Tommy Lloyd Giving Arizona Wildcats Mandatory Break During Holidays
This season has not gone as many expected for Arizona.
After coming into the year ranked No. 10 in preseason polls, the Wildcats quickly dropped out of the picture following losses to Wisconsin and Duke which were a precursor of what was to come.
Arizona went into the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament as one of the favorites, and after beating Davidson in their first-round matchup by over 30 points, it looked like they had gotten things back on track and were ready to play like the team many expected them to be.
But, alarm bells went off when they lost back-to-back games against Oklahoma and West Virginia that pushed them under .500 for the first time in the Tommy Lloyd era, and also the first time in 14 years.
Since then, Arizona has taken care of business against the lesser opponents on their schedule but failed to win against UCLA despite being in control for the majority of that contest.
The Wildcats closed out their non-conference schedule in style following that loss, bludgeoning Samford and Central Michigan to head into the holiday break feeling more positive about what they can accomplish going forward, while also having a lot to think about.
Lloyd and the players know this wasn't the early-season stretch they wanted, but he gave his team a clear directive during this break; take time away from basketball.
"Rest, relax, love your family, hang out. That's the homework," the head coach said per Bruce Pascoe of The Arizona Daily Star.
That's probably a good approach.
There's nothing anyone can do about what has already taken place, but they can certainly get burned out if they're not careful and lose confidence if they dwell on mistakes.
"I mean, this nonconference was rough. I think we all need a little break and a reset," KJ Lewis said.
Lloyd is giving his players that time to reset, sending everyone home for the holidays or somewhere with either friends or family.
This time away should hopefully allow Arizona to put the non-conference schedule in the past and get ready for the daunting challenge that will come by playing Big 12 opponents until Selection Sunday.
Lloyd is also hoping this let's his team get motivated for their return to the court.
"Get hungry. Get hungry because we know when we come back — we're excited to be starting this Big 12 thing we've been talking about for about 20 months. We're fired up," he added.
Arizona welcomes TCU into the McKale Center on Dec. 30.
