In addition to being off to the best start in school history, Arizona’s 23-0 record is also the best for a Big 12 school. Kansas won its first 22 games in 1996-97, the same season the Wildcats beat them in the Sweet 16 on their way to a national title. Yet it was the 2001 […]
In addition to being off to the best start in school history, Arizona’s 23-0 record is also the best for a Big 12 school. Kansas won its first 22 games in 1996-97, the same season the Wildcats beat them in the Sweet 16 on their way to a national title.
Yet it was the 2001 Final Four team, the last one from the UA to make it that far, that was honored at halftime of Saturday’s 84-47 win over Oklahoma State.
Coach Tommy Lloyd said he was looking forward to spending more time with that group, though any celebrations will be short as preparation is needed for a gauntlet of games starting with Monday’s trip to Kansas.
Our game recap can be found here. Below is what Lloyd, Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell’Orso had to say about the win:
On facing a team that scored 99 in its last game: “I don’t think we focused on them score 99. We knew they have some talented offensive players, and we wanted to apply pressure, and then make them play against size in tight windows. Consistently, over and over and over again. I thought today just kind of felt like over time, our size kind of swallowed them up a little bit. And that happens. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting that outcome today. They had a big, big win on Wednesday, and Coach Lutz has done a great job, just every once in a while I think that kind of happens in basketball, a game on the road kind of gets away from you. I’m sure they had some shots that they normally make that didn’t go today, maybe some free throws. And then sometimes it gets a little tough to play from behind on the road and in an environment like this. I thought our guys consistently, the defensive effort was pretty high level.”
On Dell’Orso having a good offensive game: “It would probably be more of a koala bear off his back than a monkey. I mean, Delly’s been good. We had a good conversation yesterday. Delly is a great dude, a high character guy. He’s here for it. I’m happy to see him have a little bit of success, because I’m sure that makes him feel a little bit better. But I just told him, there’s really no scenario I see where I don’t keep giving him opportunities. He’s earned that, he deserves that, and our team needs it from him. Great contributions from him today.”
On how Arizona’s freshmen are different from others in the Big 12: “I don’t know if I want to really compare them to the other freshmen. All these great freshmen in the league, all the the accolades and the attention they’re getting is deserved. Having been able to see a lot of them play and coach some of them, kind of up close, it’s a special group, and our guys fit right into that. The thing I would say about our guys is, our guys are part of the team, or even though they’re great freshmen, the program is bigger than them, and the program is bigger than all of us. It’s bigger than me, bigger than the players. And then they’ve come in and they openly accepted that. I think that’s a really powerful thing. We have four freshmen in our top eight, and they all seem to be hitting their stride and kind of improving over the course of the season.”
On Jaden Bradley: “Jaden is just a really good player, and he’s having a great year, and he seems to be making all the right decisions. Today was another game where he put his marks on it when he had to, and then when he didn’t have to, he kind of gave a lot of space for the other guys to shine, and that just says about a lot about him as a player and a person.”
On Bradley’s two dunks: “I think our guys love that. Our guys love JB, and they all look up to him as a person and a player. So when he does that, the unc of the group, so to speak, I think that guys get pretty excited for him, and it’s fun to see.”
On why Arizona wasn’t ranked higher to start the season: “That’s hard to say. Having done this for a lot of years, you maybe have a little better feel for what you have the people on the outside understand. And I think we’re in a society where, when there’s something positive happening, I think a lot of our minds go to, well, what’s wrong? What’s negative? How could I set my separate myself from a media person and have a little bit more knowledge than somebody and find the flaw? And so I just think people maybe looked at us and thought we were young, though we couldn’t shoot good, things like that. But I felt really good all along about the collective pieces we had. I’m not gonna sit back and say I expected to be right where we’re at right now. But I’m not blown away either.”
On interacting with the 2001 Final Four team: “They were in the locker room kind of throughout the day today, and before the game, halftime, after the game. One of the great things about this program is, when you play with this program, it’s something that sticks with you for the rest of your life, and you’re going to always be a special part of what we do. And we want to make sure that our former players and our alumni feel a connection, and our current players understand how important that is, because our current players are going to have that connection with our future players. It’s not a complicated thing, and honestly, it brings a lot of joy to all of us.”
On having that team around his current squad: “I think it helps our guys realize how special it is to play at Arizona, because those former players, they reinforce it to them. It gives them perspective that, you know what? You’re not always going to be young. You’re not always going to be the player. Pretty soon, you’re going to be the fan or the parent, and you’re going to have something to root for and cheer for. You’re going to have something, a team you’re still a part of, even when you’re playing days are done, and that’s a powerful thing. When you go on these journeys, you’re going to hit some bumps in the road, some challenges. You got to have a vision of something much bigger than yourself. You have to have a vision beyond today, and I think having those former players around kind of helps submit that vision and give our guys a visual of like, yeah, it’s pretty cool that I’m part of something bigger than myself, and it’s something that’s gonna be a part of me for my rest of my life. So you know what, I’m going to be willing to give everything I got and more while I’m a player here, because I know that’s something, these are memories I’m going to have the rest of my life.”
