2023-2024 Arizona Basketball

[Beachcat97]

2 more 3s go in and UA wins comfortably

That is the story. Nothing else

The reason you have a bad rep on here is because your tone is 100% insufferable douchebag. You don't admit when you're wrong, which is often, and you double down on weak opinions. Again and again.

But you do you, PHX.

Bear down!

[PHXCATS]

Tell me how I am wrong. The game completely changes if 2 3s go in. It was a perfect storm of shut against UA. They are far better than Clemson

[PHXCATS]

2 more 3s go in and UA wins comfortably

That is the story. Nothing else

The reason you have a bad rep on here is because your tone is 100% insufferable douchebag. You don't admit when you're wrong, which is often, and you double down on weak opinions. Again and again.

But you do you, PHX.

Bear down!

Praying for you BC. Only a troubled person would hunt all of my post to do -3 on all them. Hope you have a blessed day

[TheCatInTheHat]

We're done with the pussywillow Pac-12 approach, which existed at the behest of the out-of-touch presidents, who from their suburban and Ivy League backgrounds apparently were terrified about the potential for "an incident." So, I think there needs to be a certain amount of re-calibration for our new league.

On offense, we can't go to the rack expecting to be bailed out by the ref on a touch foul and outraged at being clobbered. (Followed by a ten-minute video review for a flagrant.) You need to go up there expecting to be hit hard and have an approach to deal with it. Put up a fake on one side and go to the other, or whatever. But, you need the bucket and the foul shot. And make your goddamn free throws or have a seat.

Conversely on defense, when you're protecting your rim, the refs can only call one foul. So if you hack the guy, hack the guy and don 't let him convert. And let's have some help-side defense come in afterwards to make sure the guy doesn't make an old-fashioned three-pointer. Again, the ref's only going to call one foul, and it would be nice to see another team get the yips for once.

I'd like to see a stat on how often we don't convert at the rim and then reward the defense with 1 of 2 free throws, and how often we fail to prevent a bucket after a foul on defense. And then let's see how much worse those stats are in the post-season.

Hate to say it, but I think we're a little soft, and we need to toughen up for our new league.

[PHXCATS]

Soft has nothing to do with it. Shots just didn't fall just like 1989. Just one of those days

[Beachcat97]

As the postmortem continues, I definitely overestimated the value of having two guys on our roster who’d actually played in the national championship game. I remember my excitement at adding not one but TWO seniors who’d already gotten where we want to go.

Caleb and Keshad indeed brought enormous value to our team/program, and we were immeasurably better this season with these two added. But I’d been looking at that NC game experience as an x-factor other teams lacked.

[TheCat]

I think everyone here forgets the tenor of the preseason before we added those two guys. Can LLoyd recruit. What is our team going to be? They will just load up on Boz and Ballo. We have no real chance if we don't get someone soon. Now with two 5 stars coming in plus two outstanding 4 stars that narrative is quickly vanishing.

My thoughts are next year is we will probably have the toughest schedule in the country with a minimum of Alabama, Duke and Wisconsin plus some good teams in the early season tournament. We will have a very young team going into the lion's den early. We are also joining a new conference with no easy games. We will probably be in the top half of the league with a minimum of 12 loses on the year. I also predict a meltdown on this site every two or three games.

[WildcatStunner]

I think everyone here forgets the tenor of the preseason before we added those two guys. Can LLoyd recruit. What is our team going to be? They will just load up on Boz and Ballo. We have no real chance if we don't get someone soon. Now with two 5 stars coming in plus two outstanding 4 stars that narrative is quickly vanishing.

My thoughts are next year is we will probably have the toughest schedule in the country with a minimum of Alabama, Duke and Wisconsin plus some good teams in the early season tournament. We will have a very young team going into the lion's den early. We are also joining a new conference with no easy games. We will probably be in the top half of the league with a minimum of 12 loses on the year. I also predict a meltdown on this site every two or three games.

