2024-25 Arizona Basketball

[TheCatInTheHat]

If you’re going to lose 8 poll spots going on the road to play in tough environments like in Madison in the non-con the incentive will be to just stay home and play cupcakes if you play a killer conference schedule like the Big XII.

Didn't see the game, but from the post-game comments, it sounded like the Big Ten refs were actively "doing their job", which is to say the early-season paternalistic stuff (early T on Love, etc.) Obviously we played poorly and would have lost regardless, and maybe it's a good learning experience for a re-patched lineup. But the stacked deck of those kinds of non-conference road game seems like overkill, and the eastern sportswriter types don't seem to give out any credit for tough scheduling. They're just happy to re-confirm their existing beliefs about yet another soft overrated far west team. Fans like the big intersectional home-and-homes, but with the murderer's row of the Big XII waiting, going forward things non-conference may look much more like our series with UCLA, Battle for Atlantis, etc.

[pc in NM]

I love the scheduling of several top opponents in the conference pre-season.

Good for fans.

Good for team-building.

If one discredits regular season performance vs tournament performance (as most here seem to do!), then these games, that might mean more losses but better preparation for the post-season, should be regarded as positives.

And, poll rankings, before January, are, IMNSHO, just as meaningless as preseason polls and ALL of "bracketology" predictions before March.

[Merkin]

I love the scheduling of several top opponents in the conference pre-season.

Same. Scheduling cupcakes like Miller was prone to do sure builds up your record and your confidence, and even puts players like Nico Mannion into the conversation for the lottery, but once you hit conference schedule and come on down back to earth you fall into the 2nd round.

Did get a cup of coffee in the league thanks to Steve Kerr, but now a lifelong Euro player.

[Alieberman]

We generally play up to our competition

I expect a great effort, great game by the Cats

[TheCatInTheHat]

I don't think anyone suggests lowering the level of competition and playing Mercyhurst at McKale for every non-conference game. The only question is how much you cater to fans for the McKale half of a major home-and-home by subjecting yourself to hostile refs and observing a free throw exhibition by the opposition (and frequently a loss) for the road half, with whatever impact that has on that season. Not sure how much that prepares you for NCAA play which is usually officiated very differently. It was interesting in the Pac how much you sometimes had to play on eggshells (even at home!), with much dialogue about how that hurt us when the tournament came around. You need to play 5 or 6 tough teams prior to league play. It's just whether you play them in Tucson, Baton Rouge, Tucson, Bloomington, Tucson, and Lexington, or whether you play them in Phoenix, Maui, Nassau, New York, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas.

[PHXCATS]

Convince me we can win on Friday.

Because Arizona is a good team

What the fuck is this post

[Postmaster]

Is the site down?
Seems like nobody has posted in a week.

[Chicat]

Is the site down?
Seems like nobody has posted in a week.

Not really sure what to say about this team honestly. The way we played a week ago was confounding. This is about the least cohesive a Tommy Lloyd-coached team as I think we’ve seen and I’m genuinely concerned that will continue tomorrow night.

[AZCatGirl]

I say it's too early to tell, and a lot can and will change from now to March.

Tomorrow will be interesting to see how we respond.

[Postmaster]

I'm was at a wedding so didn't get to see much of the Wisconsin game. The first two games seemed like exhibitions. So many guys played it was like watching a Red/Blue game.
I know people have said that if Ballo stayed Krivas would have left but from what I have seen we are lacking rim protection.

By March, will Love be the secondary ball handler?

[Abrahamarvel]

I think Bryant shuts down Flagg, and Cats get the W

[LuteIsGod]

3 pointers are a mirage. Get to the cup or hit the free throw line extended jump shots. Move without the ball. Take the easiest shots possible. Cause havoc with full court presses the entire game because we’re at home.

And please….some fans in the crowd….desecrate a picture of Rat Face for the nation to see! I hate everything about Duke and want to see us win this game.

[PHXCATS]

Is the site down?
Seems like nobody has posted in a week.

Textbook fair weather fanbase

And please….some fans in the crowd….desecrate a picture of Rat Face for the nation to see! I hate everything about Duke and want to see us win this game.

