2024-25 Arizona Basketball

[PHXCATS]

So many whining bitches

[Lando05]

Tommy deserves all the blame for this season. Honeymoon is over.

What's disappointing to me the most is the players that have regressed. KJ isn't any better, Love i don't know who that is anymore.

Trey isn't good enough to start it the big 12, give Carter all his minutes and start Delly because we desperately need shooting.

This team isn't even fun to watch.

What a disappointing time at the Footprint Center this afternoon.

[RawleArenas]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

[TucsonClip]

Krivas is out with a "lower left leg injury"...

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... PIDBueYhFQ

... that vague terminology smells of "chronic left foot injury that will plague his entire career"!

No one is adequately replacing Oumar this year.

No one adequately replaced Kerr last year.

Things looking bleak!

Hearing Krivas is “probably” done for the season.

Heard the same. This team isn't worth rushing back to anyways.

[IrishAzCat]

[Djcat]

Down by 1 and throwing the ball to Townsend who immediately dribbled it out of bounds sums up this year’s season.

The talent level is not there and not sure why people were saying this is TL’s deepest team.

[Chicat]

We are not a tournament team this year. Feast on cupcakes, but 0-fer against real teams. And the BIG12 has a lot of real teams that will eat us up and spit us out. Not sure what's wrong, but we look bad against decent competition. Real bad.

Yes we are

For fuck sake

Holy shit you’re a joke.

[Winger]

Warning:

Texted rant I sent to my people below. Dont read if you cant handle the truth (lol, joke there):

If you are one of my people I just outed myself I guess.

I am pissed. Love fucking sucks.
Townsend sucks. DelOrso sucks. Awaka sucks. Lewis is maybe mid. Ditto Veesaar and Krivas. Martinez is a fucking joke and his sub in for Bradley lost us the game. What the fuck is the coaching staff doing? Goddamn clown show.

I am not feeling the $25K at this point lol. And I was literally the biggest Tommy Lloyd guy on the planet.

[Merkin]

It's on Lloyd.

Mick certainly outcoached Tommy. The last 5 minutes are some of the worst basketball I have seen since the Illinois game. But I don't think even Lute would let Veesaar chuck a couple of 3 pointers with only minutes remaining in the game.

[TheCat]

Our big man took a couple of untimely threes at the end which gave the Bruins some confidence and we couldn't get a lose ball or a rebound when it counted. Close game and frankly closer than I expected with Mo out. Buckle up. Going to be an unusual season for us.

[Winger]

Krivas is out with a "lower left leg injury"...

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... PIDBueYhFQ

... that vague terminology smells of "chronic left foot injury that will plague his entire career"!

No one is adequately replacing Oumar this year.

No one adequately replaced Kerr last year.

Things looking bleak!

Hearing Krivas is “probably” done for the season.

Heard the same. This team isn't worth rushing back to anyways.

In addition to that making its way around PHX today for me that came from the staff (1 person removed).

[TheCat]

What I see in college basketball. The SEC getting a lot of great players that I assume are getting top dollar because of the conference payout. We will need to see if that continues but money talks and I think the trend is here to stay.

[PHXCATS]

Thanks for the 25k bitch

[Merkin]

Bye Machina.

[IrishAzCat]

[Beachcat97]

Thanks for the 25k bitch

Relax.

Everything is perfectly fine. Arizona basketball is eventually going to have the best season ever! We are all witnesses! I love this game!

PHX is such a moron

[RawleArenas]

The only thing that Irish missed was a firing squad for Brennan.

[Beachcat97]

This AZ roster is doo doo. Can’t remember a team that shot this poorly from 3, and as others have noted, Bradley is a very good player but isn’t really a PG.

[IrishAzCat]

The only thing that Irish missed was a firing squad for Brennan.

hahahaaha - I was going to use some other medieval torture devices, but they were too graphic...

[Hank of sb]

Warning:

Texted rant I sent to my people below. Dont read if you cant handle the truth (lol, joke there):

If you are one of my people I just outed myself I guess.

I am pissed. Love fucking sucks.
Townsend sucks. DelOrso sucks. Awaka sucks. Lewis is maybe mid. Ditto Veesaar and Krivas. Martinez is a fucking joke and his sub in for Bradley lost us the game. What the fuck is the coaching staff doing? Goddamn clown show.

I am not feeling the $25K at this point lol. And I was literally the biggest Tommy Lloyd guy on the planet.