It is a proud tradition.

[KaibabKat]

There is something much worse than meltdowns and ranting and raving after Wildcat losses.

Apathy.

[UAEebs86]

I think everyone here forgets the tenor of the preseason before we added those two guys. Can LLoyd recruit. What is our team going to be? They will just load up on Boz and Ballo. We have no real chance if we don't get someone soon. Now with two 5 stars coming in plus two outstanding 4 stars that narrative is quickly vanishing.

My thoughts are next year is we will probably have the toughest schedule in the country with a minimum of Alabama, Duke and Wisconsin plus some good teams in the early season tournament. We will have a very young team going into the lion's den early. We are also joining a new conference with no easy games. We will probably be in the top half of the league with a minimum of 12 loses on the year. I also predict a meltdown on this site every two or three games.

It is a proud tradition.

Do What We Do

[Beachcat97]

There is something much worse than meltdowns and ranting and raving after Wildcat losses.

Apathy.

I don’t think I could ever become fully apathetic about AZ hoops, but man, the Final Four drought is pretty terrible. The struggle is real.

[Dave]

This is the first post season I have felt some apathy. I don't like the feeling! Hopefully I can shake it soon!

[Merkin]

This is the first post season I have felt some apathy. I don't like the feeling! Hopefully I can shake it soon!

Same. I used to think that the Cats would/should never lose a game they were so good. Now I never expect them to.

Now losing to much lower seeds 6 NCAA tourneys in a row just hurts, along with terrible losses during the season to sub-100 NET teams. Losing two games in Palo Alto to Stanford?

[RawleArenas]

This is the first post season I have felt some apathy. I don't like the feeling! Hopefully I can shake it soon!

I think some of it had to do with the fact that the draw that we had doesn't come around often. And when it does, you want to take full advantage of it. I mean, Clemson in the sweet sixteen instead of athletic Baylor? Alabama and their porous defense in the Elite Eight? I thought that maybe, just maybe it was finally our year.

For me, the apathy centers around the national storyline about our tournament problems. People love to make fun of UofA fans when we don't play to our seeding. It's tiring for sure. For once, I would like to be able to talk smack back to other fanbases and have some tourney success to back it up.

Here's to hoping that CTL does some soul searching in the off season. Because he needs to grow in order for our teams to reach their full potential.

[PHXCATS]

Lloyd doesn't need to do soul searching when all that was needed was not the worst game of the year by Love

[84Cat]

Please name me how many coaches made the ff within 3 years of being a head coach? Go ahead and look up Self, Hurley, wooden, Smith & Coach K

[RawleArenas]

Well, now that you mention it Roy Williams (who CTL is often compared to) for one.
But it's not about that. The way we lost was not good. If Clemson shot lights out and we came up short playing a smart, tough game then they get a tip of the hat.

But that's not what happened. Our offense wasn't smart and we didn't make good adjustments. It's been a recurring theme, and Lloyd never took ownership of it. That's how you grow.

At this level, no one's going to hold your hand and blow kisses and tell you everything you did was ok. So in those areas as well as potentially shaking up his staff, Tommy can learn quite a lot. Of course, I feel for the players and appreciate what Love has done for the team. We wouldn't be ranked or seriously relevant without him. I like what Lloyd has done, he has us on the map. But in order for us to take the next step he has to look inward and make some changes.

[PHXCATS]

Ncaa tournament does not define who is and isn’t a good coach

2 more 3s go I. Thursday and UA wins comfortably. The fact that UA missed a ton of 3s and FTs and layups doesn’t make Lloyd a worse coach. Just like if they did it doesn’t make him better.

[Merkin]

Ncaa tournament does not define who is and isn’t a good coach

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like your opinion, man.

My opinion is that the NCAA tourney is all that matters. How many regular season conference championships did Sean Miller have at Arizona? How many PAC tourney championships does he have?

