Utes Had to Try, But Rearranging Lineup Doesn't Change Much
If something isn't working, it's probably a good idea to try something different.
But what if that doesn't work, either?
The Utes suffered another loss -- that's four straight -- by falling 72-64 at Wyoming today, in spite of coach Jim Boylen benching point guard Tyler Kepkay and center Luke Nevill in favor of guard Luka Drca and forward Kim Tillie.
Nevill dominated the Cowboys with 22 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes, but that was also partly by design. Just like in the previous meeting, the Pokes were willing to guard the 7-foot-1 junior straight up, in an attempt to keep the rest of the Utes from hurting them with three-point shots.
And that worked, just fine.
The Utes hit just 3 of 12 from long range -- they were 3 of 14 in the last meeting, a loss at the Huntsman Center -- and missed half of their 10 free throws, while the Cowboys made 26 of 27 and kept alive the possibility that they will not have to win a play-in game to reach the main field of the Mountain West Conference tournament. (That dubious distinction might fall to the Utes, if they can't win at least one of their last two games.)
Of course, Boylen had to do something -- and his theory was sound.
Start Nevill on the bench to avoid early foul trouble while at the same time giving him a chance to match-up more against a back-up player when he does get into the game, and allow Kim Tillie -- "an unbelievable defensive player," Boylen said -- to help establish the coveted defensive attitude from the start. (Boylen made it clear that defensive lapses are part of the reason Nevill wound up on the bench.)
Meanwhile, Drca gets a chance to show what he can do after obviously outplaying Kepkay for most of the season.
The only problem was that Tillie didn't give the Utes anything more than usual -- two points, four rebounds -- they still strained to score for most of the first half, and Kepkay was scoreless with two boards in just 18 minutes. But who knows? Maybe getting 34 points, nine rebounds, seven assists (also seven turnovers), three blocks and two steals out of Nevill and Drca combined makes that worthwhile.
Or, maybe it's all inconsequential.
Seems to me, this is more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. No matter how you want to mix it up, the Utes still need to get more production out of more players, rather than simply shuffling around the production that they do get. And that comes down to the players themselves.
Look at it this way ...
The Utes have eight players, basically. Five of them start. And those five scored 27 points against Wyoming. That's not enough from any combination of five out of eight players, period. And it's not like the defense was suddenly great, either. Yes, the Cowboys shot only 36 percent in the first half, but they hit 55 in the second, and scored far more than the 63 points per game the Utes have been allowing in league games.
As for the reactions, Neither Nevill nor Kepkay endorsed the lineup change, but they didn't complain about it, either.
Nevill agreed with Boylen that coming off the bench helps him avoid the early foul trouble that has plagued him lately -- "I've been disappointed every time I look over with 15 minutes left in the half and Luke's sitting with me," Boylen said -- while Kepkay said he "didn't really have a reaction."
"I don't know if it helped," he said.
Boylen thought it did, even though the Utes still scored just 10 points in the first 12 minutes, and allowed a season-high 44 points in the second half.
“I thought we started off the game pretty well," Boylen said. "I didn't think we were as frantic early. I thought we were under control pretty good. There's a difference between being out of control and not making shots. I thought we didn't make some plays, didn't make some shots early, but I didn't think it was bad."
In any case, Boylen expects "as of today" to continue using his new starting lineup.
But what if that doesn't work, either?
The Utes suffered another loss -- that's four straight -- by falling 72-64 at Wyoming today, in spite of coach Jim Boylen benching point guard Tyler Kepkay and center Luke Nevill in favor of guard Luka Drca and forward Kim Tillie.
Nevill dominated the Cowboys with 22 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes, but that was also partly by design. Just like in the previous meeting, the Pokes were willing to guard the 7-foot-1 junior straight up, in an attempt to keep the rest of the Utes from hurting them with three-point shots.
And that worked, just fine.
The Utes hit just 3 of 12 from long range -- they were 3 of 14 in the last meeting, a loss at the Huntsman Center -- and missed half of their 10 free throws, while the Cowboys made 26 of 27 and kept alive the possibility that they will not have to win a play-in game to reach the main field of the Mountain West Conference tournament. (That dubious distinction might fall to the Utes, if they can't win at least one of their last two games.)
Of course, Boylen had to do something -- and his theory was sound.
Start Nevill on the bench to avoid early foul trouble while at the same time giving him a chance to match-up more against a back-up player when he does get into the game, and allow Kim Tillie -- "an unbelievable defensive player," Boylen said -- to help establish the coveted defensive attitude from the start. (Boylen made it clear that defensive lapses are part of the reason Nevill wound up on the bench.)
