Arizona’s X-Factor
It feels like the sky is falling whenever we talk about Arizona because the wheels kind of came off after an 8-0 start. The Wildcats went 6-5 in their next 11 games, including road losses to Stanford and Oregon State – teams that won’t sniff the NCAA Tournament.
But Tommy Lloyd’s squad has gotten things back on track with five consecutive wins. Though some have been close, Saturday’s thumping of Colorado indicates this group may have gotten its groove back.
There are several reasons for that. Kylan Boswell seems to have gotten out of his slump, Caleb Love isn’t shooting them out of the game and the bigs are producing consistently again.
However, an uptick in playing time for Jaden Bradley is as big a reason as any. The Alabama transfer played more minutes against Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday than any other game this season, and he played well in both games. Bradley has an incredible ability to create offense for himself and has been an underrated defender (third in the Pac-12 in steal rate).
Per Hoop-Explorer, Arizona is significantly better on both ends of the floor when Bradley is playing.
That data shows Bradley’s defensive impact, which is most important to this team. Everyone on this roster can score at a high level and Tommy Lloyd’s system is perhaps the best in the country. Arizona needs to consistently defend well, too, if it’s going to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s something that wasn’t happening during those recent struggles.
With Bradley off the floor, the Wildcats are allowing nearly 106 points per 100 possessions while letting opponents shoot 38.0 percent from 3-point range. With him on the floor, those numbers fall to 88.9 and 30.5.
So while Arizona does need Boswell and Love to continue to play well and more efficiently, getting Bradley on the court more may be the bigger key.
