Arizona is aware of who it’s enjoying, the place that recreation shall be performed and in what area it’s been positioned. That’s the straightforward half.
Being ready to go on a deep run within the 2023 NCAA Tournament, that’s the place the true work is. And coach Tommy Lloyd isn’t prepared to have a look at all the 68-team bracket, simply first-round opponent Princeton and possibly the potential second-round opponents in Sacramento, Calif.
“I don’t put too much stock in style of play or hey, this bracket looks like this, because you guys know how these tournaments go,” Lloyd mentioned Sunday on the UA’s choice present watch celebration at Union Public House. “The bracket can look like one thing on Thursday, by Saturday it looks like something totally different. We’re just gonna try to do our best to get through Thursday and then we’ll figure out Saturday after that. I’m always confident that we could prepare to win game to game.”
Here’s what Lloyd, Cedric Henderson Jr. and Pelle Larsson needed to say in regards to the UA’s NCAA tourney choice:
Lloyd on if he’s had an opportunity to scout Princeton within the quarter-hour since studying of Arizona’s opponent (sure, this was an actual query): “Not at all. We’ll dig into that tonight. We’re used to this. We’re used to these quick turnarounds, and having been in the tournament quite a few times, you get to work tonight and then you got to start putting your game plan tomorrow, and it happens real fast. You usually travel on Tuesday.”
On Princeton’s tempo: “I know their reputation is the Princeton offense, and maybe they’re running it. I’m gonna be honest with you, I haven’t seen them play this year, so I don’t want to make any assumptions. The quick numbers I looked at, their tempo wasn’t like … we played a lot slower teams, that play a lot slower than these guys. We’ll figure it out. I look forward to digging into it.”
On getting put within the South Region as a substitute of the West: “There’s only so many spots and someone’s always gonna get bumped. You earn a 2 seed but you’re kind of jammed up with some other teams right in your way and you might be seeded a little higher than one team but it makes more sense to ship you out. It’s just how it happens. It’s a process that’s beyond me, and I have no complaints about it. For this group of guys to earn a 2 seed says a lot about them and what they did this season, and we look forward to get on the court Thursday and proving that we belong.”
On UCLA getting the West No. 2 regardless of Arizona beating the Bruins twice: “I’m not living in that world. UCLA won the regular season my four games. I think that carries some weight. I’m happy we beat them last night, but they won the regular season by four games, so I think they got rewarded for that, which is rightfully so.”
On being extra conversant in the fast turnaround from Pac-12 ultimate to NCAA tourney choice: “I think it’s important. I mean, I know it’s important for me just to get the rhythm of … I was used to at Gonzaga all those years, the championship game was on Tuesday. And so you basically had like five days before you found out where you’re playing. And here, obviously, it was 18 hours ago or 16 hours or whatever it was, or less than that, that we finished up on the court and we got back home really late. I think that I’m a little more comfortable with the rhythm of that in getting your team prepared. But that’s the rhythm you we have in the Pac-12 all seasons. You play Saturday night, usually, and then your next game is Thursday. So I think it keeps us on the same schedule that we’ve been on for the last couple months.”
On if there’s a bonus to having a roster stuffed with gamers with NCAA tourney expertise: “Always. I think anytime you have familiarity with something you’re you’re gonna be more comfortable the second time around. I think even going to the Pac-12 tournament this year, I think we were a little more comfortable of what that entailed. I think this group is ready to go, and I’m sure they’ll be excited to practice tomorrow and start putting in the game plan.”
On the custom of the Princeton offense: “The Princeton offense is a staple in college basketball. I mean, there’s lots of teams that are doing variations of it. Like I said, I don’t know if Princeton’s running the Princeton offense. My eyes are gonna tell me that, I’m not just gonna assume something Jason Scheer found on Twitter, that that would be their offense.”
On if he can attain out to different coaches he is aware of for some suggestions: “There’s 363 Division 1 teams. We don’t have enough time to sit around and split hairs on who’s running what. What you do is, you find out who you’re playing, get the film, you start watching it, and then you start building a scouting report from there. Whether they’re running the Princeton offense, and I’m sure it’s evolved from Pete Carril, and I’m sure Coach (Mitch) Henderson has his own version of everything. We’re just gonna scout the team that we’re playing and we’re gonna make no assumptions.”
