2024-25 Arizona Basketball

[Chicat]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

[84Cat]

8 turnovers & 40-31 rebounding advantage will win a lot of games

[PHXCATS]

Playing good ball. Just needed time

[Alieberman]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

KJ, Bryant and Veesaar have all had episodes of foul trouble. I actually like them coming into the game a few minutes in.

I think we are seeing Delly improve… we just need Awaka and Townsend to follow suit

[Chicat]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

KJ, Bryant and Veesaar have all had episodes of foul trouble. I actually like them coming into the game a few minutes in.

I think we are seeing Delly improve… we just need Awaka and Townsend to follow suit

I don’t like it because it leads to slow starts.

Over the last three games the first 8 minutes we have averaged 1.37 points per minute while over the course of the rest of the game the team averages 1.96 points per minute.

Unfortunately I don’t have the stats at hand to see how often and for how long the starting lineup plays together but I have noticed that after the first 8 minutes I don’t think I’ve seen Bradley, Love, Dell’Orso, Awaka, and Townsend all together for more than a few minutes, and maybe not at all in any of the second halves. Why not? Because it’s not a good lineup.

[Beachcat97]

More Lewis and Bryant, less Love. Thanks.

[PHXCATS]

More Lewis and Bryant, less Love. Thanks.

Love is the key to the season

Let it play out

[EastCoastCat]

We’ve won 5 games in a row. I will just leave it at that.

[Merkin]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

Same. Awaka is 6'8" and plays below the rim, and Townsend is 6'6" without the huge Barkley butt. Those are PF and wing sizes, not starting center and PF sizes. Has Awaka had any plays called for him?

That's some serious small ball. Does UA have the shortest starting lineup in the B12?

Dell'Orso I can see, have to keep the opposing D honest and not pack the paint.

[pc in NM]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

Same. Awaka is 6'8" and plays below the rim, and Townsend is 6'6" without the huge Barkley butt. Those are PF and wing sizes, not starting center and PF sizes. Has Awaka had any plays called for him?

That's some serious small ball. Does UA have the shortest starting lineup in the B12?

Dell'Orso I can see, have to keep the opposing D honest and not pack the paint.

No matter the sequence of player time, the 'Cats NEED at least an 8-player rotation to be competitive - plus two more for clutch duty.

Yesterday's minutes played:

• Bradley - 37

• Love - 26

• Lewis - 26

• Veesaar - 26

• Townsend - 25

• Dell-Orso - 24

• Bryant - 14

• Awaka - 13

• Five with 2 minutes or less

That looks good to me.

I think Bryant will get lots more time by late in the season - but the rest works for me.

Last night, performance was consistent throughout the game at both ends, and ball movement combined with off-ball movement yielded lots of easy and/or open shots. There was little drop=off due to substitutions.

(BTW, I really don't mind opponents' 9-point runs when they start 14 points behind!!)

[Merkin]

What the heck? Fran saying something nice about Arizona?

[Chicat]

That minutes dispersion looks fine to me too although I’d like Bryant to get more of Townsend’s playing time.

My issue is that we start the game with our weakest lineup combination and the scoring metrics bear that out. Why? Is it just so Veesaar doesn’t pick up two early fouls and so KJ can come off the bench as a change of pace? Teach Henri how not to foul and tell Lewis the game tipped off ten minutes ago.

[MrKyle]

I still don’t like our opening lineup. Just have to say it. Makes zero sense to me.

Same. Awaka is 6'8" and plays below the rim, and Townsend is 6'6" without the huge Barkley butt. Those are PF and wing sizes, not starting center and PF sizes. Has Awaka had any plays called for him?

That's some serious small ball. Does UA have the shortest starting lineup in the B12?

Dell'Orso I can see, have to keep the opposing D honest and not pack the paint.

No matter the sequence of player time, the 'Cats NEED at least an 8-player rotation to be competitive - plus two more for clutch duty.

Yesterday's minutes played:

• Bradley - 37

• Love - 26

• Lewis - 26

• Veesaar - 26

• Townsend - 25

• Dell-Orso - 24

• Bryant - 14

• Awaka - 13

• Five with 2 minutes or less

That looks good to me.

I think Bryant will get lots more time by late in the season - but the rest works for me.

Last night, performance was consistent throughout the game at both ends, and ball movement combined with off-ball movement yielded lots of easy and/or open shots. There was little drop=off due to substitutions.