Who fucking cares. Move on

[UAdevil]

^What was the point of this other than to behave like a turd?

[Merkin]

Machina at one time could actually contribute to conversations whether we agreed with him or not.

[Chicat]

We need to have a conversation about poor roster construction.

[AZCatGirl]

We need to have a conversation about poor roster construction.

Tommy's loyalty to Boswell was a problem.

Tommy's loyalty to Love is a problem.

Tommy needs to set loyalty aside when deciding how to build a roster.

[Dave]

This definitely looks like a roster construction problem. We need to give Bryant as many minutes as possible.

[Winger]

This definitely looks like a roster construction problem. We need to give Bryant as many minutes as possible.

As posted on the previous page - its a weird roster.

And it was exposed big time tonight.

Lloyd couldnt even play ADO (we sure he watched tape on him?). Bradley was the only guy who could get Arizona a bucket. None of our bigs could protect/handle the ball nor do anything inside. Duke came out hyper aggressive and punched us in the mouth all over the court and we really struggled w the physicality. And Lloyd never should have allowed Love back. He was so bad tonight I was wondering if he had $$$ on Duke.

Almost posted this after Wisky but imo Lloyd needs to run with Carter at the 4 and trust with those minutes he raises Arizona’s ceiling by the end of the season.

Will know more after the Bahamas and UCLA but as of right now it looks like Arizona is in trouble.

[Winger]

We can leave it there for now, as it's still early. I think the most alarming thing is

1. His defense is even worse than anticipated
2. His eFG% is just as bad.

Long ways to go, but not a great start.

Lloyd couldnt even play him tonight. He tried a couple times But ADO didnt last 60 seconds. Cant play at this level, period.

[dmjcat]

Just got back to my Oro Valley hotel. The atmosphere at the game was great.

Watching the UA bball team tonight was a bit like watching a UA football game this year....the other guy had better players.

Flagg>>>>>>>>>>>>Love.

We were outrebounded and could not sink 3's, Our inside game was non-existent.

I believe that tonight was the first time that I can say the NIL has hurt the program. For the last two games, its evident that we would have been better off giving Loves $NIL$ cash to Ballo and sent Love packing. But we didn't have the money so we couldn't keep both. I also have to wonder if Dell'Orso was a scouting bust or he was just all we could afford. The NIL issue, unfortunately, is not going to get better, either for football or basketball.

Going forward unless Love "figures it out" we need to see more Carter Bryant coming off the bench. I was also more impressed with Veesar tonight than Krivas. Veesar had more fight and its evident Krivas has issues with the speed of the game in US college basketball.

[Fishclamps]

If I'm remembering correctly, Love's NIL was for Love specifically, as in it would not be there to spread around to other people.

[Postmaster]

I thought CTL chose Krivas over Ballo.

[SabinoDrifter]

They’re 314th in 3 point shooting, which is a major concern without a major force inside like Ballo. This isn’t a very good team right now and not sure their ceiling is anything other than a marginal top 25 team.

[ChooChooCat]

This is a very poorly constructed team.

[pc in NM]

I think the biggest difference in the game last night was the rebounding, at both ends of the court.

• Duke out rebounded the cats 43-30

• Offensive rebounds - Duke 13, Cats 6 - and most of Arizona's were when Duke already had a big lead

And Caleb's performance is, obviously, disappointing. Is it the haircut??? Hope he can come out of this slump soon!! His shooting sucked, but he played a good floor game. (And, I think we need to be supporting his turn around, rather than trashing him.)

KJ and Bradley are living up to expectations, and playing their asses off!!

Krivas and Veesaar are doing well, but on offense they aren't yet fully integrated into the offense. Duke gets a lot of credit here, but the Cats weren't effective at getting the ball into them. I tyhink that's gonna progress moving forward.

Against top competition like this, I think Townsend and Awaka were neither much of a factor, and that should be a concern moving forward.

I'm not gonna pile on Dell'Orso - hope he can make contributions in some games - but he wasn't up to Duke's game.

Bryant was excellent, and I think his contributions will only improve as the season progresses.

