Diamond Head Classic

[SeattleUte]

We have been slain by the trey. And our own inability (unwillingness?) to stop it.

I'm excited that apparently we've seen a star get born in Barefield. Devon Daniels, just a freshman, provides a lot of reason for optimism. I get it that this team has been almost completely rebuilt and there have been players out for transfer rules, and Kuzma was injured tonight.

But dammmit, there's no excuse for the collosal defensive breakdowns that we see from Kodiak's teams. I've seen responsive layups after we scored. Utebiquitous is right, we lost because we didn't defend the three. Especially for a program that never smells a McDonald's all-American, special seasons begin with defense. Whit gets it; Majerus did. I think defense is a matter of just work on the part of the coaches as well as the players.

I've been a Ute fan for 50 years. I was a manager for Pimm's teams. In that time there have been great, good and bad coaches. Two have stood out as coaches to whom I have been intensely loyal; I've been go to the mat loyal to them. They have been Majerus and Whittingham. I'm not sure why I've not felt the same way about Kodiak. Part of that may be that the other two coaches took the Utes to their highest heights. But I think it's also that the Whit and Majerus teams always played very hard for the coaches, especially on defense. Sometimes Kodiak's teams just look like Dave Rose's teams. A game like tonight brings back the awful memories of the last two games of last season.

[LA Ute]

I'm excited that apparently we've seen a star get born in Barefield. Devon Daniels, just a freshman, provides a lot of reason for optimism. I get it that this team has been almost completely rebuilt and there have been players out for transfer rules, and Kuzma was injured tonight.

But dammmit, there's no excuse for the collosal defensive breakdowns that we see from Kodiak's teams. I've seen responsive layups after we scored. Utebiquitous is right, we lost because we didn't defend the three. Especially for a program that never smells a McDonald's all-American, special seasons begin with defense. Whit gets it; Majerus did. I think defense is a matter of just work on the part of the coaches as well as the players.

I've been a Ute fan for 50 years. I was a manager for Pimm's teams. In that time there have been great, good and bad coaches. Two have stood out as coaches to whom I have been intensely loyal; I've been go to the mat loyal to them. They have been Majerus and Whittingham. I'm not sure why I've not felt the same way about Kodiak. Part of that may be that the other two coaches took the Utes to their highest heights. But I think it's also that the Whit and Majerus teams always played very hard for the coaches, especially on defense. Sometimes Kodiak's teams just look like Dave Rose's teams. A game like tonight brings back the awful memories of the last two games of last season.

Good points. LK himself says defense is all about effort, or "intensity," as Pimm used to say. ("We played with good intensity tonight.") What puzzles me is how effort and focus in such a critical part of the game as defense can be missing so completely on a given night. I think LK's teams generally play hard, but they don't do it consistently. I hope this improves, but I fear that being a demanding hellion of a coach is just not part of Kodak's DNA.

[sancho]

Barefield's comeback was pretty amazing, even if it did come against a bad team. It is tragic that he was robbed of completing the comeback by an idiot with a whistle. So many referees automatically go to the charge call when a defender falls back. It's the worst part of basketball.

Of course, we should have never been down to begin with. It's been apparent all season that we don't play good defense, and we don't have enough outside shooting. In our starting 5, only one guy can shoot. In our 8-man rotation, only three guys can shoot. It's tough to win in modern basketball like that.

[LA Ute]

It's been apparent all season that we don't play good defense, and we don't have enough outside shooting. In our starting 5, only one guy can shoot. In our 8-man rotation, only three guys can shoot. It's tough to win in modern basketball like that.

I don't want to start a round of LK-bashing, so to be clear I'll say I'm glad he's our coach and I'm grateful to him for restoring the program to national competitiveness and making it a PAC-12 contender. That said, I wonder: If you're right in your comments above (and you may well be) how did that happen after he brought in 9 new faces to the program in a single year? Did he just whiff massively in recruiting?

OTOH maybe the the team just hasn't gelled yet. That's a real possibility.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Diehard Ute]

I don't want to start a round of LK-bashing, so to be clear I'll say I'm glad he's our coach and I'm grateful to him for restoring the program to national competitiveness and making it a PAC-12 contender. That said, I wonder: If you're right in your comments above (and you may well be) how did that happen after he brought in 9 new faces to the program in a single year? Did he just whiff massively in recruiting?

OTOH maybe the the team just hasn't gelled yet. That's a real possibility.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And whether people want to say it or not, losing Kuzma in the first minute is a BIG deal.

