2024-25 Arizona Basketball

[azcat49]

Well the voters don’t look at the metrics past W/L records. Just have to keep winning and tomorrow is a big one.

We are 0-2 all time with them and both times we have been pounded on the boards by an average of 45-26 and we have only hit 31% of our FG’s against them on average.

Hopefully Tommy’s offense and ball movement is much better

[84Cat]

We're basically 29th

[dirtbags]

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

it's fine. feeling disrespected isn't the worst thing for the team.

[AZCatGirl]

I'm kinda glad we're not ranked after the shitty way we finished the last game. Between that and what Tommy said, hopefully the guys play better tomorrow.

[AZCatGirl]

Bleh.

[Postmaster]

Bleh.

Anyone have a motorcycle he can borrow?

[UAEebs86]

Bleh.

Anyone have a motorcycle he can borrow?

Too soon? Nah - I'll allow it.

[TheCat]

To me this will be a game that shows how much progress we have made and how much more we have until we deserve to be ranked. I think it is important also because we know this is a well coached team and has several really good players. If we don't win the rebounding battle we will lose this game.

[Alieberman]

I think its important as I see Iowa St, Kansas and Houston as the top 3 with AZ fighting with Baylor for 4th place.

Big game tonight.

[TheCat]

way to early to feel comfortable but this is the best 11 mins we have played this year.

[Chicat]

The starting lineup played way better together tonight in the first half and really set the tone.

[Alieberman]

Caleb making some great passes

[AZCatGirl]

All alone atop the Big 12 until tomorrow night. Let's enjoy this.

[PHXCATS]

Just needed time

Still need a little more to iron it all out

But just needed a little more time

[TheCat]

Well I guess our Euro is not as bad as some on this site have claimed. Mo would have been our best player this year. V playing good and will get better. I think we can see Tommy's vision for Delly but still to early to see if he will be any kind of answer as he still needs strength with the ball. Beating Baylor was big. They have some good players and a great coach. Rebounding was key and was great in the first half. Great blocks by both our Mikey D freshman and Love in the last few minutes.

It only gets tougher. We now have multiple top 25 wins in a row and quad 1's so that is a big plus. But it only gets tougher.

[Chicat]

Win in Lubbock and we’ll probably be back in the top-25. Pretty remarkable turnaround from the team they were when they were 4-5 and looked like shit.

Except we get glimpses of what they once were every game right after the under-8 timeout when they revert to those goofy slap-happy bad-shot machines we knew and shook our heads sadly at. Just like clockwork. It’s bizarre.

[Fishclamps]

Win in Lubbock and we’ll probably be back in the top-25. Pretty remarkable turnaround from the team they were when they were 4-5 and looked like shit.

Except we get glimpses of what they once were every game right after the under-8 timeout when they revert to those goofy slap-happy bad-shot machines we knew and shook our heads sadly at. Just like clockwork. It’s bizarre.

Like someone said in the game thread, whenever we get a big lead we start running a pass it around the perimeter prevent offense and it's just baffling

[Djcat]

I wonder if this is also part coaching decisions. In the past few games with the big lead, Bradley will start slowing it down around the 6 min mark. Team will start standing around and pass the ball around the perimeter and try for a desperation shot when the clock is single digits. Either it’s a miss or a TO, almost always leading to a quick opponent score.

Last night, team actually got a couple of open looks but KJ and Henri both missed. Then Love played hero ball and launched a three and badly missed on a wild floater. Baylor hit a couple of threes they were missing in the first half and lead evaporated quickly.

Maybe coaches can get the team to keep the pedal on the gas till the under 2 mark. It’s a mindset problem.

[FreeSpiritCat]

I wonder if this is also part coaching decisions. In the past few games with the big lead, Bradley will start slowing it down around the 6 min mark. Team will start standing around and pass the ball around the perimeter and try for a desperation shot when the clock is single digits. Either it’s a miss or a TO, almost always leading to a quick opponent score.

Last night, team actually got a couple of open looks but KJ and Henri both missed. Then Love played hero ball and launched a three and badly missed on a wild floater. Baylor hit a couple of threes they were missing in the first half and lead evaporated quickly.

Maybe coaches can get the team to keep the pedal on the gas till the under 2 mark. It’s a mindset problem.