Good post. I, too, was an avid Tommy advocate. It's sad. I now wonder about the future of Arizona bb. The recruitment of Arenas may determine the program's trajectory......and future! I will say this: I wanted Sanon. It was Tommy's job to get that booster on board for Sanon and not just agree to whatever the offer was. I doubt Tommy even thought of trying. EVEN Love, by now, knows he has zero chance for the NBA. It's over for him.

[Merkin]

This AZ roster is doo doo. Can’t remember a team that shot this poorly from 3, and as others have noted, Bradley is a very good player but isn’t really a PG.

Since this experiment of having no point guard, the NCAA's worst chucker, soft Euro bigs, small school transfers, and so on really isn't working, and obviously so, making the NCAAs unlikely, I would like to propose that Lloyd have Love and Townsend coming off the bench, since this is their last seasons, and thankfully so.

I would start ADO over Love, and Bryant over Townsend. Might as well start working on getting players more minutes for next season, and that includes Stephen too. Martinez needs minutes too if he is going to get better. If that means getting 17 losses instead of 15 so be it.

Although whoever put up the $850K NIL for Love will not like having their investment getting pine time.

[Djcat]

Warning:

Texted rant I sent to my people below. Dont read if you cant handle the truth (lol, joke there):

If you are one of my people I just outed myself I guess.

I am pissed. Love fucking sucks.
Townsend sucks. DelOrso sucks. Awaka sucks. Lewis is maybe mid. Ditto Veesaar and Krivas. Martinez is a fucking joke and his sub in for Bradley lost us the game. What the fuck is the coaching staff doing? Goddamn clown show.

I am not feeling the $25K at this point lol. And I was literally the biggest Tommy Lloyd guy on the planet.

Good post. I, too, was an avid Tommy advocate. It's sad. I now wonder about the future of Arizona bb. The recruitment of Arenas may determine the program's trajectory......and future! I will say this: I wanted Sanon. It was Tommy's job to get that booster on board for Sanon and not just agree to whatever the offer was. I doubt Tommy even thought of trying. EVEN Love, by now, knows he has zero chance for the NBA. It's over for him.

Love definitely knows he has zero chance at NBA and playing like it. Tommy’s quote from the day before is telling. Talking about how he needs to be involved even if the play doesn’t feature him. Looks like he’s mailing it in this season.

[Djcat]

Warning:

Texted rant I sent to my people below. Dont read if you cant handle the truth (lol, joke there):

If you are one of my people I just outed myself I guess.

I am pissed. Love fucking sucks.
Townsend sucks. DelOrso sucks. Awaka sucks. Lewis is maybe mid. Ditto Veesaar and Krivas. Martinez is a fucking joke and his sub in for Bradley lost us the game. What the fuck is the coaching staff doing? Goddamn clown show.

I am not feeling the $25K at this point lol. And I was literally the biggest Tommy Lloyd guy on the planet.

I haven’t seen anything from Lewis to suggest 5 stars. And frankly so far Carter too. Lewis looks like a poor man’s Hassan Adams…..

[Merkin]

Love definitely knows he has zero chance at NBA and playing like it. Tommy’s quote from the day before is telling. Talking about how he needs to be involved even if the play doesn’t feature him. Looks like he’s mailing it in this season.

https://allsportstucson.com/2024/12/14/ ... 1tyMLOCTBw

Mr. Houdini – Arizona’s escape artist – has pretty much disappeared. Saturday, he had seven points, hitting just 3 of 10 shots, including just 1 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line. He’s struggled all season – from any spot.

So, I asked: As Caleb Love goes so go the Cats?

“Caleb gives us a really high ceiling … and he just hasn’t come easy for him either,” Lloyd said. “We gotta figure out why. What can we do to help him? Is it just hanging with it, hanging with it, hanging with it, support him, and then it’s gonna figure itself out. Or, are there tactical things we need to do different(ly)? Obviously, Caleb is a really talented player, and he’s proven. It’s just not coming easy.”

[dmjcat]

So many whining bitches

Correct me if I'm wrong but were you not the one who predicted we win "comfortably" today.

Nostradamus you are not.

[dmjcat]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

[BBQ wildcat]

Some people want to blame everyone and everything except the coaches and the players

Machine— bad fans. Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about

Dmjcat— NIL, $$$, NIL, $$$


This season in FB is all on the coaches. This season in BB is all on the coaches not figuring out what the heck they have and how to make them jell

[Hank of sb]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Bingo. Well put.

