Men’s Basketball

[BungalowUte]

Since basketball season is almost here. What are your guys’s excpectations for 2023-24? I’m just hoping for an NIT bid this year. I think it’s interesting that Lunardi has Utah as one of the next four out in his Bracketology:

Because the Big 12 in basketball is going to be brutal next season…

[BungalowUte]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2024-march-madness-men-field-predictions

[bopahull]

I’m looking for tangible improvement. I think we recruited some outside shooting. I hope the new point guard will help and we picked up another 7 footer from BYU to help in the middle. I don’t know if he’s any good though.
I’m anxious to see what happens.

[chinngiskhaan]

I was really happy with recruiting until the turkish kid got dinged with an NCAA violation. He was going to be good IMO.

I would not be super surprised to see this team in the mix for a tourney spot. Last year we were right there until all of our best guys got hurt. This year we have the same best guys, plus quite a bit more depth than last year, so injuries shouldn’t derail our season as much as they did last year.

I’m cautiously optimistic.

[Charlie]

Loosing the kid from Turkey was sad, we could make it easier for foreign players to come in. Next, we really need to see Smith get the green light to play. With Smith I think we can take some steps this year. Bajema slayed us last year so it is great to have him on our side this year.

[utefansince79]

Last year looked promising for a while with a blowout over visiting Zona (loved how every time the tired old U of A chant started it was quickly silenced by basket or defensive stop by Utah) a respectable showing against TCU and other good results, but a couple of key injuries completely derailed us the last month of the year. I’m hopeful we can finally start to turn things around this season.

[AZUTE]

Utah has a basketball team???

Things we’re trending in the right direction last season until the wheels feel off towards the end when Worster and Madsen went down and the team collapsed.

Utah has to make some sort off post season tournament this year or Smith’s seat should get very hot.

With the transfer portal and NIL a good Coach can flip a team in a couple of years. If Smith can’t do it in 3 or 4 years at utah he’s not going to.

[GameForAnyFuss]

I think Utah will be an NIT team. Outside shot at an NCAA berth if Deivon Smith gets his waiver. Bajema is going to be a significant upgrade over Stefanovic, and I’m excited to see how Exacte and Keita have improved (word on the street is they’ve both stepped it up).

Oh, and FREE LUCA TARLAC!

[chinngiskhaan]

Unless someone gets hurt, Tarlac won’t be playing much. We have Carlson, the Colorado transfer, Carlson jr, and Keita… When is Tarlac supposed to play?

We don’t have any real stars on this team (BC is close, but not really a star IMO), but we do have quite a bit more depth than previous years. We also have at least 3 guys that can knock down threes consistently. We will almost certainly be better than last year.

[dwainegf]

chinngiskhaan wrote:
“Unless someone gets hurt, Tarlac won’t be playing much. We have Carlson, the Colorado transfer, Carlson jr, and Keita… When is Tarlac supposed to play?”

Tarlac plays the wing. (Shooting guard or Small forward) the players you mention are all bigs that play the $ or 5 positions. He may not play much as you said however, it will be because other players are getting the time and not these.

[chinngiskhaan]

You are correct, not sure why I thought he was a post player. However, tge problem is the same. Is he going to get minutes over Madsen, Bajema, exacte and others? It’s possible, but I don’t see it.

[Caliman]

ELITE 8 FO SURE, FINAL 4 POSSIBLE. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.