New Tommy Lloyd interview with NBC sports 🎥

[WILD]

[KansasCityCats]

Two big takeaways:

Koa Peat is ridiculously mature and we're lucky to have him

Tommy Lloyd hated losing

[TucsonTruckStop]

Not a fan of his answer regarding the team construction philosophy. Hope he finds a happy middle ground with freshman AND transfer, but with a heavy emphasis on roster retention (which means he needs 4* freshman that are 2-3 yr guys). So far, he's been on both extremes.

[KansasCityCats]

Yes, I think Lloyd was exaggerating when he spoke about disregarding the portal. He's proven that the Cats will reach out to transfers when necessary.

Upperclassmen are typically expensive and selfish, which is the reason that they're jumping from school to school.

I like the concept of finding non 5* kids and the staff has historically attacked that method until this year, when they landed both Peat and Burries.

[arxpert]

Two big takeaways:

Koa Peat is ridiculously mature and we're lucky to have him

Tommy Lloyd hated losing

It is early in the process. Koa is no secret to any of us, but now I cannot imagine anyone in the world is sleeping on him. I am elated to see Tommy getting some recognition. Hoping it compounds into some more Recruits interest in joining our Professional Basketball Team.

[arxpert]

Not a fan of his answer regarding the team construction philosophy. Hope he finds a happy middle ground with freshman AND transfer, but with a heavy emphasis on roster retention (which means he needs 4* freshman that are 2-3 yr guys). So far, he's been on both extremes.

Tommy has never been able to "retain" players to the extent you are hoping.

He is too focused on International Recruiting, but never playing them.

They are no secret once they hit America. Smaller schools are happy to offer Cash Money to our guys along with virtually unlimited Playing Time.

Tommy should be looking at established Sophomore's at the end of this year who will become Juniors next year. Not just 1 off Senior/Grad Transfer fillers. Get them to effectively come on board for 2 seasons minimum (unless they outplay their status and get drafted) or don't sign them at all.

That is basically the only way to "retain" anyone these days.

Would you be shocked if Bryce James plays for Arizona at this point? What guarantees that he stays put? If Tommy can answer that, I would be impressed.

[KansasCityCats]

Arizona doesn't lose players at a higher rate than any other school. It's the culture of loser college basketball, which is a shame.

Lloyd rarely has a player of significance leave early in their careers. Ballo was a grad transfer and we made room for Krivas and Veesaar, who recently jumped as a junior for money.

Otherwise Murauskas "might" pan out to be a pro. I'd prefer to have Peat this season.

[arxpert]

Arizona doesn't lose players at a higher rate than any other school. It's the culture of loser college basketball, which is a shame.

Lloyd rarely has a player of significance leave early in their careers. Ballo was a grad transfer and we made room for Krivas and Veesaar, who recently jumped as a junior for money.

Otherwise Murauskas "might" pan out to be a pro. I'd prefer to have Peat this season.

Tommy shouldn't be recruiting younger players he never intends to have playing time. Period.

[KansasCityCats]

True.  Aren't we starting three freshmen?  Perhaps the younger players of the past never deserved minutes.  That's the reason Adama Bal isn't in the league.

[arxpert]

True.  Aren't we starting three freshmen?  Perhaps the younger players of the past never deserved minutes.  That's the reason Adama Bal isn't in the league.

Again, if you are over recruiting the youngest talent and losing it, then there is no point to recruit it. Whether it will be Bryce, Mahut?, or Sidi next year leaving for another school... no point if he has no intentions of letting them get involved. They are not secrets. Sidi should be getting 8 minutes a game. You literally don't know  if or when Krivas will implode or go down. Awaka-Rodman is also a Foul issue waiting to happen. We have no size outside of those 2 players and Tommy isn't really preparing for it.

If KOA is our "5" for any real purposes, we will have difficulties winning games. Tommy skips the opportunities to train up a guy like Sidi every season for a matchup specific role or to be ready if actually needed.

Last year, Carter was not ready in time. Henri was passed over too in the early season. Tommy is a man of many tools, but uses only a few of them.

To me, Tommy knows "a little about a lot" as a Coach. I am not saying that is horrendous or anything, but he is not the jack of many trades, master of nothing and it shows up getting outcoached in all the big losses habitually.

I still revert back to Miller because he was rarely outcoached and his players just didn't perform when they had the opportunities to become immortal. Miller got them to those moments. He led his horses to the water. He couldn't make them drink.

I see 2 very different coaches when I compare the two and I don't care about how Tommy was able to enjoy Miller's players in the beginning riding their abilities. This is more of a Micro comment than Macro.

And there is no reasonable way you should disagree. Tommy has not been a Head Coach for that long. He shouldn't be expected to be as good at it. He may be ahead of the curve, but it is still a drop off for our purposes in this debate.