I had mentioned this in the game thread, but your take is better. Lack of intensity, leading to desperate low percentage shots, lazy and desperate passes. The Cats should have won this game by around 20-25 points. The good news is that this is fixable.

[Alieberman]

We are improving every game... we are still far from perfect... but as a fan this is what you want to see from your team.

I think it's really great that we aren't facing ISU, Houston and Kansas until late... I don't know how we will do against them... but I think they will be facing the best version of us when we play them.

[Chicat]

On BlueSky JMark mentioned that he feels the second half lulls/collapses have been happening for years.

https://bsky.app/profile/therealestjmar ... rvlpmv4c2i

My memory isn’t that great. Do you all feel like this is a Lloyd problem not just a This Team problem?

[AzCatFan2]

I get the math. Have a big lead late, slow the game down and limit the number of possessions your opponent has. But when we go in "prevent offense" mode, we lose our intensity and focus on D. We also give up too many easy baskets on turnovers and allow our opponent a chance to get comfortable. Maybe we should scrap the prevent offense and just play our normal, up-tempo game until the last minute? There risks, but I'd prefer to play the way we did to get the lead in order to keep the lead.

[TheCat]

I wonder if this is also part coaching decisions. In the past few games with the big lead, Bradley will start slowing it down around the 6 min mark. Team will start standing around and pass the ball around the perimeter and try for a desperation shot when the clock is single digits. Either it’s a miss or a TO, almost always leading to a quick opponent score.

Last night, team actually got a couple of open looks but KJ and Henri both missed. Then Love played hero ball and launched a three and badly missed on a wild floater. Baylor hit a couple of threes they were missing in the first half and lead evaporated quickly.

Maybe coaches can get the team to keep the pedal on the gas till the under 2 mark. It’s a mindset problem.

If you have listened at all to Tommy's press conferences it is not a coaching decision.

[PHXCATS]

Just needed a little more time to be really good

Now we just need a little more time to iron out the last few things

I know I have believed in Henri for years when many others counted him out

Trust Tommy Lloyd

[Winger]

Got auto signed out and lost my entire post on Arizona’s metrics to date but I don’t have a memory of Arizona coughing up leads under Lloyd in the past. If this is a thing I’d like to see some data.

Not going to retype the metric post but Arizona is prone to coughing up leads because:
1. We aren’t a very good shooting team.
2. We aren’t very good on the defensive glass.
3. We are a bit turnover prone.
4. Love forces/takes and misses a lot of bad shots.

Bottom line on leads is: if you’re playing a good team they are going to make a run or 3 (law of averages). Trick is, if you’re a team like Arizona, to build a big enough one to survive your opponents runs.

[AZCatGirl]

Tommy can get win 100 this Saturday. We need to keep this win streak going as long as possible, so hopefully the Cats get it done. Split at a minimum, but a sweep would be amazing. Just don't get swept.

[dovecanyoncat]

Just needed a little more time to be really good

Now we just need a little more time to iron out the last few things

Sounds like an agenda.

[EastCoastCat]

If you think about it, if our biggest problem is figuring out how to hold big leads I’d say this team has made tremendous strides compared to earlier in the season.

[TheCat]

Texas Tech's coach is known for good defenses in most of his previous stops. Led the nation twice (before Tech) in points given up. Don't know much about their roster but this will be a tough game. A slugfest is sure to follow. Win this and I think we will be in the top 20.

[Chicat]

I watched their games against aTm and Iowa St (both close losses) and I think they match up pretty well with us.

The big thing will be not getting rattled. They have a good home court and their fans will be pumped to see our team come to town. Not turning the ball over, maintaining box outs and getting rebounds, no lazy passes, etc will go a long way to giving us a chance to win as per usual.

[azcat49]

I think Tech is one of the top 6 teams in the league and is better than Baylor (until they get healthy). No doubt we should be underdogs and a win would be huge.

So far our wins have mostly come against mid to bottom 8 teams in the league so now the season really gets going.

[pc in NM]

TT's offense is excellent at "hunting" for the weakest defensive opponent, using defensive switches to get 1:1 matchups vs that opponent, and then exploiting it.

UCLA did that effectively against AZ in it's late game rally to beat us.

I fear this could expose ADO and CB.

I think TT is a really good team and will be our first real Big-12 road test.

BTFD!!!!

