 final fours in last 5 years.
I’d say he was more of co-coach at GU. Few’s never been fan of media interviews and usually allowed Lloyd or Michaelson to handle when he could get away with it.
Arizona fans I’m sure are shocked at the rise of Lloyd but Gonzaga fans aren’t.
Lloyd was very important piece in building Gonzaga foundation.
I see a very confident Lloyd thinks he’s got a natty team and will push these players to their limit. Getting to Sweet 16 is not his goal.
GO CATS.
Yeah. The expectations and setup aren't different at Gonzaga and Arizona. Both schools have NC type talent and the expectation is results show it.
I'd expect Lloyd made the move because he saw what this team could do and that was the draw. I'd wager he knew he wasn't coming into a rebuild and that this team's upside was what we're seeing.
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Ahem...define "a lot of us".
And I watched that team first hand as I was a teenager. They had just a wee bit of talent I'd say with Marquez Johnson, Richard Washington.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Ahem...define "a lot of us".
Me!!!
(barely)
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Eh...I watched the Bruins in 65-66 and during the Wooden years. Lew Alcindor was the new kid from NYC. So, yeah
I'm old enough.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Eh...I watched the Bruins in 65-66 and during the Wooden years. Lew Alcindor was the new kid from NYC. So, yeah
I'm old enough.
That's awesome, HiCat. Clearly I don't have a sense of our age demographic, lol.
It's actually pretty cool to find out that we've got such a great age range on here.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Eh...I watched the Bruins in 65-66 and during the Wooden years. Lew Alcindor was the new kid from NYC. So, yeah
I'm old enough.
That's awesome, HiCat. Clearly I don't have a sense of our age demographic, lol.
It's actually pretty cool to find out that we've got such a great age range on here.
I have vague memories of the game Bartow coached in the Final Four. I was just barely starting to watch college hoops, but I had been a Suns fan for almost 5 years at that point.
Here's some LA nostalgia for you on those great Bruin teams as I grew up not only 2 miles from campus but they televised most of their home games:
- Was on KTLA Channel 5 back then when the only channels available were 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5, 7 (ABC), 11 (KTTV) and 13 (KCOP).
- Dick Enberg was their play-by-play announcer
- Most of their home games were over after the first 10 minutes
- The only Pac 8 teams I can remember them ever losing to was SC, Oregon and Stanford but that total you could count on 1 hand
- There has never been a team so adept EVER at hitting the side 10-15 foot shot off the glass
- They full court pressed (think it was a 2-2-1) a LOT which just crushed teams early and often. The one thing I remembered is that they didn't pressure the ball when inbounded. They wanted you to get the ball in and then they pounced. One move they were famous for is letting the ball handler dribble ahead past a defender who would then reach around and poke the ball from behind, which usually landed in a UCLA's player's hands, who then passed it back to the original defender for an uncontested layup. They did that move almost every game.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Eh...I watched the Bruins in 65-66 and during the Wooden years. Lew Alcindor was the new kid from NYC. So, yeah
I'm old enough.
That's awesome, HiCat. Clearly I don't have a sense of our age demographic, lol.
It's actually pretty cool to find out that we've got such a great age range on here.
Bear Down!
Bd brother!
Last edited by HiCat on Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:11 pm
Here's some LA nostalgia for you on those great Bruin teams as I grew up not only 2 miles from campus but they televised most of their home games:
- Was on KTLA Channel 5 back then when the only channels available were 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5, 7 (ABC), 11 (KTTV) and 13 (KCOP).
- Dick Enberg was their play-by-play announcer
- Most of their home games were over after the first 10 minutes
- The only Pac 8 teams I can remember them ever losing to was SC, Oregon and Stanford but that total you could count on 1 hand
- There has never been a team so adept EVER at hitting the side 10-15 foot shot off the glass
- They full court pressed (think it was a 2-2-1) a LOT which just crushed teams early and often. The one thing I remembered is that they didn't pressure the ball when inbounded. They wanted you to get the ball in and then they pounced. One move they were famous for is letting the ball handler dribble ahead past a defender who would then reach around and poke the ball from behind, which usually landed in a UCLA's player's hands, who then passed it back to the original defender for an uncontested layup. They did that move almost every game.
