Tommy Lloyd has options. Which means, of course, Arizona has options.
Go inside to Motiejus Krivas or Henri Veesaar (who can also go outside) or stay outside with Caleb Love, KJ Lewis or Jaden Bradley (who loves to go inside).
Options, indeed.
“I just want to make sure that we’re playing as a connected team,” Lloyd said, after saying yes to the options. “And I think for the most part we did tonight. I might also have to have a little grace on some of these guys. First game, it was even a little different than an exhibition game. Maybe some guys didn’t respond well enough to a missed shot or a turnover, things like that, and I think they’ll get a little bit more comfortable.”
What’s important is game one is in the books after No. 10 Arizona defeated Canisius, 93-64, in McKale Center in a late-night home opener Monday.
With the return of Krivas to the lineup – after a reported foot injury – Arizona looks even more complete in what should be a wild ride to March with a mix of players that fit Lloyd’s parts. And maybe Monday night wasn’t exactly a highlight reel for offense, it did show there are a lot of interchangeable parts to a pretty good team. Heck, in my view it could rival his best team – his first one at Arizona – to the number of quality offensive players.
Ben Mathurin and Dalen Terry were pretty good – very good, in fact – but Love, Lewis and Bradley aren’t just dudes.
The roster has a few interchangeable parts that all fit.
“It feels good, just to get back out there, especially with this new team and everything that we put in during the summer,” said Lewis, who had 14 points “So, it feels great.”
And looked good – from the jump. Arizona raced out to 23-4 start and never really looked back. It didn’t really have to given Canisius was over matched and undersized, especially when Krivas and Veesaar are on the court at the same time.
And UA had their twin towers out there for more than a handful of minutes.
“It’ll be interesting to see over the course of the season how much we can do that,” Lloyd said. “Maybe it’s really effective. I’m going to keep my eyes on it, and we’ll figure out things maybe we can run with them on the court together. You love the size, and you love that both of them are comfortable with the ball in their hands, comfortable passing, both of them impacting the game at the rim at both ends of the floor.”
Then, of course, there’s Arizona’s three-headed monster (yes, too early to tell that, but) in Lewis, Love and Bradely in the backcourt. All three will impact the game. Lewis with his athleticism, Love with his offense and Bradley with his aggressiveness.
Arizona caught glimpses of the three last year – but with Kylan Boswell gone to Illinois – it’s these three that will lead the way.
Love had a team-high 17 points, going an efficient 7 for 15 from the field and Bradley had 15 for an even better 7 for 10.
All three added to 46 of Arizona’s 93 points. And frankly, it could have been more.
“Anytime you’re a program like Arizona and you have a group of guards that have played together one year come back the next year, it’s pretty rare,” Lloyd said. “So to have those guys, I feel like you’re playing with veterans, juniors and seniors. They’re veteran players and they’ve really grown together as players, and they really support each other. So that was good to see.”
As was the home victory, another home-opening blowout for Lloyd & Co. Now, on to the rest of the season and the options, one where he could even go with a starting five, then replace it with his next full five and, perhaps, not see a drop off.
Maybe?
“I’m going to try to figure out how to play some effective lineups,” Lloyd said. “I probably (have) got to sit down the next few days and kind of map things out a little bit better so I end up there with the right combinations. I kind of like to let it happen naturally. And I’m probably at a point where I probably got to get involved and kind of try to play to our strengths a little bit more.”
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