Bear Down Wildcats

Tommy had more time paying attention to Arizona than Sean did. Way to take the baton from Lute and run.

I didn't want to say anything, but I felt this was going to happen tonight. This felt really good. After being emasculated by ESPN and all the naysayers for the last 4 years, it's nice to thump on a top 10 team and get our swag back, on ESPN no less.

Just such a well coached team. What can you say?

Lib-Er-A-Tion clap clap clap-clap-clap!

I really really love this team…

The thing I like about Lloyd that differs from most other coaches (not just CSM) is that he refuses to pull his foot off the gas pedal. Fast, relentless fundamental basketball the entire game. Small sample size, but I would say we are top 2 in the conference, and can split with UCLA this year.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:49 pm The thing I like about Lloyd that differs from most other coaches (not just CSM) is that he refuses to pull his foot off the gas pedal. Fast, relentless fundamental basketball the entire game. Small sample size, but I would say we are top 2 in the conference, and can split with UCLA this year.

Us vs UCLA for the Pac 12 title. Just like the good ole days.

Not sure if they showed the post game interview on the court with the in-house emcee but Tommy said “I’ve only got one thing to say. You better BTFD”. And then said McKale better be packed on Saturday. Love him!

The style of play will interest recruits as long as we win. We play tough "D" with Koloko clogging the middle.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:47 pm I really really love this team…

Throw in a couple more really’s and your whet I’m at.

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:43 pm Tommy had more time paying attention to Arizona than Sean did. Way to take the baton from Lute and run.

What does this even mean?

Olsondogg wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:25 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:43 pm Tommy had more time paying attention to Arizona than Sean did. Way to take the baton from Lute and run.

What does this even mean?

Sean and Mark Few are tight buds and Tommy was reared in close proximity to Arizona as a regional powerhouse. Sean was all the way over on the other side of the country earning his chops at Xavier in a different world. I take Tommy literally when he said it could only have been Arizona that would lure him away from the Zags. Sean was of a different culture.

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:31 pm

Olsondogg wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:25 pm

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:43 pm Tommy had more time paying attention to Arizona than Sean did. Way to take the baton from Lute and run.

What does this even mean?

Sean and Mark Few are tight buds and Tommy was reared in close proximity to Arizona as a regional powerhouse. Sean was all the way over on the other side of the country earning his chops at Xavier in a different world. I take Tommy literally when he said it could only have been Arizona that would lure him away from the Zags. Sean was of a different culture.

Gotcha.

Expectations rising fast

Barstool is run by 12 year olds lol

One thing I liked is Phil Martello is on Michigan’s staff and he just got butt raped by a Lute Olson style of play while he ran ran his St joes type offense/defense. FU dude. Lute never needed to respond to you fIng loser

Lloyd has to get a TON of credit for how this team is playing to begin the season. These guys trust each other, they play hard, and they clearly believe they’re going to win each game. There’s a vibe with this team I haven’t seen with an AZ team for a while. Lloyd is doing something right.

BTFD

Chicat wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 9:25 am

BetaCat wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 9:14 am I’m a refugee from another message board with numerous “experts” and hair trigger critics. I’m hoping there are more old fashioned Cat fans on here with less ego and more positivity.

Bear Down.

All opinions are welcome but only mine are correct.

Sorry, there are rules.

Don't know if this is up already. (delete if so)


13. Arizona (NR): The Wildcats were as impressive as any team in the past week with a dominating tournament win in Las Vegas, capped off by a dismantling of Michigan.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... t-power-36

17. Arizona
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... fz;rn;fp;1;;

Chicat wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 9:25 am

BetaCat wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 9:14 am I’m a refugee from another message board with numerous “experts” and hair trigger critics. I’m hoping there are more old fashioned Cat fans on here with less ego and more positivity.

Bear Down.

All opinions are welcome but only mine are correct.

Sorry, there are rules.

HiCat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 8:27 am Don't know if this is up already. (delete if so)


13. Arizona (NR): The Wildcats were as impressive as any team in the past week with a dominating tournament win in Las Vegas, capped off by a dismantling of Michigan.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... t-power-36

Funny, he put us at #13 and gives Arizona the credits due after the Vegas Tournament. Then says this...

"USC (23): The Trojans have the two true road wins. They are looking like the second-best team in the Pac-12 right now."

I admit, I have been very skeptical about Lloyd. Last night's game convinced me that he has what it takes to be a head coach, coaching up players and executing a nice game plan. I hope his recruiting catches up.

They beat Temple (128 Kenpom) and FGCU (208) on the road.

If you listen to the mindset that CTL has instilled in them it sounds like they'll handle being ranked pretty well. I think it was DT that said, "It's just a number next to our name. It won't change how we play." Loving CTL so far.