And, BTW, Duke appears to be an awesome team! And the kid lives up to all expectations. Gotta credit them (as much as it hurts to say that). Wisc looks good too, not a fluke performance vs the Cats (I watched a chunk of their game vs UCF).

Many (most??) of you discount the value of the regular season vs the Tourney. If you're gonna be consistent with that perspective, then there's no reason to despair today, or begin the Arizona fan hate-fest on ANY of our players. This is a developing team, and there's lot's of reason for optimism!!

BTFD!!!!]

[Winger]

If I'm remembering correctly, Love's NIL was for Love specifically, as in it would not be there to spread around to other people.

Story I heard is that the money came from a single “booster” and was earmarked specifically for Love. The day I heard that I posted and told everyone I knew close to the AD/program that allowing Love back was a mistake (but knew Lloyd would sigh).

After watching nearly all of Lloyd’s Euros flame out, and his repeated tries at trying to make players from Campbell lol work, and most of his recruits and transfers not have it at, I am worried.

Arizona basketball isn’t a hostel.

But what scares me is that for 2 games now, Arizona can’t get out in transition, can’t shoot the ball at all from anywhere, and the untold story is that Arizona has abandoned (or can’t execute) much of what were previously Lloyd-offensive staples like duckins, backdoor cuts, big men rim running, and we haven’t been able to even get more than 2 actions into his offense most of the time. Forget whether or not our players are smart and capable enough to recognize and take advantage of the mismatches Lloyd’s offense is supposed to set up.

Still early and this week will likely show a lot but the hot take I would have posted on Scheer’s site this am is: how convinced are you that Arizona is even a tournament team?

And FTR I was the biggest Tommy Lloyd is the right guy on the planet.

Still early and it’s not like Lloyd lost a 1st round CBI tournament game at home to Bucknell by 20 in his 3rd season.

[ChooChooCat]

If I'm remembering correctly, Love's NIL was for Love specifically, as in it would not be there to spread around to other people.

Story I heard is that the money came from a single “booster” and was earmarked specifically for Love. The day I heard that I posted and told everyone I knew close to the AD/program that allowing Love back was a mistake (but knew Lloyd would sigh).

After watching nearly all of Lloyd’s Euros flame out, and his repeated tries at trying to make players from Campbell lol work, and most of his recruits and transfers not have it at, I am worried.

Arizona basketball isn’t a hostel.

But what scares me is that for 2 games now, Arizona can’t get out in transition, can’t shoot the ball at all from anywhere, and the untold story is that Arizona has abandoned (or can’t execute) much of what were previously Lloyd-offensive staples like duckins, backdoor cuts, big men rim running, and we haven’t been able to even get more than 2 actions into his offense most of the time. Forget whether or not our players are smart and capable enough to recognize and take advantage of the mismatches Lloyd’s offense is supposed to set up.

Still early and this week will likely show a lot but the hot take I would have posted on Scheer’s site this am is: how convinced are you that Arizona is even a tournament team?

And FTR I was the biggest Tommy Lloyd is the right guy on the planet.

Still early and it’s not like Lloyd lost a 1st round CBI tournament game at home to Bucknell by 20 in his 3rd season.

Tommy can have an absolutely shit year due to poor roster construction and still be the long term right guy. He can't let obviously glaring issues like not having a starting guard that can shoot consistently happen again though. All 3 of our guards in a vacuum are great players we would always love to have, but I wouldn't ever have these 3 be my main 3 guards any season ever. They all have the same weaknesses and roughly the same strengths. They don't compliment each other at all.

A season like this is why you'd rather have seen Lloyd coach at a smaller school first so he could have learned lessons like this there instead of here.

[pc in NM]

I'm 100% aligned with CTL on Caleb!! From the postgame interviews

On if he’s concerned about Caleb Love: “Obviously we all know Caleb, he has a well-documented story, and he’s my guy. He’s not playing great right now. I just got to be 100 percent honest. But it’s my job to hang with him, because this isn’t the NBA. There aren’t trades. You’re not releasing guys. And I know this: Caleb’s had so much success in college basketball, if we hang with him, it’s the right thing to do, and we’ll be rewarded for that. So I’m going to hang with him and trust that better days are coming.”

[Beachcat97]

Sounds like the honeymoon is over.

