Tommy Lloyd

[Winger]

After thinking about it I don't think Lloyd was talking about fans at all last week

Think it was all to the athletic department

Did you see where he doubled down on it yesterday or the day before?

He tried to sweep it under the bus (in part by leaving the greatness that is the ISU fandom aside, in an apparent attempt to convey that he was simply impressed by the atmosphere at Phog) but he essentially said the same exact thing about Arizona's fans/McKale.

[azcat49]

After thinking about it I don't think Lloyd was talking about fans at all last week

Think it was all to the athletic department

Did you see where he doubled down on it yesterday or the day before?

He tried to sweep it under the bus (in part by leaving the greatness that is the ISU fandom aside, in an apparent attempt to convey that he was simply impressed by the atmosphere at Phog) but he essentially said the same exact thing about Arizona's fans/McKale.

Exactly right. I called the ticket office and told them I would be taking my time and considering my renewal options on tickets I have had since 1983 given CTL’s comments. Seems I have been labeled a #badfan

[JMarkJohns]

After thinking about it I don't think Lloyd was talking about fans at all last week

Think it was all to the athletic department

The mental gymnastics it takes to get here when he’s on record multiple times critiquing McKale fans, and several of the changes made for the worse was his ideas is something.

[PHXCATS]

After thinking about it I don't think Lloyd was talking about fans at all last week

Think it was all to the athletic department

Did you see where he doubled down on it yesterday or the day before?

He tried to sweep it under the bus (in part by leaving the greatness that is the ISU fandom aside, in an apparent attempt to convey that he was simply impressed by the atmosphere at Phog) but he essentially said the same exact thing about Arizona's fans/McKale.

Exactly right. I called the ticket office and told them I would be taking my time and considering my renewal options on tickets I have had since 1983 given CTL’s comments. Seems I have been labeled a #badfan

Look at any football game

Arizona fans are not good

[azgreg]

After thinking about it I don't think Lloyd was talking about fans at all last week

Think it was all to the athletic department

After thinking about it you're still a twat.

[Merkin]

There is video.

Lloyd is definitely calling out McKale fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UYXZAZJVdk

“The last two places we played were electric. I’m an Arizona guy, and I love Arizona—this is not an indictment on our fans—but we got work to do. There’s a gap. There’s a gap between Kansas and Iowa State and (us) in these gameday atmospheres and their fan support. It was awesome today. I was just out there listening to their senior speeches. I wasn’t listening, I had to speak on the radio, but 90 percent of the fans are still there 20 minutes after listening to the senior speeches. It’s pretty special.”

[Alieberman]

This quite possibly is the stupidest thing to argue about.

But go ahead... knock yourselves out

[EastCoastCat]

“Are we talking about practice??!!” memories are swirling in my head…

[TheCatInTheHat]

Before moving, I had season tickets for 40 years. Near mid-court facing the benches, but because they were in the top deck and near the speakers, during the last few years of it, the recorded music alternating with non-stop PA commentary and sponsored contests was pretty blaring. Almost impossible to have a conversation. With that in mind, during Covid, we didn't mind so much watching games on big screens. And you can't recapture the excitement and magic of the early Olson years, so our fans probably are a little jaded. In the West, you're not going to have fans camping out indoors for as long as they can to get out of the weather. All that said, when the team is at all competitive, Arizona fans have provided remarkable support for many, many years. Tommy should take a page out of Lute's book and leave it at complimenting the fans when they go above and beyond and accepting the environment for what it is the rest of the time. Lecturing paying customers for their alleged shortcomings isn't going to do anybody any good.

[gouacats]

My thoughts on the fans: 1 - When it's a big game, the fans show up and are (usually) loud. I would suspect on par with the ISUs and Kansas' of hoops. 2 - When it's a game the Cats should win, the fans are a lot quieter. That is probably where the other fan bases show up more.

[Postmaster]

Curious how the crowds would be if KU and ISU lost those games.

[PHXCATS]

He says fans but he is talking about the athletic department

How many times have we heard the miscommunication on senior night and lack of marketing etc

THAT IS THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

[Merkin]

He says fans but he is talking about the athletic department

How many times have we heard the miscommunication on senior night and lack of marketing etc

THAT IS THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

Machina, you aren't even trying anymore to be a contrarian. He literally says fan or fans 3 times. Do better.