He's our best rebounder, creates matchup problems defensively and can create matchup problems when he's playing defense.

Not only have you added two guys into the game rotation who haven't played now you suddenly subtract a guy who is a captain and vocal leader.

Frankly I think the "next man up" adage is much more difficult in sports other than football. You don't really build a team to have a replacement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sancho]

Did he just whiff massively in recruiting?

Well, he whiffed in the sense that he didn't get any of the guys he really wanted - Lightfoot, Markannen, Tillie, Jackson. Once he had missed on those guys, and Childs went to Provo, he had to go get leftovers. With leftovers, it's hard to get shooting, defense, and rebounding all in the same player.

[sancho]

And whether people want to say it or not, losing Kuzma in the first minute is a BIG deal.

Huge. Kuzma leads the team in everything. I don't think he's a great defender, but his defensive value above replacement on this team is off the charts.

[DrumNFeather]

I really try hard not to overreact to these loses, but man o man is it hard not to be really angry about this one. Goodness.

[DrumNFeather]

So the Utes now play Hawaii tonight at 10:30 PM Mountain.

If they manage to win that one...

I believe they would be the second game of the day on Sunday against the winner of SFA and Southern miss. Woof.

[SeattleUte]

Do we have anything on how badly Kuzma is hurt? Is it season ending?

[Diehard Ute]

Do we have anything on how badly Kuzma is hurt? Is it season ending?

He was headed for an X-Ray last night. Reports are he was in a walking boot after the game.

Krysko said in his presser it "didn't look good". Not thinking season ending, but not likely to return this weekend, who knows about the Colorado game at this point.

Kuz leads the team in PPG, RPG and APG. It's a blow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ma'ake]

Without Kuzma our ability to feed the post or have any kind of interior passing evaporated. USF's ability to choke off our bigs was just as pivotal as them shooting 57% from distance.

Rawson had 9 and 9, but 6 of his points were on 2/5 on 3s (to be the only other 3 point scorer), and Collette was efficient offensively, 7/12, but only 3 boards? Frankie Ferrari (what a name) had 3 boards! Jayce had zero shots and 1 board. If Van Dyke is going to be anything, it needs to be soon.

Other cultprits: 1/7 from Zamora, only 2/4 from Bonam, and no shots taken by Bealer. Bonam led with 4 assists. We were outrebounded 29/25, but a big part of that was them shooting 57% on 28 threes taken.

There's no way Barefield will go 11/15 and score 35 tonight, so who will step up?

Playing the home team on a short turnaround will be a good mental test. I haven't seen Hawai'i this year, but the mentality should be to win tonight, and get Saturday off.

[SoCalPat]

I'll abide by LAU's wishes not to turn this into a bash Larry thread, but dammit if the coaches don't repeatedly have our team unprepared in late game situations.

Say what you want about the Barefield foul. But coming out of a dead ball in a must-foul situation, you absolutely have to get a player of Collette's impact carrying four fouls out of the game. This is inexcusable. You have three assistant coaches -- one of them has to have the responsibility of knowing this stuff. Instead, Collette stays in the game, and we waste precious time trying to foul because -- whoops! -- we've got a player on the floor we don't want to foul out. I think Daniels was in the same situation as well.

Then, 1.6 seconds left and Zamora doesn't realize he can take a dribble-plus before shooting. His heave hit the floor right as time expired. It's like we have no awareness of these types of situations.

[DrumNFeather]

I'll abide by LAU's wishes not to turn this into a bash Larry thread, but dammit if the coaches don't repeatedly have our team unprepared in late game situations.

Say what you want about the Barefield foul. But coming out of a dead ball in a must-foul situation, you absolutely have to get a player of Collette's impact carrying four fouls out of the game. This is inexcusable. You have three assistant coaches -- one of them has to have the responsibility of knowing this stuff. Instead, Collette stays in the game, and we waste precious time trying to foul because -- whoops! -- we've got a player on the floor we don't want to foul out. I think Daniels was in the same situation as well.

Then, 1.6 seconds left and Zamora doesn't realize he can take a dribble-plus before shooting. His heave hit the floor right as time expired. It's like we have no awareness of these types of situations.

Folks last night on twitter were asking if we go for the tie or the win...I tweeted that I hope we just get a shot off. This has been a decade-long problem with this program, and I don't get that level of a lack of attention to detail.

[SeattleUte]

Without Kuzma our ability to feed the post or have any kind of interior passing evaporated. USF's ability to choke off our bigs was just as pivotal as them shooting 57% from distance.