[atlantakat]

All the road games this first time around are tests. Two wins at Cincy and Morgantown for a team struggling to find its identity is a significant accomplishment even if tougher trips await.

BTW, I watched the last couple of games the next day and thought we did not look as terrible down the stretch as we did in those same situations (cough, UCLA) with the exception of Mr. Love.

Some good shots have not dropped, the other teams made some big plays and hit some shots they were missing earlier, and we have been a bit shaky in bounding and breaking the press so the games got tighter but still not really in doubt. The Cats made some solid plays against Baylor even if Baylor took a 20 point deficient down to 10 or so.

The only guy who to me is still consistently out of control and taking ill advised shots during those barren minutes is Caleb.

I think this team will be better down the stretch with Caleb on the bench. Can't imagine Tommy will do that but I'd rather have KJ in and the ball in Jaden's hands at the end of a tight game.

Give us Paulie M. with Dell Orso playing better D now, this could have been been a great team. A health Mo, I think we would be FF level.

Sweet 16 may be our ceiling this year for a team that is still a work in progress but I am impressed with Tommy. Watching aww-shucks turn fiesty and getting the team to respond is a great sign.

[Chicat]

BTW, I watched the last couple of games the next day and thought we did not look as terrible down the stretch as we did in those same situations (cough, UCLA) with the exception of Mr. Love.

Gotta be a whole lot easier on the ol’ ticker already knowing the outcome.

[Alieberman]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

[g32knights]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

[Alieberman]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

Legally speaking... they can't actually be called underpants anymore!

[azgreg]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

Legally speaking... they can't actually be called underpants anymore!

Is that because you wear them on the outside?

[dovecanyoncat]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

Legally speaking... they can't actually be called underpants anymore!

Is that because you wear them on the outside?

And they still fit*?

[Alieberman]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

Legally speaking... they can't actually be called underpants anymore!

Is that because you wear them on the outside?

Nope... I've just Bear'd Down a bit too rigorously over the years.

[azgreg]

Just got tix (shitty) for the ISU game.

Lucky underpants will be worn....

Must be a small piece of fabric by now.

Legally speaking... they can't actually be called underpants anymore!

Is that because you wear them on the outside?

Nope... I've just Bear'd Down a bit too rigorously over the years.

Blew a valve did ya?

[Postmaster]

It's just the waistband?

[AZCatGirl]

https://fevo-enterprise.com/group/Mckal ... &RDAT=3606

Hope the link works. There's currently a flash sale for select men's and women's game. Just got an amazing deal for the Iowa St. game, but tickets are going fast if you want to take advantage.

[Merkin]

https://fevo-enterprise.com/group/Mckal ... &RDAT=3606

Hope the link works. There's currently a flash sale for select men's and women's game. Just got an amazing deal for the Iowa St. game, but tickets are going fast if you want to take advantage.

ASU tickets $10!

[AZCatGirl]

https://fevo-enterprise.com/group/Mckal ... &RDAT=3606

Hope the link works. There's currently a flash sale for select men's and women's game. Just got an amazing deal for the Iowa St. game, but tickets are going fast if you want to take advantage.

ASU tickets $10!

Because it's the women.

[UAEebs86]

Made CBS Sports 25 and 1 at number 26:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... p-25-and-1

[Chicat]

Frustrating game, but not really all that surprising beyond maybe just how putrid our offense looked for long stretches.

Hats off to TTech. They knew our weaknesses and made us try to play through them. I expect the games in Waco, Ames, & Lawrence to go much the same way.

[Postmaster]

Miller may have a coronary in the next 10 seconds


Xavier beats Marquette on the road.

[Merkin]

Whatever Lloyd is doing at the 8 minute mark in the 2nd half needs to change. UA falls completely apart then, pretty much every game. Let Murph take over then.

Almost willing to bet the house that Love's FG% and 3 PT% are 10 points higher at home than on the road.

I imagine Martinez and Stephen are already getting their paperwork ready to enter the portal.

[AZCatGirl]

Frustrating game, but not really all that surprising beyond maybe just how putrid our offense looked for long stretches.

Hats off to TTech. They knew our weaknesses and made us try to play through them. I expect the games in Waco, Ames, & Lawrence to go much the same way.

I'm hoping we can learn from this and steal at least one of those games.