With the expected return of sophomore guard Pelle Larsson for Arizona’s season opener Tuesday, coach Tommy Lloyd has eight guys with arguments for making his starting lineup.
Three of them appear qualified to be the starting shooting guard, too: Larsson, super senior Justin Kier and sophomore Dalen Terry, who started there in the UA’s exhibition win over Eastern New Mexico.
You could say that’s a good problem to have. Except ...
“I wouldn’t even put ‘problem’ in that sentence,” Lloyd said. “I think it’s a great thing.”
In Arizona’s 96-50 exhibition win over the Division II Greyhounds last Monday, Lloyd started Terry and the four returnees who started the last game of Arizona’s 2020-21 season: Sophomore guard Kerr Kriisa, sophomore wing Bennedict Mathurin, forward Azuolas Tubelis and center Christian Koloko. Kriisa started at shooting guard late last season but is playing point guard full-time now with the transfer of James Akinjo to Baylor.
There’s also some intrigue up front with super senior forward Kim Aiken. The transfer from Eastern Washington was not only the Big Sky Conference’s defensive player of the year last season but also, at 6-7, has the size and skills to play several frontcourt roles, making him an option at power forward in smaller lineups.
That’s eight guys. Five spots. And plenty of versatility.
“It’s the type of thing you want when you have a good team,” Lloyd said. “I mean, you have to have six, seven, eight starters. That’s how you get good.”
By starting Terry at one of the wing spots last Monday, Lloyd rolled out an exceptionally long and athletic pair of wing players that also included Mathurin, who is now being placed into the first round of 2022 NBA mock drafts.
With Kier, the Wildcats have a veteran 23-year-old who can play either guard spot, a skill set that could make him particularly valuable as as sixth man. And with Larsson, Arizona has another returning starter — from Utah’s 2020-21 lineup.
Larsson started at point guard as a freshman late last season at Utah, but is expected to play both guard spots this season. Lloyd said in August that Larsson is a creative decision-maker who is likely to be in the middle of the action at all times, and Lloyd has since spoken of his potential impact on multiple occasions even without being prompted.
“Pelle is a really good player, and he fills a lot of gaps,” Lloyd said. “He gives us a lot of lineup versatility.”
In what might have been a cumulative issue from his Utah days — Larsson said he experienced foot pain at Utah last season — Larsson was found to have broken his foot in August while training with the Swedish national team.
However, Larsson has returned to work out in some form for most of the fall semester, and rejoined the Wildcats for full drills the week during the final week of October. Lloyd said after the Nov. 1 exhibition that it was still “trending toward” Larsson being able to play against NAU.
Which means Lloyd will have plenty of options right away in the regular season, including the possibility of playing Larsson with Terry and Mathurin in the starting lineup.
“As (Larsson) gets going and starts playing more, I think we’ll kind of experiment with some different lineups and smaller lineups with four guards out there,” Lloyd said. “I think we can be really effective at that. I look forward to growing some packages to give us some lineup versatility.”
Lloyd hinted as such by playing Tubelis briefly at center against Eastern New Mexico, with Aiken playing power forward. Tubelis also played both post roles last season but Lloyd’s system is expected to go with a four-out style more often.
“Azuolas is a five-man, a modern day basketball five who could play some four,” Lloyd said. “He’s a good player. I think one of the biggest areas of growth for him this offseason was his perimeter defense and defense overall but especially on the perimeter. Because it’s hard to play with him at the four if you can’t switch or he has trouble guarding a skilled four.
“I think he’s really, really grown there. He had a couple times (against Eastern New Mexico) where he got down in a stance, or even off the ball, and he was in the right position. So I was really happy with that.”
After his first eight players, Lloyd has another three players who appear capable of helping in spots: sophomore center Oumar Ballo, who has 260 pounds on his 7-foot frame for more physical interior matchups; plus 6-foot-6 freshman wings Adama Bal and Shane Nowell.
Bal, a 17-year-old from Paris who was initially viewed as a longer-term project, has shown enough promise and court intelligence that Lloyd said he will not redshirt this season.
“That’s never been a plan of mine,” Lloyd said. “Maybe there are certain years you could redshirt him, but I don’t know if we have enough depth to redshirt him and I think he’s a good player.
“He’s one of the quickest learners I’ve ever seen for a young kid, which is one of the greatest skills you can have when you’re developing player. I’m really excited to see where he goes over the course of the season and I’m really excited to see what he looks like a year from now.”
The younger brother of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Nowell, who was the Pac-12’s Player of the Year at Washington in 2018-19, Shane Nowell also possesses length and long term potential.
Lloyd said both freshmen could end up helping the Wildcats a little now in certain situations — and maybe a lot more in the future.
“I want to reward those guys and give them some opportunities here and there,” Lloyd said. “I’ve talked to them and I think they know that there’s a long-term plan for both of them in this program.
“But at the end of the day, you’re one unfortunate play away from your depth shrinking, and those guys need to be available. They need to be ready and they need to prepare as such.”
