The annual Buffalo hunt: Utah vs. Colorado 2014

[LA Ute]

Phil Cullen's latest e-mail to boosters:


The Pac-12 has a total of 44 wins in conference play and only 10 of them have come by hand of the visiting team. The road is tough and we are looking to break the trend across the conference.

Last week our guys played extremely hard. A possession or two in each one of those games could have changed the outcome. Our guys were able to battle the #1 team in the country, Arizona, to the finish. Today we are taking a look at a few of those possessions that we can improve upon in film and will start our game prep for Colorado in practice.
Colorado is our travel partner and also played the Arizona schools this past week. They lost to Arizona State by a score of 72-51 and Arizona 69-57. Our game will be in Boulder this Saturday. The Buffaloes have only lost three games at home in the last two years so we have our work cut out for us. Please click here (http://email.jumpforwardemail.com/wf/click?upn=4Gl3jowIu-2FT1gqArk0Z7Sow06NBU-2F8Vl2xc-2B1k-2B7QoZmGKnCGfdQnv-2FzTXf6rkLEYB1kjCrVpeAYSRt-2BNfrMrRxbGMRF7R6v6SdUjyjKjc-2BakrRnBgcCpU-2FZpZDDiQBvKjCCMBSl0w86vq1rVJ22cw-3D-3D_JpavFYnoLTX47CpO-2FXOabzjYqG6h2ymjArNh36QzXJZDcMBAuxEsJTakaHJarCcXs budmhkAesV25xvTC7Ws7vONaH6yPmuE4L9zyjGMmtGTCw4UYrV UsnupimMnkApeoiuko-2Fca14fIgPxFBu93izItN7MgvRMpx5qXO3c3Ph-2BzCoz5i-2BW-2FM1sYtw1-2Bv7bIjCLXHdsaal0lPGwJmHJ-2FjlOhW7oM-2F6uY0e89V-2BFJyX13SmnqZjRNeoa-2FDgzR2jyFUI26ZfXtQzZkEvhXfAmLQ6Jtpe6SIKS4-2FlQ-2FUAtTr0Y-3D) to see Colorado's stats.

The Buffs are led by 6-10 center Josh Scott, 15.9 ppg and 6-2 Askia Booker, 14.1 ppg. They have been without their starting point guard Spencer Dinwiddie who suffered a season ending knee injury just four games ago. With Dinwiddie out, they have continued to push the ball in transition and have been out-rebounding their opponents in conference. Xavier Johnson is their starting 4 man who has the ability to play inside and out with great athleticism and length. Matchups will be key for us to keep them off of the glass, an area we struggled in against Arizona.
They will play mostly man to man and will try pressuring on ball screens. There size and length is tough to pass around and they have been forcing teams to turn over the ball on 19% of their defensive possessions. We will need to play solid on offense and make them guard our personnel and our actions.

Catch our game this Saturday at noon on the Pac-12 Network!

The Men's Basketball Staff

1033

[Scratch]

Phil Cullen's latest e-mail to boosters:



1033

I'm wildly confused by that picture. Was the idea to sneak up on your prey by dressing up as your prey's primary natural predator? Seems like a bad plan to me.

[LA Ute]

I'm wildly confused by that picture. Was the idea to sneak up on your prey by dressing up as your prey's primary natural predator? Seems like a bad plan to me.

What kind of a Ute fan questions the tribe's hunting savvy?

[Scratch]

What kind of a Ute fan questions the tribe's hunting savvy?

Based on their apparent hunting acumen, I'm going to go ahead and assume that those two are the Ray Giacoletti and Jim Boylen of the tribe.

[LA Ute]

Based on their apparent hunting acumen, I'm going to go ahead and assume that those two are the Ray Giacoletti and Jim Boylen of the tribe.

O thou of little faith (http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/Catlin/catlin_art.html).


In this scene, two hunters disguised as wolves and on their hands and knees carefully approach the edge of a herd of buffalo. Catlin wrote:
While the herd of buffaloes are together, they seem to have little dread of the wolf, and allow them to come in close company with them. The Indian then has taken advantage of this fact, and often places himself under the skin of this animal, and crawls for half a mile or more on his hands and knees, until he approaches within a few rods of the unsuspecting group, and easily shoots down the fattest of the throng. http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/Images/source.gif
There were several varieties of western wolf species during Catlin’s era of observation. The artist noted, “. . . the most formidable and most numerous of which were white, often sneaking about in gangs or families of fifty of sixty in numbers. . . many of these animals grew to a very great size. . . .” http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/Images/source.gif Although these white wolves would rarely attack buffalo in a protective herd, they would attack a straggling weak or aged animal.

