Mens BB

[Utes 69]

Utah Utes, should not be the fourth best team in the State, time for a new coach and some big changes

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Recruiting is a problem. I don’t see any good young freshman or sophomores on the bench pressing for playing time. We’ve done ok in the portal (Smith Bajema Lovering Carlsen Madsen Woster) Carlsen and Kieta the only freshman recruits that play.

Attendance is also an issue. Good players want to play in front of big crowds. The pac 12 has empty arenas while the big 10 and 12 have packed arenas. We are going to a better BB conference with no young talent. Smith went all in this year to make the tournament and hopefully put some more butts in the seats for recruiting.

[Minnesota Ute]

As much as I think the Hunty is cool, it’s simply too big in this day/age. The more intimate environments create demand for limited tickets and closes in the sound and amps up the environment. That die is cast, so there is likely no going back but in my opinion, the Huntsman is a big liability. Even closing the upper level doesn’t contain the sound and make the place feel packed, it just looks like there is a whole another level that we can’t fill, so we try to hide it and it just looks like giving up.

All that said, we play great at home which is nice. However people won’t show up to home games if we are getting slaughtered on the road.

[Ute Dub]

I thought Keita and Wahlin looked pretty good. Sophomore and Freshman.

[GameForAnyFuss]

I’ll be blunt: Recruiting doesn’t matter any more. How you do in the portal is all that matters, and Craig has done pretty well in the portal.

Now as an Xs and Os coach? I’m still not sold, particularly on the defensive end.

[Utes 69]

not going to happen this year. not going to happen until they start winning consistent games.

sorry, but when Utah state and Weber state are better teams also tspp. this sucks bad right now.

[CoyoteUte]

Regardless of what happens this year… I think we give Craig at minimum 1 more year with going into the Wafflehouse/buc-ee’s conference.

[The Miami Ute]

I also think that he gets one more year for the simple reason that he’s got a six year contract. Now, if we miss the NIT/Dance this year and next year it’s more of the same, Smith will be gone.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I watched UCLA -USC game Saturday night. They both have sub 500 records. Lots of young athletic talent. Mixing 5 high school superstars takes time to teach there is only 1 ball.

You can’t depend on smart team basketball or a bunch of amazing athletes to win. You need both. The top programs recruit both. We are not in the MWC anymore.

As Ute fans we grew up watching Gardner Pimm Foster Majerus take young players develop them in their systems and maximize their talents playing as a team. It was fun to watch them grow and get better each year. Completely different mindset now. Get the most talent through recruiting and portal then hope they can learn to play together and don’t transfer. The players are so big and athletic now it’s hard to score unless you have the same athleticism and size.

[Distantute]

Next year we will be historically bad. My guess is hes gone next year unless theres some remarkable recruits walking through the door.

[Ghost of the HEB]

Utah State had to put together a whole new roster with a new coach and very limited NIL resources, yet they’re once again thriving in a tough conference. It’s embarrassing that we are consistently the weakest link in the state in men’s bball.

[The Miami Ute]

Well, you’re not wrong. Look at what Madsen is doing in his first year with Cal. He’s got the Bears only half a game behind Utah in the PAC standings with a team that only won three games last season. As many have said, if Utah can’t get to the postseason this year with a roster full of experienced players, it’s hard to see how the situation gets better next year.

[Minnesota Ute]

Did Utah State promote an assistant after Smith left, or did they bring in a new hire? I’m just curious IF we accept the premise that Smith sucks (as a now wavering supporter, I want him to prove the doubters wrong), then I’m curious whether it was one of these situations where after the head coach gets a new big time job, it turns out that his top assistant was the brains all along.

I’ve seen it in my career with Plant Managers and Superintendents, there are examples like Football Coach at Boise (Dan something?) and Peterson, and didn’t that also happen with Mark Few at Gonzaga, can’t remember who head coach was before he was promoted.

[The Miami Ute]

Utah State hired Danny Sprinkle from Montana State. So no, they didn’t promote from within.

[Ted Lasso]

I’m honestly confused how Utah is not playing as well since the BYU game. I haven’t watched them play yet, but they were excellent against BYU. I seriously thought they would be a tourney team this year.

[The Miami Ute]

That’s the point Ted…they play really well at home, but crap the bed away. It’s like they’re a bipolar team. Without the away/neutral victories versus Saint Mary’s and Wake Forest, they would be lucky to be considered an NIT team at this point.

[Utah#1]

Don’t think Craig Smith is the right coach for Utah MBB. Your only as a good a team if you can win both home and away games. Right now the way it looks, I see them losing all their away games.

[The Miami Ute]

The only away game that was a reasonably close contest was against Stanford. Every other away game has been a blowout loss. That, to me, is a significant issue.

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Every time I tune in to a BB game, I pine for the Majerus years. Some of it is nostalgia as I was attending the University at the time and had classes with several of the team members, but mostly it is because Rick was the master of taking the other team out of what they were trying to do. Utah’s defense under Majerus was a thing of beauty. Coach K had a few teams that could play good defense, however nothing holds a candle to the Majerus years.

I think I have a tainted view of what a good mens basketball team at the U should be. It seems that players of the past few years aren’t very athletic and are slow getting to their spots on the floor (with a few exceptions). Their footwork seems to be lacking, and until Smith became eligible we have had no guard that can actually put the defense on their heels, since maybe Delon Wright? I understand shooters can be hot or cold depending on the day, but with a Majerus team they could always stay in a game by falling back on the defense.

I think Burgess is doing a good job with the bigs, but outside of Smith our guard line seems to be hit and miss.

[Rick]

Larry had many significantly talented guards besides Delon. Below is a list of the more talented of his recruits but go down that list and tell me you would pass on most of them over the guards we currently have on our roster.

Taylor
DuBois
Van Dyke
Ogbe
Tucker
Isaiah Wright
Bonam
Barefield
Bibbins
Bealer
Rylan Jones
Plummer
Martinez
Larssen
Brenchley
Gach

[The Miami Ute]

Probably my favorite out of all those guys is Justin Bibbins. Even though he only played one season with Utah, he had a significant impact. I loved his will to win…kid had the heart of a lion.

[Minnesota Ute]

Dude was NAILS!

[The Miami Ute]

All-Pac-12 First Team selection in his only season with Utah. That should tell you all you need to know. I mean, a guy that was an “economical with the truth” 5’8″ averaging three rebounds a game as a PG? You couldn’t make that up.

[Rick]

I also liked Barefield when his head was right. He had some serious skills. As just a great person, you can’t beat DuBois either.

[Charlie Foxtrot]

It’s true, I had forgotten about some of those guys Rick. Brandon Taylor was awesome, probably the shortest dude on the floor but had the biggest heart out of anyone. But I do agree, those guards under Larry are better than what Smith has been able to recruit so far. I really like our bigs, but outside of Smith and Madsen, our guards seem to be the weak link of the team.