“The last two places we played were electric. I’m an Arizona guy, and I love Arizona—this is not an indictment on our fans—but we got work to do. There’s a gap. There’s a gap between Kansas and Iowa State and (us) in these gameday atmospheres and their fan support. It was awesome today. I was just out there listening to their senior speeches. I wasn’t listening, I had to speak on the radio, but 90 percent of the fans are still there 20 minutes after listening to the senior speeches. It’s pretty special.”

[azgreg]

but he is talking about the athletic department

No he isn't. Fuck off.

[PHXCATS]

He says fans but he is talking about the athletic department

How many times have we heard the miscommunication on senior night and lack of marketing etc

THAT IS THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

Machina, you aren't even trying anymore to be a contrarian. He literally says fan or fans 3 times. Do better.

“The last two places we played were electric. I’m an Arizona guy, and I love Arizona—this is not an indictment on our fans—but we got work to do. There’s a gap. There’s a gap between Kansas and Iowa State and (us) in these gameday atmospheres and their fan support. It was awesome today. I was just out there listening to their senior speeches. I wasn’t listening, I had to speak on the radio, but 90 percent of the fans are still there 20 minutes after listening to the senior speeches. It’s pretty special.”

You think he can call out DRF in public?

[JMarkJohns]

Always good to see M is still a conspiracy monger

[Winger]

He literally says fan or fans 3 times. Do better.

“The last two places we played were electric. I’m an Arizona guy, and I love Arizona—this is not an indictment on our fans—but we got work to do. There’s a gap. There’s a gap between Kansas and Iowa State and (us) in these gameday atmospheres and their fan support. It was awesome today. I was just out there listening to their senior speeches. I wasn’t listening, I had to speak on the radio, but 90 percent of the fans are still there 20 minutes after listening to the senior speeches. It’s pretty special.”

And then, yesterday, another 3 times ...

“Let’s not dig deeper and try to make something out of something very small. The atmosphere at Kansas, for those that were there, was spectacular, and it’s awesome. I’m always looking for ways for our program to be better. And listen, Desireé and I are on the same page. We want to continue to make our gameday experience better for our fans, and it’s good already. It has been great some days. But is there another step? For sure, there’s always another step. You’re always looking to get better. It’s not an indictment on our fans. I love our fans, so I wouldn’t take it as anything other than Kansas was awesome that day. The atmosphere was above and beyond.”

... as he strained to dig himself out of the mess he created with his postgame comments Saturday.

I am a big Lloyd guy but that comment above is total abject horseshit.

All the way down to the "Desiree".

[AZCatGirl]

Always good to see M is still a conspiracy monger

I think he's just desperate for our attention at this point. His takes are stranger and stranger.

[TheCat]

I'm simply pointing out early pools are built on speculation and are highly inaccurate.

I also pointed out that initial KenPom polls are inaccurate

You posted that Arizona had "outperformed everyone's expectations".

I showed you two different sets of objective data to show that what you posted was false. And some subjective data to show that what you posted was not true.

Arizona has not outperformed everyone's expectations (to date) this season.

Here is another one:

Coach Tommy Lloyd when Arizona was ranked in the Top 10 a couple games in: "we're better team than that", or something to that effect.

And as of now the Cats are threatening to underperform even your modest expectation, posted midseason for the record, of a 6-seed/backend top 25 team.

Yes, I give, you are always right and the meaningless polls and initial KenPom are a serious matters based on nothing and created before a team has played a game.

I guess I should have said they exceeded the knowledgeable coaches and writers that follow the conference. My bad. I thought everyone knew that KenPom polls before a game is played means nothing and it has been argued they shouldn't even exist.

The preseason AP poll is actually pretty good. Especially if you keep it to the top 10 teams. Which Arizona was this season. Even more especially if you keep it to the #1 team. It's pretty good at identifying Final Four teams as well. It isn't very good but it's pretty good and it is the best thing we have preseason, as an aside.

