Minnesota Ute

What? You mean he doesn’t have a son that would make a good GM?

Is that the correct pecking order, or is the NIT still second behind the NCAA? Sounds like it could be a better field than the NIT if it high grades teams with a high NET that didn’t make the NCAA. Or when you say “left out” do you mean of both the NCAA and NIT?

Yup, I’d bet money Ezra is gone. I feel like he is going to go for the highest dollar, and I think he needs a team with so much NIL money that they can afford to pay what he is looking for even if he isn’t quite worth every penny. Assuming that to be the case, I’d like to see us put a little more NIL capital behind Dawes because he brings more…[Read more]

I feel like I’ve heard a lot about the lack of talent on this team. But I feel like I saw RM take teams with less talent than this to the tournament, and win at least one game as he always did.

While I think Craig was a better coach than Larry, and certainly better than Boylen or Giac, he was just not good enough. We’ve all carped to some…[Read more]

Yup, we’ve been the die-hards, tuning in through thick and thin. It’s been way too much thin over the last decade, so I’m really hopeful that Alex can get the job done. It’s been a long sad run. I haven’t given up yet, and maybe I never will be because I need something to occupy my time in the long dark cold evenings of the north woods. That…[Read more]

Just to put a finer point on it:
First start and pl 12 more minutes than any other game this season. Only had 2 game over 23 min since conf began.

He was 8 of 13, including 5of 6 from ft line for 21 pts, along with 15 rebounds, 4 of the offensive. Plus 2 blocks and 2 steals with no turnovers. BPM of 14.1 and a game score of 23.8. WOW dude is a…[Read more]

I’ve been driving the Dawes bandwagon all season. No good explanation for why he didnt play more. Id like to think thats a big reason craig’s number got pulled. You cant not play someone as impactful as him and have any credibility as a basketball coach. Clearly you dont know the game if you can’t find a spot for a double double machine.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s one thing to have a star on an NBA team with a fat contract, because usually they earn that money and everyone knows it. But if a high school recruit comes in making that much money, if he is not head and shoulders above everybody on the team, the animosity will grow quickly. And when the locker room is…[Read more]

If I have one concern, it is his humility. Maybe in the NIL era, that actually will play better. But it certainly seems like many successful NCAA coaches have pretty big egos, at least in the past. That said, I see a good number of successful coaches at the NBA level that seem more quiet and humble. From my perspective, this is the difference…[Read more]

I often wonder what all those players would have been and become without RM though. Not saying they wouldn’t, but I do wonder.

Isn’t that an interesting irony…

On one hand, kid was struggling to get off the bench for Craig.

On the other hand, he is pretty much in our top 3, if not our top guy, that we want to retain for next year and will be getting significant offers from other programs.

Maybe Craig was just stupid?

Sorry, but it doesn’t appear to be correct in any meaningful sense that I can see.

He has the lowest (good) defensive rating on the team and it’s not even close. He is 98.9, and next closest is Miro at 102.1, Ezra is down at 103.5.

He has the highest defensive rebounding rating at 13.8, and again it’s not even close. Next one on the ist is…[Read more]

I wonder if the current NIL era is actually better for folks with NBA chops than it was back when we brough in Boylen from the Bucks. I have heard many commentators talk about how NCAA teams will be run much more like professional franchises in the go forward, with a GM type making player decisions around money in consultation with the head…[Read more]

Help yourself to a larger dose of frustration, link below. To me, there is no excuse for his not playing more. Hell, he doesn’t even strike me as a player that has off court issues, as he seems to be the very “lunch pail” type player that works just as hard off the court as he does on it. He doesn’t seem to have a temper or a bad attitude, just…[Read more]

I’ve never understood the blind spot. I’ve relayed on this board many times how that touched my family with my son’s high school career. Coincidentally, when I saw Robbie Benson in last week’s episode of Severance, it reminded me of the movie One on One a 1977 classic basketball movie where the dickhead college coach essentially blackballs Henry…[Read more]

Uh, not so fast…

You know what changed? Keanu played 26 minutes which was the most he’s played all season. What did he do with that opportunity? 6 of 8 shooting (75%) including 1 of 2 from 3pt; 100% from the ft line 5 for 5; 10 rebounds including 2 offensive; 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 18 points. Game Score of 18.2 (almost double the…[Read more]

Interesting point about Larry being bitter over losing players to cheating programs. I never considered that, but I could see it. You bust your ass sweet talking and sucking up the kid and the parents, you are already fighting a difficult battle to try to get kids to want to come to Utah, then you lose out because some crooked program drops some…[Read more]

Yeah, I think that’s correct. With NIL system and the transfer portal, it’s essentially unlimited free agency every year without contracts. So you almost need to think about it that way and manage it as a business. Which is another place I think Craig went wrong, you have to treat the players like adults at a minimum, if not outright…[Read more]

I’m not one that wants to die on that hill. All I’ll say is that from my perspective, I thought Larry was a shitty X’s & O’s coach. Too many times we just looked lost on end of play situations, in-game adjustments were minimal, and rarely did we get good looks off of inbound plays. From what I’ve seen, it seemed like Smith did a better job in…[Read more]