Talk of Upsets Swirls Around Utes
Interim coach Russ Pennell has a theory about how the Utes opened as everybody's underdog against his Arizona Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, jokingly speculating that the notion sprang from Salt Lake City itself, as an easy incentive.
"Because that would fire me up, if I was them," he said.
And it has.
Stuck in the unusual situation of being widely viewed as an upset target despite having one of the better seeds in the tournament, coach Jim Boylen has been using every slight to full motivational advantage -- playing for his players video of broadcasters picking against them and citing statistics of online polls that show fans favoring the Wildcats.
"It's been a trend, all year, that we've been the underdogs," point guard Tyler Kepkay said, "so we're pretty used to it. So we're just going to handle it, prepare, and take care of business."
The 24-9 Utes actually have gone from slight underdogs to slight favorites among oddsmakers, suggesting there's actually plenty of sentiment working in their favor.
But the question of how a No. 5 seed like the Utes could be almost universally expected to lose to a No. 12 seed such as Arizona has become the main storyline of the game, surpassing even those surrounding the inside battle between Utah's Luke Nevill and Arizona's Jordan Hill, Boylen's rebuilding effort with the Utes and Pennell's handling of the Wildcats in the wake of legendary coach Lute Olson's retirement five months ago.
"I think that's based on the fact that a lot of people aren't familiar with Utah," Pennell said. "I don't see how in the world a 12 seed could be a favorite over a 5, especially one that played in a tough league like they played in, got a share of the conference championship, then won the conference tournament."
Boylen agreed.
"I don't think the country is used to a Mountain West team being a fifth seed," he said. "So they're assuming that maybe because our conference doesn't get the exposure that the other ones do, that we're not worthy of a fifth seed, and therefore when you play team like Arizona that has tradition and a national kind of following, they assume that it's a game maybe that we should not be picked in. You know, we've been facing that all year. … All I can tell you is we'll be ready to play."
The Utes have won four straight games and 12 of their last 14 -- the Wildcats have lost five of their last six -- and acknowledge some bemusement at hearing analysts doubt them.
"It's not like a huge deal to where we're like dwelling over it and feeling bad for ourselves," forward Shaun Green said. "We more look at it as motivation, to just keep proving people wrong. We were picked fourth in our conference, and we ended up being tied for first. I don't think anybody picked us to win the conference tournament, and we ended up winning that.
"Now, we're underdogs it seems like, again … and that's fine," he added. "We've been that all year. We're just going to keep playing the way we've been playing, just keep trying to prove people wrong."
While the Utes figure to rely on the Nevill inside and hope their squadron of outside shooters has a good night, the Wildcats need a determined effort behind junior forwards Hill and Chase Budinger, two first-team All-Pac-10 Conference players. The Cats like to run, too -- defense has not been their strong suit, lately -- and probably will hope to push the pace against the more half-court oriented Utes.
But the Wildcats did not give the Utes any extra bulletin-board material at their pre-game press conference today, crediting them with playing a tough schedule that shows their toughness -- point guard Nic Wise noted that the Utes beat UNLV, which beat Arizona -- and promising not to get caught up in all of the pre-game talk of an upset.
"We try not to hear that kind of stuff," Budinger said. "Utah is a very good team. They've got the five seed for a reason. They had a great year, and they're a good team. And even though people are saying that this is an upset-type game, we're not letting that get to us at all because we know that Utah is a very good team. We're not going to overlook them at all."
"Because that would fire me up, if I was them," he said.
And it has.
Stuck in the unusual situation of being widely viewed as an upset target despite having one of the better seeds in the tournament, coach Jim Boylen has been using every slight to full motivational advantage -- playing for his players video of broadcasters picking against them and citing statistics of online polls that show fans favoring the Wildcats.
"It's been a trend, all year, that we've been the underdogs," point guard Tyler Kepkay said, "so we're pretty used to it. So we're just going to handle it, prepare, and take care of business."
The 24-9 Utes actually have gone from slight underdogs to slight favorites among oddsmakers, suggesting there's actually plenty of sentiment working in their favor.
But the question of how a No. 5 seed like the Utes could be almost universally expected to lose to a No. 12 seed such as Arizona has become the main storyline of the game, surpassing even those surrounding the inside battle between Utah's Luke Nevill and Arizona's Jordan Hill, Boylen's rebuilding effort with the Utes and Pennell's handling of the Wildcats in the wake of legendary coach Lute Olson's retirement five months ago.
"I think that's based on the fact that a lot of people aren't familiar with Utah," Pennell said. "I don't see how in the world a 12 seed could be a favorite over a 5, especially one that played in a tough league like they played in, got a share of the conference championship, then won the conference tournament."
Boylen agreed.
"I don't think the country is used to a Mountain West team being a fifth seed," he said. "So they're assuming that maybe because our conference doesn't get the exposure that the other ones do, that we're not worthy of a fifth seed, and therefore when you play team like Arizona that has tradition and a national kind of following, they assume that it's a game maybe that we should not be picked in. You know, we've been facing that all year. … All I can tell you is we'll be ready to play."
The Utes have won four straight games and 12 of their last 14 -- the Wildcats have lost five of their last six -- and acknowledge some bemusement at hearing analysts doubt them.
"It's not like a huge deal to where we're like dwelling over it and feeling bad for ourselves," forward Shaun Green said. "We more look at it as motivation, to just keep proving people wrong. We were picked fourth in our conference, and we ended up being tied for first. I don't think anybody picked us to win the conference tournament, and we ended up winning that.
"Now, we're underdogs it seems like, again … and that's fine," he added. "We've been that all year. We're just going to keep playing the way we've been playing, just keep trying to prove people wrong."
While the Utes figure to rely on the Nevill inside and hope their squadron of outside shooters has a good night, the Wildcats need a determined effort behind junior forwards Hill and Chase Budinger, two first-team All-Pac-10 Conference players. The Cats like to run, too -- defense has not been their strong suit, lately -- and probably will hope to push the pace against the more half-court oriented Utes.
But the Wildcats did not give the Utes any extra bulletin-board material at their pre-game press conference today, crediting them with playing a tough schedule that shows their toughness -- point guard Nic Wise noted that the Utes beat UNLV, which beat Arizona -- and promising not to get caught up in all of the pre-game talk of an upset.
"We try not to hear that kind of stuff," Budinger said. "Utah is a very good team. They've got the five seed for a reason. They had a great year, and they're a good team. And even though people are saying that this is an upset-type game, we're not letting that get to us at all because we know that Utah is a very good team. We're not going to overlook them at all."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 7:21 PM |
1 Comments:
Well I guess the Utes did not get too fired up by the comments noted from all the sports pundits. Jordon Hill from the University of Arizona showed Mr. Nevill what PAC10 Basketball was all about. It looks like the Mountain West Conference was over rated this year and the PAC 10 showed its teeth with its performance. Good game Wildcats and the MWC better start playing tougher teams if they want to complete in the Big Dance next year.
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