All we remember is his Elite 8 games.

Why is Lute Olson in the Hall of Fame and Eddie Sutton is not? Sutton took 4 different schools to the NCAA tourney. Creighton, Arkansas (F4), Kentucky (E8) and OK State (F4). Bob Huggins just made the HOF in 2022.

[PHXCATS]

Ncaa tournament does not define who is and isn’t a good coach

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like your opinion, man.

My opinion is that the NCAA tourney is all that matters. How many regular season conference championships did Sean Miller have at Arizona? How many PAC tourney championships does he have?

All we remember is his Elite 8 games.

Why is Lute Olson in the Hall of Fame and Eddie Sutton is not? Sutton took 4 different schools to the NCAA tourney. Creighton, Arkansas (F4), Kentucky (E8) and OK State (F4). Bob Huggins just made the HOF in 2022.

So Kevin Ollie is a better coach than Lloyd and Miller?

[PHXCATS]

Give me Miller and Lloyd over the likes of Gary Williams and Hewitt and Howland and Dutcher and Davis

But Merk better be emptying his bank account to fire Lloyd and get them

[azcat49]

Lloyd’s just not ready for the prime time…….yet. I am more then will to give him several more years to learn but I do want him to shake up his staff.

Time has passed Robinson by and the Suns guy will never be a head coach and I have not been awed by his game planning. He needs a Pasternak type to help him grow

[Winger]

Ncaa tournament does not define who is and isn’t a good coach

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like your opinion, man.

My opinion is that the NCAA tourney is all that matters. How many regular season conference championships did Sean Miller have at Arizona? How many PAC tourney championships does he have?

All we remember is his Elite 8 games.

Why is Lute Olson in the Hall of Fame and Eddie Sutton is not? Sutton took 4 different schools to the NCAA tourney. Creighton, Arkansas (F4), Kentucky (E8) and OK State (F4). Bob Huggins just made the HOF in 2022.

Agree. The NCAA tournament may not determine who is a good coach but it definitely determines who is a great coach.

The “name me a coach who made a F4 in his 1st 3 seasons” is sort of a lame misdirection as well. You’d need to look at only blue bloods and quasi blue blood programs to make that comparison for starters. Secondly, most head coaches don’t get the opportunity to start off at a BB or QBB. And just off the top of my head, in the last 3 years, Hubert Davis did it and Scheyer might this season. Izzo did it in his 4th (and 5th seasons). Roy Williams did it in 3. Stevens in 3. Davis and Shaka in 2. Crum and Fischer in 1.

And the more significant issue is that Lloyd has 1) now lost significantly ahead of seed-expectation 3 consecutive times and 2) runs an unconventional roster full of foreigners.

2 has already started to change and likely will so even more next season. But at Arizona you have to win in the NCAA tournament or the heat is eventually going to eventually turn on. By my estimation it hasn’t yet, and won’t now/shortly/because of Clemson; but if he loses 12 games next season I bet it will if he doesn’t make a post-season run, and I’d double that bet if he doesn’t make it out of the 1st weekend.

Lloyd has done a spectacular job in the regular season, in OOC pre-season tournaments and special event games, and in the P12 tournament.

He has done a lousy job in the NCAA tournament.

First rule of leadership, Princess.

[PHXCATS]

Lloyd’s just not ready for the prime time…….yet. I am more then will to give him several more years to learn but I do want him to shake up his staff.

Time has passed Robinson by and the Suns guy will never be a head coach and I have not been awed by his game planning. He needs a Pasternak type to help him grow

Lloyd is the reason why we just needed 2 more 3s to fall in to win comfortably?

[Merkin]

Lloyd has done a spectacular job in the regular season, in OOC pre-season tournaments and special event games, and in the P12 tournament.

I was just thinking about Lloyd's comments after the Oregon loss in the PAC-12 tourney. He said winning the regular season is harder since it's based over an entire season and not a few games.