When we talk about parity, this is what we're contrasting with. The talent disparity made it shocking when another team in America really could make a game of it. Can you imagine taking a team out of the game in the first half with a full-court press in today's game? (This is why I'm eternally irked by that first-round game in Providence against you-know-who)
EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:11 pm
Here's some LA nostalgia for you on those great Bruin teams as I grew up not only 2 miles from campus but they televised most of their home games:
- Was on KTLA Channel 5 back then when the only channels available were 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5, 7 (ABC), 11 (KTTV) and 13 (KCOP).
- Dick Enberg was their play-by-play announcer
- Most of their home games were over after the first 10 minutes
- The only Pac 8 teams I can remember them ever losing to was SC, Oregon and Stanford but that total you could count on 1 hand
- There has never been a team so adept EVER at hitting the side 10-15 foot shot off the glass
- They full court pressed (think it was a 2-2-1) a LOT which just crushed teams early and often. The one thing I remembered is that they didn't pressure the ball when inbounded. They wanted you to get the ball in and then they pounced. One move they were famous for is letting the ball handler dribble ahead past a defender who would then reach around and poke the ball from behind, which usually landed in a UCLA's player's hands, who then passed it back to the original defender for an uncontested layup. They did that move almost every game.
Wooden's full court press gave other teams fits. Designed to upset the flow and tempo of the games.
Last edited by HiCat on Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 9:28 am
Haven't seen this mentioned: Gene Bartow at ucla was the last first-year Pac coach to get to the Final Four. In 1976, which I'm guessing is probably before a lot of us were born.
Eh...I watched the Bruins in 65-66 and during the Wooden years. Lew Alcindor was the new kid from NYC. So, yeah
I'm old enough.
I remember the UCLA vs Purdue NCAA championship game, Lew Alcindor vs Rick Mount. I also remember going to see the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers play in their version of the red/blue game in Ft. Wayne, IN.
Posted in Koloko thread but also deserves to be here.
“He’s ready to soar: The amazing ascent of Arizona’s Christian Koloko”
He connected immediately with Tommy Lloyd, the new coach’s experience with international players proving invaluable, as well as his reputation as a developer. Lloyd essentially stripped Koloko’s game down to the basics, spending hours on catching the ball, securing it, hitting it properly off the backboard. “Like hundreds or thousands of times,’’ Lloyd says. Koloko never complained. This was, after all, what he did by himself back in Cameroon.
Koloko also enjoyed Lloyd’s approach. He is not a screamer. He likes to crack jokes — though Koloko admits some are lousy dad jokes. “He always begins everything with, ‘I love you. I love you. I love you,’’’ Koloko says. “And then it’s, ‘But…’’’ (Sure enough when asked about how he dealt with Koloko, Lloyd began by saying, “First thing is love him, and let him know how good he can be.’’)
Another little tidbit I wonder how many of us here have thought about. In our NCAA tournament games vs. Gonzaga ('03, '14), not to mention the many times we've played them in the reg season, Tommy Lloyd was right there on the floor. Did anyone even know his name in those days?
Man some of these Tommy Lloyd stories have been wondering why I was ever such a Sean Miller fanboy...I still Like Miller and he definitely is a decent coach and probably wants to win a lot more than perhaps Tommy might let on that he does...but I get the feeling that Tommy really does love his players and that's not as common in this day and age of NCAA competitive recruiting and "under-the-microscope" coaching...
I know Miller CARED a lot for his players and maybe wasn't as open about it as Tommy is, heck his players still stand by him to this day...but Tommy seems to be a cut above most coaches in the care-factor.
I think CSM was true to his Big East/Midwestern roots - tough guy basketball!!
CSL reflects more contemporary, West Coast mentality - and is making the U of A "A Players' Program" again!! "It's showtime!!!"
“If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong.”
So Lloyd beats Cronin TWICE and they still list Cronin as a better coach...he's lost to Lloyd 66% of the times they've played...thats not a good look.
I just see it as, which of those two would I want as my coach for the next 5 to 10 years? And it's a no brainer. Lloyd just put up the best first year for a Pac coach since the 1970s, and he's not even done yet. Micro-sized Mick is a prickly SOB, and during games, he looks like his head is going to explode. That vibe wears on players and on a program.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
I bet the Providence fans loved that article as well.
Arizona State might have the most surprisingly anemic history in men's basketball of any program that you might think is better than it is.
-Norlander.
An opinion piece. Opinions are like assholes: everyone has one and most are full of shit.
