Watching the Utes From Here Will Be Fascinating Sport
Fascinating how quickly the Utes are reverting to their unfortunate form of recent years, and how quickly coach Jim Boylen must be starting to understand how former coach Ray Giacoletti felt during all those close losses last season.
Wasn't it just yesterday that the Utes were encouragingly going toe-to-toe with impressive opponents from the Pac-10 Conference, and supposedly learning all the lessons they would need to survive their Mountain West Conference schedule?
Yeah, well ...
The Utes just lost their third straight down-to-the-wire league game, which is not all that different from the seven games the Utes lost by three points or less in the first half of last season. (Watching a red-faced Boylen fume in the locker room afterward reminded me of Giacoletti coming unglued after the Utes couldn't get a call and lost in double-overtime at Rhode Island last season.) In fact, of their seven losses so far, the Utes have fallen in overtime twice, by three points or less two other times, and once by only six.
And just as Giacoletti had the burden of playing under the weight of NCAA sanctions and poor recruiting at the end of the previous coaching administration, the current Utes are dealing with having lost three underclassmen from last season -- forward Daniel Deane transferred and forward Stephen Weigh quit to return home, while little-used point guard Curtis Eatmon was released from his scholarship -- an injury to forward Kim Tillie, and the idea that the previous administration imported substandard talent.
All of which seems to be splintering popular opinion, just as last season did.
Many fans are upset that a coach who was heralded as the answer to their problems -- remember, Giacoletti was the "breath of fresh air" after the cantankerous Majerus -- has been unable to transform the program as quickly as they want. Others are counseling patience, correctly noting that Boylen has improved the overall quality of the team, and that any coach needs time to build his system and recruit players best suited for it.
Part of the disconnect is the nature of coaching changes.
New coaches like Boylen often have to promise big things (and permit the insinuation that they can be achieved quickly) in order to excite and inspire the disconsolate fans whom the university needs to court back to the program. Yet the reality is that most new coaches need far more time than they would ever admit in public to build their program to meet their vision. There's no winning for them, unless they somehow enjoy a harmonic convergence the way ... well, the way Giacoletti did with Andrew Bogut and Marc Jackson in his first season. But that's the exception that proves the rule. Look at how most of the five new coaches in the Mountain West are struggling this season, for example; only New Mexico's Steve Alford could be considered a bottom-line success so far, and even he has only barely split his league games.
So which way will the Utes go from here?
That will be interesting to watch.
By this time last season, the Utes were 5-12 and had long since begun their historic slide, with an overtime loss at New Mexico finishing a six-game losing streak. Not just a little of that, though, was the product of so many devastatingly close losses early that sapped their confidence and led to widespread resignation during the second half of the season.
Yet if there is one thing the Utes have not done so far this season, it's give up. They're still fighting, as Boylen said, they're still battling. They have yet to get blown out, the way they did at least twice in the first half of last season, and seem to possess a stronger constitution and willingness to defend hard to stay in games under Boylen.
You just wonder how long they can keep it up, if the results don't start to turn around sometime soon.
Wasn't it just yesterday that the Utes were encouragingly going toe-to-toe with impressive opponents from the Pac-10 Conference, and supposedly learning all the lessons they would need to survive their Mountain West Conference schedule?
Yeah, well ...
The Utes just lost their third straight down-to-the-wire league game, which is not all that different from the seven games the Utes lost by three points or less in the first half of last season. (Watching a red-faced Boylen fume in the locker room afterward reminded me of Giacoletti coming unglued after the Utes couldn't get a call and lost in double-overtime at Rhode Island last season.) In fact, of their seven losses so far, the Utes have fallen in overtime twice, by three points or less two other times, and once by only six.
And just as Giacoletti had the burden of playing under the weight of NCAA sanctions and poor recruiting at the end of the previous coaching administration, the current Utes are dealing with having lost three underclassmen from last season -- forward Daniel Deane transferred and forward Stephen Weigh quit to return home, while little-used point guard Curtis Eatmon was released from his scholarship -- an injury to forward Kim Tillie, and the idea that the previous administration imported substandard talent.
All of which seems to be splintering popular opinion, just as last season did.
