Coach Leaves His Fury on the Court
Not long after rowdy fans chanted that he should be in anger management, coach Jim Boylen did not want to let his obvious fury get the better of him in the moments after the Utes lost at Utah State tonight.
First, he waved off waiting reporters. Then, he paced the hallway, and consulted with his assistants. Finally, he steadfastly declined to say much of anything about the final play in a 66-64 loss in the Smith Spectrum that had so infuriated him on the sideline that he appeared ready to leap over the scorer's table and strangle the clock operator.
"Great game," he said, resolutely. "Great rivalry game. That's how it should be played. Glad I was a part of it. Disappointed we lost. Not discouraged. I have a good basketball team, I've said that all along. I have a good basketball team. We're going to get better, we're going to keep growing. I like my team. I like the way we battled."
Indeed, the Utes impressively fought back from an 11-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes, just when the Aggies and their pulsing crowd seemed to have them on the run. Center Luke Nevill led the way, scoring eight of his 25 points in less than three minutes to tie the score 59-59 with 3:36 remaining, and the Utes put the finishing touches on a defensive effort that held the Aggies to 41 percent shooting -- a season-low at home for a team that had been leading the nation by hitting 52.9 percent of its shots.
But then the Utes missed crucial free throws that Boylen said would have won the game.
Nevill missed one with 1:29 left that would have cut the lead to one, and guard Lawrence Borha missed the front end of a one-and-one just 20 seconds later when he could have tied the game by making two shots. "We make our free throws, the game's over," Boylen said.
Instead, of course, it got away.
Utah State's Tai Wesley scored a putback in the final 2.4 seconds of a tie game -- even though the game clock failed to start, nearly sending Boylen into cardiac arrest as he screamed at the clock operator on the sideline and the fans roared in celebration.
Referee Randy McCall and his colleagues Tom O'Neill and Eric Curry said they pushed the buttons on the timing devices they wear on their belts to start the clock on the decisive play, but they didn't work. "Sometimes, there are malfunctions," McCall said. The courtside clock operator, who is supposed to back-up the electronic system, did not start the clock, either.
Referees then consulted the video replay, with McCall saying he timed the final play five times. The first three times, he said, he stopped his stopwatch at 2.3 seconds. "I couldn't do that if I tried to," McCall said.
That meant the Utes would have just 0.1 seconds to try to work a miracle with a tip-in at the rim, and Shaun Green's long inbounds pass came up far short, and the Utes were left to digest a sixth straight loss in Logan, and a fourth in five games overall this season.
"We shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with," Nevill said.
First, he waved off waiting reporters. Then, he paced the hallway, and consulted with his assistants. Finally, he steadfastly declined to say much of anything about the final play in a 66-64 loss in the Smith Spectrum that had so infuriated him on the sideline that he appeared ready to leap over the scorer's table and strangle the clock operator.
"Great game," he said, resolutely. "Great rivalry game. That's how it should be played. Glad I was a part of it. Disappointed we lost. Not discouraged. I have a good basketball team, I've said that all along. I have a good basketball team. We're going to get better, we're going to keep growing. I like my team. I like the way we battled."
Indeed, the Utes impressively fought back from an 11-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes, just when the Aggies and their pulsing crowd seemed to have them on the run. Center Luke Nevill led the way, scoring eight of his 25 points in less than three minutes to tie the score 59-59 with 3:36 remaining, and the Utes put the finishing touches on a defensive effort that held the Aggies to 41 percent shooting -- a season-low at home for a team that had been leading the nation by hitting 52.9 percent of its shots.
But then the Utes missed crucial free throws that Boylen said would have won the game.
Nevill missed one with 1:29 left that would have cut the lead to one, and guard Lawrence Borha missed the front end of a one-and-one just 20 seconds later when he could have tied the game by making two shots. "We make our free throws, the game's over," Boylen said.
Instead, of course, it got away.
Utah State's Tai Wesley scored a putback in the final 2.4 seconds of a tie game -- even though the game clock failed to start, nearly sending Boylen into cardiac arrest as he screamed at the clock operator on the sideline and the fans roared in celebration.
Referee Randy McCall and his colleagues Tom O'Neill and Eric Curry said they pushed the buttons on the timing devices they wear on their belts to start the clock on the decisive play, but they didn't work. "Sometimes, there are malfunctions," McCall said. The courtside clock operator, who is supposed to back-up the electronic system, did not start the clock, either.
Referees then consulted the video replay, with McCall saying he timed the final play five times. The first three times, he said, he stopped his stopwatch at 2.3 seconds. "I couldn't do that if I tried to," McCall said.
That meant the Utes would have just 0.1 seconds to try to work a miracle with a tip-in at the rim, and Shaun Green's long inbounds pass came up far short, and the Utes were left to digest a sixth straight loss in Logan, and a fourth in five games overall this season.
"We shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with," Nevill said.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 10:36 PM |
7 Comments:
WOW, are we really surprised that ONCE AGAIN, Boylen losses a game in the final seconds, how many times does this have to happen before Chris Hill pulls the plug on a HORRIBLE hire. Coach Bullwinkle acts like a circus clown on the sidelines, and is nothing but a big baby, a meathead. He was a cheerleader on the bench for the Rockets and Michigan State, the man IS NOT head coach material. Please Chris Hill, let him go his way, we can afford it thanks to Kyle. FIRE BOYLEN!
"I have a good basketball team, I've said that all along. I have a good basketball team. We're going to get better, we're going to keep growing. I like my team. I like the way we battled."
How many times do we have to hear this same ridiculous statement? ME ME ME ME ME, it's all about meathead Boylen.
Grabs the mic, "were getting stronger, were getting better, were gonna build a championship program."
Not with this HORRIBLE coach, please FIRE BOYLEN, UGH!
Where is "Bez" to tell us how he felt about the game?
Give Jimmy some slack, he is still playing with the crap that Giac left. You can't win upper 100 D1 games with bottom 200 D1 talent.
Tough loss. Tough place to play. Good recovery by Boylen to not blame the bad job by the referees. He was steaming mad but brought it all under control in the interview. This free throw thing is maddening. How can these guys be so uncluctch at the line?
Do they look for the most incompetent people available to work as referees? How hard is it to press a button? Got all caught up in the action and forgot?
bigutefan, you are once again displacing blame. Boylen put his team in position to win at the Cow Barn, the players did not execute down the stretch. Examples: traveling call on Carlon Brown, Borha missing the front end of a one-and-one, Luke Nevill not grabbing a rebound with 2 seconds on the clock, no one blocking out Tai Wesley. Are you seriously saying this lack of execution is the coach's fault? All Ute basketball fans have been discouraged with the W-L column the past three years, but to make a scapegoat out of Boylen is flat wrong. The guy is in a tough spot, doing a tough job, but he has given his heart and soul to this program and he DOES know his basketball. Reserve judgment until he has HIS recruits in place. The last thing the program needs right now is fans like yourself constantly undermining the efforts of the coach. Get behind our coach and our team or stay away!!!
We lost that game because Wesley wanted the ball more than any Ute; he was simply tougher than our foreign legion up front. And anyone who thought Larry Borha would hit a free throw under pressure was dreaming. No one could coach this senior class to win close games. Fire Boylen after 2 years? Are you Chris Jones' father?
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