Like their namesake tribe, the Utes will outsmart the Buffaloes this Saturday.

[SoCalPat]

Like their namesake tribe, the Utes will outsmart the Buffaloes this Saturday.

We have to get a road win or two this season. That graphic they showed early in our game vs. Arizona was embarrassing -- I knew our road woes were pretty entrenched, but I had no idea we rated that horribly nationally. This is a significant break in my philosophy, which says optimism and support builds quickest by getting wins against highly rated teams, but if you told me today I could get wins against Colorado and USC in exchange for a 25-point loss at home to Arizona, I'd probably take it. In this regard, the program is no different than it was in Larry's first year. That has to change.

[sancho]

O thou of little faith (http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/Catlin/catlin_art.html).


I saw on PBS a pack of wolves, desperate from hunger, attack a moose. Many wolves lost their lives to bring that thing down. I assume buffalo are pretty tough to kill as well.

I will be there on Sat. Shall I wear my wolfskin? Maybe it's lucky. You never know about animal skins.

[San Diego Ute Fan]

Any true fan knows the proper way to hunt buffalo...http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/30/apyha7ag.jpg

[FountainOfUte]

Actually, the wolf skins are about lulling the Buffs into complacency. We want them to think they're playing Nevada instead of Utah.

[U-Ute]

Actually, the wolf skins are about lulling the Buffs into complacency. We want them to think they're playing Nevada instead of Utah.

Given our record the last few years, showing up as Utes should make them complacent enough.

[sancho]

Out the door to boulder! GoUtes!

[roseparkutes]

let go utes!!! love me some buffalo burgers!

[DrumNFeather]

Scott making our bigs look silly early. Also, someone should take the lid off of the basket.

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[LA Ute]

I don't understand why other teams find it so easy to get to the hoop against us.

[LA Ute]

I love watching Delon.

[DrumNFeather]

I love watching Delon.

Not much hustle outside of what he's doing. CU is doing a lot of little things well right now and our guys are a bit ho hum.

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[LA Ute]

Wish we had a big like Scott.

[DrumNFeather]

What a weird game.

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[LA Ute]

Hoping we can have the mo going into halftime and make some adjustments.

[LA Ute]

Nice to see Fields contributing. Weird shot motion, though.

[DrumNFeather]

Hoping we can have the mo going into halftime and make some adjustments.

It's ours for the taking. We really need to keep this up.

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[DrumNFeather]

Fields looks good.

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[Applejack]

Nice to see Fields contributing. Weird shot motion, though.

MyBoyAhmad has a hitch in his shot. I don't know if the coaches are going to try to work it out, but it will keep him from ever being a shooter. His calling card is going to be defense.

[DrumNFeather]

Based on other flagrant fouls we've seen called, that elbow was awfully close.

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[LA Ute]

Now the Utes have shown they can close out a first half. Time to show they can keep an opponent down and not let them back in the game.

BTW, our bigs have GOT to make layups.

[DrumNFeather]

What in the world happens to this team that they just look so bad for stretches.

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[LA Ute]

Our failure to box out has probably cost us 8-10 points.

[DrumNFeather]

Johnson plays out of control. I'm not a huge fan of that style. It is a benefit with these officials today, but he's gonna hurt someone. He has already hit fields with an elbow and smacked Bach in the face.

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[LA Ute]

Once again we are in the driver's seat. Can we close this one out?

NO! Illegal screen. We hand the wheel back to CU. All we needed on that possession was a bucket.

[DrumNFeather]

Totally sold that screen call.

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[LA Ute]

Of all people to make the critical TO -- Wright. I swear this team is jinxed. They make all these weird mistakes in the final minute.

[DrumNFeather]

For shit's sake.

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[DrumNFeather]

OT!

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[DrumNFeather]

Brandon Taylor has had a very nice game.

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[LA Ute]

OK, Brandon gives us another chance to close out a close game.

[DrumNFeather]

Some of Delon's complaints are legit, but you cannot whine after every non-call.

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[LA Ute]

That in-bounds play is the latest example of the Utes just losing their brains in crunch time. I am not bashing them -- I really think it's become a psychological thing for them.

[LA Ute]

Another weird thing that seems so correctable -- guys like Booker get to the rim, or at least into the paint, almost at will.

