With his team preparing for an Oct. 23 private scrimmage against Saint Mary's, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he's purposely cranked up things in practice.
"I kind of created a little bit of adversity for the guys and I wanted to see how we reacted when things got a little bit tougher and I was a little bit more critical," Lloyd said after practice Friday. "That's part of the learning process. I want us to struggle before we compete against somebody else because you don't want your first struggles to come under the lights.
"It's not necessarily yelling at them but just putting them in situations where they're making mistakes, and then seeing how they respond from those mistakes. I mean, the game is a game of mistakes and making mistakes is not necessarily is a bad thing if you learn from them. You don't want to make a bunch of mistakes in a row. You want to learn `OK, here's where mistakes are coming. How do we avoid these situations?' "
During a workout that lasted just over two hours, in which media and other local coaches were invited to watch, the Wildcats went through a number of fast-paced drills that emphasized transition offense, rebounding, feeding the post and even diving on the floor.
"You get tired," junior center Christian Koloko said. "But we get breaks, water breaks. You get time to recover and then go back."
The practice was actually more intense than normal because the Wildcats had just finished two straight days off thanks in part to Wednesday's Pac-12 media day. Instead of running a first, second and third team for some drills, the Wildcats sometimes went with two teams of eight, with three guys standing on the baseline and then rotating in.
"You can't be going as hard as we're practicing" without rest, Lloyd said. "Guys need a few reps to catch their breaths."
The pace has been an adjustment even for super senior guard Justin Kier, who was part of the nation's 13th fastest tempo last season at Georgia. Kier said the Wildcats run just as fast but with more structure.
"Last year I learned to play really fast and aggressive, but this year I'm learning to play fast and in control," Kier said.
Overall, Lloyd said, his base offense has been installed but there's still plenty of wrinkles to learn ahead.
"When you play this way, there multiple options, so much movement," Lloyd said. "You're always fine tuning. I think we're bouncing back and forth between teaching the whole and breaking down some parts. You can kind of see us doing that and practice a little bit. But I think these guys are getting close to being ready to go out and compete against somebody else."