I am thinking more and more that CTL has the right stuff to coach our program. Small sample size and we all know things can change during the upcoming Pac12 season and even in March (yes, we should be a Tourney team from what I've seen) but the initial reviews are way better than I could have hoped.

BTFD!

He's also fairly young and loyal.

He could be here for a long long time.

I'm on Team Tommy

Tommy knows he tuned up the engine and tweaked the front end of an already well built car. Hope he stands on it and drives like hell!

MountainCat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 8:32 am

HiCat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 8:27 am Don't know if this is up already. (delete if so)


13. Arizona (NR): The Wildcats were as impressive as any team in the past week with a dominating tournament win in Las Vegas, capped off by a dismantling of Michigan.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... t-power-36

Funny, he put us at #13 and gives Arizona the credits due after the Vegas Tournament. Then says this...

"USC (23): The Trojans have the two true road wins. They are looking like the second-best team in the Pac-12 right now."

Katz doesn’t know his ass from his elbow half the time. He’s basically Vitale Jr.

Chicat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:37 pm Well done Tommy. You just made me a believer.

Welcome to the bandwagon my friend.

Sean Miller - 34 years in NCAA D1 as a player, assistant coach, head coach - 0 Final Fours.
Tommy Lloyd - 20 years in NCAA D1 as assistant coach, head coach - 2 Final Fours.

Which one, of the two, do you think is most likely to be first to lead a team to a future Final Four?

Going to be tough for Sean Miller to lead a team to the Final Four since … you know … he doesn’t currently have a job.

I also don’t know how going to the FF as an assistant correlates to taking a team there as a head coach since there are coaches who got there as a player or assistant and then didn’t do shit as a head coach (or even never got the chance to be a head coach), but that was a fun post nonetheless.

Past performance is not always indicative of future results. Lloyd had the benefit of riding shotgun with one of the great talents in college basketball - - without the typical pressure a high major coach has. He was able to slow build and experiment over a loooong period of time.

I've come to the point in realizing that people really hate CSM. I've never seen anything like it. It's dumbfounding. There is a faction of Wildcat Nation that will look for anything to discredit him and turn in him into what they need him to be - some sort of cartoonish character or some sort of arch villain. We were really close to hiring Tim Floyd who almost certainly would have held our program back, but yet we got a person who in my mind is no worse than one of the top 15 coaches in the nation.

I was rooting for CSM if for no other reason that he got the opportunity to write his own redemption story. From there, he could have pivoted to another program and then we could have taken a flyer on JET (no pun intended) or Lloyd or some other coach. But make no mistake, if CSM was still coaching we would still be 5-0 and top ten and have Akinjo and Jordan Brown. He also would have closed on either Kaluma or Obanor and this team would be even deeper than it is right now.

The worst thing you could accuse Miller of (and still never proven), was that he was looking to secure his players financial futures. Which ironically is being rubber stamped by the courts right now. Listen, Lloyd appears to be a competent coach, but I would take someone with Miller's attributes any day over someone with a superior offensive system (although Miller is good at that too. 15th in KenPom last year). Most fans buy Final Fours, I buy people. And Miller is one of the most uniquely talented coaches I have ever seen, and I have watched a lot of basketball.

Luke Walton for head coach! Final Four with Arizona, and 2 NBA championships with the Lakers!

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:06 pm Sean Miller - 34 years in NCAA D1 as a player, assistant coach, head coach - 0 Final Fours.
Tommy Lloyd - 20 years in NCAA D1 as assistant coach, head coach - 2 Final Fours.

Which one, of the two, do you think is most likely to be first to lead a team to a future Final Four?

I know I'm a Miller fan, but I don't feel like this comparison does justice to either.

First, I mean the obvious point would be Lloyd has 5 games as a head coach under his belt and it's odd to attribute that as 20 years of being an assistant and head coach with two Final Fours.

My first thought was to joke Mark Few because I think he'll probably make it three this year for Gonzaga.

It's also easily capable of rebuttals by pointing out Sean Miller's recruits scored 71 of 76 non-garbage time points. In terms of who won that game...well, it was basically Koloko and Miller's 2020 class.

Why I think it does Lloyd wrong...well, I'm a Miller fan, but Lloyd has handled this group of players as well as anyone could. He deserves credit for that, not a comparison where you have to argue who's responsible for Koloko becoming a monster.

I'd rather just give Lloyd credit for stepping in very impressively and handling this roster in a way that would compare to any coach. It's a pretty big compliment and it shouldn't need to be bookended by a comparison.

I would tell you the future has a lot to do with recruiting and whether the future is full of guys with the talent on this team...but why? Lloyd is handling this team very well and just beat a top 5 opponent. That's what should be said today, IMO.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:22 pm Going to be tough for Sean Miller to lead a team to the Final Four since … you know … he doesn’t currently have a job.