[LA Ute]

Ballgame. Sigh.

[DrumNFeather]

So frustrating.

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[LA Ute]

Maybe in practice scrimmages Larry should make the side that gives up an offensive rebound run until they vomit.

[Rocker Ute]

That in-bounds play is the latest example of the Utes just losing their brains in crunch time. I am not bashing them -- I really think it's become a psychological thing for them.

I love this team and Kodiak, but maybe some bashing is getting warranted at this point. We are to the point where we can't keep pulling the 'youth and inexperience' card any more.

[LA Ute]

I love this team and Kodiak, but maybe some bashing is getting warranted at this point. We are to the point where we can't keep pulling the 'youth and inexperience' card any more.

Agreed. Maybe they all need to see a shrink.

[Irving Washington]

I love this team and Kodiak, but maybe some bashing is getting warranted at this point. We are to the point where we can't keep pulling the 'youth and inexperience' card any more.



Or the weak teleconference schedule.

[sancho]

Report from Boulder:

My first game in the Coors event center. It's no Hunty, but I like the place. The fans are right on the floor (even though they stick the students on the baseline). The students are loud and have a good time. The band started with Sheryl Crow, bu they won me back with a Led Zeppelin medley and a tuba player dance. The crowd was pretty loud.

The Buffaloes showed amazing discipline and control to not foul anyone at all in the entire 2nd half and overtime. Remarkable.

But as bad as the officiating was, CU won that game with the two big jump shots in OT.

I think Wright went too far in his complaining to the officials.

We have known the problem with this team since summertime - rebounding. We really went after that Reynolds kid because we knew that was the weak spot. We are a tournament team in just about every aspect of the game except rebounding.

[UTEopia]

Report from Boulder:



The Buffaloes showed amazing discipline and control to not foul anyone at all in the entire 2nd half and overtime. Remarkable.

But as bad as the officiating was, CU won that game with the two big jump shots in OT.

I think Wright went too far in his complaining to the officials.

I was unable to watch the game, but a 23 − 13 foul differential, 19 more free throw attempts and 13 point advantage from the free throw line seems unbelievable.

[sancho]

I was unable to watch the game, but a 23 − 13 foul differential, 19 more free throw attempts and 13 point advantage from the free throw line seems unbelievable.

It was silly. Even with OT, we didn't reach the bonus.

I hope the fans bring batteries to toss at Xavier Johnson when he comes to SLC. I know I'm not supposed to say he's a thug because he's black, so I'll just day he's a dirtbag.

[DrumNFeather]

It was silly. Even with OT, we didn't reach the bonus.

I hope the fans bring batteries to toss at Xavier Johnson when he comes to SLC. I know I'm not supposed to say he's a thug because he's black, so I'll just day he's a dirtbag.

I don't think there's much question that he should have been tossed.

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[SeattleUte]

Of all people to make the critical TO -- Wright. I swear this team is jinxed. They make all these weird mistakes in the final minute.

There's nothing weird or supernaturally wrong with this team. They're not jinxed. The Pac 12 is super competitive, with a lot of good basketball players and effective coaches. And college basketball overall is brutally competitive. Look at the top 10 today. The Utes are good but just not quite good enough to be in the top tier of this conference. They'd be winning the WCC, but they're not quite good enough to be 8-1 instead of 3-6 in the Pac 12. Yes, it's very frustrating, but we have to just press on. Maybe we'll finish 8-1. maybe we'll be 8-1 this point next season. We're not that far off, but we're not quite there yet. There are structural impediments. It's probably no coincidence that the football and basketball Utes have experienced similar seasons recently.

I'll give Kodiak this. It's impressive the team has not yet laid an egg (knock on wood). How many 3-6 teams can say that?

[LA Ute]

I'll give Kodiak this. It's impressive the team has not yet laid an egg (knock on wood). How many 3-6 teams can say that?

A fair point. To employ a little Majerus-type candor, we just need better players -- meaning the current crop has to get better and we need an infusion of talent. Kuzma, Chapman and the younger Wright may well fill the latter bill, and players like Loveridge, Bachynski, Ogbe, Fields and Olsen just have to mature and get better. Even Delon does. The good news is there is every reason to believe all of that will happen.

P.S. I know they are not jinxed. Fan frustration and hyperbole at work there.

[SoCalPat]

I love this team and Kodiak, but maybe some bashing is getting warranted at this point. We are to the point where we can't keep pulling the 'youth and inexperience' card any more.

