Fresh off Arizona's Maui Invitational Championship last week, the Wildcats prepare for the start of Pac-12 play this week with games against Utah and Cal. Ahead of those two games, Courtney Ramey and Tommy Lloyd spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon.

Here is a rundown of everything they had to say during the latest men's basketball weekly press conference ahead of the trip to Salt Lake City this week.

On how the team feels after beating ranked teams

"It shows that we can get off to good starts. It shows that we can battle back when teams make runs. It showed a lot of growth in our team. It's always good to play good competition early in the season to kind of see where your team ranks, but those games are behind us now. We play a good team in Utah on Thursday, so we got to prepare like they're one of the best teams we've played so far so that's our mindset moving forward."

On if how he felt before his first game with Arizona

"Honestly no because I know that the work I put in and where my mind was, just the preparation that I had, it was good to see the results. I was tired the first three minutes because it was my first time playing in a game, but nervous, no I wasn't nervous."

On how he fit in with the team

"It was good. I practiced with them every day. I was taking more second-team reps because of the suspension, but leading into me playing my first game I was getting more first-team reps and then in the summer, I was getting a lot of first-team reps. It wasn't a big drop off for me. It was just good to be out there and just be able to contribute in a positive way."

On what it was like having to sit out

"The last time I had to sit out was my senior year of high school. I missed the first nine games because I broke my wrist, so that was the only time I ever missed games. It's just crazy that it took till my senior year of high school to miss games and then my last year in college to miss games. It was completely different. This was a suspension and the first one was an injury, so neither one I could really control."

On Arizona's foul trouble in Maui and if the team's defense had to do with it

"When you're aggressive, fouls are going to happen. It's like both teams were aggressive. I think that's a good thing. I think if a team doesn't foul, they're just playing passive and not being aggressive so I don't think the fouls were that big of an issue. Of course we can limit some of them with better technique and better preparation, but overall I think it was a good thing for us to show that we were an aggressive team and that we care about defense too."

On showing you are willing to foul and be aggressive

"I mean coming from the Big 12, it is a physical league. There are a lot of free throws shot in the Big 12, so for me it is kind of an adjustment in a more fast paced, offensive minded league. They tell me all the time to show my hands more. I can't be as physical, but at the end of the day I feel like having that play style and carrying it over into the games, it sends a message like it's not going to be easy tonight."

On his adjustments to the Arizona offense

"I was kind of used to the offense in the summer time. Of course it was an adjustment for me playing in a whole different style of play but playing in my first game, it was just good to see the results. Everything that we did is what we practiced, so there was nothing new for me. The speed was something I wasn't used to because it was my first game played, but overall I think it's good so far."

On how Arizona's front court helps the back court

"They benefit us, we benefit them. We have shooters on the perimeter that gives them more space down low and when you have good bigs who create a lot of attention, they can kick it out to us and it frees us up to. I think it is a perfect mix and perfect balance so far. We just have to continue to grow and continue to fix the things that we don't do well so later in the season, we can be a complete team."

On how he compliments Kerr Kriisa

"It is another ball handler, another shooter, take pressure off of him on defense. He takes a lot of pressure off me bringing the ball up and just being a facilitator. Just being a leader, always talking to him, make sure he is in the right head space. Just being mature, I feel like he helps me as I help him."

On how he has developed as an on ball defender

"It is something I have always wanted to do. I think it was my sophomore year. We hired a new assistant coach and he challenged me to be a two-way player. It was something that was kind of new for me, so I took on that challenge and ever since then, I just wanted to show I can be great on both sides of the ball. I think that is something that can help me stand out as I continue to play."

On how his defense fits into Lloyd's system

"With Shaka [Smart], it was a lot of switching so there weren't a lot of mismatches. With [Chris] Beard, it was the side defense so forcing everything base line and keeping things out of the middle. With coach Lloyd, it is just squaring your man up, fighting through screens, being physical, not taking short cuts but he gives me a lot of freedom just to make my own decisions. I think my first game, I kind of was tired and I shot a lot of screens and he was mad at me for that but with a coach like that who pushes you and wants you to be great, his message is different than others because you know he cares. Hearing that message motivated me to get better right away."

