Why ?

[Utah5410]

Are people reall reacting to getting rid of coach K as a bad thing because players are leaving ? Look, I don’t want guys to leave more than anyone else. But, bottom line, Larry was not the guy. He needed to go. I would have thought his five consecutive years of nothing would have shown that to everyone here. Despite who he recruited. It sucks gius are leaving. I mean I get it for each case. (Maybe not Jones). But, Larry wasn’t the guy. And frankly he could recruit 5* studs every year. If he continued to get the results he was getting then who cares. 

smith is new. He’s won everywhere he’s been. The jury is still out. I’ll judge based on what team he has on the flooor in November and during and after the year. Right now. Just taking it one day at a time. 

[Tony (admin)]

I don’t expect a lot the first year or two from Smith in terms of wins. What I WILL be watching for, is teams that learn and improve over the course of a season. 

Larry’s teams, and many of his individual players, did not seem to improve much through the season.  Take Timmy Allen for instance. He was what some thought was our “best” player. He was always a drive to the hoop player with poor outside shooting and poor free throw shooting.  That never changed. The coaching staff never seemed to do anything to make him more of a threat than he was.  Perhaps that’s partly on him as well.  Or someone like Jayce Johnson.  Same deal.  Seemed to have great potential but never made much improvement over 3-4 years. 

[chinngiskhaan]

It was baffling watching guys with tons of potential get noticeably worse from one year to the next. Johnson, gach, Jones, Chapman, Barton, Carlson… I’m sure there are others. 

wehad several players with glaring flaws in their game, things as fundamental as shooting form. Those flaws were never addressed. Barton, Johnson, Allen, Chapman, and loveridge all had strange things about their shots. Carlson and Chapman both HAD to gain serious weight and they came back their second year skinnier than before!

[OldAsDirtUte]

I wonder if possibly the outgoing players are somehow aren’t comprehending what could be possible.  I had a music teacher in high school that never taught us a thing. We became very complacent, and played to the minimum results necessary.  Sounds like there might be a similarity there.  Can see why players might jump ship in the confusion.

[ProudUte]

I totally supported the firing of LK.  Yet, I am disappointed that Smith has not had more success in recruiting some of the kids to stay.  I am not bagging on Smith.  I hope he turns out to be a fantastic coach here at Utah.

I hate the portal big time and it has gotten out of control.  IMO, it needs to be fixed before NCAA basketball loses even more fans.  I liked the days of following players for 4 years like Miller, Van Horn, Doleac, Vranes, Newlin, etc.  I know those days are gone.  But, the current state of college basketball is a mess IMO.

Go Utes!!!

[utefansince79]

Couple of years after I started attending Utah, on senior night against UTEP, with a few seconds left, Jerry Pimm pulled the starters and Don Haskins walked down to our bench so could he shake hands with Danny Vranes, Tom Chambers, Karl Bankowski, and Scotty Martin, all of them 4 year players for the Running Utes. 

On New Years’ Eve 1996, we watched seniors Tim Duncan and Keith Van Horn, the eventual top 2 selections in the next draft, battle it out in the Hunty.  During the same era we watched Andre Miller make remarkable progress on the court and in the classroom (earning back his fourth year of eligibility) on the way to All-American honors.

Now we just get the revolving door as not only do players jump to the NBA after a year or two, but many others change teams a time or two during their college years.  Even some of our better players over recent years (Delon Wright for example) didn’t play their whole career for Utah.

 

 

 

 

[ProudUte]

I attended those games.

[Tony (admin)]

Samesies.