For Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, a four-day Christmas break is about visiting family, relaxing and what he calls a list of βthings to chew on.β
Not a Santa list. A basketball to-do list.
Thereβs really no way to get away from it.
βI donβt know if your mind ever turns off when you do this for a living,β Lloyd said Thursday, after the Wildcats wrapped up pre-Christmas play at 12-1 with a 93-68 win over Morgan State. βBut Iβm definitely gonna kick back a little bit.β
Lloyd does have plenty of reasons to relax and feel good. For the second season in a row, his Wildcats exceeded expectations early and lost just one game before Christmas, climbing up to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, thanks in large part to what KenPom.com rates as the most efficient offense in the country.
βFrom this point of the season, I think itβs an A,β Lloyd said. βItβs pretty hard to argue that. I mean, probably not 100%. Maybe not an A+, but itβs an A.β
So, mostly good, and some bad things, to think about. While Lloyd didnβt reveal whatβs on his list, this much is clear after 13 games:
Their offense is second to none...
Not only are the Wildcats scoring more points per 100 possessions (120.1) than anyone in Division I, but theyβre also leading the nation in 2-point field-goal percentage (62.5) and overall βeffectiveβ field goal percentage (with a 50% bonus for 3-point shots) at 60%. In raw stats, Arizona scores the second-most points (90.2) per game, behind only James Madison (93.2).
All this is possible in large part because of how Arizonaβs high-low post duo of power forward Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo has been behaving. Both nearly averaged double-doubles during the Wildcatsβ 11 nonconference games β Tubelis with 19.6 points and 8.6 rebounds, Ballo with 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds β while shooting with consistent efficiency.
βTheyβre a force in there,β Lloyd said. βYou just donβt see that type of one-two punch in there.β
Ballo, who has the second-best field goal percentage (74.2) nationally, picked up Maui Invitational MVP honors after averaging 21 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in UAβs wins over Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton.
βOumar gets an A+,β Lloyd said. βHeβs been incredibly consistent. On the offensive end, heβs delivering. Heβs never gonna be Rick Barry (Ballo is only 57% at the free-throw line) but heβs making them when he has to, and itβs just the foul pressure heβs putting on the other team.β
While Balloβs performance so far has been a drastic jump from a year ago, when he played behind the now-departed Christian Koloko, Tubelis is a returning all-Pac-12 player β¦ who is now making a push to be the conference MVP.
Tubelis not only leads the Wildcats in scoring (20.1 points per game) and is second in rebounding (8.7 rebounds per game) to Ballo but also, at 6-foot-10 forward leads Arizona in steals with 14. Many of those turn into dunks on the other end, most vividly the one he swiped away from Morgan Stateβs Isaiah Burke on Thursday.
After grabbing the ball from the 6-1 Burke on the perimeter, Tubelis dribbled down the left sideline and, when Burke tried to slap the ball away, picked it back up and kept dribbling downcourt for a dunk.
βI donβt know if he can recreate that again β you know, Iβve seen him try some of the things that havenβt worked,β Lloyd said, chuckling. βBut βZu is really coming on. Heβs so consistent, he scores in different ways, (making) a couple of 3s today, heβs handsy on defense, he gets out in transition, heβs hitting the offensive glass.
βI love where heβs at, and I think heβs going to continue to improve.β
β¦ but their defense struggles at times.
Arizonaβs defensive efficiency ranks just 67th, with the Wildcats allowing opponents to score an average of 96.3 points per 100 possessions. Despite their inside dominance offensively, Arizona also allows opponents to hit 45.4% of their two-point shots.
Moreover, UAβs opponents also are making 33.5% of their 3-point shots, a mediocre defensive stat that nonetheless is also subject to a teamβs defensive philosophy. Without Koloko around to clean up mistakes with his intimidating rim protection, the Wildcats have had to adjust how aggressively they want to guard the perimeter.
Other strategies such as ball-screen coverage decisions can affect a defenseβs perimeter performance, too.
βItβs a really interesting thing,β Lloyd said. βThereβs different schools of thought and I think you can afford to give up a few more 3s if youβre doing a great job protecting the paint and limiting free throws. So thereβs a give and take to all this stuff.
βTraditionally, Iβve been a guy that would be way more comfortable taking away 3s, and then relying on length and athleticism for rim protection and size in the paint. Those are the little things we got to figure out and thatβs my job to put this team on the right path.β
Some of the Wildcatsβ defensive issues might also be simply about effort.
Just 1-8 against Division I teams after Thursday, Morgan State went out and hit 12 of 23 3-pointers on Thursday. To guard Courtney Ramey, one of Arizonaβs best perimeter defenders, that number was a sign the Wildcats needed to take the Bears more seriously.
βWhen a team is coming into our building and they see us ranked top five in the country, they want to knock us off,β Ramey said. βSo theyβre gonna play their best games and weβve got to understand that.β
Overall, Lloyd said the Wildcats have a βlot of room for growthβ defensively, especially after they figure out exactly how they want to allocate their resources on that end of the floor.
βPhilosophically, we kind of went one direction and then another direction and maybe we need to get in between those areas a little bit,β Lloyd said. βIβve just got to get comfortable pinpointing game-by-game what weβve got to do to be better.
βI donβt look at the analytic numbers. I know what our efficiency ratings are, but I donβt look at how they compare to other people because Iβm just focused on what weβve got to do to win the next game. But I know defensively overall, we can continue to grow and get better.β
All of their starters can go off...
While Tubelis and Ballo are the Wildcatsβ most consistent performers, all of their five starters average in double-figure scoring, and all have taken turns leading Arizona.