KenPom preseason also isn't useless. I know you have never looked at preseason and end of season KenPom to see how his ratings hold up but I have. At least for the top 20 and especially for Arizona. Teams usually finish up reasonably close to where his computer started them. With a good postseason run Arizona still can for the record.

I know why you prop the B12 preseason poll but do you know how many teams it whiffed on?

Kansas, ISU, Cinci, and Baylor to the downside. BYU and Texas Tech to the upside in particular.

Arizona, to date, has underperformed many people's expectation, including our head coach, and the computers. I am guessing the same holds for 90+% of Arizona's fans, whom I would speculate would not have believed preseason that we'd be unranked heading in to conference tournament play.

What has transpired is the true opposite of what you posted. Arizona obviously did not "exceed everyone's expectations".

And even for the B12 preseason poll the Cats just barely exceeded expectation. By 1 game/finish position. The smallest margin possible.

I do not look up KenPom polls to see how accurate they were in relation to their preseason but I have read articles that specifically measure how accurate they are. I have read that they should not even exist at the beginning of the year. Maybe those articles are wrong. I don't know because I personally have never measured.

I also didn't think we would not be ranked after preseason but that is why the struggle of this team is so compelling. They aren't perfect, they have holes, they could have given up and didn't. Some of their fans can't see beyond those glaring holes and have given up and that's okay. I would speculate most Arizona fans would not have predicted we would the in the top 3 in the conference at the end of the season. That is why I find it odd that some don't find that as an accomplishment. Are those the same people that would say if we ended in second but were disappointed because we were 4 games out of first? Don't know. Just know I'm wired differently. I look for whatever positive there is in a situation where it is warranted.

I will also tell you that Arizona fans, as I am, are not happy we haven't been to a final 4 in 24 years. Fans don't realize how difficult that is. That is why they are called fans. If Cooper Flaggs injury is serious Duke might not make the final four. Little things derail that trip and if you don't agree ask Sean Miller who was very very close multiple times or look at Lute's record of early bow outs. John Wooden said that after losing in the finals a fan came up to him and told him he would forgive him this time for letting him down. This was after winning multiple championships in a row. The perfect fan.

[Winger]

Cat - once the season winds down I will do a thing on KP pre vs post season and post it here. This was a difficult Arizona team to forecast (which due to roster turnover is going to be a thing going forward). That aside, I wasnt sure we were as good as 10th, but I did post here that 5th in conference was homer. The B12 isnt and wasnt that good. The only issue I had with your post is dont use “we exceeded everyones expectations” to trash one of my takes. Nor anything else that is plainly false.

[TheCat]

Would love to see that.

I think you can see in my posts since the early season and during our winning streak I would constantly say we aren't as good as the ranking (fools gold) and looked to be about top 25. I also think a 4 seed is out of line and a 6 would be what we have earned.

On another note. Our shooting from 3 except for tonight is sub par. You know who is worse. #9 St. Johns. They shoot 29 % from 3 and it was 25% but they got hot at the end of the season and had 3 games where they shot 42%. They rebound the hell out of the ball and limit TO's in most games.

[Chicat]

Was it me or was the Sportscenter host kind of a dick to Tommy?

ESPN… never change

[EastCoastCat]

Yes he was and Tommy called him out.

[Djcat]

Tommy actually yanked Lewis twice when he was starting to play out of control. Sub Trey back in both times. It helps that Trey has been playing well.

Seems like he was making sure the players were sticking to the game plan and not making it up as they go.

One of the more impressive coaching job by Tommy. Sticking to Delly is still a head scratcher. Even the ESPN commenter said he’s below average defender and Kansas is going at him constantly.

[Chicat]

ADO was playing well though. Steady in transition and he was crafty around the basket. He gave us an offensive change of pace and wasn’t a liability like when he was slumping and would just sit out on the perimeter waiting to miss his next three.

Plus the subbing kept our legs fresh. Kansas got tired. We didn’t. Great job in all phases by the staff and players.

[g32knights]

Tommy actually yanked Lewis twice when he was starting to play out of control. Sub Trey back in both times. It helps that Trey has been playing well.

