2022 vs 2023.

[Carcassdragger]

I appreciate the knowledge and insight of many posters here.

I'm curious what you guys think about this year's team vs last year's.

Overall, are we better or not quite as good? Strengths and weaknesses this year vs last year?

Can we post a poll?

Thanks.

[TheCatInTheHat]

I think Kriisa has improved and is more consistent, although he still has lapses in judgment and forces the action sometimes when his namesake would have pulled it back out. Ballo's made a phenomenal jump, and Tubelis is more consistent. Ramey is a very solid and tough-minded addition. Believe it or not, I think Veesaar actually more or less makes up for Koloko. Tubelis is the go-to now, but we miss Mathurin somewhat in that regard offensively. And, as was mentioned elsewhere, we miss Mathurin and Terry's athleticism defensively. I appreciate Larsson, but he's not Mathurin. I get a little frustrated by Henderson on occasion. I think if this year's team played last year's team, this year's team would win their share, depending on the respective outside shooting. But, I think last year's team would win maybe 6 out of 10.

[Postmaster]

To me, it’s hard to judge until we get into conference play, but I’ll do it anyway.
Kerr is better but his 2 pt shot has disappeared.
Pelle has regressed
Ballo might be getting tired with increased PT.
AZ has improved.
Bal regressed
Ramey is solid but I feel like he is still defining his roll.
Henderson is solid but like most guys from small schools, he isn’t as dominant at a P5. I do like when he plays and I wonder if he should start and have Pelle come off the bench for a week.

Right now, imo, we lack a perimeter guy who can score when needed. Get his own J or take it to the rim.

In conclusion, this team lacks Benn and DT.

[azcat49]

Not as much athleticism on the perimeter but Ballo and Tubelis are better in the post than Koloko and Tubes.

Last years team was better defensively with a rim protector and guys that were very long and athletic

I liked our bench last year as they were far more consistent but I do like Henderson and the ever improving Veesaar and Boswell. Bal has been a disappointment so far.

I think the difference in the two teams is Mathurin. We just don’t have a guy like him this year. He could get us a bucket or get us to the FT line when we needed it.

I do think last years team was better but I think this years teams goes further if that makes any sense

[dovecanyoncat]

Kerr too often reverts to 3s and hot passes when the 2pt floater or layup is a low risk hunt away.
Pelle is best when he's not sped up. Set plays to get him open for 3s would bring back his 3pt % IMO. Fast defensive teams can take away his back cuts, limit his easy buckets in the half court and in transition.
Ballo did look weary. Maybe letting him consolidate his improvement while focusing on other player development should be Tommy's priority.
Zu seems to have made the mental adjustment to last year's weaknesses, few that they were.
Bal is a fragile potential. His handle is too far away from his body and that limits his ability to be productive in transition and inside the perimeter. He is a ball watcher on D and that limits his overall PT and thus his opportunity to gain confidence in his 3pt shot.
Ramey calms everyone down, I think. He has a good 3pt shot if he's in rhythm. He's not explosive quick on the dribble drive, but with a midrange opening he knows what to do. He starts, so obviously Tommy wants him out there from the get.
Ced is crafty and productive in his half court role but he can get real loose in transition.
Veesaar will be what we need him to be but the timing of that achievement is the question. I glad whenever he plays because it means our starter bigs are resting and he is improving.
Ky will be what we need him to be same as Veesaar. I'm glad every time he's on the floor and isn't overwhelmed by D1 P5 BB. When I was 17 I wasn't worth the spit in my mouth.

We have no one remotely resembling Benn.

[WildcatStunner]

2022 team was much better defensively. Mainly cause Koloko was a strong rim protector and DT was a swiss army knife on defense. Koloko was also a solid defender on the PnR which allowed switching defenders.

[RawleArenas]

I'm still a little bearish on this team until I see some changes with our defense and bench. It's difficult to criticize a coach that's won 90 percent of his games, but I'll give it a shot.

Going forward, CTL needs to find guys that have instant impact talent with high ceilings. His recruiting in my eyes has been hit and miss. Bal is nowhere near what I expected from him this year. I wanted the opposing teams to think "Man, this dude could start for any team in the country and he's coming off the bench?" That's essentially what we need out of Bal now and going into the future. Will we see that from him? Your guess is as good as mine. Like Boswell, he came in at 17 and seemed to hit the ground running, but in his second year it appears he's hit a wall and will be buried on the bench (or recruited over) if he does not improve. Veesaar is promising, but is nowhere near what Wildcat Nation was expecting from him going into the season. Veesaar was rated higher than Zeke, and Zeke came in immediately and tore up the Pac on his way to winning Pac FOY. Based on his reputation, I was expecting Veesaar to at least contend for all freshman team honors, but it seems unlikely unless he pulls a 180 sometime in the near future. Filip is another guy that has talent, but needs a lot more time to develop. Which is typical of Gonzaga type players except the talent gap is much wider in Power 5 conferences, which is why we never see Filip or Anderson getting any meaningful minutes. I haven't been impressed with any of them so far.

