After a long offseason, Arizona finally hosted an opposing squad in the McKale Center on Saturday. The Wildcats never trailed in the game, as Jaden Bradley and Motiejus Krivas finished with a 23-point performance and a double-double, respectively. Here’s what Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, Jaden Bradley, and Anthony Dell’Orso had to say postgame following the 81-68 exhibition win over Saint Mary’s.
Tommy Lloyd:
Tommy Lloyd on if he got what he wanted out of the exhibition:
“Oh my, and then some, man. You kind of got to get back into the coaching mode of games and the emotions that come with it, and just trying to help your guys navigate learning on the fly. Obviously with Tobe, he could have played today, and he’s been practicing, but we just felt like the prudent thing to do is to kind of rest, and he’s been a little bit banged up, and it was good, so they made us dig deep and try things you probably wouldn’t have had to try. I’m thankful for how our guys stepped up.
Obviously, massive amount of respect for Saint Mary’s and what they do and how they play, just so steady. And it’s been cool competing against them for so many years, you can kind of see the pieces he has and have a good feel for how he’s going to put them together. And I’m sure at the end of the year, they’re going to be 27 and six, or some crazy record like that. So, it was an honor to compete against them, and I told our guys, you know, ‘if you’re able to lead a team like that for 40 minutes, kind of weather a storm and a few runs, that’s a good place to start.'”
Tommy Lloyd on Tobe Awaka’s availability:
“He’s been a little banged up. And I don’t think I have to do an injury report today, so I’m probably not going to. He’s been banged up, he’s been practicing, he’s fine. If this was a game that was really meaningful and counted in the records, I’m sure he would have been playing.”
Tommy Lloyd on the rotation with a few players getting a little banged up:
“Obviously, it’s not ideal to play Mo (Krivas) 32 minutes, or Koa (Peat), he only ended playing 22. Just the minutes were probably a little heavy. We want to build to that, but it’s what the situation called for. And so I was really proud of our guys, how they responded to kind of that challenge. And that’s the challenges the game presents sometimes. You got to kind of be ready. You got to be ready for maybe some unexpected things. And I thought our guys did a good job of just hanging with it. We’re playing great in stretches, but then making a key run at the right time, kind of get separation when it mattered.”
Tommy Lloyd on freshman Ivan Kharchenkov’s performance:
“Ivan, he played really well. He did a great job. He’s kind of the guy we’ve decided to maybe swing a little bit four-three. (He’ll) probably generally play the three more, but yeah, he had to swing a lot. He played 23 minutes his first night out, made some big plays in the second half. I think we got to get a better feel for is, our good players, they were good prospects, and maybe they didn’t have to do some of the dirty work. I’m looking at some of these rebounding numbers and it’s just not going to cut it. For him to play 23 minutes and not have a rebound, it’s kind of eye opening for me. But, that being said, he did have some incredible effort plays in the second half and some great drives on offense.”
Tommy Lloyd on his expectations for Anthony Dell’Orso:
“Delly is an experienced guy. He’s been in the battles, he’s gotten a lot better. He’s six of 12 from the field today, and so basically, if I do my math right, he’s five for five from two, and one for seven from three. I don’t know how often he’s going to go one for seven from three. For Delly, it’s just that fine line of being aggressive, but maybe not putting yourself in difficult situations and just kind of having an understanding of what that is. And listen, that’s not easy to coach and that’s not easy to play, so we’ve got to kind of help him with some of the gray areas. And listen, he had 13 points today. He ended up getting four steals. Made a few good plays on defense.
I’m happy with Delly, and I trust his shot so much that I know one for seven is – one night’s going to be four for seven.”
Tommy Lloyd on Anthony Dell’Orso’s defensive growth:
“Just with his physicality. His physicality has allowed him to maybe try to be a little bit more effective on the ball. With that being said, I think teams are gonna maybe be aggressive trying to drive him a little bit. So he’s got to answer that bell a little bit. I think he got drove two times in the first half, and I think he gave up a hustle, offensive rebound. Those are areas he can grow, and those are plays he’s expected to make.”
Tommy Lloyd on what he saw from Motiejus Krivas in his first full game back after last season’s injury:
“I like what I saw tonight. I like what I’m seeing in practice. He shot a couple perimeter shots tonight, and I think that’s going to be normal for him. I mean, I don’t think it’s going to be a thing that we’re going to probably live and die on, but he’s really worked hard on this game. So, the guy had 17 rebounds in that game and impacted things around the rim, the way he did was pretty impressive.”
Tommy Lloyd on having players that can get downhill and score:
“We got to get a little more comfortable just getting a little deeper in the offense. And that doesn’t mean we’re shooting bad shots or things. We just got to get comfortable getting more deeper in the offense. Give the defense a chance to make a few more mistakes so we can get guys in the positions we want them to get in, and I think we’ll see that. I think we had a few possessions, we put together a few where we got really deep and didn’t generate anything. That’s that sweet spot, you see it start getting towards single digits on the shot clock. You got to really do meaningful stuff, so that’s an area that we got to grow, but you’re definitely right. There are few guys that are comfortable getting downhill, and we’ll continue to build on that.”
Tommy Lloyd on freshman Brayden Burries’ poise as well as his foul trouble:
“Brayden’s poise doesn’t indicate his year in school. He’s very poised, and he had some foul troubles today, but thank God Randy agreed to the six foul deal. I think it just helps us. I wanted to make sure guys got a lot of reps today. And I didn’t want to be seven guys in and out with normally how I try to manage a game. So I’m sure it impacted both teams with foul trouble. But, you wanted to make sure guys got good run out there today. That’s something we got to learn from, because fouls impact the game and rotations and how you sub. So that’s something we have to be mindful of.”