(BTW, I really don't mind opponents' 9-point runs when they start 14 points behind!!)

I agree with you that the minutes distribution and overall rotation is looking good.

I am still concerned about large physical teams at the 4/5 spots, I think Veesaar can do decently but that Awaka/Townsend are going to be punished by teams like that.

Overall the team is looking so much better than just a few weeks ago, great turn around and hope we keep the momentum going. The growth of Veesaar/Bryant/KJ has been amazing just these past few games. Watching KJ go off last night on both ends of the floor shows the player we knew he can be.

Bradley has been doing what we've been missing for several years, being able to create and score as the PG.

Bear down!

[AzCatFan2]

I don't mind the rotation. It's working. KJ and Bryant are our top NBA prospects, especially with Mo out, and both can be game changers off the bench. So is Veesaar.

[pc in NM]

Pertinent comment about player rotation by Adia Barnes - she's discussing her team, but the principle applies...

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... 6qhuWnezzg

“I think starting does not matter,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “And if you look at Helena Pueyo, she was much better off the bench...And you need scoring off the bench, and you need some leadership, because it goes against a different group. And, unfortunately, (Skylar Jones) has been better off the bench. If you think of the last time she didn’t start, she came in and played phenomenal. I don’t like to think she likes that, but she was perfect from the field. Played awesome coming off the bench, but as you’re teaching the players, that should not be the motivation. As a coach, you don’t want to threaten things, you don’t want to use that as motivation, but you have to.”

Barnes knows that Pueyo’s indifference to starting or coming off the bench isn’t the typical attitude for younger college players.

“When you don’t start, to players, it’s so important,” Barnes said. “I think to veterans and older, and in the pros, it doesn’t matter. But as players at their age, it’s very important.”

[azcat49]

When you think back on last night we made WVU look very ordinary. We really dominated in all aspects of the game. This was a team that beat us earlier and beat Kansas at the Phog. Really makes you scratch your head doesn’t it. Great to see though

[PHXCATS]

When you think back on last night we made WVU look very ordinary. We really dominated in all aspects of the game. This was a team that beat us earlier and beat Kansas at the Phog. Really makes you scratch your head doesn’t it. Great to see though

Not at all to me

Just needed a little more time to gel

[Abrahamarvel]

More Bryant

And Veesaar reminds me of Porzingis

[g32knights]

Well, we're in the ESPN Power Rankings,


23. Arizona Wildcats (9-5)
Previous ranking: Unranked

Written off after a loss to UCLA in Phoenix a month ago, Arizona has now won five straight games -- including back-to-back road tilts at Cincinnati and West Virginia. What have been the keys to the Wildcats' turnaround? Tommy Lloyd shuffled his rotation after the 4-5 start, moving Anthony Dell'Orso into the starting lineup and shifting KJ Lewis to a sixth man role. He has also expanded the roles of Henri Veesaar and Carter Bryant. Veesaar has been notable; in his past seven games, he is averaging 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

We are also #11 in Torvik and #13 in KenPom.
Whatever that's worth. It does make a fan feel good about the trajectory of the program this year.

[TheCat]

We are also #11 in Torvik and #13 in KenPom.
Whatever that's worth. It does make a fan feel good about the trajectory of the program this year.

Until the next loss and it will be we have forgotten how to play.

[AZCatGirl]

Walk-ons Grant Weitman and Luke Champion get Arizona's two open scholarships.

[Chicat]

Phenomenal. Those guys bust their asses. Glad they don’t have to worry about paying for school for a semester.

[Merkin]

No more walk-ons next season, but scholarships increased to 16, so hopefully a few more can get scholies.

[pc in NM]

CTL addresses the starting lineup and rotations - Az Daily Star

Arizona's hottest players are on the bench, but Lloyd isn't messing with formula

Bruce Pascoe

The explosive hero of Arizona’s win at West Virginia, guard KJ Lewis, is the Wildcats’ third-leading scorer and tied with point guard Jaden Bradley for the team lead in assists during Big 12 play.

The difference-maker in the Wildcats’ win at Cincinnati three days earlier, 7-footer Henri Veesaar, has been by far their most productive post player since Christmas.

And the Wildcats’ highest-rated NBA prospect, freshman Carter Bryant, has shot 78.6% from the field in Big 12 games while flashing promise all over the court.

