Chile_Ute Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 On 3/14/2024 at 11:43 PM, utenation said: We pretty much got our ass kicked the last 6-7 years in the P12. The B12 is no joke. I have zero expectations of anything but the bottom half of the conference until proven otherwise. Looking at a 3-5 year build in that league just to compete….with or without Smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/14/2024 at 11:43 PM, Chile_Ute said: Mostly because we have two 7 footers that are softer than room temperature butter. Butter might be too kind. We severely lack a vocal leader on the floor. Our whole team is soft. We need someone to set the tone on defense. Again, a failure on Craig’s part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chile_Ute Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 On 3/14/2024 at 11:49 PM, utenation said: Butter might be too kind. We severely lack a vocal leader on the floor. Our whole team is soft. We need someone to set the tone on defense. Again, a failure on Craig’s part. I will eat some crow but this is where Worster was sorely missed. The team softened moreso without him. Not the most polished or capable but he was tough, led defense and I think the team all played harder with him on the court. Hasn’t been replaced…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/15/2024 at 12:24 AM, Chile_Ute said: I will eat some crow but this is where Worster was sorely missed. The team softened moreso without him. Not the most polished or capable but he was tough, led defense and I think the team all played harder with him on the court. Hasn’t been replaced…. No crow needed. I 100% agree. I love Deivon’s speed and pass first mentality. but….. Problem is, he’s an average at best shooter and small. A stiff breeze would blow him over. He would often get caught up in the paint twirling in the trees ending in a turnover. You could clearly see the opponent’s gameplan was to get physical with him and take him out of his game. Worster was big and slow but a good defender, could bang down low and rarely took bad shots. He averaged about 6 assists per game too. He was a glue guy. Smith would have been a nice change of pace guy with Rollie. Utah’s collapse in performance is directly tied to Worster’s injury. Btw, there was never any clear report of the injury or time table to return. Zero transparency. We man handled St Mary’s on the road along with some other good wins with Rollie. I’m also disappointed with Keita’s development or lack there of. He should be further along by now. His game got worse by season’s end. Foul trouble, turnovers, missed layups and dunks. He played much better the first half of the season. Btw, shooting 65%(last in the league) from the free throw line is just unacceptable. It cost us a few games for sure. That’s on Craig. Lack of discipline. Another guy we missed this year was Exacte. Bulldog. 6’6”, 240. Built like a brick shithouse. He played with an edge in 2022/23. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastFan Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Utes actually played up to their talent potential this year. The Bruins, Buffs, Ducks, Trojans all had superior talent. It is what some of us thought when the Smith hire was made, the serious worry. This game is built around athletic talent, overlayed with good coaching. But, from the start, there was no reason to believe that Smith would be able to assemble that talent, and it's proven true. Last night's contest relied on outside shooting for the Utes. Boyle learned a few things from earlier meetings, and particularly in dropping Hadley, an elite defender, on Madsen, it was the difference between a close game and the semi-blowout that occurred. Smith had no answers for that. Next year, it'll be worse unless something changes with the talent Craig can assemble. I'll cut to the chase -- two 2024 Ute commits, both home-state white boys, while Baylor, Kansas, TCU, Cincy, and others are stocking up on nasty city talent that can do more than shoot behind the arc. The test on Smith will be whether he can portal-in some serious dog-and-get-dirty talent. That, of course, relies not only on Smith's charm, but also on some serious NIL to compete with the Big-12 oil barons, farm conglomerates, hedge funds, and tech guys. I'm not arguing that Smith isn't a good coach. He proved that he is in Logan. But, as the season progressed, other Pac-coaches could figure out the Ute's well-coached system, and simpy out-talent it. It's just that when you step up in your league, the clearest differentiation is player athleticism. And, what's coming is worse. The talent in the Big-12 is on another level than what you find at WSU, Cal, Stanford, ASU, etc. Without the right guys in uniform, the best coaching around isn't going to get Utah to be upper tier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azgreg Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Ohhhh............Tennessee lost today..........interesting.