Arizona’s Relentless Attack of the Rim

The Arizona Wildcats are off to a hot start. They’re 3-0 with two blowout wins and arguably the best win of the year so far, beating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

One major factor in their early season success? Their relentless attack of the rim.

Through three games, Arizona has 108 field goal attempts “at the rim”, or within 4.5 feet of the basket. That’s the most in the country. The Wildcats are shooting 63% on those attempts, just above the nationwide average (62%).

Why is this important? It correlates to overall offensive success and it’s the result of an intentional effort by Tommy Lloyd to apply as much pressure on the defense as possible.

Per CBB Analytics, a team with Tommy Lloyd on the bench has led the country in at the rim field goal attempts in three of the last four seasons.

• 2019-2020: Gonzaga (780 attempts, 67.2 FG%: 31-2 overall, 1-seed, no tournament)
• 2020-2021: Gonzaga (865 attempts, 73.6 FG%: 31-1 overall, 1-seed, national runner-up)
• 2021-2022: Arizona (904 attempts, 68.5 FG%: 33-4 overall, 1-seed, Sweet 16)
• 2022-2023: TCU (873 attempts, 61.4 FG%: 22-13 overall, 6-seed. Second Round)

So what happened last year?

Guards Kerr Kriisa and Courtney Ramey were much less inclined to attack the rim than Bennedict Mathurin was the year prior. The Wildcats were much more perimeter and mid-range oriented than before.

When Arizona ran into a team that could defend the three-point line at a high level, they struggled. Their first round NCAA tournament loss to Princeton was their lowest point total of the season. They went 3-16 from three and couldn’t get any rhythm on offense.

Finding the Right Fit in the Portal

This off-season, Lloyd and his staff prioritized players that could get to the rim. They weren’t going to fall victim to a cold shooting night in the tournament again. Insert Jaden Bradley, Caleb Love and Keshad Johnson.

Lloyd wasn’t necessarily looking for the best available players, but the best available players that fit his scheme.

It’s still early, but the returns for Arizona so far are promising. Bradley’s ATR rate is up 11.1%. Keshad Johnson’s is up 32% (!) and even Kylan Boswell is up there at 33.3%. Caleb Love is the odd man out here, but he’s a special case. He had the ultimate green light at North Carolina and he likely still does at Arizona, but as the year goes on I’m confident he’ll adapt to the offense and only pull a three when he’s open.

Once these new guys start to build chemistry and figure out the kinks, this team is going to be special. There’s national championship potential in Tucson and it starts at the rim.

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