UCLA coach Mick Cronin said it realistically on Saturday afternoon: Who comes together and who gels the most will be the most successful. It’s a new world.
It’s not a world Arizona is used to, given the difficulties in the season’s first month.
Arizona you are on the clock. And the clock is ticking …
And it doesn’t look good.
“It’s not coming easy and we’re not going to act like everything is great and everything is flowing together naturally,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after UCLA defeated Arizona 57-54 here at Footprint Center give Arizona a 4-5 record. “We’re going to have to fight for it.”
After Saturday’s bad loss (hey, Arizona had a double-digit lead in the second half) it’s given another reason to doubt UA.
It’s given misery to the Arizona masses to wonder what is wrong with the Cats, a team that seemed destined to have a good season and make a run at a possible NCAA Final Four.
Hell, the question now is, can the Wildcats make the NCAA tournament? Earlier in the week, Joe Lunardi had UA as the first team out of the tournament.
I’ve often said nothing really matters in November and December when it comes to college basketball – because everything matters in March – but given the state of the team it’s not looking good.
Lloyd admitted the team is dealing with adversity and there is a question of where the team’s confidence is at.
“Sometimes it’s not far off,” Lloyd said, in finding it.
Again, they are on the clock.
And, well, they didn’t find it here in Phoenix were the crowd was on their side but nothing else really was. It played a poor first half then rallied in the second half to gain a 13-point lead only to let UCLA find a way to get back in the game and win.
This team is missing something. Heart. Head. Toughness. Togetherness. Rebounding. Stability and that’s just a few things. There are probably just too many things to list.
And I’m serious. I can’t remember a team – maybe Sean Miller’s last ones and first one – was like this – void of answers even though it had even talent to get through the adversity.
“I’m going to go back and look (and see) there are some coaching miscues, and the players need to be tougher … and I know this is a cliché: we’ve gotta hang together,” Lloyd said.
Yes, it’s become urgent. UA rarely looks like this. But teams have made them look like this. At least the word – playbook – is out on UA: keep it at a slow pace, make them play in the halfcourt, limit their transition baskets and you have a chance. Oh, and make them look like they’ve never held on to a ball. UA had 22 turnovers, many of which UCLA just slapped and grabbed away.
It’s Arizona’s stew of problems that has it in this unfamiliar predicament. It’s been a long time Arizona has been here.
Another would be not having a bona fide star or at least one player they could rely on to get them out of a mess. One would have thought senior Caleb Love would be that guy, but he’s nowhere near the player he was a season ago.
Mr. Houdini – Arizona’s escape artist – has pretty much disappeared. Saturday, he had seven points, hitting just 3 of 10 shots, including just 1 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line. He’s struggled all season – from any spot.
So, I asked: As Caleb Love goes so go the Cats?
“Caleb gives us a really high ceiling … and he just hasn’t come easy for him either,” Lloyd said. “We gotta figure out why. What can we do to help him? Is it just hanging with it, hanging with it, hanging with it, support him, and then it’s gonna figure itself out. Or, are there tactical things we need to do different(ly)? Obviously, Caleb is a really talented player, and he’s proven. It’s just not coming easy.”
Nothing is this season – especially quality teams. And yes, UCLA is that team. We’ve already established Arizona can beat Canisius, Old Dominion, Southern Utah and Davidson, but not the teams that likely will be in the NCAA tournament. And that’s a concern given a few of the teams in the Big 12 will be in the NCAA tournament. Cronin said Arizona still has time because it’s in a good conference and that will help. But will it if they can’t beat those teams in the tough conference?
Not likely.
“It all matters,” Lloyd said, of all the games on the schedule. “We didn’t have a light schedule, We scheduled tough, and it’s been a tough go … Maybe in other year’s we’d be 7-2 and we’d feel a little different but we wouldn’t be any better. We are at, where we are at. We’re struggling. I’m not going to mince any words on that.
“I’m the caption of the ship and I’m going to keep moving forward.”
He and his Wildcats have no other choice.
