Disgusted with this performance

[NashvilleTNUteFan]

What an absolute joke. Must-win situation, everything on the line and we lay an egg against the worst team in the conference. I’ve given this team the benefit of the doubt all year but this game tonight p**sed me off. We’re unfathomably bad on the road, no matter who we play. I don’t know if firing smith is the answer, but you wouldn’t see me shedding any tears if that’s the decision that is made. I feel bad for Carlson. Sticks with the program through some brutally bad years, plays his ass off, and what’s his reward? Not a single match madness appearance. Just a travesty

[RustyShackleford]

Losing to the worst team in the conference when your tournament chances hang in the balance is unf*cking acceptable

[The Miami Ute]

Losing to the worst team in the conference, a team that had absolutely nothing to play for in a half empty arena, tells you everything you need to know about the state of mind of this team. Time to turn the page and give someone else a shot.

[RustyShackleford]

100%, we know Craig isn’t the guy. We need to get someone with some recruiting juice going into the big12. Going to be tough financially I guess. I think Craig gets fired next season.

[The Miami Ute]

I mean, the biggest problem is that a significant number of us already know exactly how this story ends. Losing Carlson, Bajema, and, likely, one or two more key contributors while entering the strongest basketball conference in the nation doesn’t paint a rosy picture for next season. That’s going to translate into a regression to fan apathy and empty stands at the Huntsman.

[NashvilleTNUteFan]

In no way shape or form am I making excuses for Smith or this team. I woke up as disgusted as I was last night. But, it honestly seems like a small portion of our absurdly bad road performances is because teams who are not good play super well when they play us. Oregon state has sucked all year outside of Jordan pope, and some guy named Bilbo pops off and other guys who average like 5 PPG score well into double figures. Are we really that bad at defense on the road, or is there some element of bad luck to this? Just trying to make some kind of sense of what I saw last night and what I’ve seen all year.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Not so simple answer “defense”. You have to play defense on the road. Create a few turnovers and get stops. A bad team scoring 90 points is inexcusable. Smith has not been able to figure out you need athletes to compete on defense. Poor defensive game plans make things worse. Things will only get worse next year unless we can get some good players out of the portal. Wahlin is the only good young recruit.

[The Miami Ute]

You can’t call it “bad luck” when it happens every single time you play away. That to me screams systemic issue that can probably only be resolved with a change in management.

[//r00t4Utes]

I had the same thoughts early in the season (like the ASU road game), but at some point, it has to stop being bad luck of catching teams on a hot night. And turn into, you create your own luck by playing better defense, several different ways to do it but the opposing teams need to feel your defense in one way or another and it’s clear that the other teams do not, even when there is a defender close it really isn’t being felt for any impact.

[CoyoteUte]

Last night was hard for me. I love Utah basketball, and watching our two teams lose at the same time really kicked me in the nuts 🤦‍♂️ The Beavs have been frisky at home this season, but unfortunately we saw a lot of the same issues we’ve been seeing all year long.

[MDUte]

Even with Utah MBB being almost nonexistent for the past 2 decades, we still find ourselves as 1 of the 20 winningest programs in college basketball…SAD!!! We’ve become the Nebraska of MBB!

College Basketball: Sweet 16 Tiers pic.twitter.com/xflGkpVH9r

— Big Game Boomer (@BigGameBoomer) March 8, 2024

[Rick]

Smith’s teams have been notoriously bad on the road pretty much his entire tenure. Why? They consistently play poor perimeter defense, they consistently turn the ball over, they consistently shoot below .500 on free throws, and they typically get out rebounded. I do not see how he survives this loss because it is not going to get any easier next season in a MUCH harder conference. His only chance to keep his job is to run the table in the conference tournament and since it is not played in the Huntsman Center, I do not hold much hope for that happening.

I either want to see us go legacy with either Johnnie Bryant or Alex Jensen or go with a coach that has had success in our new conference. One of the other but to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results is, as Einstein once said, insanity!

[FountainofUte]

I’m not sure how realistic Alex Jensen or Jonnie Bryant are. It seems like they are NBA guys with hopes of being head coaches there.

Of course pros and college have always been different but I feel like that divide has never been more stark than is today. It’s almost like two different sports. I don’t know that a coach pros translates to success in college. I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be a better idea just to roll things out with Burgess and see what happens. He’s a lot closer to college ball and the University of Utah at this point. 

I have no doubt that Alex and Jonnie know basketball. But can they recruit? Can they manage NIL? Do they want to deal with it? Also, in the spirit of “you can never go home again” and seeing the debacle of BYU bringing back Detmer, or even Utah bringing back Tommy Connor, the hometown boy story seems like it feels good but we just need someone who can recruit and coach and excite a fan base. 

I hate to say it, but at this point, I almost think we would’ve been better off keeping Larry K. Larry knew how to recruit talent..

[The Miami Ute]

Not sure how much longer Larry K would have stayed in Utah. He made a mint during his time there and hasn’t worked a day since getting fired. I read a story recently on him and how much he’s enjoying retirement.