Tommy Lloyd says Wildcats' defense must get better after leaky start

Because of Arizona’s eye-catching offensive pace, passing and scoring during Tommy Lloyd’s first season as head coach, the Wildcats’ almost equally effective defense was easy to overlook.

This season? Well, so far, let’s just say Lloyd’s offense is still pretty eye-catching.

After eight games, the Wildcats’ defense ranks just No. 60 in overall defensive efficiency, allowing 95.9 points per 100 opponent possessions, compared to a No. 21 ranking (92.6 points) last season.

While that isn’t a surprise considering that the Wildcats lost shot-swatting, shot-changing center Christian Koloko — along with the notable length and athleticism of fellow NBA departees Bennedict Mathurin and Dalen Terry — it is something Lloyd is starting to express concern about.

“Our defense has to get better,” Lloyd said Sunday, after the Wildcats allowed winless Cal to shoot 44.4% in UA’s 81-68 win at McKale Center. “I’ve got to build a better defense for this team.”

With an interior that includes all-Pac-12 returnee Azuolas Tubelis and Maui Invitational MVP Oumar Ballo, the Wildcats are still pretty effective inside defensively. They limit opponents to 44.7% of two-point shots (47th nationally), but that’s down noticeably from the 41.8% rate they held opponents to last season – the second-best two-point defensive field goal percentage in Division I.

Beyond the arc, Arizona opponents have also notably shot better so far this season. UA opponents now make 35.2% of their 3-pointers (the No. 246th defensive 3-point percentage) compared with 32.8% last season.

In addition, although Lloyd’s offense doesn’t aim to gamble excessively on defense, the Wildcats’ defensive turnover percentage has dropped from 17.4 (No. 231) last season to 14.9%, the 19th-lowest rate in Division I.

Those numbers could be even more concerning considering that the Wildcats’ opponents should be tougher from here on out. Arizona will face Indiana and Tennessee this month, while beginning the bulk of Pac-12 play on New Year’s Eve at 8-1 ASU.

Then again, Lloyd indicated, the Wildcats’ defense is still developing. UA’s playing rotation lost the three NBA players plus fifth-year senior Justin Kier after last season and is now incorporating two transfers (Courtney Ramey and Cedric Henderson) and two freshmen (Henri Veesaar and Kylan Boswell).

“We can do some of the things we did last year, and maybe some things we have to do differently,” Lloyd said. “Those are the things you learn over the course of the year that you honestly couldn’t predict going into the season. You have to let it play out right in front of you.

“And then you got to have enough guts to make some tough decisions and change some coverages and some plans. I love that part of coaching. So I look forward to doing that here in the coming weeks.”

Aside from working with freshman who are new to Division I, Lloyd and his staff have also had to mesh in Ramey and Henderson, after each had picked up habits from already playing four seasons of college basketball in different systems.

Henderson said Sunday his biggest adjustment has been in finding that line between staying with the player he is guarding and helping out on another in the manner that Lloyd’s system dictates.

“You swipe at the ball, and you should be able to either make him pick it up or steal it every time and then get back to your man,” Henderson said. “That’s our help defense.”

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Even Ramey, one of the Big 12’s better defenders in recent seasons while playing for Texas, has found himself adjusting to Lloyd’s system. In the Wildcats’ first game on Maui against Cincinnati on Nov. 21, Ramey went under screens and did things that didn’t quite fit into the UA system.

“He had a handful of defensive mistakes that really just stood out to me in the second half,” Lloyd said, after Cincinnati hit 17 of 34 3-pointers in UA’s 101-93 win. “He’s just got to understand he’s playing our system now. He can’t make up his own rules.

“It’s the old Bill Belichick deal a little bit — do your job. If he does his job — which I know he’ll do because he’s high-character, great guy — it’s really going to help him and it’s really going to help our team.”

Hair-raising Henderson

During his first weekly radio show Monday evening — while also discussing basketball, his interest in learning Spanish and how good the UA tennis coaches are at pickleball — Lloyd revealed why Henderson has played with his long hair out since the Maui Invitational.

“He had it braided in Maui, and he told me when the team went snorkeling (on Thanksgiving), he got in the water and then the braids had to go,” Lloyd said. “Maybe he hasn’t taken time to get it rebraided but, you know, it looks like he’s got a really healthy head of hair out there and he’s played really well.”

After Sunday’s game, Henderson was asked about the new look.

“My head was itchy,” Henderson said, chuckling. “That’s the best answer I can give you. I took it out, washed it. I just haven’t got it done yet. I’ll have it done next time, don’t worry. I’ll have it done for Vegas.”

Final Four logo revealed

During an announcement with politicians and organizers early Tuesday morning, the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee revealed the logo for the 2024 Final Four at Glendale.

The logo is outlined by the Arizona state borders, with mountains, a saguaro and a basketball in the middle, dominated by similar orange and black colors used in 2017, when the Final Four was first held in Glendale.

Lute documentary to air

The documentary about former UA coach Lute Olson, which premiered on Sept. 30 at Centennial Hall before the Red-Blue Game, is scheduled to air Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.