Many fans are upset that a coach who was heralded as the answer to their problems -- remember, Giacoletti was the "breath of fresh air" after the cantankerous Majerus -- has been unable to transform the program as quickly as they want. Others are counseling patience, correctly noting that Boylen has improved the overall quality of the team, and that any coach needs time to build his system and recruit players best suited for it.
Part of the disconnect is the nature of coaching changes.
New coaches like Boylen often have to promise big things (and permit the insinuation that they can be achieved quickly) in order to excite and inspire the disconsolate fans whom the university needs to court back to the program. Yet the reality is that most new coaches need far more time than they would ever admit in public to build their program to meet their vision. There's no winning for them, unless they somehow enjoy a harmonic convergence the way ... well, the way Giacoletti did with Andrew Bogut and Marc Jackson in his first season. But that's the exception that proves the rule. Look at how most of the five new coaches in the Mountain West are struggling this season, for example; only New Mexico's Steve Alford could be considered a bottom-line success so far, and even he has only barely split his league games.
So which way will the Utes go from here?
That will be interesting to watch.
By this time last season, the Utes were 5-12 and had long since begun their historic slide, with an overtime loss at New Mexico finishing a six-game losing streak. Not just a little of that, though, was the product of so many devastatingly close losses early that sapped their confidence and led to widespread resignation during the second half of the season.
Yet if there is one thing the Utes have not done so far this season, it's give up. They're still fighting, as Boylen said, they're still battling. They have yet to get blown out, the way they did at least twice in the first half of last season, and seem to possess a stronger constitution and willingness to defend hard to stay in games under Boylen.
You just wonder how long they can keep it up, if the results don't start to turn around sometime soon.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:43 AM |
8 Comments:
Coach Bullwinkle is a FOOL! Too busy jumping up and down and screaming at people to realize that the camera was on your huddle when you called the final play for Kepkay. Then all your players hug Kepkay for being the chosen one in the huddle for the third game in a row for the final possession. Guess what....people noticed. And once again....Kepkay just dribbling around with no play and throws up a prayer. Where is the fire jim boylen website, I want to be the first to sign up. This guy can't coach, obvious with three games in a row that all fall the same way. Still with no coaching.....where's Giac's or Majerus's playbook, BUTTER?
Wow. All I can say is I am still recovering from that game last night. Three straight tough, close losses like that will really take it out of you as a fan. I can only imagine what the coaches and players are going through right now. Still, the bottom line is the Utes have played through three straight tight finishes, and three straight agonizing losses to show for it.
I don't agree with bigutefan that the answer now is to jump all over Boylen. The reality is, he's a first-time, first-year head coach with a pretty depleted team. His players are talented, but I don't think anyone is going to mistake Luke Nevill for Andrew Bogut anytime soon. I think Boylen is figuring out pretty quickly that the gap between assistant coach and head coach is pretty substantial. Though I agree Boylen needs more experience before he'll become a great coach, I think he's definitely on his way. I'm of the opinion that if a first-year coach has immediate success that sometimes says more about the team than it does about the coach. (See Ray Giacoletti). We'll know a lot more about Boylen two years from now, when the program is filled with players that he alone has recruited and coached. But like I said before, I believe in the guy, I really think his intensity and passion will leave a real stamp on the program.
But as far as the 2007-08 Utes go, they seem to be falling back into some of the same patterns from last year. One thing that was so frustrating the past two years under coach Giac was the total lack of offense. There were always four guys standing on the perimeter whil Luke Nevill battled inside for position. Play 1 was throw the ball into Luke and Play 2 was shoot a three. The Utes seem to be falling into the same pattern the past couple of games. Everybody knows that Boylen supposedly knows a million plays and offenses, but I think the Utes need to start running them to provide some organization and rhythm to their offensive possessions. I think it would help, especially in tight end-of-game situations to have offensive sets that the players are comfortable running. Granted, I understand that plays have been called in those situations, they're just so poorly executed or well defensed that jungle ball ensues.
I agree with Mike's comment that the rest of the season will be interesting to watch. I just hope the Utes can pick up enough W's to keep their heads above water. As everyone knows, losing really does take a toll, especially when you're giving your all and coming up short.
