first round NIT….

[HoosierinUt]

to me, the NIT is almost always about “who wants it more” not necessarily about “who has the most talent”.

I’m not sure how badly Utah actually wants this game. To be honest, I am not sure just how bad Utah actually wanted to win most of their games this year. Apathy is the word I would use. I’ve mentioned before about the lack of leadership on this team…and that’s putting it kindly. There wasn’t any leadership this year. I was disappointed in the season’s of Kuzma and Bonam. Really expected both of them to be much more vocal. Kuzma got his numbers no doubt. But did he lead? No. Bonam had multiple games where he 100% disappeared…..apathetic. This team never jelled.

What is the identity of this team? I’ve tried to answer that question and I cannot. What is Kuzmas identity? Collette? Bonam? Who is the actual PG? Is it Barefield? If you say yes…check out how man games he has 0 assists. Is it JoJo? He was starting towards the end of the season.

Do you think this team progressed? If we look at mid-december games (when Collette and Barefield joined the team) to their final game against Cal…….did they progress? I’d say “not at all”.

Did Collette figure out how to stay out of foul trouble? No, not one bit.

Did the team ever figure out how to inbound the ball under pressure? No, not one bit.

Is it basketball IQ? Is it coaching? Is it just a bad mix of players? I think the answer was “some of all three”.

So, now we have a game in the NIT where “who wants it the most” is about to be apparent.

Let’s hope the Utes want this game.

Go Utes!

[Milton Vanderslice]

All good points.

[Anonymous]

In general, I do agree with your observation; however, to be fair IMO, I do think the team-chemistry has improved since December — I think it’s evident in our ability to “share” the ball. That said, the team does not do enough sharing. I think it’s a function of BB IQ.

[UtahFanSir]

The team performed better this season than I thought originally. Lots of new players of different ages, backgrounds and skill levels, chemistry was going to be an issue. The coaching staff has done well, IMHO. While our expectations are high, Utah still is not considered the destination of choice for phenomenal players. That is the next nut for K3 to crack. One or two players had Utah secured, top 20 or better. Yet we live in an age of “the rich get richer”, as Duke and Arizona attest.

With all the new kids in a rigorous new system, may be hard for a ‘leader ‘ to emerge, particularly since the starting roles were so fluid. Maybe Bonam and Kuz were providing leadership, just not as evident to us. Also, there may not be a natural leader on the team, I don’t know. 

Still the team did okay, and in several respects, exceeded expectations. Go Utes!

[vcsg01]

I noticed Kuzma leading on the floor quite often. He would often be talking and directing players on the floor. It definitely wasn’t all the time or most of the time and could get better, but I think that he is the best leader that we have. And his game was yet again notched up for the 3rd year in a row. Kuz is a great player.

I think that sometimes its easy to think that other teams star players are always “on” and easy to see your own teams players faults because you know them so well. I think the first team honors speaks for itself on kuzma this year. I expect him to be even better next year. He started hitting quite a few end of game 3’s at the end of this season, which is encouraging even if they didn’t transfer into wins.

This year reminds me of D Wrights first year. We lost a lot of close games that year too. I think as long as we don’t lose any key returners and Jayce J gets a little stronger we get more of the close ones next year as the team gels. Pg is my main concern with the team.

[HoosierinUt]

I agree…Kuzma got his numbers this year. But I didn’t see the leadership you are talking about. Sure, maybe 1 gamer here or there..but that is not my definition of a leader. He has been a favorite of mine (and my kids) so don’t get me wrong. But I would never describe him as the leader of this team.

I don’t disagree with the fact that the team exceeded most expectations, but I chalk that up to most having very little expectations. having 10 newcomers is insane.

My problem was that I did not see progression throughout the season.

Maybe the lack of an identity was the overall problem. How would you describe this team to someone?

[vcsg01]

Yeah I’m more saying he is kind of the default leader of the team because he was our best player and probably filled that role more than anyone else did. Whether that makes him an actual leader I don’t know. I do think that his teammates think of him that way.

I would probably say that they never fully got used to playing together due to adding so many new pieces, they play much better at home which I think is a sign of a young team/or team that hasn’t played a bunch together. And that they are still working on team chemistry and roles but have the talent to compete if they could put it together.

If Colette and Barefield start at the beginning of the season I wonder where the team would be now. We had a few games in the middle of the season where this team looked really good around the ucla game.