Best starting lineup

[mvpreed2]

It's just wasted money when you don't play the players. Tommy missed out big time. We could have beaten Duke if he had Carter more prepared. We lost by 7 right? 100-93? Something like that.

Not like we weren't "right there" with the big boys.

Time for Tommy to grow the F up as a Coach and lean into his TALENT.

I will expand it a bit further.
It is silly to go land them, KNOWING it is clear that the play is to attract top-tier 5* prospects moving forward instead of portal free agents right?
Why would I want to go to Arizona over say...Kansas/Duke/Arkansas/North Carolina and the like and there is ANY chance that I come off the bench at ANY point during the season?

The moment I commit, I lock in a starting spot.
Now you and the staff need to be figuring out how to get me the most reps on offense so I can shine, declare, speak highly of you and the program so that you can do the same when you try to recruit the class coming in after me/us.

Lloyd better get with the program.
It can be very easy to turn Arizona into the Duke of the West with all the talent out here.
If he continues to play this game, Arizona will continue to fight for 2nd place in the Big 12 after Houston with Kansas, Iowa State and Baylor.
#BearDown

[Bear]

Based on current roster, would like to see Bradley, Buries, Aristode, Peat, Krivas.

I can see Delly over Aristode at SF and Awaka over Krivas at center to start the year. Even Delly all year if Aristode isn't as far along as we hope.

A little skeptical of Peat being quick enough for the 3 but Delly had issues all year and can't be worse than that.

There is a season of work to be done and looking forward to the 3 freshman to become phenomenal.

[arxpert]

It's too soon for me to start reliving
the E-Man tragedy. I'm still grieving.

I am in therapy 3x a week over it. In shambles.

Tommy really knows how to put talent in the ole Fargo wood chipper and spit them out to other schools after giving them some valuable experience as Big Men on Campus crushing it with the Ladies of Tucson!

[KansasCityCats]

Bryant is the only example of a player needing more playing time, prior to leaving. At the beginning of the year, his outside shot struggled. Throughout the season, he continually got into early foul trouble. Otherwise, we didn't have a SF that deserved more PT.

Murauskas would have been a nice long term player but he was miserable on defense and we had enough depth to justify his limited minutes.

Lloyd plays guys that want to hustle on both sides of the ball. It's pretty simple.

[arxpert]

Video shows that these international players are raw developments. Regardless, we don't have a lot of depth in the frontcourt so they'll play more than Stephen, who was clearly not ready for Big-12 play.

You don't know that. Not every team was Houston. Bouncy, athletic, and excited to try to make an impact goes a long way. We only ever needed a 1 trick pony. Someone who could get 3 blocks in a game even if picking up a non-shooting foul. Tommy just refused to give Stephen a chance. He barely gave Carter a chance. Tommy has to do better. There is no excuse anymore now that he chose to recruit Top Tier Talent and move away from Mid Major players to rely on.

These 6'10" kids aren't just going to be lunch for SloMo to practice off of. They need to be able to be serviceable and probably are better than most think at the moment.

The roster currently is very thin and devoid of scoring talent unless we are talking about Burries and Peat going for 35-40ppg each night. I'm not seeing the balance at the moment and I am not seeing a "distributor" Guard on the team either. But if we are going to just chuck 3s and moonball lob to bang in to Krivas, Peat, Awaka then it's all more of the same.

Ja Morant may have been a 1/1 in College, but the ability to get 8 to 12 assists in a game exists when you score 80+

If it isn't happening frequently for 1, 2 or 3 different players on any given night then I think something is flawed with the system. We don't need 8 guys trying for 5 assists per night. We need Organized Offense and even more Organized + Intentional Defensive approaches. Not just Man to Man with a Press inserted only when down 15pts with 3min to go.

[arxpert]

The moment I commit, I lock in a starting spot.

The NBA is a Player's League. It isn't so far fetched that College is soon going to be a Player's league too.

Heck Carter already had a caveat of REVENUE SHARING if he returned. Who does he really think he is with his 1 year service, barely any playing time, terrible FT%, and like 6.5ppg or whatever.

Blame Tommy for not using him at all and wasting his chance to have a "Lottery Pick" playing basketball at UofA, but in all honesty... REVENUE SHARING??? LOL. Like he is an Owner of the Program.

So when you say things like the Committing and Starting, I have to think that these kids aren't signing without a guarantee of a Starter Spot and 30 Minutes a Game (all they can handle) where Tommy just has to work around it.

I am sure there are some heavy Contracts with heavy language in them already. I wonder what Bryce James' contract says TBH. I think he is better than many are giving credence to currently. He could easily be a good back up/3rd Man at the Guard Rotation if he is solid on Defense and a Great Passer.

I would even like to see him play PG if he can dish 8ast per game to scorers like Burries/Peat etc. Good Court Vision goes a long way.

So I wonder if Tommy is going to be able to bury James like he did Bryant.

[KansasCityCats]

Arizona has finished atop the NCAA in scoring over the past four years. Regardless of the strategy and personnel, that's the consistent statistic.

Yes, Stephen could have earned more minutes, in order to develop his game. I was in Stillwater, during one of his rare contributions. Although he put forth a ton of effort, he still was sloppy and raw.

Hoping the two new recruits develop at practice, especially against two strong upperclassmen with great work ethics.

[mvpreed2]

The NBA is a Player's League. It isn't so far fetched that College is soon going to be a Player's league too.

Heck Carter already had a caveat of REVENUE SHARING if he returned. Who does he really think he is with his 1 year service, barely any playing time, terrible FT%, and like 6.5ppg or whatever.

Blame Tommy for not using him at all and wasting his chance to have a "Lottery Pick" playing basketball at UofA, but in all honesty... REVENUE SHARING??? LOL. Like he is an Owner of the Program.

So when you say things like the Committing and Starting, I have to think that these kids aren't signing without a guarantee of a Starter Spot and 30 Minutes a Game (all they can handle) where Tommy just has to work around it.

I am sure there are some heavy Contracts with heavy language in them already. I wonder what Bryce James' contract says TBH. I think he is better than many are giving credence to currently. He could easily be a good back up/3rd Man at the Guard Rotation if he is solid on Defense and a Great Passer.

I would even like to see him play PG if he can dish 8ast per game to scorers like Burries/Peat etc. Good Court Vision goes a long way.

So I wonder if Tommy is going to be able to bury James like he did Bryant.

1. The part I disliked the most is that we all saw by like mid-December that Bryant was better than Dell'Orso/Lewis and Townsend.
Lloyd playing his favorites is going to ruin some of the cache he has with the wrong people.
I say by the time Big 12 rolls around?
You should be looking to tweak your lineup to put the best players on the floor.
Bryant should have been a starter by Big 12 play.

2. The sad part about James is I believe Lloyd told him exactly what he should have told the rest of these prospects: the blunt truth.
I believe whatever Lloyd has planned for Bryce was made crystal-clear from the jump.
I cannot prove anything, but there is a part of me that does not believe it is so cut and dry with Lloyd and some of these prospects.
#BearDown

[arxpert]

If Bryce James has Elite Courtvision and can set up scorers then he should be on the floor. There's no reason to camp out and not play. Lebron will get him into the NBA no matter what.

This is why I think Bryce will contribute and I do think he is better than Bronny at basketball. Different, but also better.