All three of them are among the Wildcats’ top five scorers in Big 12 games, too.

Yet none are in the Wildcats’ starting five, and might not be anytime soon, including for UA’s game Saturday night against UCF at McKale Center.

The Wildcats have won five straight games, after all, and before that led UCLA by 13 on Dec. 14 in their last loss.

That’s a train UA coach Tommy Lloyd isn’t getting in the way of.

“I mean, listen, we’re playing better,” Lloyd said Friday during his weekly news conference. “Early in the season, we weren’t able to build leads, but I think in every one of our last (several) games, we’ve built leads. We may not have held every lead, but we’ve built leads. So I’m encouraged where we’re going and I feel like sometimes you just have to put the pieces in the right place.”

Except for making a midseason swap of Cedric Henderson for Pelle Larsson at small forward two seasons ago, a move Larsson volunteered for, Lloyd has pretty much locked in starting lineups early during his previous three seasons at UA.

So far this season he’s had four lineups already, partly because injured center Motiejus Krivas’ readiness has fluctuated until he was finally ruled out for the season last month. But the Wildcats are 4-0 with their current iteration: Bradley, Caleb Love and Anthony Dell’Orso on the perimeter, with Trey Townsend and Tobe Awaka in the post.

With that sort of overall team success, individual performances, at least in the short haul, might be secondary.

“It doesn’t have to come down to, ‘Well, this guy’s playing good, so we’re going to start him because that guy didn’t play good last game.’ That doesn’t make sense,” Lloyd said. “You have to have a little bit of certainty there.

“I’m not concerned about our lineup right now. It could change over the course of time but right now I’m not.”

While the Wildcats’ reserves have collectively kept the pressure on opponents, with UA leading the vast majority of its three Big 12 games, there are potential downsides to not starting the most productive players.

Mathematically, of course, not starting means a player only has 36 minutes or so to play over the course of a game, minus any time spent resting. But Lloyd said that isn’t a concern, having still played Lewis an average of 27.7 minutes in UA’s three Big 12 games, while Veesaar logged 26 against both Cincinnati and West Virginia.

A few minutes of their rest just happens to come right after tipoff.

“You might set up (to go in) after the first four or you might after the first two” minutes, Lloyd said. “It just depends on how it’s going. I think both those guys (Lewis and Veesaar) have had recent games where they’ve played well, and maybe they played more minutes than the guy that started in front of them. As the game plays out, we’ll make adjustments accordingly.”

Meanwhile, Veesaar’s versatility on both ends of the court and mobility for his size might suggest that his skills could mesh well with Awaka or Townsend in a starting lineup, though that’s an evolving decision Lloyd indicated he’s still looking at.

“You can always think about pairings, and I had put a lot of time this offseason in thinking about pairings,” Lloyd said. “One of the centerpieces of the pairings (Krivas) isn’t playing right now, so that kind of blew it up a little bit and I’ve had to just figure it out on the fly.

“I feel good where it’s at. Henri and Tobe really aren’t playing much together. That doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t, but they just haven’t been because we’ve kind of taken the rotation in another direction.”

One thing is certain about UA’s key reserves: Together, they’re playing well enough that when West Virginia’s defense helped make for another rough night from guard Caleb Love, this time Lloyd just benched him.

Love, who had nine points on 3 of 10 field goals with three turnovers Tuesday against the Mountaineers, played only 10 minutes in the second half while instead drawing praise from Lloyd and Lewis for his cheerleading efforts.

“Hell of a teammate,” Lewis said. “He supported us when he was on the bench. That’s the Caleb that everybody doesn’t get to see.”

Lewis wound up playing 17 minutes after halftime, with 13 points and three assists, while Veesaar had four points, three rebounds and two blocks over 13 minutes in the second half.

Love had only three points in the second half ... but Arizona outscored West Virginia 36-28 anyway.

“Caleb’s going to be at the top of every team scouting report, and West Virginia has a really good individual defender (Sencire Harris) who was pretty committed to making Caleb’s catches tough,” Lloyd said. “We cycled through our rotation. Caleb came out, and the team continued to play really well.

“So I just kind of rode that one out in the second half and we feel like that was the right decision.”

Thanks to the recent play of his top reserves, that sort of move is a luxury Lloyd didn’t really have earlier this season.

I'm with CTL all-the-way on this one...