Seems like he was making sure the players were sticking to the game plan and not making it up as they go.

One of the more impressive coaching job by Tommy. Sticking to Delly is still a head scratcher. Even the ESPN commenter said he’s below average defender and Kansas is going at him constantly.

I liked seeing Tommy pull KJ. Too many times he's just putting his head down and driving with zero intention of passing.

[Merkin]

Like Fran kept saying: Look up KJ!

I know some people don't like Fraschilla, but I really like his coaching insights into the game. He talked a lot about the problems of going under screens which affected both teams. He has been talking for weeks about Lloyd having Veesaar guarding the throw in, leaving the opposing center to be covered by a much smaller defender. For example, Townsend would then be on Dickinson for an easy KU score.

But watching the game last night, it seemed Townsend was covering the throw in person more.

[pc in NM]

Like Fran kept saying: Look up KJ!

I know some people don't like Fraschilla, but I really like his coaching insights into the game. He talked a lot about the problems of going under screens which affected both teams. He has been talking for weeks about Lloyd having Veesaar guarding the throw in, leaving the opposing center to be covered by a much smaller defender. For example, Townsend would then be on Dickinson for an easy KU score.

But watching the game last night, it seemed Townsend was covering the throw in person more.

I think he gives honest assessments of players, and, as the regular Big-12 broadcaster he also pays attention to players' evolution. We'd get good info like that from Walton, too (and, of course, much, much more!)...

I used to hate when AZ would get national games with "big name" announcers whose knowledge seemed to come from yesterday's press releases and a few highlights.

[Merkin]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

[pc in NM]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

[TucsonClip]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

[PHXCATS]

I support ADO fully

[Chicat]

I support ADO fully

Oh thank God.

Hey EVERYONE! Machina supports ADO fully.

Yep, you heard it right from him. Full support.

Now align yourselves with him immediately so there is no BAD FAN behavior. In the meantime I’ll be searching for just the right stone tablet to etch this revelation into so it will last through eternity.

[Alieberman]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else

I understand this, but why are we still beating this dead horse?

[pc in NM]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

I cheer for my school, my teams and players.

[Lando05]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else

I understand this, but why are we still beating this dead horse?

Why can't we talk about it until it is fixed by Tommy?

[Winger]

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

Probably not possible at this point but ADO imo needs a ton of S&C work and effort put in to increase his lateral quickness. If I was coaching him I'd make him practice playing defense in a straight jacket (i.e. without his hands and arms).

Wanted to ask what you saw last night?

I haven't rewatched but a couple things seemed evident to me:

1. After getting absolutely destroyed by Dickenson offensively in the post a week ago (what did he have 13 made interior buckets on 15 shots?) Arizona almost completely took that away from him/KU last night. I wasn't paying attention close enough to notice how? That is a major change from game 1. Dude was mostly shooting 12-15 footers and 3s last night.

2. KU shot 31 3FGA and 33 2FGA last night compared to 21 and 46 game one. I didnt notice any zone but did we change our switching scheme last night? I definitely saw Arizona player going under screens so it wasnt like we switched to a full on Houston blitz scheme but did we take some other stuff away forcing KU to shoot from the extended perimeter?

3. Did you want to punch Mayo in the mouth every time the camera caught him saying "this is my town"? I think I saw that 17 times between the 2 games and toward the end I wanted Arizona to win mostly to shut that dude up. Cant even imagine how much tish he was talking the past 2 games.

Big thing for me last night is we kept Awaka and Veesaar out of foul trouble and we forced KU to play against us, as opposed to changing our personnel to fit them. Feel like this was an issue all season. I get that the B12 is too tough/physical etc for ADO and also at times for TT and Veesaar but we need to do more forcing of our will/play style on our opponents imo.

[Alieberman]

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else

I understand this, but why are we still beating this dead horse?

Why can't we talk about it until it is fixed by Tommy?

Unless you have a time machine that I am unaware of- we can't unrecruit Ado.

I'm not talking about improving / changing recruiting in the future.

[TucsonClip]

I think he gives honest assessments of players,

He really knows Arizona players. Like what he said about Love. He takes good shots, he takes bad shots, but he is never afraid to take a shot, and he has excellent court vision. Believe Love was a PG in high school.

