San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen went into the postgame press conference and called himself “crazy” or agreeing to play Arizona in its first exhibition game of the season. After all, Arizona is Arizona and, well, it is good.
But all was good – given it was exactly what he wanted to see… outside of the outcome, falling 93-69 in McKale Center. Still, the first thing he noticed about Arizona, six months removed from its Final Four run, is Arizona’s physicality.
“I don’t know if there is a more physical team in the country more than the one we just played,” Gerlufsen said. “That’s a credit to Tommy (Lloyd) and his staff and the way they do things.”
Acknowledgement stated – and received. Arizona did look a bit more aggressive all night against the younger, less-experienced Dons. Temper all that by knowing it was just an exhibition game to open the season.
Still, being physical is indeed how Lloyd wants it.
“We got a high standard for that,” he said. “I’m sure there were moments we were, and I’m sure there’s going to be moments I watch that we’re going to be able to ask for more with that stuff. We always want to play a physical brand of basketball. I think that’s the most fun way to play and the most effective way to play.”
Tuesday night was that. In one instance – a kind of breakaway for freshman Caleb Holt – he nudged a defender on a drive just to get to the basket (see below). He was aggressive as was UA all night.
Holt finished with 17 points and looked good, specifically in the second half.
“Caleb’s really motivated to be a great all-around player and to really understand the nuances of the game, and so he’s shouldered a heavy burden on his own of trying to learn,” Lloyd said.
They all are, including Lloyd with was without RJ Godfrey (eligibility issues) and Endurance Alyamenkhue (injury) but played 14 players on Tuesday, including starting Bryce James.
The latter came as a surprise, although James did hit the game’s first shot – a 3-pointer.
Lloyd also just called it “a few minutes in a 40-minute game. James played 13 minutes.
“I didn’t want to overthink it,” Lloyd said of starting James. “Bryce has had a good fall for us and continues to grow as a player, and I think starting Bryce, I just felt like kind of maybe puts the rotation in the right way and maybe have some good impactful guys coming off the bench. I just kind of wanted to see how that looked and felt. I don’t know what I’m going to do Friday, and we’ll talk to the staff about what we think is best.”
The game was not without its issue(s): maybe some defensive lapses a time or two. But again, it was an exhibition game. One where Mo Krivas had a game-high 20 points. Ivan Kharchenkov had 29 and Derek Dixon had 10.
“It was a great experience, and you try not to get too caught up in the minutia,” Lloyd said. “We just needed reps. We needed reps against somebody else, and to get some live bullets out there and kind of see how guys kind of play (in) spontaneous situations. I think it’s great. I’m excited to break down the film. I’m sure there’s a lot of really good things, and I’m sure there’s a lot of other things we can learn from as well.”
We’ll see Friday when it faces San Diego State in McKale Center.
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