Tommy Lloyd on Jaden Bradley’s veteran presence and leadership:
“He’s a veteran, and he’s a good player. And Jaden’s played with good players his whole life, so he’s gotten really comfortable blending in and allowing maybe certain guys to be more aggressive on offense. So that’s what you know worked best for the team. Now he’s a senior, he’s put his time in. He’s in a program that trusts him significantly, and he’s got some talented young teammates with them, but they have to learn the ropes a little bit. So I thought the way he controlled that game in the second half was really, really impressive.”
Tommy Lloyd on Arizona’s ability to play against Saint Mary’s slower pace and tempo:
“I told our guys, we shot 53% and turned the ball over seven times. That’s a winning formula. We held them to 39.3% and they turned the ball over 12 times. That’s a winning formula. So I felt like there was obviously some mistakes defensively. A little bit of it was just due to fatigue and maybe some concentration things that I think the tape will be a great learning tool to kind of learn from.”
Tommy Lloyd on Arizona’s free throw struggles:
“I think we’re gonna be a really good free throw shooting team. I really do. You don’t take it for granted. And obviously our guys are practicing free throws, but sometimes that’s how it goes. That’s why you play these games, and that’s why it’s great it was played under the lights. Let’s get guys comfortable making shots.
I think you look at the half, we ended up with a seven-point lead at the half, and I think we were a little bit double digits. There’s that stretch where we’re missing a bunch of free throws. So, I feel good about our efficiency. We scored 81 points against a team that does a great job controlling possessions and not shooting good at the free throw line. You go 18 or 19 from the free throw line, you score 85, 86 points. If you watch Saint Mary’s box scores this year, you’re not going to see that very often.”
Tommy Lloyd on Arizona’s guard play overall:
“We’re always going to start three guards, and I haven’t settled in on what the starting line is going to look like. We got to do a deep dive and figure out what works best. I’m not necessarily worried about starting five certain guys. I’m more worried about building a rotation that makes sense and kind of connects the dots. So that’s going to be my focus the next couple of weeks when I make those decisions, but the first focus is watching this film, learning from it, and having our best week of practice yet where we can really hone in on some things and learn. And you know, we should be a better team, regardless of opponent, the next time you guys see us.”
Jaden Bradley:
Jaden Bradley on the team’s performance in the first exhibition of the season:
“Yeah, we definitely got a lot of stuff to improve. As a team, defensive stuff, offensive stuff. But, I felt like everybody stepped up. With Tobe out, Krivas did a great job on the boards offensively, Dwayne, Koa, everybody, so shout out to those guys.”
Jaden Bradley on his ability to drive downhill:
“Just taking what the defense is giving me, you know, probably gonna go under the ball screens, trying to keep me out of the paint so my teammates believe in me and just trusting my work.”
Jaden Bradley on how Mo Krivas played in extended minutes:
“Mo is great. Playing probably the most he’s played in a while. And super proud of Mo, not only on the glass, I don’t know how many rebounds he had, like 15-plus or something like that, but offensively, seeing improvement. Stepping out, shooting three. He’s been working on that, and they’re definitely going to fall. Free throws. And his presence just down there, it’s great for our team. We’re going to need it. So, shout out to Mo.”
Jaden Bradley on Arizona being left off the Big 12’s preseason all-conference team:
“Our main goal is to win games and just control what we can control, and that’s winning games and our energy and effort on the court. So, we’re not really worried about that. It’s only us at the end of the day, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to help each other succeed, and at the end of the day, try to hang up a banner.”
Anthony Dell’Orso:
Anthony Dell’Orso on the expectations he has for his perimeter game:
“Obviously, shooting’s a big part of our identity and our game, especially my game, and I think that’s something that we’re always working on and trying to keep it clean, because that’s where a lot of the game is played, in ball screen coverage and all that. So you’re working on it every day, and just get better at it, really. Putting the reps in, getting shots up, getting different reads up, that’s always gonna be part of the game. It’s a huge part of my game, JB’s game, especially as a guard, you have to be out on the perimeter, so we keep getting better with that and working in practice and stuff like that.”
Anthony Dell’Orso on Saint Mary’s defense:
“They’re a good team. They’ve always historically been a pretty good team. They’re solid on defense. They have their set coverage, like we knew what they were going to run, but they’re just so good at that that it makes it confusing at times. But that’s a great game for us to go out and the first game of the year, kind of get our feet under us, get inside McKale, all the people, and just get those nerves out of the way, because they’re a legit opponent. It’s not like we came in here and played anyone. So to be able to do what we did against them, it’s a good sign for the season.
Anthony Dell’Orso on how Arizona’s freshman played:
“Yeah, they were good. Getting up and down, it’s always hard the first time. I think they played well. Brayden came out hot early. Koa got his legs under him as the game went on. And I think it’s just a matter of time to get that feeling and get those nerves out of the way, like I said. But they were great. I mean, they contributed, maybe not just points, but a lot of things that people don’t necessarily look at. They had a lot of impact for our team, both offensively and defensively.”
Anthony Dell’Orso on using Saint Mary’s to prepare for Florida:
“Definitely. You can’t simulate game reps in practice, you can try, but you never get it unless you play against tough people. That’s the best preparation you can ask for. That’s exactly why we’ve scheduled these people, and that’s why our non-conference schedule is the way it is. We’re going into a league that everyone knows is just one of the best leagues in the in the country, and you have to be equipped with the right tools to be able to handle that. So we don’t shy away from any opponent, and we’re expected to go play big guys and beat them.”