Praised ADO too which he says he has noticed all season, for moving without the ball for the backdoor plays.

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else

I understand this, but why are we still beating this dead horse?

Until he stops absolutely blowing defensive assignments leading to open 3s, hunted in defense, and screwing up any sort of help defense, I'll keep bringing it up.

People like to harp on our 3 or defense, and there is a lot left to be desired there, and he's one of the many reasons why.

[TucsonClip]

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

Probably not possible at this point but ADO imo needs a ton of S&C work and effort put in to increase his lateral quickness. If I was coaching him I'd make him practice playing defense in a straight jacket (i.e. without his hands and arms).

Wanted to ask what you saw last night?

I haven't rewatched but a couple things seemed evident to me:

1. After getting absolutely destroyed by Dickenson offensively in the post a week ago (what did he have 1 made interior buckets on 15 shots?) Arizona almost completely took that away from him/KU last night. I wasn't paying attention close enough to notice how? That is a major change from game 1. Dude was mostly shooting 12-15 footers and 3s last night.

2. KU shot 31 3FGA and 33 2FGA last night compared to 21 and 46 game one. I didnt notice any zone but did we change our switching scheme last night? I definitely saw Arizona player going under screens so it wasnt like we switched to a full on Houston blitz scheme but did we take some other stuff away forcing KU to shoot from the extended perimeter?

3. Did you want to punch Mayo in the mouth every time the camera caught him saying "this is my town"? I think I saw that 17 times between the 2 games and toward the end I wanted Arizona to win mostly to shut that dude up. Cant even imagine how much tish he was talking the past 2 games.

Big thing for me last night is we kept Awaka and Veesaar out of foul trouble and we forced KU to play against us, as opposed to changing our personnel to fit them. Feel like this was an issue all season. I get that the B12 is too tough/physical etc for ADO and also at times for TT and Veesaar but we need to do more forcing of our will/play style on our opponents imo.

1. I think we did a good job bodying him, but what I noticed was that our guards were pinching in one pass away off the ball, into the ball handler, on all those PNRs with him. That helped keep the ball out of the lane and allowed us to crowd him a bit more and not allow him to get good position sealing off his man on a guard's drive into the lane.

Overall the defensive intensity was quite high from everyone, the ball pressure was there, help was there without over helping, and specifically, the switches were air tight early on (until everyone got in foul trouble in the 1H).

Finally, Kansas didn't get much short roll action from Adams, which they also killed us on last week, thanks to our switching being on point most of the game.

2. They didn't want Harris getting to the lane and breaking us down. Going under was the move, and he killed us from 3. Overall, the switching I mentioned above kept them from the paint.

3. I did and I loved it when ADO yelled at him you fucking suck. That was priceless.

Overall, keeping Henri our of foul trouble early helped unlock our offense against their defense. That's Henri's key value, IMO and why I didn't want him starting on Dickinson. Also, that was probably TTs best game of his Arizona career. Good timing as he's starting to wake up and realize he cant simply mash people in the post, always coming back to his left shoulder for that right handed baby hook.

[Chicat]

Definitely think the going under screens strategy was what kept Dickinson from getting the ball on the block. It led to some open threes, but it stopped HD from doing that thing where he gets the ball 8 feet from the basket and pump fakes passes and shots until his defender gets off balance. We had people in those interior passing lanes with hands up ready to deflect anything going inside.

[Lando05]

ADO may be the least "talented" player in our 8-man rotation, BUT he is an essential player in that rotation.

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else

I understand this, but why are we still beating this dead horse?

Why can't we talk about it until it is fixed by Tommy?

Unless you have a time machine that I am unaware of- we can't unrecruit Ado.

I'm not talking about improving / changing recruiting in the future.

That's more than fair. I misunderstood.

[Chicat]

I don’t see ADO hitting the weight room and suddenly becoming some lateral quickness monster. He’s always going to be lanky and lean.

But can we get Reggie Geary in there to teach him how to determine those moments when his opponent telegraphs their next move? Being a step slow is mostly about not recognizing the signs that the player in front of you is about to move one way or another.

