By the time Arizona opens full-length practices late this month, Tommy Lloyd’s system will already be partly in place.
Since Lloyd took over as the Wildcats’ new men’s basketball coach in mid-April, he’s been running limited offseason workouts, with players rotating in and out all summer because of other commitments. But since the fall semester began last month, they’ve all been in town and the next stage of transition has begun.
That means Lloyd already has Kerr Kriisa among the point guards pushing a faster pace in a system that can feature four guards or deploy 7-footers Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo when needed. Lloyd also has been installing a man-to-man defense with plenty of variations.
During a recent interview with the Star and Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Lloyd described where things were as full practices approached:
Yes, the Wildcats’ offense will look a lot like Gonzaga’s has, with adjustments to come.
“I was at Gonzaga for 22 years and we had a lot of success and it’s a style of play that I’m very comfortable with. One of the things I’ve always prided myself in is constantly learning, adapting, adjusting and trying to keep up with whatever the cutting edge trends of the game are and in combining those with the foundational pieces of the games that always win, no matter what era.
“I don’t mind playing high-possession basketball and getting in transition because I think you can get really efficient opportunities in transition. I think pace of play is something that’s really important and kind of allows you to kind of dictate terms on how things play out over the course of a 40-minute game. Then once we get to half court, I love ball movement and player movement and players being able to create opportunities for themselves and their teammates based off of concepts, as opposed to running set plays. And hey, I love throwing the ball inside, too.
“So I think you’re gonna see all those things here and we had a really good summer, I think, putting in the foundational pieces. I’ve been really happy with the gains players have made, and certain players have made what I think would be significant jumps. So I like where we’re at before we hit training camp and the kinda putting the next layer of things into the system.”
Their man-to-man will be flexible.
“Foundationally, we will be a man-to-man defensive team that hopefully is able to have multiple different coverages on ball screens, post play, isolations, the type of things where we have Plan Bs and Plan Cs based off matchups and scouting. I think we’ll definitely have some zone we’ll work into the system but a lot of that depends on just how your man defense develops. If your man defense becomes elite, well, you probably don’t run zone. But definitely I’m open minded and getting to build a solid foundation on defense that hopefully can adjust game-to-game and or timeout-to-timeout at times if we have to. That’s something I always like doing for sure.”
They could deploy true two post players — using Azuolas Tubelis with either Koloko or Ballo, for example — or go to a four-out style, with Bennedict Mathurin or a number of other bigger wings serving as power forward.
“I love being able to give different looks and playing with different lineups. Those three guys (Tubelis, Koloko, Ballo) will probably be the only guys that would play five (center) and I don’t see many scenarios where one of them’s not on the floor. But I think they’ll also be able to play together. I like playing two bigs and I think there’s advantages to doing that in segments of the game.
“I definitely think the ‘small ball lineup’ or just playing with one big is gonna be part of our package and maybe a significant part of our package. I think we have a lot of guys that could kind of play that. I think Benn can do that. I think Shane Nowell can do that. I think Pella (Larsson) can do that. Dalen (Terry) could do that, and I think Kim Aiken can do that. I really like the versatility that all these guys bring and I think you put two or three of those guys out on the court together. Who cares who the four man is? They’re all gonna play to their individual strengths.”
First-year coach Tommy Lloyd says Kerr Kriisa will be a natural fit in his offense. “He’ll be great,” Lloyd said. “He might not be the most athletic guy, but I think he can be very comfortable playing at a fast pace. That’s important for me.”
Tubelis played mostly at power forward last season in part because he struggled in some defensive matchups while at center, and Lloyd said he’s emphasized defense with the Lithuanian big man.
“He’s got to get better (defensively) and he’s been working on it. I’m looking forward to him making a huge jump this season. We’ve really challenged him on being more physical and kind of defining some parts of his game whether that’s post play or shooting techniques and defensive effort and energy. We have high expectations and high standards for Azuolas. We’re really gonna push him.”
Mathurin helped lead Canada to a bronze medal in the FIBA U19 World Cup, scoring 30 or more points in two games — and four or less in two others. In Canada’s opener, Mathurin went 1 for 8 from the field against Tubelis and Lithuania, scoring four points.
“Benn has a ton of potential and he’s an awesome kid. … He maybe is a little bit inconsistent. I think for him it’s just he’s got to find ways to utilize his abilities in other areas of the game, whether that’s offensive rebounding for a put back, running for an easy layup, back-cutting for a layup, so he’s not just relying on somebody passing the ball and him shooting a 3. I think this kid has so many ways he can contribute.”
Terry also gives Lloyd flexibility, with the skills, size and athleticism to play virtually anywhere except center. Although USA Basketball cut the sophomore wing from its U19 roster this summer, Lloyd said that could turn into a positive.
“Dalen’s gonna be in the middle of everything. He didn’t make the (USA) team, and he really embraced that and I just said this is a great opportunity for him to grow and make some changes. We really mapped out a plan of things we wanted him to get better at and he’s wholeheartedly wrapped his arm around it and made a huge jump this offseason … he’s really improved his footwork. He’s really improved his decision making. I think he’s a guy that is going to be able to play in pick and rolls and make decisions with his size. He changed his shooting techniques, so he’s done a lot. He’s done a nice overhaul.
While Kriisa didn’t get to showcase himself at the point last season — he was ineligible for all but the final eight games and joined a team with all-Pac-12 guard James Akinjo — Lloyd may have found a natural to run the pace he wants.
“That’s what he’s been his whole life. He’s had to be a point guard who can make 3s, and I think that’s a great thing. Kerr is another guy who we really challenged to grow in certain areas in the offseason and he’s done it. He stayed here for a majority of the summer and really, really worked.
“He’ll be great. He might not be the most athletic guy, but I think he can be very comfortable playing at a fast pace. That’s important for me. He’s comfortable playing fast and we started doing some of our transition offensive stuff (in August) and he looks really good to me doing it. I’m 100% comfortable with him being a point guard for Arizona.”