I fly like a hawk, or better yet an eagle--a seagull. I sniff suckers out like a beagle...My ego is off and running and gone, Cause I'm about the best and if you diss than that's wrong
Sampson’s only ranked that high because he showed off his tits.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
Article came out today on practice and pace of play for Gonzaga. Quote from Lloyd. My guess is Arizona runs similar practices.
Over three subsequent years, many have tried and failed. Most haven’t come close. Some have hung around for 40 or 50 possessions apiece, but that’s around the time Kispert would look across the court at the man he was guarding, see hands on knees, and smile. It’s around the time former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd would tell players: “The dam's gonna break. Keep going. This team is gonna reach a point where they just crack.”
“And it would always be somewhere between the 8- to 13-minute mark of the second half,” Jones says, “where teams just completely crumble.”
ZagCatFan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:52 pm
Article came out today on practice and pace of play for Gonzaga. Quote from Lloyd. My guess is Arizona runs similar practices.
Over three subsequent years, many have tried and failed. Most haven’t come close. Some have hung around for 40 or 50 possessions apiece, but that’s around the time Kispert would look across the court at the man he was guarding, see hands on knees, and smile. It’s around the time former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd would tell players: “The dam's gonna break. Keep going. This team is gonna reach a point where they just crack.”
“And it would always be somewhere between the 8- to 13-minute mark of the second half,” Jones says, “where teams just completely crumble.”
Yep, thats the way the cats play...if we can stay ahead and then turn on the heat in the last 10 minutes Houston will wish they had never shown up to play.
There s this thing the cats have been doing where they start out a little slow as they take inventory of the team they are playing...its almost like the first 5 minutes of play they are simply evaluating and probing the weaknesses of the opponent...often that looks like a ridiculous start for the other team...I don't know how many games I have heard "_____team could not have wished for a better start" only to see the Cats start adjusting and then within 10 minutes or so the script has flipped...
I don't think they are exactly starting out slow as much as they are sizing up the other team...it looks weird and always makes me nervous, but they almost always adjust....
I think the Pac12 Tournament was an excellent primer for what they will need to do here
ZagCatFan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:52 pm
Article came out today on practice and pace of play for Gonzaga. Quote from Lloyd. My guess is Arizona runs similar practices.
Over three subsequent years, many have tried and failed. Most haven’t come close. Some have hung around for 40 or 50 possessions apiece, but that’s around the time Kispert would look across the court at the man he was guarding, see hands on knees, and smile. It’s around the time former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd would tell players: “The dam's gonna break. Keep going. This team is gonna reach a point where they just crack.”
“And it would always be somewhere between the 8- to 13-minute mark of the second half,” Jones says, “where teams just completely crumble.”
Outstanding. Thanks a lot for this link ZCF. I'm beginning to understand Coach Tommy Lloyd's methodology and thinking. Impressive for sure. Let's make it happen today...let it rip boys!
CSL's ranking is solely a result of his short tenure - no surprise there...
... But K's ranking is notable, given his canonization throughout the past year!!!
“If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong.”
“The reality is that the hardest games to win are over teams on their home court. Teams that don’t play those games can spin it however they want, but what they’re saying is, ‘We don’t want to lose in our non conference season.’" - Sean Miller
Lloyd did a fantastic job this season, but had no idea what his game plan was against Houston.
Were any plays actually called, outside of passing the ball around the perimeter constantly?
Same with giving Tubelis all those minutes, when his hands were soaking wet, and not sure if any of his shots even hit the rim. Kriisa too, was just too slow out there with his bum wheel.
Just no adjustments at half time, which he normally excels at.
2nd game in a row where we got them into foul trouble early and then just decided to jack up bad shots for the rest of the game, I'd like that to change.
Dave wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:48 pm
I saw a very good defensive team completely disrupt everything we tried to do offensively.
Yeah. I go back and forth on this. Like, are elite defenses simply more likely to go far than elite offenses? Baylor was an elite defense last year. Houston is a game away from the FF.
What's a tough pill is that we were a VERY good defensive team this year too. But against Houston, we looked completely overmatched. Their rotations were fast and crisp. We just couldn't get the smallest bit of daylight for good looks. That's good coaching and excellent execution. Houston is the real deal, and I think they'll beat Nova on Saturday.
Anyway, I think Tommy will get better. He just had one of the best first seasons in the history of the sport. Future is bright.
