Arizona basketball finished up its series of exhibition wins with a 113-42 win against Embry-Riddle. Now the Wildcats officially start their season with a road trip to Las Vegas to take on the defending national champion Florida Gators.
Here’s what Tommy Lloyd, Tobe Awaka, and Ivan Kharchenkov had to say following the win:
Lloyd on changing the starting lineup: “Just try getting some guys in different opportunities. We’re not a program that really worries about who the starters are. So, I just thought
it was an opportunity to get some guys some different minutes. Obviously, Tobe didn’t play the last game. I wanted to get him some early minutes, and wanted to give Brayden some minutes at that point guard early, but nothing much more than that.”
On what he’ll look for in the film of the game: “First off, I’m happy that all of our guys got an opportunity to play. We practice almost every day. So, these guys really contribute to our program in a lot of ways. So I’m glad they got to get out in front of the crowd and werar the Arizona jersey and McKale is pretty special. As far as evaluating it, we’ll go through, I mean, I will, I’ll watch the first half, or the first 10 minutes or something. I know there’s going to be some things, because they made four threes, basically, before the first media time out, they end up with six. I think that’s a great lesson for our guys in two ways. One, you’ve got to come out from the tip ready to execute your plan and ease into a game. Two, teams sometimes make early threes. Don’t panic, adjust, and I think they made two the rest of the game. I didn’t feel like they had a lot of great looks after those first couple. We’ll look at it from that lens. I think offensively, I felt like our guys did a better job today, obviously we were bigger and more physical than them, and taking advantage of that, and making a lot of simple plays.”
On if the lineup change led to the early threes: “I’m sure it could have something to do with it, but that’s why you do it. I’m a believer that you can say you’re playing the two bigs, and you can make it like this, but I believe they can get better. Can’t they get better? If they make two threes in the first game, does that set the course all year for how they’re going to defend me? I think those things happen, and I think you learn from them, and you grow, and you have a growth mindset, you get better and so that’s what I’m looking for. So, you know what? I’m thankful they hit him, because that’ll be something we can learn from.”
On if rebounding was a concern following Saint Mary’s: “No concern for me. Obviously we had an important player not playing, it makes a difference. I hope Tobe is available every game we play this year. That makes a difference for us on the glass. Secondly, I know Saint Mary’s is a great rebounding team. I told our guys like, they were number one in the country in defensive rebound percentage last year. So they have a really sound plan on how they defensive rebound, and how you have to offensive rebound against them is you have to break down their defense, get them in rotations. Then you got to be relentless in your force and your pursuit of offensive rebounds, if you just use half ass your attempts against Saint Mary’s, you’re not going to get rebounds. So I thought it was a great lesson for us to learn. We want to be a great rebounding team, and we understand that there’s an every possession mentality that it takes.”
On why Mo Krivas did not play in the second half: “I thought the game was pretty well in control. Those guys are really important players for us and I would have felt like I wasn’t doing the program justice by playing those guys and had some freak accident happen.”
On where the perimeter shooting might come from: “Delly’s a pretty good shooter, right? Bryaden’s a good shooter, right? I think JB has made some threes in his life. It may not be a strength, but he’s done it. I think Ivan is capable of making threes. I think Dwayne will make his threes. I feel like with shooting we’re going to be fine, I’ve always told you guys, we’re not trying to build a team here that shoots 30 or 40 threes a game. I would like to shoot 33 free throws every game, you know? To me there’s a trade off in this stuff. It all comes down to your values and what you value. I like threes. I have no problem with them, but I love free throws. I love layups.”
On where he feels the team is at right now: “I feel right where we need to be. Obviously, I know we have a huge challenge coming up next week. I don’t think the success of our season, or Florida’s season is dependent on one game on November 3. I think it’s a great opportunity for programs to get out there and really learn about themselves. Every season is its own journey. We’ve kind of got through the initial stages now. Now it’s time to play some games that count in the standing so I’m excited. I feel good where we’re at, and if we don’t play good on Monday, I’m still going to feel okay. We’re going to learn from everything that we do and our goal is to get better week by week, game by game. We’re going to keep a real simple growth mindset.”
On where Sidi Gueye and Mabil Mawut are in their progression: “They’re really contributing. They’re helping us in practice every day. Sidi was banged up to start, so I’m really, really happy that he’s had a good run of good health, and I think that’s going to help his development. It’s going to help our practices. So I love both those kids. They’re really special individuals, and have great stories and hopefully the community in Tucson and at the University of Arizona get to know those kids, because they’re really inspirational.”
