Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said earlier in the week and again Friday night the Red-Blue game was for the community.
The rest of the way it’ll be for the community and the Arizona Wildcat nation given what people think – say – about Lloyd’s team and all its talent.
But Friday night, it was about the fans, the fun and the frivolity in McKale Center. After all, where else would you see former UA football player Rob Gronkowski steal the show with his dunking and basketball-playing (or lack thereof) antics?
“It was a fun event and great to have him part of it,” Lloyd said of Gronk, who got in the game as a potential transfer from Buffalo State, um, prison.
Gronk was eventually thrown out of the game for complaining about a foul.
“He’s got great energy, but he has to work on his temper a little bit,” Lloyd said.
It was all an act, of course, but the play wasn’t. Arizona was able to play some basketball for 20 minutes with some high spots.
“It was good to get up and down a little bit and see balls go into the basket,” Lloyd said. “… see who’s comfortable under the lights.”
The one who shined the most was freshman guard Brayden Burries, who played like a veteran, hitting seven of 11 shots including 4-7 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 22 points, including the game winner with under 10 seconds left to lead the Red to a 45-44 win.
“I felt pretty good,” Burries said. “I was good to play in front of the fans; I never played in front of that many people before. My teammates had my back.”
But isn’t that what you expect from a five-star recruit who is known for scoring?
As good as advertised?
“All these guys are,” Lloyd said. “They are all really good players. An intersquad scrimmage isn’t going to be the end of the story. I’ve been comfortable with these guys all along . They are winners. They are built for it. They are fearless and physically read. They have to get more experience, but I think we have a good mix of guys.”
Outside of that, what do you get when you see an intrasquad scrimmage with a month left before the regular season starts. Well, you get what you get and see what you see. Another positive was a healthy Mo Krivas, who sat out most of last season with a foot injury.
“We call him Mo – short for mobile,” Lloyd said, jokingly “He has good mobility and always has. Last year wsn’t a great showing for him, but physically last year he wasn’t physically where we wanted him to be. He’s done a really nice job bouncing back from that. It’s a first step but encouraging because I want him to be a dominant player.”
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