Arizona opened up its season with an exhibition game against a very tough Saint Mary’s team. The Wildcats eventually pulled away from the Gaels in a 81-68 win.
Following the win, here’s what Tommy Lloyd,
Jaden Bradley, and Anthony Dell’Orso had to say after the game:
Lloyd on if he got what he wanted out of the exhibition: “Oh my and then some, man. You kind of got to get back into the coaching mode of games and the emotions that come with it, and just trying to help your guys navigate learning on the fly. Obviously with Tobe, he could have played today. He’s been practicing, but we just felt like the prudent thing to do is to kind of rest, and he’s been a little bit banged up, and it was good, so that made us dig deep and try things you probably wouldn’t have had to try. So I’m thankful for how our guys stepped up, obviously, massive amount of respect for Saint Mary’s and what they do and how they play, just so steady. It’s been cool competing against him for so many years that you can kind of see the pieces he has and have a good feel for how he’s going to put them together. I’m sure at the end of the year, they’re going to be 27-6, or some crazy record like that. So, it was an honor to compete against him, and then I told our guys if you’re able to lead a team like that for 40 minutes, kind of weather the storm and a few runs, I mean, that’s a good place to start.”
On if Tobe Awaka not playing is a one time thing: “He’s been a little banged up. I don’t think I have to do an injury report today so I’m probably not going to. He’s been banged up. He’s practicing. He’s fine. I think if this was a game that maybe, you know, was really meaningful and counted in the records I’m sure he would have been playing well.”
On the thought processes when some guys start to get banged up: “Obviously it’s not ideal to play Mo 32 minutes, or Koa. He only ended up playing 22. Just the minutes are probably a little heavy. We want to build to that but, it’s what the situation called for. I was really proud of our guys, how they responded to that kind of challenge. That’s the challenges the game presents. Sometimes you got to kind of be ready. You got to be ready for maybe some unexpected things. I thought our guys did a good job of just hanging with it. We’re playing great in stretches, but then making a key run at the right time, kind of get separation when it mattered.”
On Ivan Kharchenkov’s performance: “He played really well. Yeah, he did a great job. He’s kind of the guy we’ve decided to maybe swing a little bit at four, three. Probably generally played the three more but we’ve been up so he had a swing a lot. At 23 minutes, his first night out, made some big plays in the second half. I think we got to get a better feel for if our guys are good players, and they were good prospects, and maybe they didn’t have to do some of the dirty work. I’m looking at some of these rebounding numbers, and it’s just not going to cut it. For him to play 23 minutes and I have no rebounds, you know, it’s kind of eye opening for me. That being said, he did have some incredible effort plays in the second half, and some great drives on offense.”
On his expectations for Dell’Orso: “He’s an experienced guy, he’s been in the battles. He’s gotten a lot better, he’s 6-12 from the three today. I do my math, right, he’s 5-5 from two and 1-7 from three. I don’t know how often he’s going to go 1-7 from three. It’s just that fine line of being aggressive, but maybe not putting yourself in difficult situations and just kind of having an understanding of what that is. That’s not easy to coach and that’s not easy to play, so we’ve got to kind of help him with some of the gray areas. He had 13 points today. He ended up getting four steals, made a few good plays on defense. So, I’m happy with Delly, and I trust his shot so much that 1-7 that it’d be a lot nicer to be 4-7.”
On Dell’Orso’s defensive improvement: “His physicality has allowed him to maybe try to be a little bit more effective on the ball. With that being said, you know, I think teams are gonna maybe be aggressive trying to drive him a little bit. So he’s got to answer that bell a little bit. I think he got driven on two times in the first half. I think he gave up kind of a hustle offensive rebound. Those are areas he can grow and those are plays he’s expected to make.”
On the development of Motiejus Krivas: “I like what I saw tonight. I like what I’ve seen in practice. He shot a couple perimeter shots tonight, and I think that’s going to be normal for him. I mean, I don’t think it’s going to be a thing that we’re going to probably live and die on, but he’s really worked hard on his game. So, the guy had 17 rebounds in that game and impacted things around the rim, the way he did it was pretty impressive.”
On the team’s ability to drive downhill: “We got to get a little more comfortable just getting a little deeper in the offense. That doesn’t mean we’re shooting bad shots or anything. We just got to get comfortable getting deeper in the offense. Give the defense a chance to make a few more mistakes so we can get guys in positions you want them to get in and I think we’ll see that. I think we had a few possessions, we put together a few where we got really deep and didn’t kind of generate anything. That’s that sweet spot, you see it start getting towards single digits on the shot clock. You got to really do meaningful stuff so that’s an area that we got to grow, but you’re definitely right, there are few guys that are comfortable getting downhill and, and we’ll continue to build on that.”
On his trust in Brayden Burries: “Brayden’s poise doesn’t indicate his year in school. He’s very poised. We had some foul troubles today, but you know, thank God he agreed to the six foul deal. I think it just helps us, you know, I wanted to make sure guys got a lot of reps today. To be seven guys in and out, it impacted howI I normally try to manage a game because I’m sure it impacted both teams. I wanted to make sure guys got good runs out there today. That’s something we got to learn from, because fouls impact the game and rotations and how you sub and that’s something we have to be mindful of.”