Still almost a whole season ahead of us, but man, this team looked pretty unimpressive last night. And Duke didn't even look that good, imo.

[ChooChooCat]

Sounds like the honeymoon is over.

Still almost a whole season ahead of us, but man, this team looked pretty unimpressive last night. And Duke didn't even look that good, imo.

If you hold a team under 70 in McKale you should win every single time.

[PHXCATS]

Sounds like the honeymoon is over.

Still almost a whole season ahead of us, but man, this team looked pretty unimpressive last night. And Duke didn't even look that good, imo.

What honeymoon? Lloyd?

[CalStateTempe]

Glad I went and watched gladiator 2, which was also shit, compared to this.

[Merkin]

Didn't watch the post game presser, but so much for Lloyd stating after the 2nd game that he thinks the Cats were better than the 10 ranking they were at then.

Seems that a team with no good wins, that gave up 100+ to Wisky, then lost by double digits at home to Duke probably shouldn't be ranked at all.

And historically, it has been better for Arizona when under ranked. Although the Cats will always have that target in their back.

Not sure if the Cats want to live or die by Love again, but I trust CTL. Just have to be prepared for a lot of disappointment again.

I thought CTL chose Krivas over Ballo.

I would have. Krivas has a much higher ceiling. And last I checked, Ballo is still shooting FTs worse than FGs.

[Chicat]

The last two games have shown us a team playing totally unlike what I came to expect from Tommy Lloyd teams. His three previous teams had their flaws but they did not get out-toughed and the players did not wander around on offense looking uninvolved. Wisconsin and Duke played good defense but we didn’t move the ball around for shit and some guys stopped trying to get open.

As JMark and I were chatting about on BlueSky, the one-year transfers are not working. We need more guys like Ballo and Larssen who transfer in young and develop. This is year four and we should be humming. Instead we let good teams push us around at McKale.

[TheCat]

If I'm remembering correctly, Love's NIL was for Love specifically, as in it would not be there to spread around to other people.

Story I heard is that the money came from a single “booster” and was earmarked specifically for Love. The day I heard that I posted and told everyone I knew close to the AD/program that allowing Love back was a mistake (but knew Lloyd would sigh).

After watching nearly all of Lloyd’s Euros flame out, and his repeated tries at trying to make players from Campbell lol work, and most of his recruits and transfers not have it at, I am worried.

Arizona basketball isn’t a hostel.

But what scares me is that for 2 games now, Arizona can’t get out in transition, can’t shoot the ball at all from anywhere, and the untold story is that Arizona has abandoned (or can’t execute) much of what were previously Lloyd-offensive staples like duckins, backdoor cuts, big men rim running, and we haven’t been able to even get more than 2 actions into his offense most of the time. Forget whether or not our players are smart and capable enough to recognize and take advantage of the mismatches Lloyd’s offense is supposed to set up.

Still early and this week will likely show a lot but the hot take I would have posted on Scheer’s site this am is: how convinced are you that Arizona is even a tournament team?

And FTR I was the biggest Tommy Lloyd is the right guy on the planet.

Still early and it’s not like Lloyd lost a 1st round CBI tournament game at home to Bucknell by 20 in his 3rd season.

Tommy can have an absolutely shit year due to poor roster construction and still be the long term right guy. He can't let obviously glaring issues like not having a starting guard that can shoot consistently happen again though. All 3 of our guards in a vacuum are great players we would always love to have, but I wouldn't ever have these 3 be my main 3 guards any season ever. They all have the same weaknesses and roughly the same strengths. They don't compliment each other at all.

A season like this is why you'd rather have seen Lloyd coach at a smaller school first so he could have learned lessons like this there instead of here.

Choo don't you think that is a bit of an overreaction? The coach that has won more games through three years than all but one in the history of college basketball? This place is impossible after a loss. Should have waited my normal week. Every year Arizona fans have to have a villian on the team to blame every loss on. This year is no different. Maybe we forget the victories that these villains contributed to.

[ChooChooCat]

If I'm remembering correctly, Love's NIL was for Love specifically, as in it would not be there to spread around to other people.