I also don’t know how going to the FF as an assistant correlates to taking a team there as a head coach since there are coaches who got there as a player or assistant and then didn’t do shit as a head coach (or even never got the chance to be a head coach), but that was a fun post nonetheless.

Or how a player factors in. If Barry Goheen doesn't drop 22 on Pitt in the 1988 tourney, Miller might make a Final Four there.

This is the guy who determines the future.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:06 pm Sean Miller - 34 years in NCAA D1 as a player, assistant coach, head coach - 0 Final Fours.
Tommy Lloyd - 20 years in NCAA D1 as assistant coach, head coach - 2 Final Fours.

Which one, of the two, do you think is most likely to be first to lead a team to a future Final Four?

Going for the title of dumbest post, I see

Listen… I wish CSM all the future success in the world

But I’m 100% on board with CTL and believe great amazing days are ahead for AZ basketball under his leadership

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:49 pm Listen… I wish CSM all the future success in the world

But I’m 100% on board with CTL and believe great amazing days are ahead for AZ basketball under his leadership

I think most UA fans feel this way, but it’s silly to say after 5 games that Tommy is better equipped to take us to a Final Four. Sean Miller got us to within a few points of a FF a couple of times. Tommy has won 5 games. So let’s pump the proverbial brakes on anointing Tommy as clearly the better coach. It’s not fair to either man.

Tommy is in a much better position to get AZ to final 4 than Miller… and that position is being employed by the UofA

Going to wait till the end of this season before I even think about doing any kind of Lloyd/Miller comparison, and even then, it would be comparing their first years at AZ, not some kind of larger projection about Lloyd's likelihood of success here.

I'm going to enjoy this great start to the season and appreciate the job this coach and team have done. Beating Michigan is terrific, but this team has much bigger goals.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:49 pm Listen… I wish CSM all the future success in the world

But I’m 100% on board with CTL and believe great amazing days are ahead for AZ basketball under his leadership

This is where I'm at now too

Once CTL leads us to a Final Four I will weigh in...

i mentioned many times i was excited for the change, felt it was time, and was looking forward to everything new being exactly what the opposite was before...so far it seems everyone is riding that new energy too.

HOWEVER, there will be bumps in the road and their will be misses and second guesses - how Lloyd and Arizona respond to that collectively as a group and University will be interesting to watch.

CTL might be walking on water now, but there is 100% certainty he will get wet....

I’m wearing my speedo

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:13 pm I’m wearing my speedo

Skinny part in the front?

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:57 pm Tommy is in a much better position to get AZ to final 4 than Miller… and that position is being employed by the UofA

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:57 pm Tommy is in a much better position to get AZ to final 4 than Miller… and that position is being employed by the UofA

I am not convinced, yet, that he is.

1) The sample size (games played) is very small. Granted, thus far CTL is doing very well in the coaching aspect of his job.

2) Perhaps more important than #1 is whether CTL can recruit effectively to keep AZ at a high level. We are not going to know the answer to that question, perhaps for a couple of years. First we have to sort out the NCAA/IARP mess, which could put CTL behind the 8 ball if we get Post Season sanctions which could kill recruiting. Second, even after the Sanctions mess passes CTL will not be operating in the same recruiting universe that Sean Miller did. When Sean Miller arrived in 2009 UCLA was beginning to fall apart; Dana Altman was in Nebraska, and USC did not have a coach who could recruit. All that has changed, UCLA/UO/USC are now serious recruiting competition on the West Coast. And to top that all off we now live the world of NIL.....which I believe the UA will NEVER be competitive in. We are not going to outbid Oregon for 5 star players as long as Mr. Nike is bankrolling the ducks (or the USC/UCLA Alumni base for that matter). CTL is going to have a much more difficult time recruiting top players (especially on the west coast) than Miller did during the 2010-2017 time period.

97cats wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:10 pm HOWEVER, there will be bumps in the road and their will be misses and second guesses - how Lloyd and Arizona respond to that collectively as a group and University will be interesting to watch.

CTL might be walking on water now, but there is 100% certainty he will get wet....

Overreacting to the good and bad is the entire reason message boards exist. Nothing is ever fine.

Tommy Lloyd will either be the best or worst coach in college basketball...depending on the result of the most recent game.

Not sure it's been mentioned yet, but Lloyd is in a great position to make a run at national coach of the year.

ChooChooCat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:36 pm

Chicat wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:37 pm Well done Tommy. You just made me a believer.

Welcome to the bandwagon my friend.

I’m more like in an Uber behind the wagon waiting to see if it busts an axle or one of the mules throws a shoe.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 5:43 pm Not sure it's been mentioned yet, but Lloyd is in a great position to make a run at national coach of the year.

Oh my…

Can someone get Beachy a napkin so he can wipe off whatever that is on his chin?

It’s been five games. Maybe hold off on commissioning the statue.