It's up to the alumni, the super boosters. And it has to happen immediately at season's end. I'm guessing; but I wonder if Arizona has that many rich alumni. Or if they do, do they even think about sports enough to care?

That said, just waving away Sanon (for Love) and letting him fall into ASU's lap--after he'd been literally gifted to Arizona--will go down as one of the programs's biggest judgement failures. And that's something that will stick to Tommy forever.

[PHXCATS]

So many whining bitches

Correct me if I'm wrong but were you not the one who predicted we win "comfortably" today.

Nostradamus you are not.

Should have been up 13 late but shit happens

Move on and be better not cry like a baby

[PHXCATS]

Thanks for the 25k bitch

Relax.

Everything is perfectly fine. Arizona basketball is eventually going to have the best season ever! We are all witnesses! I love this game!

PHX is such a moron

C

[Bordercat]

1. Conrad
2. Bradley
3. KJ
4. Carter
5. Veesar

my starting 5... build for the future.

Love, Townsend, Awaka- meh.

[TheCat]

Warning:

Texted rant I sent to my people below. Dont read if you cant handle the truth (lol, joke there):

If you are one of my people I just outed myself I guess.

I am pissed. Love fucking sucks.
Townsend sucks. DelOrso sucks. Awaka sucks. Lewis is maybe mid. Ditto Veesaar and Krivas. Martinez is a fucking joke and his sub in for Bradley lost us the game. What the fuck is the coaching staff doing? Goddamn clown show.

I am not feeling the $25K at this point lol. And I was literally the biggest Tommy Lloyd guy on the planet.

I suggest you watch someone else before you lose it completely. We have lost to teams with a combined record of 42-7. Not exactly losers. You have again pointed out how each of our players suck so just go watch someone that doesn't. You will be happier and so will a lot of other folks. Oh and our coach sucks too. fortunately his record says he doesn't. I think folks have gotten a little spoiled and though we have cried for tough opponents Arizona fans don't want that they want wins and that is all.

[Chicat]

Oh and our coach sucks too. fortunately his record says he doesn't.

His record this year?

Or should I be watching replays of the ‘22/23 season?

[AZCatGirl]

I was flying to Poland so I only saw the last two minutes of the game thanks to Fish. Same old shit. Guess this is just who we are this year. Not sorry I can't see many games while I'm here.

Curious how Tommy handles the off season. Clearly changes need to be made.

[TheCat]

Oh and our coach sucks too. fortunately his record says he doesn't.

His record this year?

Or should I be watching replays of the ‘22/23 season?

Maybe overall record as a head coach. You think he forgot how to coach in a year? Or he won because of all those soft Euro you complain about that were on the team? I hope you guys don't have kids that ever disappointed you. I'm sure in your career you never were anything other than stellar. UCONN lost three in a row with a bunch of guys that played on the National Championship team, Kansas lost 2 last week. If you were fans of those programs Im sure you would be calling for the head coaches head.
Struggle is part of life and how you deal with it is what will show the kind of person you are. I think we can see how some people deal with it on this board. Make yourself happy and take a season off and rediscover some thing that brings you joy not pain.

[pc in NM]

The team showed some bright spots for about 24 minutes yesterday (last 12 of 1st half; first 12 of second half)

• Henri played the best he ever has, and showed promise for fulfilling the need to replace Oumar; he sucked from three; he looked like Oumar at the FT line; good ibnterior play on both O & D

• Bradley played agressively at all points and was the PG we've been looking for for 2 seasons

• The defense got the Cats into the transition game where their skills prevail

Unfortunately, the first and last 8 minutes of the game looked all-to-familiar for this disappointing season.

• This team cannot effectively run a half-court offense against today's pressure defense played my most decent teams

• The backcourt dribbles way too much, the rest stand around, and no one but ADO can make a decent entry pass

• ADO is the only player on the team who doesn't provoke anxiety when launching a three

• The front court cannont defend any decent offensive player one-on-one

My new starting (rebuilding) starting lineup:

• Bradley - PG: the best backcourt player we have; as many minutes as possible

• ADO - Wing: we have to have his shooting/passing - his defense is improving, but still problematic

• Bryant - Wing: Let him develop his massive potential; minimum 20+ minutes/game

• Townsend - Forward: He's what we've got; less than 20 minutes/game

• Veesaar - Center: he's the best of a very short list; as many minutes

The bench:

• Lewis: Starter minutes!! - sub for whoever is faltering; he has a future

• Love: Max 20 minutes; he's not the "future"!! - pull him anytime he misses consecutive 3-pointers! (seriously!!)