We ran Boylen out of town (justifiably) two years after getting a 5 seed in the dance. I'm not saying we can't extend Larry after next year, but to do so without a noticeable uptick in W-L or road wins makes such a move unjustifiable. I don't expect us to win all of our games, but I'm not being demanding when I say there's no excuse to have zero road wins on Feb. 1 either

[UTEopia]

We ran Boylen out of town (justifiably) two years after getting a 5 seed in the dance. I'm not saying we can't extend Larry after next year, but to do so without a noticeable uptick in W-L or road wins makes such a move unjustifiable. I don't expect us to win all of our games, but I'm not being demanding when I say there's no excuse to have zero road wins on Feb. 1 either

The one road game where we should have won WSU, was the one game where I don't think the team played with a great sense of urgency. Yes, the game was close, but the team seemed to sleep walk most of the game and rarely pushed the ball with any aggressiveness. As for the other road losses, I thought the team battled and fought and simply did not have the ability to get over the top against evenly matched opponents. That is not an excuse for the poor plays in each of those games, but the reality of games on the road against equally matched teams.

[Applejack]

We ran Boylen out of town (justifiably) two years after getting a 5 seed in the dance. I'm not saying we can't extend Larry after next year, but to do so without a noticeable uptick in W-L or road wins makes such a move unjustifiable. I don't expect us to win all of our games, but I'm not being demanding when I say there's no excuse to have zero road wins on Feb. 1 either

C'mon. Are you suggesting that Coach K is on the hot seat because this team has lost close road games at Boise, Washington, Washington St, Arizona, ASU, and Colorado? The team is young, has no clue how to finish games, and doesn't have a legitimate Pac-12 player at either the 4 or 5 spot. I think you're letting your excitement over Delon "Manna" Wright cloud your judgment on how far this team has come in two years. This team is a single legitimate (not all conference, just serviceable) big man away from going dancing. And they are two players shy of actually making noise in the conference.

Maybe we will crash back to earth next year or have some terrible injury, God forbid, to Delon or JLove. But I still think Kodiak has done an A+ job to this point.

[LA Ute]

C'mon. Are you suggesting that Coach K is on the hot seat because this team has lost close road games at Boise, Washington, Washington St, Arizona, ASU, and Colorado? The team is young, has no clue how to finish games, and doesn't have a legitimate Pac-12 player at either the 4 or 5 spot. I think you're letting your excitement over Delon "Manna" Wright cloud your judgment on how far this team has come in two years. This team is a single legitimate (not all conference, just serviceable) big man away from going dancing. And they are two players shy of actually making noise in the conference.

Maybe we will crash back to earth next year or have some terrible injury, God forbid, to Delon or JLove. But I still think Kodiak has done an A+ job to this point.

I think you are spot on.

[SoCalPat]

C'mon. Are you suggesting that Coach K is on the hot seat because this team has lost close road games at Boise, Washington, Washington St, Arizona, ASU, and Colorado? The team is young, has no clue how to finish games, and doesn't have a legitimate Pac-12 player at either the 4 or 5 spot. I think you're letting your excitement over Delon "Manna" Wright cloud your judgment on how far this team has come in two years. This team is a single legitimate (not all conference, just serviceable) big man away from going dancing. And they are two players shy of actually making noise in the conference.

Maybe we will crash back to earth next year or have some terrible injury, God forbid, to Delon or JLove. But I still think Kodiak has done an A+ job to this point.

I think I made it clear his seat will become warm NEXT YEAR if we're still seeing repeats from this year.

[UtahsMrSports]

I think I made it clear his seat will become warm NEXT YEAR if we're still seeing repeats from this year.

You are nuts. Larrys getting extended short of a complete meltdown. Not extending a coach on the heels of a top 30 recruiting class, being the third coach in a decade to be lt go would SCREAM stay away to every coach in the world thats worth a darn.

[concerned]

you're not going to have two coaches on the hot seat same time. If nothing else, Larry will get a pass because Kyle seat is hotter than his

[SoCalPat]

You are nuts. Larrys getting extended short of a complete meltdown. Not extending a coach on the heels of a top 30 recruiting class, being the third coach in a decade to be lt go would SCREAM stay away to every coach in the world thats worth a darn.

If we're winless on the road going into February next year, or continue to lose close games at our current pace, it will become apparent where the problem lies.

I don't expect that, but I've been expecting a lot of things this year that have yet to come to fruition. Like winning one game on the road, for example.

