Utes Building Toward Stylish Versatility
Ask coach Jim Boylen about it, and he'll tell you that his Utes are meeting a UC Irvine team at noon today at the Huntsman Center that isn't too different from the team he coaches.
"They're a physical team that pushes the ball and can run," he said. "In the halfcourt, they want to go inside and create mismatches in the post and score the ball inside. ... They will push it up, but not necessarily be a quick-shooting team -- kind of like how we play. We want to run, but if we have to, we'll set up and execute."
While the Utes are 3-2 and coming off a dominating victory over Weber State, the Anteaters are 2-4 and have lost three in a row to Mississippi State, Chattanooga and San Diego in the Anaheim Classic last week. They have never beaten the Utes in seven tries -- the last, a decade ago -- but will try to break the streak despite being 11-point underdogs.
Small forward Patrick Sanders leads UC Irvine by scoring 12.8 points per game with 5.0 rebounds, while three of his teammates -- guard Chuma Awaji, forward Darren Fells and forward Kevin Bland -- average between 9.3 and 9.8 points per game.
But Boylen said it doesn't matter whether the Anteaters play similarly to the Utes or not. Over the course of the season, the Utes will encounter many different styles, he said, and he wants to forge a team that can survive them all -- much like the ones that coach Tom Izzo built at Michigan State while Boylen was an assistant there.
"I'd like to build a program and a team that we can play if it's 35-35 like a Big Ten game, and we can play if it's 75-75 like an ACC game, or 90-90," he said. "I know Izzo's championship teams and his Final Four teams could play speed-up, running style, then could play the slow-down, let's-crank-it-up-and-pound-on-each-other style. I'd like to build a program so that we have teams like that. And we do play both ways. We're not there yet in physicality and focus and toughness, but that's what we're trying to get to."
"They're a physical team that pushes the ball and can run," he said. "In the halfcourt, they want to go inside and create mismatches in the post and score the ball inside. ... They will push it up, but not necessarily be a quick-shooting team -- kind of like how we play. We want to run, but if we have to, we'll set up and execute."
While the Utes are 3-2 and coming off a dominating victory over Weber State, the Anteaters are 2-4 and have lost three in a row to Mississippi State, Chattanooga and San Diego in the Anaheim Classic last week. They have never beaten the Utes in seven tries -- the last, a decade ago -- but will try to break the streak despite being 11-point underdogs.
Small forward Patrick Sanders leads UC Irvine by scoring 12.8 points per game with 5.0 rebounds, while three of his teammates -- guard Chuma Awaji, forward Darren Fells and forward Kevin Bland -- average between 9.3 and 9.8 points per game.
But Boylen said it doesn't matter whether the Anteaters play similarly to the Utes or not. Over the course of the season, the Utes will encounter many different styles, he said, and he wants to forge a team that can survive them all -- much like the ones that coach Tom Izzo built at Michigan State while Boylen was an assistant there.
"I'd like to build a program and a team that we can play if it's 35-35 like a Big Ten game, and we can play if it's 75-75 like an ACC game, or 90-90," he said. "I know Izzo's championship teams and his Final Four teams could play speed-up, running style, then could play the slow-down, let's-crank-it-up-and-pound-on-each-other style. I'd like to build a program so that we have teams like that. And we do play both ways. We're not there yet in physicality and focus and toughness, but that's what we're trying to get to."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:38 AM |
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