• Awaka: he's a substitute center, at best; 12-15 minutes, max

• Martinez: as needed, he's, at best, a "project

• Krivas: thoughts and prayers!!

As for fans???

• Time for humility, encouragement, support for the guys that have chosen us.

• FUCK anyone who's gonna hate on ANY of the players on the team - they might not be meeting our (or their own) expectations; some are going through really tough times (Krivas, physical; Love, career); they are all good young men and good teammates.

• Support CTL, unequivocally!!! He's earned our respect, and I, for one, don't blame him for breakdowns by players like yesterday

[Chicat]

Oh and our coach sucks too. fortunately his record says he doesn't.

His record this year?

Or should I be watching replays of the ‘22/23 season?

Maybe overall record as a head coach. You think he forgot how to coach in a year? Or he won because of all those soft Euro you complain about that were on the team? I hope you guys don't have kids that ever disappointed you. I'm sure in your career you never were anything other than stellar. UCONN lost three in a row with a bunch of guys that played on the National Championship team, Kansas lost 2 last week. If you were fans of those programs Im sure you would be calling for the head coaches head.
Struggle is part of life and how you deal with it is what will show the kind of person you are. I think we can see how some people deal with it on this board. Make yourself happy and take a season off and rediscover some thing that brings you joy not pain.

“SQUIRREL!!!”

My dude, try to hold a coherent thought through to the end. I’m talking about how Tommy’s record in past years doesn’t make this year’s record any more palatable and you’re like but but but … UCONN! … Kansas! … Fortune Cookie self-help guru bullshit!

We aren’t very good TheCat. And you can point to Dan Hurley or Bill Self but last time I checked they have a few nattys between them and Tommy Lloyd absolutely does not.

Holy shit it’s like you want to live in an emotional dictatorship. If anyone is upset about the Cats not winning against any team with a pulse and being under .500 they need to “take a season off”? Get bent. People are allowed to be disappointed.

[Winger]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Is the propaganda machine now saying Ballo would still be in uniform if not for $$$ ?

I ask because that was most definitely not the messaging coming out of the machine the day he declared and bailed.

Seems like the machine is changing the message to fit/explain away the current crisis.

Also, is it widely accepted that Arizona’s hoops NIL isn’t enough to compete? I ask that because if you titrate for “we could always use more” that isn’t what I hear from the staff and more importantly in my view Lloyd’s record on transfers is decidedly meh overall.

His record with Euros (as I used to love to try to explain to the other board and took immense heat for) is decidedly worse than meh. More like an abject failure and the most surprising facet of his tenure imo.

And, his record overall — for his players — is pretty damn spotty to be charitable.

Including allowing Love back (which occurred expressly because of NIL $$$, something the machine would like you to ignore).

All of which had led us to this island of misfit toys lineup.

In a way, I hope it’s the lack of $$$. Because the alternative — Tommy Lloyd doesn’t know wtf he is doing — and/or — is incapable of recruiting without the Few name — is way worse.

Still pissed.

[pc in NM]

Get bent. People are allowed to be disappointed.

I agree 100% with this!

However, I have to add that "disappointment", is NOT "anger", "depression", "hate", etc.

After all, sports are not one's own life or "reality" - they are designed and intended to be entertainment, diversion and relaxation for the "sports fan"

The Zen of Losing

A miserable sports fan finds peace through loss.

Conner Johnston

Jan 9, 2022

Frustration and disappointment are old friends to any sports fan. We emotionally invest in our teams, chasing the elation a win brings. But when half of teams lose most of their games and even above average teams lose a third of the time, the typical sports fan will routinely experience the anguish of defeat. And yet millions of people willingly put themselves through this emotional roller coaster as if we are part of one large masochistic cult.

I am no exception. As an ardent supporter of the Baltimore Orioles and the Sacramento Kings, two teams historically disinclined towards winning, I occupy a lonely position in a Venn diagram of miserable fandom. Even so, like most fans, I would never stop rooting for my teams. When we support our teams we feel a part of something bigger than ourselves, no matter how badly our teams are doing. Though many find sports a waste of time, many find passion, excitement, and a sense of community through the unpredictable drama of sports.

