The ESPN box score show Delon had 6 turnovers, so I'm not sure that is correct. I show 9 between Loveridge, Taylor, and Poeltl.Originally Posted by SoCalPat
The ESPN box score show Delon had 6 turnovers, so I'm not sure that is correct. I show 9 between Loveridge, Taylor, and Poeltl.
“To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.
Delon had 6, Taylor 4 and Loveridge 3.
Stop it. Utah was picked on 71 percent of brackets at ESPN.com. We were a consensus solid favorite, yet got outrebounded by a smaller team (11-4 on the offensive glass, 29-26 for the game) and negated our great defense in the half court with a boatload of turnovers by players who shouldn't be making them.
We won, and style points mean little at this point in the season. But we need a lot of players to play much better than they did tonight.
I did. My bad. Corrected.
I'm more relieved than I am overjoyed. You're right in that we won and that's all that counts.
I think it means "something". Just because we won, that doesn't mean how the team played meant nothing.
What is the debate here? There is no debating as to who won. Why do people have to be dick about every comment? Is sharing observation not ok here? If we don't wear utes-goggles, does that mean we are not Utah fans?
sancho...you're good. We're cool here. Just don't want to see this place turns into UFN v2.
We finally won a close game, where we had to fight back again & again. As much fun as home blow outs are, this was more fun.
Delon made so many mistakes, but when the game was on the line he produced.
Others showed their weaknesses; Taylor too short, Loveridge poor dribbler, etc.
But really Good Defense---great game plan.
I was relieved too, but I love the win in the Dance. It's been a while. These guys just keep passing milestone after milestone.
It was cool to hear the TV guys refer to "Utah, a 5 seed from the PAC-12." That hasn't gotten old for me and it won't for quite a while.
I was in the Sacramento airport and was able to listen to Soto on the post-game show on ESPN700. He made the point that Utah slaughtered SFA statistically -- they were something like 19% from beyond the arc and very low on FGs generally -- in the low 30s, I think. The only reason the game was close, he thinks, was because our TOs gave SFA so many chances. I wonder if other opponents will be able to copy SFA's in-your-face defense? Doubtful, unless they've been playing that way all season.
I'm still mystified by Reyes' inability to make bunny shots. He's got a case of the yips that won't go away. It's maddening.
Poeltl was the man tonight. Props to him. I still don't understand why a guy his size doesn't just go up and jam the ball when he gets it right under the hoop. He always tries a finesse shot. Why?
For that matter, Reyes doesn't even use the backboard, much less dunk it. Weird play by our bigs.
Without Loveridge having a good game, we lose. So props to JL too.
SCP, it doesn't bother me at all that our key guy tonight (Poeltl) wasn't on the team last season. Props to Krysko for getting him. Lots of teams have the same happy situation.
Anyway, we survive and advance. I hope the jitters are gone. Remember, none of these guys has ever played in the Dance.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I totally agree with the just win and advance but I hope this was Delon's "experience" game. We cannot afford that many turnovers against G'town - unless he has 12 assists. As good as Jordan's offense was tonight, I sure didn't miss his matador defense when he fouled out with a few minutes remaining. But I love gaining experience in a win. Let's go get another one.
One thing that drove me nuts was how far away from the basket we were playing. It's not like we were running our offense at the 3 point line, we were running it closer to half court. You can't get a good shot off when you run the clock down and start your offensive play halfway between the stripe and center court.
We also need to have our guys drive and finish at the rim. Everyone seems a little gun shy. In a physical contest like they are likely to get next round, they're going to have to do that.
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
BTW, what happened to Bachinsky tonight? He didn't see the floor.
Also, do we know what time Saturday's game is?
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Yes, I noted that Sancho and I know you really like Jordan but I don't see it. His intensity was better tonight - no question. But when he got isolated in a one-on-one his man beat him. Some of that is game plan - I think the scouting report was to take away threes - but I still want him to take more pride in man-to-man defense. More than anything, I just believe Jordan can be better. I have always envisioned him as a Jae Crowder type of player. To do that, he's got to become a bad ass.
On a completely unrelated point - how about Reyes' nifty move around the 4 minute mark where he could have dunked it and instead tried to set it in the hoop and he missed. The easy misses are killing me.
Win and advance baby, win and advance. I need to keep remembering the mantra.
Agreed.
Overall, I'm just not that impressed with our team's collective BB IQ. That said, I'm hopeful our staccato collection of BB IQ will come to fore and make a nice run.
Argh. Yes.
Interesting stats:
We outshot them from the field, 47.4% to 37.3%; from beyond the arc, 38.5% to 19.2%. The difference seems to be that we had 17 turnovers to their 12, and I think many more of our TOs resulted in points for them. 10 of our TOs came from our starting guards.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Utes play on CBS 30 minutes after the end of the Zona game (their tip is 3:15 Mountain) so around 6:00 PM Mountain
I also enjoyed that move by Reyes. He has exquisite body control and very good footwork. He just can't hit a layup. He needs to learn how to shoot those. He could be a very important role player if he could just hit a few shots.
Vegas had Utes by 6 & they win by 7.
But if SFA does not bank in 2 3's then it is a double digit win.