In just his second game of the season after the NCAA held him out for three early games, Ramey had 12 points against San Diego State while hitting 5 of 5 3-pointers.
At small forward, while also defending bigger forwards, junior Pelle Larsson had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds in UAβs season opener against Nicholls, while posting 16 points against Indiana and going 9 for 9 from the free-throw line against Tennessee.
βHeβs getting there,β Lloyd said of Larsson. βI still think there are some possessions that weβre going watch and to be able to pinpoint areas that he can grow on.
βThe one thing I know about Pelle is he might be a little bit of a slow starter, but heβs a strong finisher.β
And, while averaging the eighth most assists per game (6.1) in the country, junior point guard Kerr Kriisa hit six 3-pointers against Utah Tech and Montana State. He posted his second career triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists) against Southern.
Kriisa has had some of his biggest assist games when his shot has been off, too: The Estonian junior guard had nine assists to only one turnover in UAβs win over Creighton in the Maui Invitational final when he was 1 for 4 from 3-point, and had nine assists to two turnovers on Nov. 30 in UAβs loss at Utah, when he missed all five 3-pointers he took.
β¦ but their bench has been of minimal support
Except for wing Cedric Henderson, who started the first three games of the season when Ramey sat out an NCAA penalty for playing in a predraft camp last spring, the Wildcats havenβt received much from their reserve players in bigger games.
UA ranks No. 222 nationally in bench points per game with 19.1. That raw stat that doesnβt reflect the Wildcatsβ uptempo pace ... and does include games when the bench players loaded up in blowout wins over Nicholls (45 bench points), Southern (28) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (51).
In Arizonaβs bigger games, the story has been much different. The Wildcatsβ reserves, including Henderson, averaged just 12.3 points over three Maui Invitational games. They scored just seven at Utah and zero against Tennessee.
Lloyd said after UAβs win over Tennessee game that it was βjust one of those days,β and that he didnβt have a set formula for the reserves to produce. But he has also expressed concern that the Wildcats need more from their bench, even though he only played the five subs below Henderson in the rotation a total of 28 minutes three days later in UAβs 85-64 win over Montana State.
βI want to play that bench more and itβs my fault,β Lloyd said. βWhen you put your bench in, you donβt want to be at a disadvantage. And I felt at times tonight like, βMan, if I sub too much, we might be a little bit of a disadvantage.β Thatβs a credit to Montana State.β
Two days later, against Morgan State, Lloyd threw caution to the wind. He played reserves heavily throughout the second half even though the Wildcatsβ lead barely stayed in double digits until the final minutes.
βAt some point, youβve got to go for it,β Lloyd said. βTo see the young guys come along (is good) because weβre gonna need them. Iβve been continuing to say that and I think theyβre getting a little bit closer.β
Against Morgan State, Lloyd gave double-digit minutes to sophomore wing Adama Bal, freshman big man Henri Veesaar and freshman guard Kylan Boswell, who also played 15 minutes against Montana State.
They might be tougherβ¦
After earning a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed last season, only to struggle in the NCAA Tournament against physical teams from TCU (in a second-round overtime win) and Houston (in a Sweet 16 loss), Lloyd and his players made a point of working on their physicality.
Tubelis appeared especially motivated after scored a total of seven points on 2-for-14 shooting over the TCU and Houston games. Lloyd said he would address the issue both in his recruiting and on the coaching floor.
Then the Wildcats went out and, among other examples, took 27 trips to the free-throw line against a hard-nosed team from Tennessee on Dec. 17, their biggest win of the season so far.
βTo get a gritty βWβ against a team like Tennessee, it was a great night,β Lloyd said afterward, adding later: βYouβve got to fight force with force. Itβs really the only way to do it. I thought we put a lot of foul pressure on them.β
Overall through its 11 nonconference games and two early Pac-12 games, Arizonaβs ratio of free throws taken to field goals taken β one way to measure how physical and aggressive a team can be β has risen No. 17 in the country at 41.9%. They were 54th last season at 34.9%.
β¦ but they sometimes take it too far.
Arizona also sends its opponents to the line enough that those teams also take a relatively high ratio of free throws to field goals (25.4%, the 68th most nationally). The Wildcats commit 17.8 fouls a game, up from 16.7 last season, and already have five technical fouls β including two by Kriisa, one against Tennessee and another against Montana State.
Kriisa said he picked up the technical against the Bobcats for complaining βin the heat of the momentβ about Larsson not getting a call, and apologetically described Lloydβs firm message to the Wildcats afterward.
He said βNo more Ts. None at all,β Kriisa said. βNone at all. That was on me and I gotta do a better job on that.β
After the Montana State game, Lloyd wasnβt terribly wild about the way Larsson was handling things, either. While Larsson has been one of the Wildcatsβ toughest players, sometimes Lloyd found he stepped over a line.
βPelle is a heck of a ballplayer. β¦ heβs just got to tone down the drama,β Lloyd said. βIβm not saying heβs trying to accentuate every foul. Itβs just, βscore the basket.β I mean, he had a bank he hit and he got fouled and it looked like somebody shot him. Heβs too good of a player to do that.
βSo I just told him: βYouβve got a responsibility. When you get on that cut or that fast break, we need a basket. We donβt need a highlight. We need a basket.β Too often, thereβs just a little extra.β
Lloyd said Henderson pulled a similar stunt on a one-on-three fast break that ultimately produced nothing.
βWe donβt get either foul call. We get nothing,β Lloyd said. βWe need results and thatβs my message to them.
βI love those guys. I tell them I love them all the time. But I want them to be great basketball players and itβs my job to tell them the hard things. Iβm probably not always right but generally I think I have their best interests in mind.β