Still, sports are insignificant in the grand scheme of life. At the core, sports are a form of entertainment, a means of distraction. Distractions are needed every once in a while, but we can’t avoid reality forever. This is especially true today with so many historically significant events demanding our attention and energy. I promise, unless you (unwisely) bet your life savings, your team losing a game, or even a championship, will not result in any real harm to you or society at large. There is always the next game, the next season, or, God forbid, you giving up being a sports fan altogether.

Getting this perspective, however, is not easy because the emotional experience is real. I still get a sharp pang of disappointment thinking about the Orioles’ last playoff game in 2016 that ended in an extra-inning loss. That pain was visceral, as real as a punch in the stomach. The existential insignificance of the cause does not diminish the reality of the pain.

So what is a sports fan to do? Unless you become the worst kind of fan (fair weather or bandwagon), your life will be continually filled with superfluous pain.

Enter mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being fully aware of the present moment, noticing but not judging emotions and thoughts, helping one gain perspective of what is real and important. Mindfulness is widely advocated by mental health experts as a scientifically proven method to help alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression. I started practicing mindfulness over seven years ago and it has been immensely helpful through law school, challenging jobs, personal loss, and a global pandemic. (If you do not yet have a mindfulness practice, downloading one of these free apps is a great place to start.)

Mindfulness has also helped me gain perspective in my sports fandom, and even turned watching games into a form of meditation. During a stressful game, or after a soul-crushing defeat, I have a choice. I can get angry, frustrated, and despondent, cursing the day Cal Ripken Jr. made me an Orioles fan and have my day ruined. Or I can pause, notice the emotions as just energy, recognize the source as insignificant, and focus my attention elsewhere.

This makes watching sports a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness because of the intense emotional states associated with being a sports fan. And like Neo in the Matrix practicing kung fu in the simulated room, there is no real harm that can come from your team losing, even if you get emotionally knocked around.

Instead of bemoaning every loss, I can now find some gratitude in the no-risk opportunity to practice mindfulness. I can also recognize and put in perspective the joy of winning, the reason so many of us are sports fans. Like any other emotion, happiness and joy are just energy that we attach the label of “good” to. In the (rare) instance one of my teams win, I can recognize and enjoy the feeling of happiness, while at the same time recognize its fleeting nature and the knowledge frustration may be elicited next game.

By practicing mindfulness during games you are also able to more easily gain perspective in other areas of life. Most day-to-day experiences simply do not warrant the emotional energy and mental bandwidth that we give them. From minor annoyances (e.g. someone cutting you in line) to other distractions (e.g. social media rabbit holes), our attention and emotions are pirated far too often and sometimes with severe consequences.

A mindful perspective is hard without practice. Regularly meditating quietly is certainly good and necessary. But practicing mindfulness while your team is tied in the bottom of the ninth provides you a no-risk simulation of real-world emotional tumult. Pausing and remembering that you will not experience lasting harm if the ball doesn’t goes over the fence (or the ball doesn’t go in the hoop, or the ball doesn’t go into the net) will not only provide you the perspective you need immediately after the game, regardless of the outcome, but will help you to lay a strong mindful foundation for when you get off your lucky couch and head into the real world. Because you can still experience peace even if you are the most miserable fan.

https://medium.com/@connerjohnston/the- ... ecf38014af

[Hank of sb]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Is the propaganda machine now saying Ballo would still be in uniform if not for $$$ ?

I ask because that was most definitely not the messaging coming out of the machine the day he declared and bailed.

Seems like the machine is changing the message to fit/explain away the current crisis.

Also, is it widely accepted that Arizona’s hoops NIL isn’t enough to compete? I ask that because if you titrate for “we could always use more” that isn’t what I hear from the staff and more importantly in my view Lloyd’s record on transfers is decidedly meh overall.

His record with Euros (as I used to love to try to explain to the other board and took immense heat for) is decidedly worse than meh. More like an abject failure and the most surprising facet of his tenure imo.

And, his record overall — for his players — is pretty damn spotty to be charitable.

Including allowing Love back (which occurred expressly because of NIL $$$, something the machine would like you to ignore).

All of which had led us to this island of misfit toys lineup.

In a way, I hope it’s the lack of $$$. Because the alternative — Tommy Lloyd doesn’t know wtf he is doing — and/or — is incapable of recruiting without the Few name — is way worse.

Still pissed.

