As the Arizona Wildcats raced toward the end of their second preseason under Tommy Lloyd last week, a spirited version of the “charge drill” played out inside the Richard Jefferson Gym.
It looked something like this: Players took turns absorbing two blows of contact that sent them to the floor, hurriedly picked themselves up each time, then raced downcourt to dive on a loose ball — and tried to toss the ball upward from the ground into the hands of a trailing teammate for a quick basket.
Except one thing was lacking at the end. The Wildcats needed overtime to escape tough, gritty TCU in the second round of the tournament and, when facing an even tougher team four days later in the Sweet 16, lost to Houston 72-60. His “defense on the ball is, I mean, he’s a pest,” Larsson said. “I’m glad I’m on his team in practice, because he’s probably one of our best defenders.”“I like that. I’m gonna start using it — a pest,” Ramey said. “Me and him are doing a good job of feeding off each other, especially on the defensive end. We’re both aggressive defenders, with me coming from the league I came from, where it’s more physical.
“Have you stood next to Pelle?” Lloyd said last season, noting that Larsson was even considered for defending Illinois 7-footer Kofi Cockburn. “He’s as big as most people’s four-men, so I’ve got no problems putting him on anybody.” “I just need to be physical, go for rebounds, even more than last year,” Tubelis said. “When I watch film from last year, like, I didn’t go. I didn’t go for rebounds at all.”
While Ballo is a capable scorer around the basket, the Wildcats also brought in two freshman bigs with the ability to stretch a little offensively: 6-10 Henri Veesaar of Estonia and the 7-foot Dylan Anderson of Perry High School in Gilbert. On the wing, the Wildcats also have a pair of promising 18-year-olds in Europeans Adama Bal and Filip Borovicanin.