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Coach Boylen, since your assistants will not help you or you are too stubborn to listen, I am going out on a limb an act as let's say a voluntary assistant. At this point you have nothing to lose, so here's what I would be saying if I was in your ear on the bench.
"Coach we're up by ten, let's get into our zone and use Luke's length in the middle until we are forced to come out, what do you think?"
"Coach maybe we should be stacking the line on all free throw attempts with one kid in the backcourt as a safety, what do you think?"
"Coach I think we should make Luke face the basket, since he is pretty good shooting face up and off the glass, what do you think?
"Coach maybe we should see what Carlon can do at the point, right now he is the best player we have at putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rack, what do you think"
"Coach its 33 seconds on the clock, I think we should go into to Luke and have Johnny Bryant shadow him for the kick out just in case he's doubled, what do you think?"
"Coach we need to emphasize to the kids, they don't need to leave their feet on every pass, do you want me to go over that with them in practice?"
Bottom line, you need to put these kids in position to allow them to be successful at using their current skill set, you can address their weaknesses in the off season. You already know Bryant and Kepkay are dead eye from the wing, so put them there, (Your current so called assistants should know this by looking at the made shot chart). Green is better shooting from the baseline, so put him there. Brown right now is better with the ball in his hands than he is with shooting a jumper, so give him the ball. Open up the offense more, so Borha and Drca can make their cuts to the basket. Please Coach, don’t be scared to go to your bench, Chris Grant is a senior, use his leadership on the floor.
Sincerely,
Ranwithaute
Voluntary Assistant Coach
University of Utah Basketball
I have only seen the home games- no TV. But lately Luke is avoiding contact and not taking it to the hoop, but rarely. Therefore no fouls are being called and the shooting percentage will is down on the hooks and fall aways from 8-10 feet. He is bent over and holding his shorts like he is dying most of the game. The defense is sooo much better with Boylen but there are still many bad habits of the Giac era that the team has left to shed. The last second plays remind me of the last 2 years. The Utes still don't have a go-to guy for the last second winning shot that has that confidence necessary to win the close ones.
"bigutefan" you have GOT to be joking right? You are a freaking joke if you really believe what you just said. You obviously have no clue as to what constitutes a good coach. You must be one of those fans that jumped on the Utah bandwagon right around the time Urban Meyer arrived. If you had half of a brain you could see the difference between this team and last years team. We could not defend worth a lick last year. We had no heart and got blown out by crappy teams.
See there is one common denominator between the great Majerus teams=They had great players! Look at this tema, there is not one player with the exception of Nevill who will even get a sniff at the NBA. And Nevill is a longshot at best.
Good coaches cannot turn crappy players into great teams. What they can do is put their players in a position to win, which Jim and DONE every freaking game. It is the players job to execute and get it done, our players have not done that. How about you give Boylen at least ONE FULL FREAKING SEASON before you turn on him. You "bigutefan" are a joke and an embarrassment to my University. I am ashamed to say we have fans like you running around in our arena. Please do us all a favor and NEVER show up and cheer for Utah again.
Better yet, become a BYU fan, you are almost as embarrassing at this point.
ditto till...i...die. It's tough to see the positives from the last three games, but at least they weren't against TCU, Wyoming or CSU. These games were all against the best teams in the conference. I've got patience and I still fully expect Boylen to turn things around.
Dear Till I Die,
Having been a season ticket holder since 1979 and having attended every home game during the past 29 years (as well as most of the NCAA tournament games)I find it odd that I was not made aware that you are the person who determines who can be a fan or not. I love the UTES and will till I die. I just can't believe what a rosy picture everyone is painting about Boylen. Yes, defense is better, games are closer, and the standard "we all need to give him time" is around. But the facts are piling up that we are bordering another mess of a situation. Just looking at the move he made letting the kid go play for Purdue and getting rid of Daniel Deane and letting Curtis Eatmon and Stephen Weigh walk away is a crime. Perhaps Luke is better but we will never know because he is exhausted because nobody is left to back him up. Then not being able to call a play for three straight games when it counted. I have been around for the good and bad times, and will continue to be around. Take the blinders off.....
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