The other site has been a "propaganda" machine forever. That's my opinion. 'Play the game; don't be too nasty; get access to the coaches.' Whatever your sources may be (or are) they're just as reliable for my purposes as any....for one, there's no spin with you. Same with Clip. Same with some others.

The fact that Love had a deal in his hip pocket--apparently a really nice one-- before he left campus was atrocious. Why? Because he spent all spring and summer sorting his own affairs out, seeing what was possible (NBA. Europe. Being a HS bb coach etc.) And worse, he strung Arizona along. And to make matters worse, we were supposed to be overjoyed: ''He's coming back!"

Indeed it was Sanon announcing (in a cryptic fashion) the news!

No coach would put up with that BS. For starters, Love was relegated to Tier 2 tryouts playing about 8 games with a bunch of college stars to see which ones they might be missing on. He didn't fail, but he didn't shine either and was not invited to the more important tryouts. Effectively his US pro career was over THEN. For good.

He literally cost us Sanon. Sanon will be in the NBA. Maybe next year but for certain after year two. I don't make 5 million dollars. There are plenty here that don't. And there are many here that saw this, saw it beforehand, and would never have handled that situation to the point Sanon would not be coming.

Say what you want about the other poor evaluations on this team. If you just insert Sanon shooting Love's 3's, and keep everything else the same, Arizona would have won yesterday, beaten West Virginia, too, and perhaps won another. That's a world of difference.

Lute Olson would NEVER have allowed himself to get strung along like this. Tommy has a real problem on his hands. It may just be his own good-natured, easy going self.

[Beachcat97]

So many whining bitches

Kinda get the feeling this guy spent a lot of lonely Saturday nights in college

[Hank of sb]

The team showed some bright spots for about 24 minutes yesterday (last 12 of 1st half; first 12 of second half)

• Henri played the best he ever has, and showed promise for fulfilling the need to replace Oumar; he sucked from three; he looked like Oumar at the FT line; good ibnterior play on both O & D

• Bradley played agressively at all points and was the PG we've been looking for for 2 seasons

• The defense got the Cats into the transition game where their skills prevail

Unfortunately, the first and last 8 minutes of the game looked all-to-familiar for this disappointing season.

• This team cannot effectively run a half-court offense against today's pressure defense played my most decent teams

• The backcourt dribbles way too much, the rest stand around, and no one but ADO can make a decent entry pass

• ADO is the only player on the team who doesn't provoke anxiety when launching a three

• The front court cannont defend any decent offensive player one-on-one

My new starting (rebuilding) starting lineup:

• Bradley - PG: the best backcourt player we have; as many minutes as possible

• ADO - Wing: we have to have his shooting/passing - his defense is improving, but still problematic

• Bryant - Wing: Let him develop his massive potential; minimum 20+ minutes/game

• Townsend - Forward: He's what we've got; less than 20 minutes/game

• Veesaar - Center: he's the best of a very short list; as many minutes

The bench:

• Lewis: Starter minutes!! - sub for whoever is faltering; he has a future

• Love: Max 20 minutes; he's not the "future"!! - pull him anytime he misses consecutive 3-pointers! (seriously!!)

• Awaka: he's a substitute center, at best; 12-15 minutes, max

• Martinez: as needed, he's, at best, a "project

• Krivas: thoughts and prayers!!

As for fans???

• Time for humility, encouragement, support for the guys that have chosen us.

• FUCK anyone who's gonna hate on ANY of the players on the team - they might not be meeting our (or their own) expectations; some are going through really tough times (Krivas, physical; Love, career); they are all good young men and good teammates.

• Support CTL, unequivocally!!! He's earned our respect, and I, for one, don't blame him for breakdowns by players like yesterday

IMO, this lineup of your's is as good as any. Bradley and Bryant have real talent. Veesaar is our only option. Townsend is a forward. ADO 'could' develop. Importantly Love needs to be in the 7th slot. That's the key.

I just wonder if Tommy can see and then actually relegate Love to the bench. Not so sure.

[PHXCATS]

So many whining bitches

Kinda get the feeling this guy spent a lot of lonely Saturday nights in college

You are so obsessed B. C.

[PHXCATS]

Sorry I am not getting down because some 18-23 year old kids lost a few games

Bear Down used to mean someone. Sad it is all lost now

[Djcat]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Is the propaganda machine now saying Ballo would still be in uniform if not for $$$ ?

