Three minutes into his first media day as Arizona’s head coach, Tommy Lloyd defined the exact goal of the Wildcats' new uptempo offense in terms of possessions and points scored.
It’s not complicated.
“More than the other team,” Lloyd said, smiling. “I mean, that’s Step 1."
With possibly the same degree of change that he’s promising to bring the Arizona offense in his first season, Lloyd brought in an easygoing but serious vibe to his first preseason media appearance at McKale Center.
He used that style to address the Wildcats’ 100% vaccination rate, Pelle Larsson’s broken foot, Kerr Kriisa’s promise as Arizona’s full-time point guard and marketing, among other things.
Here’s how it went:
• Lloyd elaborated on his offensive philosophy a bit, saying players will be given more freedom but also given a high responsibility.
“If you're going to build a team that can sustain the ups and downs of recruiting from season to season, you have to be able to win a lot of different ways,” Lloyd said. “And I know from experience, even in the in the NCAA Tournament, not every game is going to be 97-94.
“The reason I like to play fast is that there's a lot of advantages to it. I think you get a lot of easy scoring opportunities, and you're not playing fast to the point where you're playing out of control or turning the ball over. You're playing fast to create easy opportunities. I know it might be appealing to watch but that's not the reason. The reason is because I think it's the best way to win the most basketball games.”
• Although Kriisa played in only eight games last season because of an NCAA clearinghouse issue — and most of the time played shooting guard with James Akinjo on the ball — Lloyd said Kriisa is an answer at point guard this season as he was growing up in Estonia.
"I mean, Kerr is a point guard, and whoever created the narrative that he's not a point guard ... maybe he's not a point guard for certain people's flavors, but for me I love it," Lloyd said. "He's able to play fast, the ball gets in and out of his hands quickly, and on top of that he's a great shooter.
"On top of that, I feel really good that we have some other guys that are good ball handlers and decision makers. Kerr might be the primary point, then after that it might be more of a little bit of a shared responsibility."
UA coach Tommy Lloyd, left, works with forward Jordan Mains during Wednesdary's practice.
• Larsson said he had issues with his foot at Utah last season and then it broke during training camp with the Swedish national team last month. He had surgery and has begun shooting but Lloyd declined to say exactly when he’ll return.
“I'm not a doctor, but I did just stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night,” Lloyd cracked. “Actually, I didn’t. But Pelle, he’s fine. He had some sort of fracture in his foot and they did a procedure to it and we're expecting Pelle to be back for the majority of the season. I don't know what that means -- opening day or a couple games into the season — but he's definitely a big part of my plans for sure.”
Larsson said he’s aiming to play in the Wildcats’ Nov. 9 opener against NAU but said that "I'm gonna take as much time as I need, obviously, to be safe, because I don't want any trouble later in the season."
• Lloyd answered a question about his team’s vaccination numbers before it was finished.
“One hundred,” he said, then confirmed that the percentage applies to both his players and staffers.
• Lloyd said he believes Arizona’s infractions case is "moving along" within the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, and said all he can do is be honest about it while talking to recruits.
“It’s moving, but I can’t tell you exactly where it’s at,” Lloyd said. “I’m not trying to sit in on daily meetings because my job is to coach the current guys we’ve got now and of course we’re always recruiting. I don’t sit there and worry about what’s hanging over our heads.
"Obviously it’s the path that was chosen. There’s really nothing you can do. There’s no appeal or anything. My deal is let’s just keep making the best decisions we can on a day-to-day basis.”
• Lloyd says he spends a lot of time discussing players and philosophies with strength coach Chris Rounds, one of the staffers Lloyd retained from Sean Miller’s staff.
“I mean, you guys probably can tell I've been working out with him,” said Lloyd, drawing chuckles. “I mean, actually, we do. I work out with him because it's a great time for him and I to talk.
"I think your strength coach and your trainer are always really important because they're around your guys a lot and ... when (players) get on the training room table to get their ankles taped or go in their weight room at eight in the morning, they see and hear different things that I do.”
• Thanks to a lag in Nike’s customization process, the Wildcats will wear similar uniforms this season but more traditional uniforms in 2022-23 — a process that was already in place before the coaching change but moved along with Lloyd’s influence.
“I'm not a shoe guy. I'm not a uniform guy. So let's just make that clear,” Lloyd said. “You guys probably see that I wear the same gray shoes every day. But yeah, we're gonna probably do one more year with what they've been wearing, and then next year I think you're gonna see some significant changes to the uniform.”
• Already having jettisoned the Wildcats’ previous "A Players Program" recruiting slogan, Lloyd said he will also not award gold practice jerseys for the best overall player every week, as Miller's staff did.
“I wanted to kind of just take my time and I wanted everything we did to be authentic,” Lloyd said. “I wanted to be genuine. I wanted it to happen organically a little bit. To me, that was more important than coming down here and trying to spin a media campaign. My focus is to make sure when we're on that court, we look and feel like a good Arizona basketball team.
“I can't promise you what that's gonna look like every day, but that's where I'm spending my time and energy right now. The marketing stuff will come. We've got a group of people working together on some ideas down the road, but we're not trying to move mountains on Twitter. It is important to engage social engagement. I get it. But we're trying to win basketball games, and so that's where my focus is at.”