On how Lloyd's system differs from Shaka Smart's system

"I think we share the ball more. I think with Shaka, the ball got stagnant sometimes because we had great players too so we all want to showcase our abilities but it was more of a one-on-one type of system. We did ball screens, but I just think as you can see early on, we share the ball a lot. We make the extra pass, we pass up good shots to get great shots and I think a lot of teams do it. I just think it sticks out more here than others."

On if he could tell in the summer that Oumar Ballo was going to be really good

"Yeah, just the work that he put in. I knew [Azuolas Tubelis] was going to have a great season this year as he is doing so far. Kerr put in a lot of good work before I got here as I heard. I just think every guy does the stuff they're supposed to do on and off the court, so if you're doing that then you're going to be successful on the court."

On playing in Utah with the high altitude

"This will be my first time doing it, so I don't really know anything about it. I just know from the past few days, I've been working super hard just to fight through fatigue and it's going to help our team out too. We didn't settle and just come back and feel like we won a national championship. I think we got back to work the next day and it was good to see everybody in the gym."

On the team's reaction moving up to No. 4 in the AP Poll

"It was good to get the recognition, but we're not satisfied. Our ultimate goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season and be the final two teams playing, so I think the regular season matters but it's not the ultimate goal for us. There have been teams who weren't ranked in the top-25 to make a national championship, so we just have to take that mindset."

On if there was any lag in the first practice back from Maui

"I think we all kind of understood that we couldn't just have that linger around because that's not how good teams operate. Every guy has been doing their part in getting into the gym and getting extra treatment. I don't think there was no lag at all. We talk about it, but it's not our main focus right now. I think our main focus right now is beating a good team in Utah on Thursday."

On practices being hard since returning from Maui

"I wouldn't overthink it. I don't know if they've been that hard. We've hardly been able to practice. We had all these NCAA days we had to take off and make up and this counts as a day off, that doesn't count as a day off. It is like calculus figuring out when you can practice so we have practiced a few times and we're going to go hard today."

On what the team learned about itself in Maui

"It remains to be seen. We haven't played again so hopefully we learned a lot. We tried to address some things in film and a lot of positives. We want to keep reinforcing those, but then some things we need to get better at and you get in situations in a game that you simulate in practice but it's not the same thing. Just being in game situations or whether it is in the middle of a game, learning how to make a run or stem the tide a little bit. We'll find out."

On how Ramey compliments Kriisa

"Courtney is a good player. I mean he is just a good all-around basketball player. He is a two-way guy. He is very good defensively, obviously he is good offensively too. He is able to help us a little bit with some ball handling and decision making and I think he is going to continue to grow in that area. I'm really challenging him to grow in that area and get more comfortable at facilitating and having the ball in his hands. I know he is comfortable doing it, but I want him to be comfortable doing it the way I want done. He is not far off, but he just needs some reps."

On Kriisa being more controlled

"That could be day-to-day, game-to-game, media timeout-to-media timeout. He probably was pretty tired, pretty fatigued so maybe his celebrations weren't as good but I caught him a few times maybe not celebrating his own stuff as much as when a teammate did something, really celebrating or pumping his fist. Kerr is just a really good basketball player and I think the antics aside, I don't pay attention to the antics because they don't mean anything to me. I know maybe that draws attention to him from other people but when it comes to just pure basketball, I mean he is doing a good job and I think he is really showing something."

On the dramatic development of the big men under Lloyd

"I love big guys. I love playing with big guys and I really value them. Secondly, we spend a lot of time with those guys. When you think of player development, a lot of people tend to tilt towards the perimeter players. The ball handling, the shot making ability, the things that maybe are a little more eye popping but I really appreciate the value of just a good big and the simplicity of how they can play and playing with power and force. The other thing is in our system, bigs get to touch the ball a lot whether it is facilitating out on the perimeter, initiating actions on the perimeter or posting up. We spend a lot of time on our bigs touching the ball and we spend a lot of time teaching our guards how to pass the ball to the bigs so they get to touch the ball in advantageous situations."

On if he could have envisioned Ballo's progress during his redshirt year at Gonzaga

"For sure, I recruited the kid. I believed in him and just because it doesn't happen early, doesn't mean it's not going to happen late. I guess my job as a coach is to hang with him and get him there until he is not with us anymore. I'm not surprised at all with the impact that he is having and hopefully he'll settle in and make this the norm."