I ask because that was most definitely not the messaging coming out of the machine the day he declared and bailed.

Seems like the machine is changing the message to fit/explain away the current crisis.

Also, is it widely accepted that Arizona’s hoops NIL isn’t enough to compete? I ask that because if you titrate for “we could always use more” that isn’t what I hear from the staff and more importantly in my view Lloyd’s record on transfers is decidedly meh overall.

His record with Euros (as I used to love to try to explain to the other board and took immense heat for) is decidedly worse than meh. More like an abject failure and the most surprising facet of his tenure imo.

And, his record overall — for his players — is pretty damn spotty to be charitable.

Including allowing Love back (which occurred expressly because of NIL $$$, something the machine would like you to ignore).

All of which had led us to this island of misfit toys lineup.

In a way, I hope it’s the lack of $$$. Because the alternative — Tommy Lloyd doesn’t know wtf he is doing — and/or — is incapable of recruiting without the Few name — is way worse.

Still pissed.

Lute Olson would NEVER have allowed himself to get strung along like this. Tommy has a real problem on his hands. It may just be his own good-natured, easy going self.

Tommy’s post game comments sounded almost like Brennan scripted it for him. That’s concerning.

Someone comment about next year and my concern with Tommy is his development of PGs. Kerr regressed after first year with him, Boswell too. Beginning to look like a pattern.

[Djcat]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Is the propaganda machine now saying Ballo would still be in uniform if not for $$$ ?

I ask because that was most definitely not the messaging coming out of the machine the day he declared and bailed.

Seems like the machine is changing the message to fit/explain away the current crisis.

Also, is it widely accepted that Arizona’s hoops NIL isn’t enough to compete? I ask that because if you titrate for “we could always use more” that isn’t what I hear from the staff and more importantly in my view Lloyd’s record on transfers is decidedly meh overall.

His record with Euros (as I used to love to try to explain to the other board and took immense heat for) is decidedly worse than meh. More like an abject failure and the most surprising facet of his tenure imo.

And, his record overall — for his players — is pretty damn spotty to be charitable.

Including allowing Love back (which occurred expressly because of NIL $$$, something the machine would like you to ignore).

All of which had led us to this island of misfit toys lineup.

In a way, I hope it’s the lack of $$$. Because the alternative — Tommy Lloyd doesn’t know wtf he is doing — and/or — is incapable of recruiting without the Few name — is way worse.

Still pissed.

Agree with this. Thought it was a known fact that keeping Ballo means losing Kriivas and it really wasn’t the NIL. And Tommy thought Kriivas had the greater upside

[Chicat]

I've said this before, he needs help with recruiting. He needs to revamp his staff and coaching style or we're going to be the laughingstock in both money sports.

Bullshit.

The only thing CTL needs is $5-6M more in NIL every year.

With sufficient NIL Ballo is still our starting center, Sanon would be playing for us, and CTL would not have to settle for low $$$ Portal players like ADO/Awaka/Townsend.

Unfortunately I don't think its going to improve (unlesss a number of wealthy alumni step up). AZ is currently 6th in NIL in the Big12 (for basketball). With revenue sharing coming next year every team in the B1G/SEC (32 teams) will have more $$$ than CTL to attract the top players (and that doesn't include a half dozen private schools who will also have more). People need to be realistic and start calibrating their recruiting expectations to what CTL has to work with (NIL$$$).

Is the propaganda machine now saying Ballo would still be in uniform if not for $$$ ?

I ask because that was most definitely not the messaging coming out of the machine the day he declared and bailed.

Seems like the machine is changing the message to fit/explain away the current crisis.

Also, is it widely accepted that Arizona’s hoops NIL isn’t enough to compete? I ask that because if you titrate for “we could always use more” that isn’t what I hear from the staff and more importantly in my view Lloyd’s record on transfers is decidedly meh overall.

His record with Euros (as I used to love to try to explain to the other board and took immense heat for) is decidedly worse than meh. More like an abject failure and the most surprising facet of his tenure imo.

And, his record overall — for his players — is pretty damn spotty to be charitable.

Including allowing Love back (which occurred expressly because of NIL $$$, something the machine would like you to ignore).

All of which had led us to this island of misfit toys lineup.

In a way, I hope it’s the lack of $$$. Because the alternative — Tommy Lloyd doesn’t know wtf he is doing — and/or — is incapable of recruiting without the Few name — is way worse.

Still pissed.

