Greg Hansen: Tommy Lloyd's fast, free-flowing Wildcats are Gonzaga 2.0, and that's a very good thing

Not enough time has passed to create a definitive database on Tommy Lloyd’s head coaching system, but there are growing indications it is somewhere between 40 Minutes of Hell (for opposing defenses) and football’s Air Coryell.

More to the point, it’s Gonzaga 2.0, and we shouldn’t be surprised.

Through Thursday’s games, Gonzaga led the NCAA in scoring with 89.3 points per game. Arizona was second with 88.9.

Arizona was No. 1 in assists with 21.8 per game; Gonzaga was ninth with 18.2.

What triggers points and assists? Defensive rebounding. Through Thursday, Gonzaga was No. 1 at 31.5 per game; Arizona was No. 2 at 31.

After Arizona’s 76-55 victory over Colorado on Thursday, Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle told reporters “we got our tails kicked on the backboards; we got manhandled in the paint.” Lloyd’s interpretation: “Defense triggers offense.”

Buffaloes center Evan Battey said: “They had all five players touch the ball before shooting. We can learn from that.”

After 14 games, it is becoming clear that while at Gonzaga, Lloyd was the equivalent of today’s highly-respected and well-compensated college football offensive coordinators. There is no such title or recognition for college basketball assistant coaches, but if you compare the two sports, Lloyd’s effectiveness at Gonzaga would be similar to a young Lincoln Riley calling plays on the Oklahoma staff or a young Ryan Day as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.

Lloyd is forever modest. At a Q&A press session earlier this week, he referred to himself as “sitting in my little old silo.” That’s a clever description for someone who grew up in rural Western Washington, far from the big city lights.

The light now shines on Lloyd and his 13-1 Wildcats.

After beating Colorado, Lloyd again avoided taking any credit. “These games are great teachers,” he said. “A lot of times they’re better teachers than what we do in practice. You can harp and say something in practice, but sometimes it’s maybe a little tougher for it to sink in. But you get in a game, you get footage, you get film, and you can show guys and sit down and really learn from it. This team has been really good all year at learning from film.”

He’s not just rolling the ball onto the court and letting the talent of a Bennedict Mathurin dictate terms.

Nor is Lloyd over-coaching, as so many in his profession do. I was watching Thursday’s Stanford-Washington State game and WSU coach Kyle Smith, who never sits down and stops shouting at his players to do this and don’t do that. Kyle Smith exhibits the anti-Tommy Lloyd in-game coaching behavior.

If your players don’t know what to do before the game, how are they going to learn with thousands of fans making noise, with an opponent in their face?

011522-tuc-spt-hansencol-p2 — Arizona's Dalen Terry celebrates teammate guard Pelle Larsson's scoring and being fouled during Thursday's second half.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Lute Olson became a Hall of Fame coach for being one of the most accomplished practice coaches in history. He expected his players to know every variable of his offenses and defenses, and not to look to him, shouting in-game instructions.

The most telling compliment I’ve heard about Lloyd came from Olson’s No. 1 assistant, Jim Rosborough, a frequent visitor at Arizona practice sessions who Lloyd has wisely embraced and contacts for counsel.

“This is the best passing team I’ve seen since Ralph Miller’s 1970 club at Iowa,” said Rosborough.

He would know. Rosborough, a former Hawkeye basketball player, was a front-row witness to Iowa’s historic undefeated Big Ten season of 1969-70. The Hawkeyes are one of just four undefeated Big Ten teams from 1910-75.

According to the Kenpom.com analytics, Lloyd’s club is No, 1 in college basketball in assists per made basket at 67.1%. Only one of Sean Miller’s 12 Arizona teams ever finished in the top 30.

Assists aren’t a sexy statistic. But they are among the most defining for a team’s success. Until now, the No. 1 assists team in Arizona history was coach Fred Enke’s 1950-51 squad. Those Wildcats averaged 20.6 assists per game.

Many will disregard a team of 71 years ago, but that would be to miss the point. Enke’s ’50-51 Wildcats were the best basketball team at Arizona in the school’s first 75 years of existence. They finished 24-5, became the first UA team to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, upset No. 1 CCNY and won the Border Conference at 15-1.

That Arizona team was ranked No. 12 in the final AP poll and had the school’s first-ever true All-American, Tucsonan Roger Johnson, who was a third-team selection. That team won by passing the ball with more effectiveness than any team in school history until now.

What worked in 1951 works in 2022.

Except for Lloyd’s first Arizona team and Enke’s 1950-51 team, no Wildcat club has averaged 20 assists per game — not even Olson’s No. 1-ranked teams of 1987-88 (17.3) and 1997-98 (19.3).

In Gonzaga’s last two games, the Bulldogs had 28 assists against BYU and 26 against Pepperdine. In Arizona’s last two games, the Wildcats had 28 assists against Washington and 20 against Colorado.

That’s not just a coincidence. What Lloyd left at Gonzaga he has re-created at Arizona.