[LA Ute]

It's silly to be taking about Larry's seat getting hot at this point. During any kind of slump we could come up with hypothetical scenarios in which a coach's job could be in jeopardy.

[LA Ute]

Phil Cullen's e-mail this morning:


This upcoming game versus Colorado will be our last home game of the year. We will be honoring our two seniors, Renan Lenz and Xan Ricketts. Tip off will be at noon and the game will be on the Pac 12 Network.

Colorado stands at 9-6 in conference play and has an RPI ranking of #25. They are led by, Askia Booker 15.9 ppg, Josh Scott 15.8 ppg and Xavier Johnson 13.3 ppg in conference play. They are a personnel driven team meaning their actions put their players in positions to make plays. They like to increase the tempo and are very good on the offensive glass. Defensively they will play primarily man-to-man defense and will look to get physical with us on cuts. Click here to see Colorado's stats.

Currently we rank #54 in offensive production and rank #43 on defense. Coming into this year we wanted to have a balanced attack and it has been good to see the numbers reflect our commitment to both sides of the ball. We continue to rank as one of the best 2-point shooting percentage teams in the country at #9.

We will begin our game preparation today at practice. Today's practice is open to all season ticket holders and begins at 1:30 pm in the Huntsman Center. Parking is available on the top deck of the parking garage south of the Huntsman Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

As a Thank You for being loyal season ticket holders, we wanted to offer you $5 additional tickets for anybody you'd like to bring to the Colorado game this Saturday! We thank you for your support, as you have been great fans for us all season. Just go to utahtickets.com and enter Promo Code CRIMSON in the basketball tab.

The Men's Basketball Staff

[sancho]

Phil Cullen's e-mail this morning:

I hope the MUSS gives a nice warm welcome to Xavier Johnson.

[Diehard Ute]

I took the last half of work off Friday so I can go.

I hate these noon games.

[LA Ute]

I took the last half of work off Friday so I can go.

I hate these noon games.

It's at 11:00 a.m. here. Weird time to watch a basketball game.

[sancho]

It's at 11:00 a.m. here. Weird time to watch a basketball game.

I will be at a conference for work, sitting in the back, trying to go unnoticed as I watch on my kindle.

[Diehard Ute]

It's at 11:00 a.m. here. Weird time to watch a basketball game.

Yes...and I probably should have mentioned taking the last half off work means I can go home at 0230 so I can get some sleep before the game haha

[Applejack]

Senior Night! Let's take some time and write up our favorite memories of Xan and Renan (great comic-book-duo names, by the way).

I'll start: I'll never forget when Xan got in for some extended run against St. Katty's, drained two long 5 footers and hauled in 3 boards to shut the door on St. Katty's upset hopes.

[LA Ute]

Interesting that JL was pulled so quickly and then seems to have come back with a vengeance. Good.

[Diehard Ute]

Interesting that JL was pulled so quickly and then seems to have come back with a vengeance. Good.

I think Larry is trying to give him earlier and more frequent breathers.

[LA Ute]

I think Larry is trying to give him earlier and more frequent breathers.

It was probably more a matter of JL giving up 7 quick points, one on one, to a guy averaging less than 4 points a game.

[LA Ute]

Hate to say it but we've been here before with the Buffs. Time for the Utes to double down.

[LA Ute]

Bury them. Don't ease up.

[LA Ute]

Gordon sure gets leeway on lowering his shoulder when he drives.

[OrangeUte]

What a great game! Had to watch on tape delay but this one was terrific to witness!

Huge run to start the second half was nice to see. This team can be explosive and they play solid defense n

[LA Ute]

Utah vs. CU Quotes

Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak

On what he felt was the turning point

We had an 8-point deficit and we were not playing defense like we knew we could. We got it even heading into halftime and then came out in the second half and shot the ball as well as we could. I don't like the turnovers – 15 seems to be our number

On the team’s defensive performance

We were getting side to side and out in the passing lanes. We wanted to get points from our defense and we were able to do that. They pounded us on the glass last game and to out rebound them is a testament to the team's hard work. We have to limit them to one shot and we didn't do that in Boulder. Out Achilles heel has been turning it over. We need to be more disciplined and shore some things up

On defending Askia Booker

A quarter of their output comes from Askia. Brandon did a great job on him and we wanted to limit their pick-n-roll. We know we can't be perfect but we wanted to limit that and contest him on every shot

On Jordan’s performance

He hasn't had many opportunities because of the height of teams in this league. We threw the ball inside and that opened things up. Jordan was able to hit some shots and Colorado didn't really double him like he's been facing with some other teams. He took the right shots at the right time. He made solid passes and other than the first four minutes, he played really well defensively

Utah sophomore Jordan Loveridge

On halftime adjustments

We knew we needed to pick up our defense to help our offense. We just wanted to get stops since we knew that would help us on the other end.