... and now, back to late night basketball for a couple of games!

[Merkin]

It's like Lute used to say, it's not who starts but who is out there at crunch time.

I haven't seen a hockey game in 50 years or so, but don't think switch out all the players on the floor at at time? Obviously the 2nd team has to have some good players too.

[PHXCATS]

Good to know Lloyd knows more than podcasters with agendas

[Chicat]

Good to know Lloyd knows more than podcasters with agendas

Jesus

[RichardCranium]

No more walk-ons next season, but scholarships increased to 16, so hopefully a few more can get scholies.

Why the hell not?

[Fishclamps]

Good to know Lloyd knows more than podcasters with agendas

You are one bizarre person, just posting this in every active thread.

[azgreg]

Good to know Lloyd knows more than podcasters with agendas

You are one bizarre person, just posting this in every active thread.

He's been hearing that word on FOX News so he thought he'd start using it. He doesn't know what it means.

[TheCat]

Not often you beat a team that had 18 more shots than your team. Won't happen often and won't happen against Baylor.

[84Cat]

We moved down 2 places in kenpom

[AZCatGirl]

Tommy not happy. Hopefully we see less stupid plays on Tuesday.

[Merkin]

Tommy being quite brutal.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... C1Xxl7u9Kg


"Caleb was great to start. Was not good enough at the end, whether it’s shot selection or dribble down the sideline that gets a trap. Caleb’s played college basketball for five years. He knows better than that. Falling down, okay, this stuff shouldn’t happen. I’m counting on this guy to be like an All-American level player. I love Caleb, and I’ve given him a lot. He’s got to be better. Bottom line, he’s got to be better."

[PHXCATS]

Was definitely a trap game as much as one can be. I don't really subscribe to that but if you did this would have for sure been one coming off two road ranked wins and Baylor on Tuesday

[dovecanyoncat]

I heard there were some good block outs. When the assistant coaches are telling you there’s some good block outs that means there’s a lot of really bad block outs.

A little *mick in the ass from Tommy.

[azcat49]

Tommy knows the schedule is about to get a lot tougher. Good time to send a message.

[EastCoastCat]

I heard there were some good block outs. When the assistant coaches are telling you there’s some good block outs that means there’s a lot of really bad block outs.

A little *mick in the ass from Tommy.

Except Tommy called out that coaching needed to be better.

[dovecanyoncat]

I heard there were some good block outs. When the assistant coaches are telling you there’s some good block outs that means there’s a lot of really bad block outs.

A little *mick in the ass from Tommy.

Except Tommy called out that coaching needed to be better.

Yes. Tommy is actually self-aware in a way that is accretive to the team. Mick .... not so much.

[Alieberman]

I like Tommy getting a little intense.

I’m so excited to go to Baylor game on Tuesday (assuming this old guy can stay awake)

[TheCat]

I like Tommy getting a little intense.

I’m so excited to go to Baylor game on Tuesday (assuming this old guy can stay awake)

Here is a video of that intensity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2bTD-qaXfc

[Alieberman]

That was a great interview by Tommy. Tough but not trying to get personal or mean

[EastCoastCat]

I like Tommy getting a little intense.

I’m so excited to go to Baylor game on Tuesday (assuming this old guy can stay awake)

Hey if I’m staying awake to watch it you better represent.

[Alieberman]

I like Tommy getting a little intense.

I’m so excited to go to Baylor game on Tuesday (assuming this old guy can stay awake)

Hey if I’m staying awake to watch it you better represent.

I’m going with my 17 year old son… I should be good as long as he drives home so I can sleep in the car going home!

[Merkin]

Torvik has UA 98% to get into the tournament.

https://barttorvik.com/tranketology.php

[Beachcat97]

Torvik has UA 98% to get into the tournament.

https://barttorvik.com/tranketology.php

Plenty of time to build a tourney resume. Could really use a win over Iowa St, Houston or Kansas.

[Postmaster]

Phenomenal. Those guys bust their asses. Glad they don’t have to worry about paying for school for a semester.

I hope Grant doesn't have to worry about paying for school.

[RichardCranium]

Torvik has UA 98% to get into the tournament.

https://barttorvik.com/tranketology.php

Plenty of time to build a tourney resume. Could really use a win over Iowa St, Houston <s>or</s> AND Kansas.

FIFY

[g32knights]

So, not ranked and West Virginia has more votes...