Meanwhile, Drca gets a chance to show what he can do after obviously outplaying Kepkay for most of the season.
The only problem was that Tillie didn't give the Utes anything more than usual -- two points, four rebounds -- they still strained to score for most of the first half, and Kepkay was scoreless with two boards in just 18 minutes. But who knows? Maybe getting 34 points, nine rebounds, seven assists (also seven turnovers), three blocks and two steals out of Nevill and Drca combined makes that worthwhile.
Or, maybe it's all inconsequential.
Seems to me, this is more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. No matter how you want to mix it up, the Utes still need to get more production out of more players, rather than simply shuffling around the production that they do get. And that comes down to the players themselves.
Look at it this way ...
The Utes have eight players, basically. Five of them start. And those five scored 27 points against Wyoming. That's not enough from any combination of five out of eight players, period. And it's not like the defense was suddenly great, either. Yes, the Cowboys shot only 36 percent in the first half, but they hit 55 in the second, and scored far more than the 63 points per game the Utes have been allowing in league games.
As for the reactions, Neither Nevill nor Kepkay endorsed the lineup change, but they didn't complain about it, either.
Nevill agreed with Boylen that coming off the bench helps him avoid the early foul trouble that has plagued him lately -- "I've been disappointed every time I look over with 15 minutes left in the half and Luke's sitting with me," Boylen said -- while Kepkay said he "didn't really have a reaction."
"I don't know if it helped," he said.
Boylen thought it did, even though the Utes still scored just 10 points in the first 12 minutes, and allowed a season-high 44 points in the second half.
“I thought we started off the game pretty well," Boylen said. "I didn't think we were as frantic early. I thought we were under control pretty good. There's a difference between being out of control and not making shots. I thought we didn't make some plays, didn't make some shots early, but I didn't think it was bad."
In any case, Boylen expects "as of today" to continue using his new starting lineup.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 6:37 PM |
5 Comments:
"I didn't think it was bad"?! Are you kidding me?! This team is getting WORSE as the season comes to a close, not better. It's looking more and more like Boylen doesn't know what he is doing. He is grasping at straws.
You're a tired fool utethunder. Like I said, if you were an AD your programs would be dead last in the nation.
Dear Utethunder and Ranwithaute,
Please ignore the two horrible blog posters on this site, named "utefamily, and "majerussweater." They act like big BULLIES and if you don't write in fairy tale language that everything is wonderful on the hill then they rip people apart and call them names and pronounce that they can't be Ute fans. Personally I think those two "idiots" act like BYU fans living in Fairy Tale land, that all is well, and don't say anything mean. Things continue to get worse, thanks for posting a real opinion. Just in case you didn't know it "utefamily" and "majerussweater," blogs are for ALL people to express their opinions, both good and bad. NOT TO BULLY PEOPLE! FYI, your not in charge of this blog, nor are you in charge of ute fans. Do us all a favor and cheer for somebody else yourself. If you had half a clue you would notice numerous comments from sportscasters, sportswriters, and on other UTE sites that MANY fans are not jumping on the Boylen bandwagon. GO UTES!
He did what he was supposed to do shake up the lineup, but he could done this like I've said many times before in the preseason to find the right mix. Somehow Coach Boylen became convinced before the season started that he had all the players in the right position, in my opinion that was a mistake.
After the season we had last year, every position should have been open up for grabs and whatever kid shined, they get the position. I have to question why he took a 16pt per game scorer out of the starting lineup (Bryant), why Chris Grant doesn't play at all when he started 15 or so games last year and yet we still have weaknesses at the point position.
Why out of Coach Boylen's own mouth after he got the job, "My number one priority was to have Kepkay recommit" a 5'10" shooter, but he gives away 6'9" Calasan to Purdue a ranked team where he is key cog in their lineup.
So now I hope he'll try the Brown kid out front, hell he's given every other kid a shot with the ball in their hands when thats not their game. Right now he is the only creator we have, put Kepkay and Bryant on the wings and let them do what they do best.....shoot.
Ute Family we all have our opinions, it's okay if we differ, lets say Utethunder was an AD, could he be doing any worse than Chris Hill right now?
The one thing I feel we all agree on is we love Utah Basketball and that is all that matters :)
Hey Gang ...
Gotta say, I really do appreciate your comments and love that we can facilitate some discussion about the Utes on the blog here. (As always, feel free to drop questions and comments to me at mcl@sltrib.com.)
And while I'm all for argument and debate -- even a little mockery is just fine -- I would ask that we try not to allow the name-calling escalate much from here. Wouldn't want fans to feel like they can't come here to express their opinion about the team ...
Thanks!
Mike
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