[Winger]

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

Probably not possible at this point but ADO imo needs a ton of S&C work and effort put in to increase his lateral quickness. If I was coaching him I'd make him practice playing defense in a straight jacket (i.e. without his hands and arms).

Wanted to ask what you saw last night?

I haven't rewatched but a couple things seemed evident to me:

1. After getting absolutely destroyed by Dickenson offensively in the post a week ago (what did he have 13 made interior buckets on 15 shots?) Arizona almost completely took that away from him/KU last night. I wasn't paying attention close enough to notice how? That is a major change from game 1. Dude was mostly shooting 12-15 footers and 3s last night.

2. KU shot 31 3FGA and 33 2FGA last night compared to 21 and 46 game one. I didnt notice any zone but did we change our switching scheme last night? I definitely saw Arizona player going under screens so it wasnt like we switched to a full on Houston blitz scheme but did we take some other stuff away forcing KU to shoot from the extended perimeter?

3. Did you want to punch Mayo in the mouth every time the camera caught him saying "this is my town"? I think I saw that 17 times between the 2 games and toward the end I wanted Arizona to win mostly to shut that dude up. Cant even imagine how much tish he was talking the past 2 games.

Big thing for me last night is we kept Awaka and Veesaar out of foul trouble and we forced KU to play against us, as opposed to changing our personnel to fit them. Feel like this was an issue all season. I get that the B12 is too tough/physical etc for ADO and also at times for TT and Veesaar but we need to do more forcing of our will/play style on our opponents imo.

1. I think we did a good job bodying him, but what I noticed was that our guards were pinching in one pass away off the ball, into the ball handler, on all those PNRs with him. That helped keep the ball out of the lane and allowed us to crowd him a bit more and not allow him to get good position sealing off his man on a guard's drive into the lane.

Overall the defensive intensity was quite high from everyone, the ball pressure was there, help was there without over helping, and specifically, the switches were air tight early on (until everyone got in foul trouble in the 1H).

Finally, Kansas didn't get much short roll action from Adams, which they also killed us on last week, thanks to our switching being on point most of the game.

2. They didn't want Harris getting to the lane and breaking us down. Going under was the move, and he killed us from 3. Overall, the switching I mentioned above kept them from the paint.

3. I did and I loved it when ADO yelled at him you fucking suck. That was priceless.

Overall, keeping Henri our of foul trouble early helped unlock our offense against their defense. That's Henri's key value, IMO and why I didn't want him starting on Dickinson. Also, that was probably TTs best game of his Arizona career. Good timing as he's starting to wake up and realize he cant simply mash people in the post, always coming back to his left shoulder for that right handed baby hook.

Thanks I appreciate the response.

When I watched game it seemed like Dickinson would simply pin Awaka behind him on the block, receive a pass, and then dead swish a layin or short bank. Felt like I saw that 12+ times and that the Cats were so hopeless against that action (I dont remember a single attempt to double either) that KU could have done it 40 times and that HD could have gone for a Wiltesque 80 piece. Or, a Mars Blackmon dread double nickel at the least.

And I thought for sure I was going to see a heavy dose of that last night and ... nada.

I missed the ADO shout down of Mayo. Dude definitely deserved it. Nice story and all but I have seen the pics of him in Jayhawks jersies as a cute little 8 year old enough at this point.

[TucsonClip]

By default because they chose not to recruit anyone else, which still blows my mind. He's the worst defender I've seen in an Arizona uniform since Ryan Anderson, and one of the worst I can ever remember.

Probably not possible at this point but ADO imo needs a ton of S&C work and effort put in to increase his lateral quickness. If I was coaching him I'd make him practice playing defense in a straight jacket (i.e. without his hands and arms).

Wanted to ask what you saw last night?

I haven't rewatched but a couple things seemed evident to me:

1. After getting absolutely destroyed by Dickenson offensively in the post a week ago (what did he have 13 made interior buckets on 15 shots?) Arizona almost completely took that away from him/KU last night. I wasn't paying attention close enough to notice how? That is a major change from game 1. Dude was mostly shooting 12-15 footers and 3s last night.