On protecting Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis within the recreation collectively towards UCLA when it needed to go small: “They’re two first-team all-conference players, and I don’t want another team’s subbing to impact what we’re gonna do. You go small, we stay big, I mean there’s a give and take, right. That group, I felt like, was playing pretty well. They had some guys that I felt like, even though they were small, we still had some matchups I was comfortable with defensively, and so we just kind of rode it out.”
On Tubelis’ play of late and if it’ll stop one other poor NCAA tourney displaying: “I know last year he had some bad games. I can’t remember how he played in the Pac-12 Tournament. I know he’s playing well right now. I know he’s had a great year, and I know he’s a really good player. And the look he has in his eye right now, I would assume that he’s going to stay focused and keep playing at a high level.”
On if this workforce is best ready for March Madness than a 12 months in the past: “Here’s the deal: We could all sit here and speculate last year’s team, this year’s team, the team three years from now, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, the team you have right now, the team you’re gonna play right now. Pete Carril’s offense doesn’t matter. But Princeton 2022-23 matters. I don’t spend any time thinking about differences and comparing stuff, that doesn’t matter to me. I’m just gonna lock in and try to do the best job we can getting ready to win Thursday.”
On enjoying by accidents: “I think everybody’s probably banged up this time of year. We have an amazing training staff, and I didn’t acknowledge them yesterday, I just (had) a lot of things going on at the end of that game, but our training staff has done an amazing job. Justin Kokoskie, Chris Rounds with strength and conditioning and our team of doctors have done an amazing job getting these guys ready to play and helping them play at a high level. So we’re just gonna continue attacking like that. We have a first class training staff, medical staff at Arizona, it’s really world class stuff. So we’re just gonna keep riding that out. I’m sure everybody has nagging injuries. I mean, it’s just that time of year. We have a tough, resilient group. And I’m sure most other teams in the tournament are in the same boat as we’re in. I think our guys love each other and love playing for each other, and if they had to endure a little bit of pain to do that, I think they’re willing to do that.”
On Ballo enjoying with a damaged hand: “I told Oumar, if you got something to give us, if you feel like he can help us out, help us out. If not, I mean, that’s fine, too. I mean, I understand how it goes. But Oumar’s a warrior, he’s a high-character guy, he’s tough. He always puts the team first, so he looks good to go.”
On sticking with a 7-man rotation for the NCAA tourney: “I’m sure if you guys took a little bit of time and look at minutes and rosters across the country, I bet there’s a lot of teams playing a tighter rotation than you think. It’s not just us, it’s just kind of how college basketball is these days.”
On having a watch celebration open to the general public: “The community is a huge part of what we do, and so we wanted to find a way to share this experience with the community. We’re always looking to get involved with Tucson any way we can, and so we’re thankful that Union offered this opportunity up for us.”
On which is more durable to get into, Princeton or Lloyd’s alma mater Whitman College: “Definitely Princeton, because I got into Whitman.”
Henderson on enjoying within the NCAA tourney: “It’s big, this means a lot to me. This is my first time going to the big dance.”
On Princeton: “I’m not familiar with them, per se, but I’m sure we’ve met a team that’s similar to them.”
On beating UCLA for the Pac-12 title: “It’s a great win, but it does nothing. It happened, we won it, now it’s time to turn our attention to another team.”
Larsson on being higher ready for the NCAA tourney: “I got some experience now, and just maturity and patience that the tournament requires. We got that now.”
On if he’d have appreciated to be within the West Region: “I don’t really care. I’m not from here so I don’t care where I play.”
On what he was considering on Arizona’s game-winning possession vs. UCLA: “Get the damn ball, pretty much. I knew there was going to be two possessions because of the shot clock, so I just tried to make a play on the rebound. Zu got a great shot, it was in and out, I actually thought it was going in. And Oumar tipped it (first), so that was huge for him.”