In a few years, the PAC will just be another footnote in history like the Border Conference and the original WAC. No one cares who the champions were for those conferences.

Yet every single person on this site knows who John Wooden is, and his last NCAA championship was 3 years even before the UA joined the PAC.

It's great that Lloyd wants to go for the long game, and win the season, but his biggest need is to work on the single games he needs to win.

Lloyd is the reason why we just needed 2 more 3s to fall in to win comfortably?

[azgreg]

Lloyd is the reason why we just needed 2 more 3s to fall in to win comfortably?

No, but getting away from what got us back in the game is on him.

Don't get me wrong. I'm 100% behind CTL but he got outcoached Thursday night.

[PHXCATS]

"Fire Lloyd sign Cronin" Merkin

[Beachcat97]

This is the first post season I have felt some apathy. I don't like the feeling! Hopefully I can shake it soon!

Same. I used to think that the Cats would/should never lose a game they were so good. Now I never expect them to.

Now losing to much lower seeds 6 NCAA tourneys in a row just hurts, along with terrible losses during the season to sub-100 NET teams. Losing two games in Palo Alto to Stanford?

I remember in the late 90s feeling like any loss to an unranked team was deeply disgraceful for Arizona hoops. Like, it would've been a lead story on Sportscenter. "This just in! College hoops powerhouse Arizona loses to LSU!"

There's definitely more parity now, but for those of us old enough to have lived through the glory years, we can appreciate the difference between the prime Lute years and where we've been since.

The thing is: we don't need to go 27-4 every year. We just need to win a few quality OOC games (for the tourney resume) and finish top 4 in our league (ie: now the Big 12). That will be good enough to reach the tournament almost every year, and as everyone will remember, Lute once made the tournament 22 straight years. Getting to the tourney every year is the key. We need Tommy to keep experiencing that environment and learning about how the game prep in the tourney differs from other games. Lute showed that this degree of consistency eventually leads to Final Fours and possibly a title.

[pc in NM]

This is the first post season I have felt some apathy. I don't like the feeling! Hopefully I can shake it soon!

Same. I used to think that the Cats would/should never lose a game they were so good. Now I never expect them to.

Now losing to much lower seeds 6 NCAA tourneys in a row just hurts, along with terrible losses during the season to sub-100 NET teams. Losing two games in Palo Alto to Stanford?

I remember in the late 90s feeling like any loss to an unranked team was deeply disgraceful for Arizona hoops. Like, it would've been a lead story on Sportscenter. "This just in! College hoops powerhouse Arizona loses to LSU!"

There's definitely more parity now, but for those of us old enough to have lived through the glory years, we can appreciate the difference between the prime Lute years and where we've been since.

The thing is: we don't need to go 27-4 every year. We just need to win a few quality OOC games (for the tourney resume) and finish top 4 in our league (ie: now the Big 12). That will be good enough to reach the tournament almost every year, and as everyone will remember, Lute once made the tournament 22 straight years. Getting to the tourney every year is the key. We need Tommy to keep experiencing that environment and learning about how the game prep in the tourney differs from other games. Lute showed that this degree of consistency eventually leads to Final Fours and possibly a title.

IMNSHO, Lute and CTL coached in different eras - Just as were the differences between Wooden's vs Olson's eras... Our "glory days" and today's "parity" environment are so different that comparisons are shallow, at best.

[Djcat]

For one I would like to see Tommy coach our team to play against a zone. Everytime an opponent bust one one, team gets into a panic.

Bet you if for some reason we got past Clemson and played Alabama, even they would go zone on us.

We are gonna see a lot of zone D next season

[Postmaster]

For one I would like to see Tommy coach our team to play against a zone. Everytime an opponent bust one one, team gets into a panic.

Bet you if for some reason we got past Clemson and played Alabama, even they would go zone on us.

We are gonna see a lot of zone D next season

I feel like I’ve heard this in the past.