Because Arizona averaged 94 points in three blowout wins to start the season, itβs already pretty clear that Tommy Lloydβs uptempo, ball-screen-heavy offense is as advertised.
Maybe more so.
So by the time Lloyd ventured up to the interview podium Tuesday night, after Arizona smashed North Dakota State 97-45 to complete its first back-to-back 50-point wins in over a century, another topic dominated the conversation instead.
Defense. The suffocating kind that kept all three of UAβs opponents under 30% shooting.
βI love it,β Lloyd said of the questions. βI mean, you guys focus on the offense. I donβt. We practice more defense than offense, I promise you that.β
Itβs true that Arizonaβs first three opponents were all low-major teams, including a presumably exhausted bunch from NDSU that had just lost at UNLV by two points on Monday, and Lloyd tried to keep the hype in check.
βListen,β he said. βItβs been three home games. Itβs early in the year. I donβt think we need to anoint these guys the β90s Detroit Pistons.β
At the same time, Lloyd said the Wildcats were βon the way to being a great defensive team,β and the trend is difficult to ignore.
The Wildcats’ first three opponents averaged only 49 points per game while shooting 27.6% overall and 24.2% from 3-point range. In Kenpom.com speak, that’s the worst effective field goal percentage in the country — just 31.6% overall shooting from UA opponents even when you give 50% more credit for 3-pointer.
Here are five reasons behind why the Wildcats have been so dominant defensively:
1. Millerβs legacy
All five of Arizonaβs starters were recruited by former UA coach Sean Miller, and all five started multiple games last season. And, as Miller made it known throughout his 12-year stint with the Wildcats, you donβt get on the floor if you canβt play defense.
βWe have good personnel and itβs no secret Sean coached defense hard,β Lloyd said. βSo I think there has been some carryover there with the effort and weβve kind of adapted to the personnel a little bit. But theyβve been well-schooled, which is a good place to start.β
2. Lloydβs offseason pickups
While the starters all return from Millerβs final team in 2020-21, the other four players averaging in double-digit minutes all are bringing unique defensive skills to the group.
Combo forward Kim Aiken was the Big Skyβs Defensive Player of the Year last season at Eastern Washington. Guard Justin Kier is a 23-year-old veteran who started regularly for three seasons at George Mason and one at Georgia. Guard Pelle Larsson was a part-time starter for tough-minded Larry Krystkowiak last season at Utah.
And sophomore Oumar Ballo is a 7-foot, 260-pound center who is, well, 7-foot and 260 pounds.
βYou get a guy like Justin Kier and Kim Aiken... youβre adding pieces,β Lloyd said. βPelleβs a heck of a defender and Oumar, now heβs in shape, heβs coming over and protecting the rim.
βYou add those guys off the bench and there isnβt a big fall off defensively.β
3. Extending on the perimeter
One different wrinkle in Lloydβs offense versus Millerβs is that the Wildcats are extending slightly more on the perimeter defensively. It doesnβt hurt that they start games with long, athletic wings in Benn Mathurin and Dalen Terry.
Terry set the tone just 17 seconds into Tuesdayβs game, stealing the ball from the Bison and converting it for a layup.
Before long, Arizona was up 11-0, and the Wildcats never really let up. They led 44-23 at halftime despite a three-quarter-court buzzer shot from NDSUβs Willie Guy, then kept pummeling the Bison in the second half.
βI feel like we have pretty good athletes,β Mathurin said. βWe have good big men and wings and guards. We have great talents on the team. Itβs just about adjusting and communicating.β
4. Rim protection
Even if they beat one of those UA perimeter defenders, the Wildcatsβ opponents have found they venture to the basket at their own risk β especially when Christian Koloko is in the middle.
Koloko had five blocks each over the Wildcatsβ first two games and another two on Tuesday. Ballo has blocked four shots, while forward Azuolas Tubelis has two blocks and three steals over three games.
βWe can force them into the paint knowing that Oumar and Christian are probably, in my opinion, the best bigs in the country from what weβve seen,β Mathurin said. βI just feel like we trust each other into sending (opponents) to the paint and knowing that itβs gonna be hard to score on them.β
Together, UA has blocked 18.7% of opponentsβ shots so far, the 18th best shot-blocking percentage in Division I.
And all thatβs just the recorded stats. What doesnβt go in the box score is the number of times an opponent changes a shot or intended play because of their collective presence.
βRim protection is huge and itβs not blocked shots,β Lloyd said. βItβs rim protection β that guard breaks through your first line of defense, and heβs starting to get downhill and you make him shoot over a 7-foot guy. And even our other guys are contesting shots β all those guys are 6-6, 6-8, 6-10 Zu (Tubelis), Pelle.
βI mean, Kerr (Kriisa) is the only small guy we got and heβs scrappy. So weβve got a good defensive makeup.β
5. The stands have energy
Maybe itβs intangible in a box-score sense, but a steal and a dunk may be having a more energizing effect on the Wildcats with 10,000 fans around them.
With COVID-19 concerns keeping fans out of McKale Center last season, the UA bench went out of its way to cheer wildly on big plays but the return of fans has created a much different environment this season.
While all of the Wildcats undoubtedly were told about the McKale Center crowds during their recruitments, Koloko is the only scholarship player who has been around long enough to have actually played in front of them before this season.
βPlaying without fans for my freshman year (last season) was good, but as coming out a sophomore, playing in front of fans is really fun,β Mathurin said. βAfter you make a big play, the whole McKale Center jumps. Itβs pretty fun to have fans back, just cheering for the whole team.β