Holt and Mecham to the portal

[dwainegf]

Link

Neither player much, however, Holt showed some flashes when he played. Hopefully we can find some outside shooting to help open up the floor for our “Bigs”.

[UtesRule]

Per Steve Bartle Utah is in on several very promising transfers. Fingers crossed!

[Rick]

So we have lost 4 players so far this off season to transfers and everyone seems fine with it.  So Smith losing players in the off-season is OK but when it happened to Larry it was a “dumpster fire.”  I get that the 4 players we recently lost are not of the level of quality that Martinez, Allen, Plummer, and Larsson but isn’t that a more significant problem as it pertains to Smith?  At the end of his tenure, Coach K couldn’t keep good players here but at least he had good players that went on to be significant contributors at other major D1 programs.  I doubt any of the 4 Smith has lost so far will do the same.  So it begs the question, can Smith recruit big time players?  Well, he now has 4 scholarships spots to prove to us that he can.  Time will tell, but I am not holding my breath.

[chinngiskhaan]

This is a terrible attempt at analogizing two completely different situations. As you point out the guys that have left are not impact players. Holt rarely played, I don’t even know who Mecham is, Saunders rarely played and is on his 3rd or 4th team now. The guys you mentioned from LK’s tenure (martinez, plummer, Larsson, Allen) were all core contributors to the team.

You use the fact that the bad players left Smith’s team to suggest that he has no good players to leave in the first place… completely ignoring the fact that the players that left did so because all of them have at least one young guy ahead of them getting significant playing time.

Why on earth would you point to the players that don’t play, while ignoring the ones that do play, to suggest that Smith can’t recruit big-time players? Madsen, Stef, Worster, and Marco are all guys he recruited that have been at least solid contributors.

The jury is still out on Smith’s recruiting, but your argument is awful.

[Rick]

So you are saying that Stef, Madsen, Worster and Anthony are on par with the likes of Martinez, Plummer, Allen, and Larsson?  Are you insane?  I was not making a comparison of the recruits that recently left to those that left under Larry.  I was making the point that Larry’s departures and even those that stayed (Carlson was a Coach K recruit) were all better recruits than what is left from Smith’s recruiting cycles to date.  If you think otherwise, you are looking with blinders on.  

Yes, the jury is still out on Smith’s recruiting.  If what is left in the cupboard right now (not counting Carlson should he stay) is any indication of Smith’s recruiting abilities, I don’t hold out much hope.  PLEASE help prove me wrong because I really like Smith and would like him to succeed but I am just not seeing it.  Everyone wants to say that the program is on an “upward” trajectory but I just don’t see it.  Our non-conference schedule was complete fluff and we lost to the only decent teams we played (Zoobs, MSU, SF Austin).  Over half of our 17 total wins were against complete crap teams.  We lost our last 6 games in a row.  You can say that we had injuries but that runs counter to the issue here of Smith’s recruiting concerns.  So how is that trending up by any measure???

Calling my original post a bunch of names like “terrible” and “awful” without having any real argument of your own is quite humorous to say the least.

[chinngiskhaan]

Wow… Two fallacies in one opening sentence, Impressive!

No. I am not saying that they are on par with the LK players you mentioned. Where did you get the idea that I was saying that?

Also, I did make an argument of my own, and refuted your bad argument.

Recruiting cycles? He’s only really had one so far. He got hired super late in his first offseason (and still managed to convince Carlson to stay, and brought in several contributors in Stef, Worster, Anthony, and Madsen). Is that great recruiting? No it is not… but it’s better than what LK did in his first offseason.

LK was hired in April of 2011. Who did he bring in with his first recruiting class? The freshmen listed on the roster that season were Alex Mortensen, George Matthews, Blake Wilkinson, Anthony Odunsi, Kareem Storey. He also brought in Cedric Martin, Javon Dawson and Corbin Green who were all mediocre to bad players. Anthony, Worster, Madsen and Stef are all as good or better than the very best of LK’s first class players.

In LK’s second year his best recruit was jordan Loveridge, who according to 247 was rated just barely above Keba Keita on our all-time best recruits list (both are high 3 star players).

I’m not arguing that Smith is a great recruiter or a better recruiter than LK, but his trajectory is similar at least.

Like I said, the jury is still out on Smith’s recruiting abilities… but claiming he’s a worse recruiter than LK at this point is silly.

[AlohaUte]

We found Larry’s secret account 

[UtesRule]

In the modern Era of the transfer portal, EVERY TEAM loses multiple players to said portal every season. It’s a fact. The transfer portal taketh and giveth. You just hope it gives more than it takes!

[Tony (admin)]

Shortened the link by using the link dialog. Please don’t post super long links. use the dialog and give the link a description. Thanks!

[dwainegf]

Sorry Tony, I’m an old fart with very little computer know how.

[Tony (admin)]

You can do it! I know you can! Read the HELP SECTION!

[The Miami Ute]

I guess my biggest gripe this past season is Smith’s inability to take advantage of Saunders, who I believe was one of the most talented players in the squad. I was sitting there in the second row of the Huntsman and watched Saunders torch UCLA for 25 points in just 24 minutes, single-handedly keep the Utes in the game, and look legit doing so. I’m like WTF, why isn’t this guy getting major minutes on this team? Every time I saw him, he was way, way more dynamic than guys like Anthony or Stefanovic, and don’t get me started on Exacte, who couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo.

[Hahnenwk]

If Saunders was such a problem to get no minutes he shouldn’t have been on the bench.
And how do you explain putting him in against UCLA?

[SOWhat]

Do you think that, just maybe, injuries to the two starting guards might have had something to do with playing Saunders?