The other site has been a "propaganda" machine forever. That's my opinion. 'Play the game; don't be too nasty; get access to the coaches.' Whatever your sources may be (or are) they're just as reliable for my purposes as any....for one, there's no spin with you. Same with Clip. Same with some others.

The fact that Love had a deal in his hip pocket--apparently a really nice one-- before he left campus was atrocious. Why? Because he spent all spring and summer sorting his own affairs out, seeing what was possible (NBA. Europe. Being a HS bb coach etc.) And worse, he strung Arizona along. And to make matters worse, we were supposed to be overjoyed: ''He's coming back!"

Indeed it was Sanon announcing (in a cryptic fashion) the news!

No coach would put up with that BS. For starters, Love was relegated to Tier 2 tryouts playing about 8 games with a bunch of college stars to see which ones they might be missing on. He didn't fail, but he didn't shine either and was not invited to the more important tryouts. Effectively his US pro career was over THEN. For good.

He literally cost us Sanon. Sanon will be in the NBA. Maybe next year but for certain after year two. I don't make 5 million dollars. There are plenty here that don't. And there are many here that saw this, saw it beforehand, and would never have handled that situation to the point Sanon would not be coming.

Say what you want about the other poor evaluations on this team. If you just insert Sanon shooting Love's 3's, and keep everything else the same, Arizona would have won yesterday, beaten West Virginia, too, and perhaps won another. That's a world of difference.

Lute Olson would NEVER have allowed himself to get strung along like this. Tommy has a real problem on his hands. It may just be his own good-natured, easy going self.

Some great posts here.

Is it loyalty to current players like Love or a misevaluation of talent? As Winger said, you almost hope this was the best team our money could buy and not a sign that Tommy just outright fucked up putting the squad together. You also have to hope that either way there is a sense of urgency to get it fixed this off-season. Whether we need more money or need better talent evaluation, get it done.

[Merkin]

Krivas does have a greater upside. He was a projected first round pick. Ballo is a great college player, but won't get a sniff in the NBA.

Looking up Kriisa, who would be a great backup PG for Arizona. If we only knew that he would be OK coming off the bench he would have made a huge difference. Although only averaging 26.3 3PT% and 4.4 PPG for UK.

[pc in NM]

Krivas does have a greater upside. He was a projected first round pick. Ballo is a great college player, but won't get a sniff in the NBA.

Looking up Kriisa, who would be a great backup PG for Arizona. If we only knew that he would be OK coming off the bench he would have made a huge difference. Although only averaging 26.3 3PT% and 4.4 PPG for UK.

By midseason, he would have been the starter last year...

[LuteIsGod]

I went to the game with friends. I waited until Friday to purchase tickets, hoping for a discount code. I noticed that Ticketmaster stopped selling the seats on both ends of the court prior to the game. Pretty sparse crowd. We sat in section 208 and the top ring was pretty empty. Sad that this game didn’t draw nearly the crowd that last year’s Alabama game garnered.

The first issue I saw was the inability to push the ball. From the upper ring, I could see that off of dead ball inbound passes, Bradley was open (over the top of the defense) near half court several times, but the inbound passer never noticed AND Bradley didn’t either and ran all the way back to near the inbound passer to catch the pass. The half court set screens were sloppy and too close to the 3 point line over and over again. The run that put us ahead by 12 or 13 was really fun to watch because the defense was triggering the turnovers and the offense was willing to cut to the basket to take some easy shots.

I’m bummed after this (another) loss.

I don’t think Tommy is a good coach and if some of the failure has to do with talent, I think it has more to do with the willingness of players like Pelle, Ballo and Tubelis to focus on pushing the tempo. That willingness minimized, to me, some of the issues that were there i.e. Tubelis refusing to play defense in the tournament and his inability to hit the free throw line jump shot over his college career; Boswell having no points or assists in games; Love’s DEvolution, etc.

DelOrso should have been at the end of the game yesterday and he’s the one player that is improving on both sides of the ball

KJ has regressed and needs to cut to the basket without the ball

The pace of the game was quicker when Martinez was in the game

Bryant displayed great energy on the court and that was zapped every time Love made a boneheaded decision

Vessar is in love with the 3…..he should fall in love with the high ball screen and roll, pass and catch to shoot the free throw line jump shot

Townsend looked very good in the tourney last year, but has regressed this year and I think that’s an example of poor coaching.

Love needs to be benched