On visiting Kansas: “We’re going in there with nothing but respect, for Kansas and Coach Self. We played there last year, and I’ll be honest, I played a lot of places. I came away from there thinking, all right, it is different. But nothing but positive thoughts for them as a program, and it’s going to be an honor to compete against them. We know they’re going to give us an incredible game. It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere. And I just have a feeling those Jayhawk fans are going to be out for blood. So you know what? We’re here for it. We’re here for it. That’s no promise of which way the game is going to go, but we’re excited for the opportunity to compete on such a big stage, in such a special game.”
On the backloaded Big 12 schedule: “The Big 12 is a powerhouse basketball conference, and Brett Yormak is a basketball guy, and he’s fully embraced that narrative. And as part of that, I mean, he’s trying to create value for his member, us schools. And one of the ways you create value is you have important games in great viewing windows. And so they wanted to get as many marquee games as they could in February. They told us that, and look at our schedule. They delivered. So I’m excited for the opportunities coming down the pipe. We’re mad at anybody or feel like it’s unfair. If you want to be a great program and you want to be a participant in a great conference? Well, you got to be willing to walk the walk. So our walk is playing a lot of high level games in the month of February and leading into March. So let’s do it.”
On if the league told Arizona it was going to do this: “I think how it happened is, we got our schedule and they apologized. They said, ‘we know this is hard, we know this is a gauntlet, but there’s reasons we’re doing this. Because the University of Arizona and the men’s basketball program brings a ton of value to our conference. We want you guys to be a marquee piece of this conference, basketball wise.’ We know we got to earn our keep. We know we’re the new kids on the block. So we’re not walking in with hubris or thinking we’re deserving of everything. We know we got to earn it. I’m sure BYU is saying the same thing. I’m sure Houston is saying the same thing. I’m sure Texas Tech is saying the same thing. We all kind of have this similar gauntlet down the stretch with Kansas. We know it’s going to be tough, and we know we’re going to probably take a few on the chin, but hopefully it’ll make us better.”
On Richard Jefferson’s video message saying he expects Arizona to reach the Final Four: “Honestly, I’m excited for the Kansas game. I know this team has great potential. I’m not going to make light of it, but I also know there’s a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of challenges ahead and in opportune times, things sometimes don’t go your way. We’re not scared of what’s ahead of us, but by no means are we acting like we’ve been anointed. I know there’s some really good coaches in this conference. I know they’re licking their chops for a chance to play us, and we’re gonna have to tee it up, and we’re gonna have to compete. One team that I’ve seen that no one’s talking about is Houston. They just keep kicking ass, kicking ass. That’s what they do. That’s what they’ve done for like the last four or five years. So let’s understand there’s a gauntlet coming, and it is some real challenges, and we’re going to have to answer the bell.”
On not looking too far ahead with all the big games coming up: “We always talk about day to day, possession by possession. Media timeout to media timeout, you just break it up in segments. Because those are what drive success. You need to focus on the things that drive success. You don’t need to focus on a potential outcome down the way. That’s why we have you guys. You guys get to do all the reviewing, previewing, guessing, and we get to play. So that’s why the media and our program make a great team. You guys can do all the thinking and prognosticating. And we just want to play.”
Bradley on if he deserves the ‘unc’ nickname: “I feel like I have. We got some older guys, but I’m definitely getting up there, for sure.”
On slowing down Oklahoma State: “They’re a very talented team offensively. They can get it going. The Big 12 has a lot of great offensive teams, and we pride ourselves on defense, and we did a solid job tonight, and we just got to keep going.”
On what makes Arizona so tough to beat: “I just feel like our versatility, and we know how deep we are. I feel like our guys off the bench did a great job. It can be anybody’s night, the bigs, the guards, and I feel like everybody’s happy for one another. And I feel like that’s special. You don’t see that too often.”
On playing at Kansas last season: “It’s crazy in there. It’s hard to hear yourself and their fans are crazy. Kansas is a great program. They have a great team this year, so it’s gonna be a tough atmosphere. But I feel like we’re gonna go out there and handle business for sure.”
Dell’Orso on getting to the rim: “Obviously we got a bunch of rebounding talent, and teams have to worry about inside the paint and more about our bigs. So being a buy that can be able to get to the rim, kind of one on one, you got to be able to do. And the bigs do a good job of sealing, and get us a lot of the layups.”
On Arizona’s defense: “I think it’s just effort, wanting to prove something, keep teams to a low score. Shots will fall for us on offense, and if they don’t we’ll always pride ourselves on defense.”
On Bradley’s dunks: “Pretty wild. You never know if they’re going to actually go, but they’re always spectacular.”
On being prepared for playing at Kansas: “You’re in on those environments, night in, night out. The Big 12 has been great at that. Kansas has a great atmosphere, and we’ll be ready for it.”
On not looking ahead: “Just stay positive. Stick to your routine, keep keep your checklist, like I do. Don’t get too out of yourself. Don’t get too behind. Just try and stay a little level headed. Don’t look at how many teams you have left, it’s one game at a time, one possession at a time.”
On his shooting struggles: “It’s been fine. It’s part of the game. You can’t let those statistics bother you, everyone is going to go through it. It’s just trusting your repetitions, trusting your routine, staying true yourself. Don’t let anything bother you. Eventually it’ll come back. Because I know I can shoot, that’s all that matters.”
Category: General Sports