Rawson had 9 and 9, but 6 of his points were on 2/5 on 3s (to be the only other 3 point scorer), and Collette was efficient offensively, 7/12, but only 3 boards? Frankie Ferrari (what a name) had 3 boards! Jayce had zero shots and 1 board. If Van Dyke is going to be anything, it needs to be soon.

Other cultprits: 1/7 from Zamora, only 2/4 from Bonam, and no shots taken by Bealer. Bonam led with 4 assists. We were outrebounded 29/25, but a big part of that was them shooting 57% on 28 threes taken.

There's no way Barefield will go 11/15 and score 35 tonight, so who will step up?

Playing the home team on a short turnaround will be a good mental test. I haven't seen Hawai'i this year, but the mentality should be to win tonight, and get Saturday off.

I don't think offense was the problem.

[LA Ute]

I really try hard not to overreact to these loses, but man o man is it hard not to be really angry about this one. Goodness.

The under-performance was extreme.

[UTEopia]

It appears to me that for one reason or another, the coaches have been unable to convince this group of players that good defensive technique and effort are critical to success. They have also been unable to convince them that taking care of the ball is important to offensive success. I know that the coaches understand all of these things. I know that they talk about these things and try to teach them. However, it is apparent that there is a disconnect between what is being coached and what is being done. Very frustrating to watch and does not give much hope for the future.

[DrumNFeather]

It appears to me that for one reason or another, the coaches have been unable to convince this group of players that good defensive technique and effort are critical to success. They have also been unable to convince them that taking care of the ball is important to offensive success. I know that the coaches understand all of these things. I know that they talk about these things and try to teach them. However, it is apparent that there is a disconnect between what is being coached and what is being done. Very frustrating to watch and does not give much hope for the future.

I agree with this...I always thought it was funny that the stated reason that Bealer didn't get more playing time was because he didn't play D...because he could at least score. Now looking at this crew, you really wonder who your defensive stopper is going to be.

[sancho]

I agree with this...I always thought it was funny that the stated reason that Bealer didn't get more playing time was because he didn't play D...because he could at least score. Now looking at this crew, you really wonder who your defensive stopper is going to be.

Well, the more we see him, the easier it is to understand his lack of PT.

[DrumNFeather]

Well, the more we see him, the easier it is to understand his lack of PT.

Well, he can at least shoot, which was something that was a problem at times last year.

[Old Standing ute]

Kuzma is not only best player, but the emotional leader of the team.
Barefield & Collette are still trying to blend in, so hurts even more than they can not play with Kuzma.

coaches had their hands full replacing 3 Srs & Poeltl----they did not plan on Chapman & I. Wright leaving. trying to coach all those newcomers to play D which takes coordinated efforts is tough.

Hopefully we are done having to recruit JC & can add 1-3 H.S. players each year. Kids go JC for many reasons, but one is they are just not that good.

[sancho]

Well, he can at least shoot, which was something that was a problem at times last year.

The shooting just isn't there though. The percentages for players with at least 15 attempts:

Barefield: 67%
Van Dyke: 41%
Zamora: 36%
Rawson: 33%
Bealer: 29%
Bonam: 21%
Kuzma: 19%

Again, we have 1 starter who can hit, and we have 2 players coming off the bench (3 if you count Van Dyke).

[LA Ute]

Barefield had no assists and no rebounds. Not a knock but I am sure the coaches expect more out of him than scoring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SoCalPat]

Gotta admit, a 35-0-0 line is something our "purist" fans would never drop if that was pulled off by someone like ... oh ... Jimmer Fredette?

[sancho]

Gotta admit, a 35-0-0 line is something our "purist" fans would never drop if that was pulled off by someone like ... oh ... Jimmer Fredette?

Sure, I'd like some rebounds and assists, but at least his 35 came on 11-15 shooting. Jimmer's never came on so few shots.

[SeattleUte]

Kuzma? Status?

[justaute]

Kuzma? Status?

Still in boot. Return time undetermined. To me, Utah has a lot more to worry about than just Kuzma. Talent level and basketball IQ are disconcerting.

[SeattleUte]

Still in boot. Return time undetermined. To me, Utah has a lot more to worry about than just Kuzma. Talent level and basketball IQ are disconcerting.

No heart on defense. Majerus used to run guys off the team for that, not just use them more sparingly or whatever.

[LA Ute]

No heart on defense. Majerus used to run guys off the team for that, not just use them more sparingly or whatever.

He did wait until the end of the season to do that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Losing to Hawaii at any sport these days should disqualify you for any post season consideration.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk