I’m starting to like this Craig Smith guy

[Anonymous]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JayDrewonUtes/status/1377058816433397760

[Larry B]

I don’t know who Chris Smith is but I hope he can get Timmy back.

[Anonymous]

I mean Craig 🙂

[chinngiskhaan]

I honestly wouldn’t have missed Battin one bit. That guy is useless in 90% of basketball situations. He is at times a good three point shooter. That is literally the only thing he is good at. The only thing he is even ok at. Bad rebounder, turns the ball over, terrible athlete, not sure if he ever blocked a shot his entire time at Utah… 

Shooting is needed, but he doesn’t shoot the ball half the time he is wide open. IF IF IF Smith can give him more confidence to shoot away when he is open, he’ll be a good piece.

[Ute Dub]

He’s + 9 net rating. Top 3 on the team. Something Craig Smith understands. Plummer is -2. We’ll see who Craig Smith allows to come back.

[chinngiskhaan]

That stat means so so little. Really has more to do with who you are on the court with than who you are yourself as a player. He isn’t terrible. He doesn’t so much hurt the team, he just is mostly just there doing nothing.

[UteBacker]

Wasn’t lack of player development a major issue with Coach K?

[chinngiskhaan]

yeah… Battin can definitely be more than he has been. The biggest issue is a clear lack of confidence in his shot. Last year was just unbelievably hard to watch. He would pass up wide open threes to give the ball to Jones who was covered 30 feet out… with like 3 seconds on the clock. Just awful basketball.

Battin’s shot is funky, but it goes in pretty well most of the time (when he is confident in his shot. What we don’t need is guys who are scared to shoot).

[ironman1315]

Lots of guys had that problem last year. Yes 

[chinngiskhaan]

LOL… he’s 6 ft 9, and he’s blocked a total of 6 shots his entire time at Utah. WOW! That is mind bogglingly bad. I hope Smith teaches his players, especially the bigs, to play real defense instead of just standing there waiting for someone to run you over.

[chinngiskhaan]

Also, if you are that bad at blocking shots, you better be one hell of a rebounder, and he is ummmm… also terrible in that regard. averaging 3 per game for his career. WOOF!!

[Yergensen]

Meh, I prefer Battin transfer.

[chinngiskhaan]

If he’s gonna shoot when open, fine, keep him on the bench in case we need him. If he’s not going to shoot, he’s a waste of space.

[Charlie]

I am more open to this.  Smith has a lot to do.  We had 11 scolarship players with 2 coming in.  I expect he needs to make sure that Thelissen and Stefanovic stay committed because they may other options and may get interest from other schools.  We then had 4 go to the portal leaving 4 open slots.  Battin coming back still leaves 3 spots and I expect Smith has an idea about the likelihood of Allen or Plummer returning where we have no idea at all.  Smith has a good feel for the likelihood of filling 3 spots with what kind of player can be expected where we have no idea at all.  Smith has an idea about what he can change and do with Battin where we have not so much of an idea.  Smith still has 3 spots to work with and this move tells me he wants Battin in his 13.  At this point we need to trust Smith and see what he does with some time.  Battin only has to be the best option for the 13th spot and this works out.  Smith must have a different development play than Larry,  time will tell.