And that's my problem with CTL up until this point. You come to UofA to supersize whatever you did at your previous program. I want to see unbelievable players that other teams wished they had. We play well because we have great coaching and a great system, but the only unicorn type player we have (Zu) was recruited by CSM. From what I've observed from Lloyd, his player development prowess is a huge asset but also a necessity, because he's is not getting players that are ready so he has to put in extra elbow grease to get them up to par. Looking to next year, I watched Thierry Darlan and if CTL can somehow get him to play for us, it'll be a huge get. A game changing one that allows us to improve our athleticism and defense with the addition of KJ Lewis. The new guys we have now are too European in mindset, basically overly deferential and collaborative. These are usually good qualities to have, but in physical, high energy games players need to assert themselves and take charge. I don't see these qualities in the guys Lloyd has recruited this cycle. It might work in the WCC, but not the Power 5.

When comparing CSM to CTL, I think that's the main difference. CSM would work himself into a frenzy to make sure the recruiting classes looked the way they needed to. It was a 24 hour ordeal. And we got guys that were incredible, in fact he got players that surprised the fanbase. Ayton was one of them; we've never had a player of his caliber before. Dana Altman said that Ayton was the best player he has seen in the Pac 12 since coaching at Oregon. I still have fond memories of that transition dunk he did in Eugene where he dunked on a player back pedaling and Walton almost jumped out of his seat. Zeke was another player. UofA was on tilt because of the investigation and UNC and Kansas (among others) were negatively recruiting against us hard and we still got him. He promptly blew up and became another Wildcat success story. At that time we had 5 Pac 12 FOY in 11 seasons which was incredible. Would have been 6 if Lonzo didn't steal the shine from Lauri in 2017. I'm not sure if Lloyd knows how to dig in and close in that manner, because he's never had to before. I don't think he's used to that kind of pressure, but somehow Fisch and Adia have figured it out, so he needs to get moving.

Kriisa is kinda feast or famine, which indicates that he's not fully matured yet. In the Creighton game, he showed us the versatility we were expecting, and then promptly did a Houdini after that game and went right back to being the super chucker that fans have gotten used to. Larsson seems listless at times. He has the athleticism and talent of a 5 star, and appeared to have a really nice ceiling, but it's clear that he's more of a role player that could erupt for 30 if the moment called for it. On Mike Luke's podcast, they made the same observation which is disappointing because if he started shooting like he did in Utah, this team looks entirely different. We become much more difficult to scheme and game plan for.

Winning covers a multitude of sins. I'm just hoping that the staff recognizes the areas of improvement and makes the correct adjustments before tourney time. Because in reality, that's all that really matters.

[pc in NM]

I think almost all the returning players have improved.

Tubelis is better with footwork, and is much quicker with inside moves - he’ll still have issues with very athletic defenders, especially teams like Houston…

Kerr is much better at running the offense, and his shooting is a bit better also - but he can be inconsistent. He does overreach occasionally, but that’s tolerable in CTL’s offense. (I honestly believe that CSM’s offense, and control needs would stifle him)

Ballo is better on the offensive end than Koloko, overall, but not nearly the defensive stopper that Koloko was. that is one deficit in comparison to last year.

Pelle is coming along slower than I expected, but I’m still holding out for him living up to (pretty darn high) expectations!! I’m somewhat reminded of Salim in that he seems to be his own worst critic! He’s still a big contributor on intangibles…

Adama is struggling, He’s not hanging his head, which I think is a positive for a highly touted sophomore. I’m hoping he hits his stride with regular doses of PT moving ahead.

Ramey is a seasoned player, and he adds stability, as well as scoring balance.

Henderson is already a valuable sixth man, and consistently making valuable contributions, both offensively and defensively.

Henry has great basketball sense, and is progressing really well. strength and weight are his only deficits, and the way he’s already adjusting, I think he’ll be critical in March!

Boswell is so young, and his move into the college game has probably been the steepest challenge of all the new guys. But he’s coming fast!! His shooting could be critical down the stretch. Getting his “sea legs” with the speed and talent of the college game could be a favorite commentator highlight in March…

This is a great and deep group of players, and I can’t think of anyone better that CTL to be molding them into a unit!!!