Before he takes the stage for his first official game as Arizona’s new head coach, Tommy Lloyd has been enlisting a little help to get the Wildcats ready.
First, the former Gonzaga assistant’s old rivals from the West Coast Conference, Saint Mary’s, offered UA players a few lessons during an Oct. 23 closed scrimmage in the Phoenix area.
And in an exhibition game Monday at McKale Center, Division II Eastern New Mexico will give the Wildcats their first taste of what it feels like to play against someone else before fans.
“We’re in a great sweet spot for learning,” Lloyd said. “It was a gift to play against Saint Mary’s. We were able to tilt practices (after the scrimmage) towards the areas we think we need to tighten up and I think maybe you have a little bit more of an engaged player and team.”
Lloyd chuckled when describing how that works.
“It’s funny — if you tell somebody to block out every time, `Block out, block out, block out’ — and then they go and play a game? Well, a lot of them still aren’t going to block out anyway. So then now you have something real to teach from that maybe is a little bit more impactful for them.”
Preseason opponents are typically only lightly scouted, but Lloyd has a few things about the Gaels burned into his head after facing Saint Mary’s 52 times during his 20 years as a Gonzaga assistant.
So he shared some of that … and it still didn’t always make a difference.
“I kind of told them like, `Hey, when you play against a team like Saint Mary’s, here’s some of the things’ ” to look for, Lloyd said. “Some of the guys took some of the things to heart. The message was lost on some of the guys and they got exposed. Which is a good thing, because it literally lets you know where you’re at.”
Details about the scrimmage have not been publicly released, except for a highlight video UA posted to social media, but Lloyd said both teams treated it like a normal game, even with scheduled media timeouts. That allowed Lloyd to begin testing and tweaking his playing rotation, which now includes a full set of heathy scholarship players.
Guard Pelle Larsson returned to live practice drills last week after undergoing surgery in August to repair a broken foot. Lloyd said late last week the plan was not to play Larsson on Monday, though he is on track to play in Arizona’s Nov. 9 regular-season opener against NAU.
“I haven’t wanted to count on anything and I wanted to focus on the guys on the court,” Lloyd said. “But we’ve also made sure we’ve assimilated him in enough stuff that he’s going to be able to pick things up quickly” when he returns.
With Larsson in the mix, Lloyd said, the Wildcats have eight guys with an argument to join his starting lineup.
The four starters remaining from the Wildcats’ season finale at Oregon last March appear likely to start again — guard Kerr Kriisa, forward Bennedict Mathurin, forward Azuolas Tubelis and center Christian Koloko — while Larsson could take the shooting guard role when he’s ready. (Kriisa started off the ball late last season but is expected to replace James Akinjo at point guard this season).
In addition, Georgia transfer Justin Kier is a veteran who can play both guard spots, athletic sophomore wing Dalen Terry has focused on improving his shooting mechanics and super senior combo forward Kim Aiken was the Big Sky’s defensive player of the year last season.
Together, those eight will give Lloyd a lot to think about.
“For me, way more important than starters is how you’re going to rotate” players in and out of the game, Lloyd said. “Sometimes, you might want to start a guy but maybe that guy picks up fouls easy, so it’s easier to bring him off the bench three or four minutes into the game.
“I know the media and crowd wants a hard five (starters) but it’s just not always like that and I don’t want it to be like that because who you start with might not be your finishing lineup. Your finishing lineup might be your best defensive lineup. Or you might need to score points. There’s so many little things that play into it.”
Lloyd says he doesn’t have a set goal to cement his lineup or rotation next Monday, in December or anytime else.
There’s just too many variables, now and maybe all season.
“I think we all have these ideals, and then stuff happens,” Lloyd said. “You have to be somewhat adaptable. An injury happens or a guy hits a slump, is playing poorly or loses confidence. Or a bad matchup versus certain team. Or there’s foul trouble.
“These types of things happen over the course of year. So that’s why I try not to get too rigid. Because at the end of the day, I think most of our guys are going to get a chance to play and hopefully earlier in the game rather than later. They’ve all worked really hard. They’ve all competed on a daily basis for months now, so you want to reward them a little bit and see how they look under the lights.”