On Brayden Burries’ progression at the point guard spot: “Braden is a really good point guard, but he’s also a really good two guard. He’s that kind of modern day combo guard, and he can play with another point guard. He can handle those duties by himself. So, I think it’s important to kind of make sure we got to remember he’s a really good player, but he’s still a freshman so we got to help him by giving him some different experiences. The one thing he’s proven to me is that he’s a great learner.”
On the performance of the walk-ons: “I don’t know what Embry-Riddle did to upset Sven, but Sven was great today. Sven’s a great story. Sven has worked really hard. He’s a great story. He kind of came over here and took a trip to Tucson and the University of Arizona, kind of blindly. It is kind of luckily he and I crossed paths and he’s really, really worked hard to get better. He’s really open in practice. I thought Addison was great. I’m happy that Jackson made that three in front of the bench. I thought, Evan Nelson, he’s going to hopefully get some rotation minutes in there. I thought he played really good today. I thought Bryce showed effort, and he’s getting better, and Mabil is getting better. So I’m happy for all those guys, because they’re an important part of what we do. Every guy on this roster belongs on this team, and we value the contributions that everybody brings to the table.”
On what Evan Nelson can mean for the team moving forward: “Well, Evan’s experience, he’s obviously an older guy, he has a lot of experience. I think it’s a great story. You talk about a local kid who grew up idolizing Arizona basketball. He has a relationship with Kyle Fogg. Kyle was at practice a couple days ago. That’s really cool. That relationship goes back to the days when Evan was in his early teens. So that’s really cool. I think that’s awesome stuff. Every day he comes to practice, he really understands and values what it means to put that Arizona jersey on. So I think that’s important. That’s a good culture driver for us. He’s a good player in his own right. So, you know, I think he’s going to have some really special moments this year.”
Awaka on coming back after not playing against Saint Mary’s: “It was good to be out there. Last game was tough, seeing guys go to war and not being out there, it’s hard. So, you work hard as a team throughout the whole summer, and obviously you want to be out there with your guys. So I was glad I was able to play with them today.”
On starting with Krivas: “It was fun. I love playing with Mo. We haven’t gotten to that too much last year, but this year, especially as of recent practices. I think he kind of helps me a lot with my game, and I do the same thing for him. So I think we’re a really good one two combo. I think defensively, some things change more on the perimeter, and then I think he just creates some gravity in the paint, in terms of posting things. That kind of makes things easier for me. Then obviously if a team is keying in on both of us, guards are going to get wide open threes, cuts to the basket, things like that.”
On if he watched the NCAA tournament/Florida after the Duke loss: “I was kind of salty, but we know who they are. They’re the defending champs for a reason, and this week is going to be a really important week for us to prepare on techniques, key in on what we need to get better at improving and make sure we’re ready for Monday.”
On playing between the four and five spots: “It’s really a case by case basis, depending on who we’re playing. It might be a matchup that coach wants to exploit. So he plays another five, another game I play the four. So really, I’m open to both. Again. I think it’s just more of a game, playing a case by case kind of thing, and what the coaching staff has in mind, how they want to attack that game.”
Kharchenkov on how the first two exhibitions went for him: “I like exhibition games a lot, because you can finally play somebody else that’s not in practice. I feel there’s no good game or bad game. I think it’s just constant experience playing with a new team, playing with new teammates, and just finding the rhythm.”
On if he watched any of the NCAA tournament: “We were right into the season. I think our yearly playoffs started at that point. So, it also makes it kind of difficult when the games are at night with a time difference. So I know Florida is the reigning champs, but I didn’t watch a game or anything.”
On if he feels well adjusted coming from international play: “I think even when I played in Uruguay, you always learn something new. So after four months, I definitely don’t know everything, but I’m excited. I’m excited to play in a new country, and everywhere I go is going to be a new place for me. I’m really excited for that. I just like challenges.”
On playing between the three and four spot: “I was playing more to three position over there in Europe, but I feel like putting me in my four position can help the team out a lot, just rotation wise and also makes it more difficult for the defense to play against me. I think it’s also better for my game to improve and just to see how the four man has to move rather than when I’m playing in the three. I understand what the four is looking for. So I think that’s a good thing for me and for the team in general.”