Story I heard is that the money came from a single “booster” and was earmarked specifically for Love. The day I heard that I posted and told everyone I knew close to the AD/program that allowing Love back was a mistake (but knew Lloyd would sigh).

After watching nearly all of Lloyd’s Euros flame out, and his repeated tries at trying to make players from Campbell lol work, and most of his recruits and transfers not have it at, I am worried.

Arizona basketball isn’t a hostel.

But what scares me is that for 2 games now, Arizona can’t get out in transition, can’t shoot the ball at all from anywhere, and the untold story is that Arizona has abandoned (or can’t execute) much of what were previously Lloyd-offensive staples like duckins, backdoor cuts, big men rim running, and we haven’t been able to even get more than 2 actions into his offense most of the time. Forget whether or not our players are smart and capable enough to recognize and take advantage of the mismatches Lloyd’s offense is supposed to set up.

Still early and this week will likely show a lot but the hot take I would have posted on Scheer’s site this am is: how convinced are you that Arizona is even a tournament team?

And FTR I was the biggest Tommy Lloyd is the right guy on the planet.

Still early and it’s not like Lloyd lost a 1st round CBI tournament game at home to Bucknell by 20 in his 3rd season.

Tommy can have an absolutely shit year due to poor roster construction and still be the long term right guy. He can't let obviously glaring issues like not having a starting guard that can shoot consistently happen again though. All 3 of our guards in a vacuum are great players we would always love to have, but I wouldn't ever have these 3 be my main 3 guards any season ever. They all have the same weaknesses and roughly the same strengths. They don't compliment each other at all.

A season like this is why you'd rather have seen Lloyd coach at a smaller school first so he could have learned lessons like this there instead of here.

Choo don't you think that is a bit of an overreaction? The coach that has won more games through three years than all but one in the history of college basketball? This place is impossible after a loss. Should have waited my normal week. Every year Arizona fans have to have a villian on the team to blame every loss on. This year is no different. Maybe we forget the victories that these villains contributed to.

What I'm saying is an overreaction? All I said was even if this team doesn't amount to what we had hoped for due to blatant roster construction issues it doesn't mean Tommy doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt to fix this and put together better teams and be "the right guy" in the long term. As far as having a villain, I don't have a particular villain on this team, I just don't believe it's a well put together team. A lot of good pieces on this particular team, I just don't think they fit well together IMO.

[Winger]

Tommy can have an absolutely shit year due to poor roster construction and still be the long term right guy. He can't let obviously glaring issues like not having a starting guard that can shoot consistently happen again though. All 3 of our guards in a vacuum are great players we would always love to have, but I wouldn't ever have these 3 be my main 3 guards any season ever. They all have the same weaknesses and roughly the same strengths. They don't compliment each other at all.

A season like this is why you'd rather have seen Lloyd coach at a smaller school first so he could have learned lessons like this there instead of here.

How many guards has Lloyd brought in that can shoot?

Is Bradley even a PG? What's his assist % to date this season? 2%?

Lloyd has won a lot of games but what's his grade for PGs here at PGU to date?

What good is Love as a SG if 1) he frequently can't shoot and 2) when he is off he doesn't do anything else and 3) he is a liability defensively? Where has the "we're going to get Caleb driving, especially to his left, here at Arizona" gone? Shelved for "this season I am going to be a catch-and-shoot (air-balls lol) guy"?

I like Lewis, but for now he needs to be a zero-and-D guy and surrounded by players who can score.

Townsend is a 3 playing the 4 and, like so many other DGTs and 1-season transfer guys, can't do what he does at this level often enough.

ADO should never have been added.

Krivas and Veessaar have potential, but how many euros under Lloyd at Arizona have washed out without fulfilling their potential? How much longer do we need to wait? If you're going to play either, similar to Lewis, they both need to be surrounded by scorers, you can forget about using them as a legit block threat against anyone good, and you definitely can't play both together.

Martinez? Please.

Carter looks like he may have it, but imv he needs the lion's share of the minutes at the 4. Starting now. He is TBD, but looking favorable, imo.

Point being: how many lessons has Lloyd learned when it comes to roster construction?

Did he really like all these guys or rather are they more-so simply the best he can/could get/afford?