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBug708 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/15/2024 at 11:53 AM, EastCoastFan said: Utes actually played up to their talent potential this year. The Bruins, Buffs, Ducks, Trojans all had superior talent. It is what some of us thought when the Smith hire was made, the serious worry. This game is built around athletic talent, overlayed with good coaching. But, from the start, there was no reason to believe that Smith would be able to assemble that talent, and it's proven true. Last night's contest relied on outside shooting for the Utes. Boyle learned a few things from earlier meetings, and particularly in dropping Hadley, an elite defender, on Madsen, it was the difference between a close game and the semi-blowout that occurred. Smith had no answers for that. Next year, it'll be worse unless something changes with the talent Craig can assemble. I'll cut to the chase -- two 2024 Ute commits, both home-state white boys, while Baylor, Kansas, TCU, Cincy, and others are stocking up on nasty city talent that can do more than shoot behind the arc. The test on Smith will be whether he can portal-in some serious dog-and-get-dirty talent. That, of course, relies not only on Smith's charm, but also on some serious NIL to compete with the Big-12 oil barons, farm conglomerates, hedge funds, and tech guys. I'm not arguing that Smith isn't a good coach. He proved that he is in Logan. But, as the season progressed, other Pac-coaches could figure out the Ute's well-coached system, and simpy out-talent it. It's just that when you step up in your league, the clearest differentiation is player athleticism. And, what's coming is worse. The talent in the Big-12 is on another level than what you find at WSU, Cal, Stanford, ASU, etc. Without the right guys in uniform, the best coaching around isn't going to get Utah to be upper tier. No offense but this seems like you haven't watched many Utah games, especially the first half of the season. Your take seems like a 15K foot view looking at box scores or reading a recruiting ranking website. Utah most certainly didn't live up to their talent. Most Utah fans I know agree Worster was a key loss. I'm not saying Utah should have won the conference but we shouldn't be losing to the ASUs, Stanfords, and Oregon States. Oregon isn't a good team either. Utah spent much of the first half of the season in the Mid 30's in Net Rankings and Ken Pom. Even got into the 20's at one point. They did this by beating teams like BYU, Wake Forest(neutral), St Mary's(road) and playing Houston and St John's very tough. So what changed? Now suddenly we can't beat terrible teams in the P12 because of lack of talent? There are fundamental flaws within the program and injuries are the answer. Our defensive numbers were flat out atrocious and got worse as the season went along. That's coaching and effort. Smith doesn't demand defense. Honestly, much of the P12 had terrible defensive numbers nationally. The P12 is a bad basketball conference this year. I think AZ, WSU and CU were 100% better than Utah in many areas and the results showed that. I won't disagree with you on Craig Smith and we've already discussed that the cupboard is bare and he will have to make a splash in the portal to accomplish anything. And I don't have high hopes of him finding gems. Btw, you might want to check into some of Utah's NIL collectives. We can take care of good players but we aren't a powerhouse NIL program like some schools in the B10 and SEC. Cam Rising is a well paid man. And every scholarship player in football, Men's and women's basketball drive around in new cars provided by the collective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glduck Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 me after Dante is carried off the court one minute into the game after talking a bunch of unfounded shit to an Arizona fan all day at work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Btw, only 1 game of the P12 tourney has been on FS1. Utah/CU. 1 more tonight. CU/WSU. How is Oregon/AZ on the P12 network? Either FOX and ESPN think this is a shitty conference or it’s the final irrelevant gesture of a pathetic network and business plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 On 3/15/2024 at 6:23 PM, glduck said: me after Dante is carried off the court one minute into the game after talking a bunch of unfounded shit to an Arizona fan all day at work You crack me up. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 On 3/15/2024 at 5:23 PM, glduck said: me after Dante is carried off the court one minute into the game after talking a bunch of unfounded shit to an Arizona fan all day at work You still breathing? Quite a comeback and they missed three or four layups coming out of the half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 CU by 8 tonight. They’ve won 7 in a row. Red hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 True but partly just scheduling. No wins vs UW, WSU or UCLA in that run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 I think Altman screwed up slowing this down so much. Damn On 3/5/2024 at 11:25 AM, glduck said: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 On 3/15/2024 at 8:05 PM, KUGRDON said: True but partly just scheduling. No wins vs UW, WSU or UCLA in that run. But they beat Oregon and USC on the road. Oregon looks like the best team in the league right now. USC WAS very hot to end the season. LOL as using UCLA in your mix. UCLA is pretty much hot garbage this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glduck Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 If you need a team to do all sorts of wacky shit to make a comfortable late lead disappear to almost nothing, we can be that team for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Have to see where it gets us, but if you asked me last Friday where I’d like to be this Friday, this is pretty much it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utenation Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 On 3/15/2024 at 8:18 PM, glduck said: If you need a team to do all sorts of wacky shit to make a comfortable late lead disappear to almost nothing, we can be that team for you. Dude. Wow. Impressive win. Didn’t see that coming. Oregon could be dancing. I’ve always said never count out Dana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Ironic these announcers are talking about what a great contra contribution Pac 12 network made to the pac, totally ignorant of the fact that the Pac 12 network was as much a reason for the undoing of the Pac 12 as anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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