On what Bradley’s veteran presence means to the team: “He’s a veteran and he’s a good player. Jaden’s been playing with good players his whole life. So he’s gotten really comfortable with blending in and allowing maybe certain guys to be more aggressive on offense. So that’s what you know worked best for the team and now he’s a senior. He’s put his time in. He’s in a program that trusts him significantly, and he’s got some talented young teammates with them, but they had to learn the ropes a little bit. So I thought the way he controlled that game in the second half was really impressive.”
On being able to handle Saint Mary’s slower style of play: “We shot 53% and turned the ball over seven times. That’s a winning formula. We held them to 39.3% and they turned the ball over 12 times. That’s a winning formula. So I felt like there was obviously some mistakes defensively, and a little bit of it, I think, was just due to fatigue and it may be some concentration things that I think the tape will be a great learning tool to kind of learn from.”
On the struggles at the free throw line: “I think we’re gonna be a really good free throw shooting team. I really do. You don’t take it for granted and obviously our guys are practicing free throws, but sometimes that’s how it goes. That’s why you play these games, and that’s why it’s great. It was played under the lights. Let’s get guys comfortable making shots. I think you look at the half, what ended up with a seven point lead at the half, and I think we were a little bit in double digits. Then there’s that stretch where we’re missing a bunch of free throws. So, I feel good about our efficiency. We scored 81 points against a team that does a great job controlling possessions and not shooting good at the free throw line. You go 18 or 19 from the free throw line, you score 85, 86 points. If you watch Saint Mary’s box scores this year, you’re not going to see that very often.”
On the overall performance of the guards: “I haven’t settled in on the starting line. It’s going to look like we got to do a deep dive and figure out what works best. I’m not necessarily worried about starting five certain guys. I’m more worried about building a rotation that makes sense and kind of connects the dots. So, that’s going to be my focus the next couple weeks when I make those decisions. The first focus is watching this film, learning from it, and having our best week of practice yet where we can really hone in on some things and learn. We should be a better team regardless of the opponent the next time you guys see us.”
Bradley on the takeaways from the exhibition: “We definitely got a lot of stuff to improve. As a team, defensive stuff, offensive stuff. I feel like everybody stepped up well, especially with Tobe out. Krivas did a great job on the boards offensively, Dwayne, Koa, everybody, so shout out to those guys.”
On his ability to drive downhill: “Just taking what the defense has given me, you know, probably gonna go under the ball screens, trying to keep me out of the paint so my teammates believe in me and just trusting my work.”
On how Krivas did in extended minutes: “Mo was great. Playing probably the most he’s played in a while. Super proud of Mo, not only on the glass, I don’t know how many rebounds he had, but 15 plus or something like that, but offensively seeing improvement. Stepping out shooting three, he’s been working on that, and they’re definitely going to fall. His presence down there is great for our team. We’re going to need it. So shout out to Mo.”
On if being left out of the pre-season all Big 12 team is something the team talks about: “Our main goal is to win games. Just control what we can control, and that’s winning games. So we’re not really worried about that. We know it’s only us at the end of the day and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to help each other succeed and at the end of the day try to hang up a banner.”
Dell’Orso on his expectations on the perimeter: “I think obviously shooting is a big part of, you know, I think our identity and our game, especially my game. I think that’s something that we’re always working on and trying to keep it clean, because that’s where a lot of the game is played. Full screen coverage and all that. So we work on it every day and just get better at it, really. Putting the reps in, getting shots up, getting different reads up, that’s always gonna be part of the game. It’s a huge part of my game, JB’s game, especially as a guard, you have to be able to be sound on the perimeter. So we need to get better at that, and we’ll work on it in practice and stuff like that.”
On Saint Mary’s defensive presence: “They’re a good team. They’ve always been a pretty good team. They’re solid on defense. They set coverage, like we knew what they run, and they’re just so good at it. It makes it confusing at times, but that’s a great game for us to go out and the first game of the year, get our feet under us, get that inside McKale, all the people, and just get those nerves out of the way. They’re a legit opponent. It’s not like we came in here and played anyone. So to be able to do what we did against them is a good sign for the season.”
On the performance of the freshman: “They were good. Getting up and down, it’s always hard the first time and I think they played well. Brayden came out hot early. Koa kind of got his legs under him as the game went on. I think it’s just a matter of time to get that feeling, get those nerves out of the way, like I said, but they were great. They contributed not just points, but a lot of things that people don’t necessarily look at. They had a lot of impact for our team, both offensively and defensively.”
On feeling prepared for a team like Florida after today: “Definitely. You can’t simulate game reps in practice. You can try, but you’ll never get it unless you play against tough people. That’s the best preparation you can ask for. That’s exactly why we’ve scheduled these people, and that’s why our non conference schedule is the way it is. We’re going into a league that everyone knows, just one of the best leagues in the country, and you have to be equipped with the right tools to be able to handle that. So we don’t shy away from any opponent, and we’re expected to go and play big guys and beat them.”