Last one was funny when the shooter banged his chest like he tried to bank it.
Utah also wins by double digits if we somehow can find a way to hit their stinking wide-open layups. I can recall off the top of my head about 8.
Anyone notice how the refs let them play and called relatively few fouls? SFA had 18 fouls, Utah only 12. SFA is known as a team that fouls a lot because of their style of play.
Contrast the Arizona game, where UA had 20 fouls and Utah 26.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Does anyone with inside connections know if Reyes -- and Peoltl, as long as we are on the subject -- are coached in practice on bunny shots? I can't understand why Reyes, playing in traffic, almost always tries to go up and softly set the ball in the hoop. Poeltl, unless he has a run at the basket, almost always tries a semi-fancy finesse bank shot. They can't be telling them that's OK in practice.
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"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I would imagine they practice all kinds of close-in shots. Up and Unders, finger rolls, lay ups using the backboard, baby hooks, etc. Defenses just don't allow big guys to dunk every time, well except BYU
If there is any body contact with a defender while making their move to the basket, they are going to have a hard time getting enough lift to dunk unless they are super athletic or have a lot of momentum already. If they are being contested by a defender, they are usually going to have to put up a shot instead of trying to dunk. They could certainly go up with stronger shots instead of finessing or fading away from the basket. Reyes seems to go up hard, but he doesn't seem to have very good "touch" to transition the violent movement towards the basket into an accurate shot. And he should use the backboard more.
Just realized you asked for an insider's perspective. I am not an insider, and am 5'11" with no coaching experience, so take it for what it's worth.
“To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.
Oh, I am just harping on this. I think you may be right. My main gripe is that they both tend not to go up strong, but maybe they're both too skinny to do any more than what they are doing.I would imagine they practice all kinds of close-in shots. Up and Unders, finger rolls, lay ups using the backboard, baby hooks, etc. Defenses just don't allow big guys to dunk every time, well except BYU
If there is any body contact with a defender while making their move to the basket, they are going to have a hard time getting enough lift to dunk unless they are super athletic or have a lot of momentum already. If they are being contested by a defender, they are usually going to have to put up a shot instead of trying to dunk. They could certainly go up with stronger shots instead of finessing or fading away from the basket. Reyes seems to go up hard, but he doesn't seem to have very good "touch" to transition the violent movement towards the basket into an accurate shot. And he should use the backboard more.
Just realized you asked for an insider's perspective. I am not an insider, and am 5'11" with no coaching experience, so take it for what it's worth.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
It certainly is more enjoyable to watch. No FTs by either team in 1st half.
No touch fouls or questionable moving screens;
thought I saw some pac-12 refs on other games.?
Reddit called it "Pound-a-Poeltl"
My theory is that he is suffering from some sort of PTSD. He's been an undersized big man all year, and because of that he's had a lot of shots swatted. I think he rushes them now.
For a big team, we play well below the rim. Even Delon doesn't get too far above it.For that matter, Reyes doesn't even use the backboard, much less dunk it. Weird play by our bigs.
What I did like about this game is it showed that Utah can win games in a variety of ways. We didn't need Delon and Taylor to lead us to victory. Instead it was Poeltl, Loveridge, and IWright (those rebounds and FT's down the stretch were huge). The way Kryskoviak has put this team together and played the bench so deeply during the season is paying dividends now, and will continue to pay well into next year.
Or run a fast break. We lost at least three opportunities in that situation alone.
We've used the bench well, but that depth wasn't there yesterday at all. We played five guys for 33 minutes or more, something that hasn't been done all year. (The closest game off-hand that would've resulted in such a number, Wichita State, featured only four such players and that game went OT). Four other guys combined for 23 minutes. That's totally against the grain for what we've done all season. Our last close game, against Oregon, our bottom four guys in minutes played totalled 45 minutes. Against Arizona in SLC, vs. a superior opponent in a foul-plagued game, we played an additional player and those 5 players combined for 60 minutes.
Against a lesser foe yesterday, we really tightened up the rotation.
Good point. He does shoot those bunnies like he's hearing footsteps. Poeltl does too, but not like Reyes.
Yeah, it is interesting.For a big team, we play well below the rim. Even Delon doesn't get too far above it.
I like I. Wright's toughness and BBall IQ. He's made a few freshman mistakes but doesn't look or play like one except on those rare occasions.
Last edited by LA Ute; 03-20-2015 at 02:09 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Given that Wichita State and SFA are pretty similar teams, I'm not surprised that our rotation was similar against them both. I suspect that we will see a different rotation against Georgetown because the matchups will be different.
What I think Krystkoviak does a good job of is understanding the skill sets of his players and making sure they are put in positions to succeed. Putting Chapman or Bachynski in against an aggressive press is not a great plan. We needed ball handlers, guys that can catch difficult passes, and good passers in the game, not shooting or physical rebounding (since Poeltl was cleaning up everything). Not only that, but he seems to have done a good job of getting the players to buy into it as they don't put their head down and pout if they don't get into a particular game because they understand what the matchups are and that those matchups change from game to game. Lastly, he's also prepared them for it. I don't feel like the game will implode if Isiah Wright comes into the game (*cough* McTavish *cough*).
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