On if he pays attention to other teams and other scores across the country

"I think any coach would be lying to say if he wasn't addicted to watching other scores. You might not be able to watch other teams play a lot unless you're going to play them and you're going to scout them, but you're always paying attention to the scoreboard. It is what we do as coaches, so you take notice but at the same point, I think you also understand that early success can be fleeting. We really haven't done anything yet. I mean obviously we wanted to win the tournament we were involved in. We checked that box, now it is onto the next thing and winning Maui, Thursday night doesn't mean we start with a 6-0 lead against Utah. The score is going to be 0-0, so you just have to move on and I really love the process of getting better whether it is after a win or a loss. I'm just looking forward to seeing if we can continue to get better."

On if Gonzaga viewed Ballo differently after he transferred

"Not at all, and players transfer for a variety of reasons. It doesn't mean he was let go or he decided to leave. Whatever, this stuff happens. When I say I believed in him, it means that when he struggled, I still believed in him. I didn't need for him to be instantly successful for me to reaffirm my believe in him. When he struggled, we continued to love him and work with him and then he continued to hang in there and I think it is a great story. But, it is a chapter in a story. We're six games into a long season, so he has got to continue to play well and get better."

On how Utah's team looks

"I mean obviously their coach is second year like me. I think he is probably a little more comfortable and they've got a lot of returning players that are probably more comfortable with what he wants to do. To me, it looks like they're off to a pretty good start. I think they lost one game at home to Sam Houston State and I think they're really good. I think they're probably a really good team that no one knows about. They got my full attention and we're going to go up there and we understand it is a road game in a tough place to play. I don't think we're going to go up there waltzing and believing it is going to be an easy game. We're going up there understanding it could be a possession by possession game and we just have to find a way."

On how he feels about the conference schedule not being all together

"I've spent zero time thinking about it either way. It is the next game on the schedule and it's how the Pac-12 decided to do it long before I became part of the Pac-12, so I don't spend any time rehashing their decisions because what does that do for me?

On how Luc Krystkowiak has impacted practices

"He is an awesome kid and he is from an awesome family. He is a really good player and he probably could be playing at a number of places and getting minutes. We had a couple of conversations with him this offseason and he had expressed interest in maybe coming here as a walk-on and we let him know that obviously he would be welcome. He still wanted to see if there was a couple of opportunities to play, so we told him to pursue those. He pursued them and then came back and told us ultimately he wanted to come to Arizona so we welcomed him with open arms and he is just a great guy to have around every day. For me as a coach who has a son who is similar in age, it's great to be around those boys who grew up with their dads as coaches. They know what our lives like, so we really value him and he is a great guy and I think he is really looking forward to returning back to where he spent a significant part of his childhood."

On if there has been any more emphasis given to the players to stay serious in practice

"I mean not really. Our guys understand that there are other games on the schedule and they haven't necessarily arrived. I think for the most part, our guys have a growth mindset and embrace getting better and so we're just trying to lock into that. I don't know what is going to happen when the ball goes up. I don't know if we're going to start out sluggish or start out on fire. I mean we'll have to figure that out and then adjust accordingly."

On how Arizona defensive approach related to the foul trouble in Maui

"I mean obviously we're trying not to foul. I think that is kind of the goal, but fouls are part of the game. I think it just came down to you playing other really good teams that put foul pressure on you and maybe we have to get a couple guys a little cleaner with their technique and understanding that you're not going to win every single battle, so if you're not going to win that battle, don't compound it by making an egregious foul. I think we just had some of that going on and we have some competitive dudes. The foul issues are part of it and navigating is something you have to do and obviously I'd rather not, but it's part of the deal. I was happy with how our team responded when certain guys were out and that helps me continue to build confidence that we're going to find a way one way or another to find a way to be successful. It's not going to be totally dependent on one guy whether he is in foul trouble or not."

On how he compares the sport of soccer to basketball

"I look at the spacing, the timing, the flow and maybe there's some carry over to how we're trying to play. I'm probably closer to a soccer oriented coach than an American football oriented coach in how we play and I definitely pay attention to spacing, timing, moving when I'm watching a soccer match."

On how Ramey is adjusting to the new defensive system

"It improved some, but we're going to find out. We're going to drill it the next couple of days and hopefully he cleans it up. I think a little bit of it is just learning what my expectations are and hitting our coverages. I'm giving him some freedom defensively because I think he is a pretty good defensive player but I have a few non-negotiables that I'm going to make sure that he executes and understands why he needs to execute them and how good he is when he does execute those things. Those have been our conversations."

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