2. KU shot 31 3FGA and 33 2FGA last night compared to 21 and 46 game one. I didnt notice any zone but did we change our switching scheme last night? I definitely saw Arizona player going under screens so it wasnt like we switched to a full on Houston blitz scheme but did we take some other stuff away forcing KU to shoot from the extended perimeter?

3. Did you want to punch Mayo in the mouth every time the camera caught him saying "this is my town"? I think I saw that 17 times between the 2 games and toward the end I wanted Arizona to win mostly to shut that dude up. Cant even imagine how much tish he was talking the past 2 games.

Big thing for me last night is we kept Awaka and Veesaar out of foul trouble and we forced KU to play against us, as opposed to changing our personnel to fit them. Feel like this was an issue all season. I get that the B12 is too tough/physical etc for ADO and also at times for TT and Veesaar but we need to do more forcing of our will/play style on our opponents imo.

1. I think we did a good job bodying him, but what I noticed was that our guards were pinching in one pass away off the ball, into the ball handler, on all those PNRs with him. That helped keep the ball out of the lane and allowed us to crowd him a bit more and not allow him to get good position sealing off his man on a guard's drive into the lane.

Overall the defensive intensity was quite high from everyone, the ball pressure was there, help was there without over helping, and specifically, the switches were air tight early on (until everyone got in foul trouble in the 1H).

Finally, Kansas didn't get much short roll action from Adams, which they also killed us on last week, thanks to our switching being on point most of the game.

2. They didn't want Harris getting to the lane and breaking us down. Going under was the move, and he killed us from 3. Overall, the switching I mentioned above kept them from the paint.

3. I did and I loved it when ADO yelled at him you fucking suck. That was priceless.

Overall, keeping Henri our of foul trouble early helped unlock our offense against their defense. That's Henri's key value, IMO and why I didn't want him starting on Dickinson. Also, that was probably TTs best game of his Arizona career. Good timing as he's starting to wake up and realize he cant simply mash people in the post, always coming back to his left shoulder for that right handed baby hook.

Thanks I appreciate the response.

When I watched game it seemed like Dickinson would simply pin Awaka behind him on the block, receive a pass, and then dead swish a layin or short bank. Felt like I saw that 12+ times and that the Cats were so hopeless against that action (I dont remember a single attempt to double either) that KU could have done it 40 times and that HD could have gone for a Wiltesque 80 piece. Or, a Mars Blackmon dread double nickel at the least.

And I thought for sure I was going to see a heavy dose of that last night and ... nada.

I missed the ADO shout down of Mayo. Dude definitely deserved it. Nice story and all but I have seen the pics of him in Jayhawks jersies as a cute little 8 year old enough at this point.

Yeah the defense on the perimeter was much better. Now they still got their open 3s, and some were avoidable (just fucking ice those corner ball screens, especially off a BLOB set). But overall, I thought we defended really well, especially despite not being able to control the defensive glass, and KU getting hot from 3 early.

[azcat49]

Probably was said but I can’t find it, how was the AZ crowd? Any numbers as guesstimates?

[Winger]

Probably was said but I can’t find it, how was the AZ crowd? Any numbers as guesstimates?

Not nearly as good as the Kansas or Iowa State crowds.

[Fishclamps]

Probably was said but I can’t find it, how was the AZ crowd? Any numbers as guesstimates?

I could hear UofA chants on tv, so pretty decent probably

[Merkin]

Probably was said but I can’t find it, how was the AZ crowd? Any numbers as guesstimates?

I could hear UofA chants on tv, so pretty decent probably

Same, heard them several times. Especially end of game when the KU fans were streaming out with a minute left, which I thought they didn't do.

[dmjcat]

Probably was said but I can’t find it, how was the AZ crowd? Any numbers as guesstimates?

I could hear UofA chants on tv, so pretty decent probably

There were few UA fans in attedance yesterday............but we were very noisy.

I would guess that we had 150-200 in the corner of the lower bowl.

The TTech Baylor game before ours had maybe 1/3rd of the lower bowl full before the Kansas fans showed up.

So much for the Great Big12 fans.