On his good shooting

I just need to have confidence with my shot. My teammates were getting me the ball in good spots and I just tried to maintain focus throughout the game.

On winning on Senior Day

We didn't want to let the fans down. They've been so great this year for us and we appreciate all the support

Utah junior Delon Wright

On halftime adjustments

I don't think I was aggressive enough in the first half. I just needed to do better in all facets

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle

On the game

The second half, we are a different team. For some reason, the last few games, three out of the last four games, in the second half we come out and we just can't stop anybody. Utah is a good team and they have good players. We did a pretty good enough job in the first half to shut them down, but it’s not like we locked them down. They still shot 47% in the first half. We had eight assists and five turnovers in the first half. We were making enough shots to keep the game close but we weren't guarding and rebounding like we are capable of. Jordan Loveridge was the difference I thought in the game. He was really good and we didn't have any answer for him.

[concerned]

Agree with Delon's comment. He was so passive in the first half, and then flipped a switch. Game was great to watch.

Another nit at the end of the half: we take a time out, Delon has the ball; dribbles above the top of the key, and then we end up with Ahmad Fields taking a mid range jumper at the buzzer? We drew up that play? Why was Fields even on the court? We should have had a half-time lead. At the time, we thought our late game plays were going to kill us again. Very glad it didnt, but that has got to improve (as everybody has been saying all season).

[SoCalPat]

Agree with Delon's comment. He was so passive in the first half, and then flipped a switch. Game was great to watch.

Another nit at the end of the half: we take a time out, Delon has the ball; dribbles above the top of the key, and then we end up with Ahmad Fields taking a mid range jumper at the buzzer? We drew up that play? Why was Fields even on the court? We should have had a half-time lead. At the time, we thought our late game plays were going to kill us again. Very glad it didnt, but that has got to improve (as everybody has been saying all season).

It's time to accept the reality that we either do not have a guy we can give the ball to in late clock situations and allow him to create his shot, or our coaching staff simply does not have any iso sets in their playbook.

People talk about Delon needing a jumper to make it in the NBA. That would help, but what allowed Andre Miller to stay in the NBA for as long as he did was that he had an outstanding low post game for a guard. If Delon could develop that, there's your guy in late clock situations. He can beat any guard one on one, and when the double team comes, he's a good enough passer to find the open guy.

[Applejack]

It's time to accept the reality that we either do not have a guy we can give the ball to in late clock situations and allow him to create his shot, or our coaching staff simply does not have any iso sets in their playbook.

People talk about Delon needing a jumper to make it in the NBA. That would help, but what allowed Andre Miller to stay in the NBA for as long as he did was that he had an outstanding low post game for a guard. If Delon could develop that, there's your guy in late clock situations. He can beat any guard one on one, and when the double team comes, he's a good enough passer to find the open guy.

I don't think Delon will ever develop a post game, and I don't think he needs to. Andre always was a natural in the post and as years robbed him of his always limited athleticism, he was forced to rely on that part of his game even more. Delon and Andre are very different point guards in that sense: Andre's gift is an absolutely astounding ability to read defenses and make the right move - entry pass, shoot, drive, swing pass, alley-oop, etc; Delon's gift is an amazing ability to finish around the rim and great court vision (although not the overall grasp of movement and spacing that Andre had). For Delon to be an NBA player, he absolutely needs that outside shot so that his elite talent can be fully utilized. Andre, on the other hand, was able to be an elite traffic cop despite his lack of a jumpshot.

[LA Ute]

Another nit at the end of the half: we take a time out, Delon has the ball; dribbles above the top of the key, and then we end up with Ahmad Fields taking a mid range jumper at the buzzer? We drew up that play? Why was Fields even on the court? We should have had a half-time lead. At the time, we thought our late game plays were going to kill us again. Very glad it didnt, but that has got to improve (as everybody has been saying all season).

I thought the same thing. We are terrible with 15 seconds to go, whether in the half or the game.

[Diehard Ute]

You could tell from Delon's reaction that one of our players was in the wrong spot on that play, poor execution by one guy dooms the play.