Date: Thursday February 2, 7:00 MST
Location: Berkley
Media: PAC-12 Networks, ESPN 700 Sports
The current standings have Utah and Cal in a 3 way tie (with UCLA) for third place. Seeing as that we don't play UCLA again, the Utes really need this game to pick up a road victory to solidify their spot in 4th place (since we already lost to UCLA at home).
How has Rabb been doing this year? He killed us last year.
He's averaging a double double.Originally Posted by U-Ute
Okoroh, Rooks, and Bird also rebound well.
Cal has 10 players averaging 10+ minutes per game. That's a lot.
Okoroh is the shot blocker (2.5 per game).
Bird, Moore, and Mullins are the only three players who regularly take 3 pointers.
I saw a tweet yesterday that showed Rabb's and Kuzma's stats side by side, and they were very similar.
“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.
I am hopeful LK has a scheme against athletic bigs. Our backcourts just become timid and stop driving to the basketball. Of course, scheme can only counter-balance talent so much -- and vice versa. Match-up is certainly a key.
Oh...really don't like the defense from our Bigs. If you are going to block shots, then jump to block; if you are going to stand straight-up and play positioning, then do so. Stop shuffling and side-stepping...they just lead to a lot of and-one.
This is a tough match up for us for two reasons:
1) Cal is one of few teams in the conference that plays two true "bigs". With Rabb at the 4 and Kingsley/Rooks at the 5, those are some big, physical, good rebounding/shot blocking bigs. Collette, while great offensively, isn't exactly a great defender. And Kuzma isn't equipped to bang down low with Rabb. Now, the individual match-ups won't exactly matter since I'm sure we'll play zone 90% of the time, but in that case I think the key factor will be defensive rebounding. It's tough to rebound in a zone, and we saw how that hurt us in Tucson. But, like against Arizona, I think our 2-3 zone will give us our best shot here. But we gotta do our best to limit second chance points.
2) To win against Cal we're going to have to "grind it out". Looking at KenPom, Cal is in a similar boat with Oregon and Arizona when it comes to pace of play (Zona 287, Oregon 241, Cal 299), defensive efficiency (Zona 15, Oregon 13, Cal 16) and rebounding (Rebounding margin among Pac-12 teams: Zona 3, Oregon 4, Cal 2). Where they differ is offensively (Arizona 25, Oregon 41, Cal 163). This is not a great offensive team. Utah has struggled with teams (Butler falls in a similar category) that play at a slower pace, defend and rebound well.
This is definitely a winnable game for the Utes, but they'll have to limit offensive rebounds, make sure their shooters (Mullins, Bird, Moore) don't get hot vs the zone, and stay aggressive offensively. I understand that we don't want to be reckless, but I'd rather we attack the rim (and their shot blockers) and get a few shots blocked than play timid like we did vs Oregon. Gotta do what we do best, and that is attack the rim and try and score in the paint.
Should be a fun game. I would love nothing more than to give Cuonzo and company another heart breaking L like we did in Vegas.
Go Utes.
Last edited by 311ute; 01-31-2017 at 01:02 PM.
This is an important weekend for the Utes. I was listening to Joe Lunardi on the radio with Bill Reilly talk about the Utes chances of getting into the Big Dance. Lunardi projects that Utah would be one of the 4 teams outside the tourney. He doesn't see Utah's chances improving dramatically unless they are able to end up 14-4 in the PAC and get to the Semi's in the conference tournament. That means they really need to win these two games because I don't see them beating Oregon at Oregon.
Lunardi is far more pessimistic than I am. He think we need 16 league wins to get into the dance. I still maintain 14 will get us there -- as long as we can get a 2nd Top 50 win on our resume. Not sure if beating Cal will count toward that.
If we go 13-5, win one (as the 4 seed vs Cal/USC) in Vegas and DON'T get in, I'll eat my hat.
Last edited by 311ute; 01-31-2017 at 02:31 PM.
Tonight's game should be real interesting -- going up against one of the better interior defenses.
Might have to use up all of our bigs just on fouls alone. If Colette has to sit before the 10 minute mark because he's got 2 fouls, we'll be in trouble. If we can protect him and keep him in the game at the end, we should have a decent shot.
All that said, from purely a standings perspective, looking at the remaining schedules, Cal will be desperate to get this one.
“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.
This seems to be the key in all our games, but it's even more important against teams that are strong in the post.
Not sure we can control that. Colette seems to get called for at least 2 odd fouls a game.
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Right. Nature of the position I suppose. If he's in foul trouble, I could see Cal pulling away like they did vs. Stanford on Sunday.
“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.
This is a huge game tonight. I have Cal favored. I believe most sites have Cal favored. The winner is likely to take 4th place at the end of the season, FYI 1-4 get a day 1 BYE.
This game vs Cal is a must win for the resume, for the standings, for the tournament. Hopefully the shots falls and Rabb has an off night.
Go Utes!
Three real tough road-games left -- Cal, Oregon, and CU. We need to go 2-1.
Last edited by justaute; 02-02-2017 at 06:59 PM.
We aren't going to usc, are we?
You are correct. I had forgotten we play LA schools only once this year.
7 TOs already. One per
minute. Yikes!
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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
Terrible first half. 10 turnovers, most not forced, just stupid mistakes.
i think if we clean thing up, we could still win this.
“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.
Lazy turnovers, lazy shots, and lazy defense. We're lucky to be down 8. We gave up a ton of open threes. Fortunately they missed most of them.
Our team's collective BB IQ leaves much to be desired.
This is Daniels worst game I've seen him play
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"Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum
"And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla
We miss the front end of one-on-ones so much!
“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.
Going down to the wire now.
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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
Why does Bonham always take the last shot on a desperate drive to the hoop? He never hits it. Daniels is better at that.
Kuzma! Grab that rebound!
Uh, do you remember the game against Cal in the PAC-12 tournament last year?
“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.
What in the world was Collette doing on that foul. why didn't collette cut him off to the Baseline stead of going behind his back
Let's see how we do in the last 106 seconds if a tight, must-win game. Maybe this will be the night when the Utes learn they can close out such a game.
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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
Uh-oh. A Utah timeout.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
"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
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