"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
Had an interesting conversation this weekend regarding the state of Utah basketball. I'll first add that with new transfer rules I'm going to be a bit more lenient with coaches regarding this, particularly if you are losing kids who would never see the floor, or even good kids who want to start right away, or who can see the writing on the wall. A society built by helicopter parents is going to produce that sort of a kid and that sort of character.
However, I view losing guys like Jayce and Tillman as inexcusable. They were to be the anchors of the program.
But, since we can't do much about that, the friend I had the conversation with (who shares my feelings as mentioned) was pretty high on the kids coming in. Particularly he described the Finnish kid as 'Alex Jensen-esque' when it comes to defense and rebounding (not offensively) - and he isn't the type to throw around that kind of praise lightly. It has been a seeming long time since we've had a serious defensive/rebounding guy.
Some other thoughts on the guys coming in that I'll try to relay, but it also sounds like we'll have an inside presence who can also go out and hit threes.
All of this is meaningless if they transfer after this year - and as my former employer used to say, "potential doesn't pay bills" but interesting to me nonetheless.
Unless you're thinking that this is a significant loss from a depth standpoint, I think this is where we will have to agree to disagree. Jayce was solid, and I like the kid's work ethic, but he was far from irreplaceable.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...johnson-1.html
Season School Conf G GS MP FG FGA FG% 2P 2PA 2P% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS SOS 2016-17 Utah Pac-12 32 6 12.3 1.6 2.9 .565 1.6 2.9 .565 0.0 0.0 0.7 1.7 .434 1.3 3.0 4.3 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.9 2.1 4.0 4.32 2017-18 Utah Pac-12 30 1 16.8 2.0 3.8 .522 2.0 3.8 .522 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.4 .630 1.7 3.8 5.4 0.2 0.3 0.9 1.0 2.4 5.5 6.40 2018-19 Utah Pac-12 29 25 21.9 3.0 5.0 .597 3.0 5.0 .597 0.0 0.0 1.2 2.9 .400
2.6
5.1 7.7 0.5 0.3 1.1 1.2 3.0 7.1 5.10 Career Utah 91 32 16.8 2.2 3.8 .564 2.2 3.8 .564 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.3 .488 1.8 3.9 5.8 0.3 0.2 0.9 1.0 2.5 5.5 5.27
EDIT: Ooh... they've added plus/minus to their stats.
Advanced
Rk Player G GS MP PER TS% eFG% 3PAr FTr PProd ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% OWS DWS WS WS/40 OBPM DBPM BPM
▼1 Timmy Allen 29 26 834 20.3 .626 .584 .032 .597 360 6.5 14.4 10.5 17.2 1.8 0.7 17.2 21.0 2.5 0.5 3.0 .144 3.7 0.7 4.4 2 Donnie Tillman 31 15 845 18.0 .586 .535 .530 .448 322 5.9 16.9 11.5 11.5 1.3 1.3 12.8 19.3 2.2 0.5 2.7 .129 4.3 0.0 4.3 3 Parker Van Dyke 31 18 751 14.8 .610 .603 .842 .067 235 0.6 6.2 3.5 13.1 2.3 0.6 11.1 16.5 1.7 0.3 2.0 .105 5.2 -1.2 4.0 4 Vante Hendrix 4 0 71 18.8 .651 .600 .850 .400 30 3.4 16.4 10.0 16.3 0.8 0.0 14.4 20.0 0.2 0.0 0.3 .155 6.1 -2.5 3.6 5 Both Gach 30 14 602 16.0 .612 .564 .583 .344 236 3.2 8.9 6.1 20.2 1.6 0.7 21.5 20.5 1.3 0.2 1.5 .098 3.5 -1.4 2.1 6 Sedrick Barefield 31 28 999 18.4 .562 .522 .587 .279 506 1.2 6.4 3.9 24.6 1.7 0.0 14.9 27.8 2.7 0.3 3.0 .119 5.0 -3.0 2.0 7 Jayce Johnson 29 25 634 18.7 .559 .597 .000 .590 214 14.1 27.4 20.9 4.6 0.7 5.6 15.6 17.6 1.1 0.7 1.8 .114 -0.2 1.8 1.6 8 Riley Battin 31 21 624 13.6 .588 .573 .497 .232 191 4.6 15.2 10.0 10.9 0.7 0.2 14.3 16.0 1.2 0.2 1.4 .089 2.6 -1.1 1.5 9 Novak Topalovic 31 6 382 10.9 .520 .493 .000 .493 88 7.0 22.6 14.9 3.3 0.5 5.4 20.3 13.9 0.2 0.3 0.5 .053 -3.4 1.7 -1.7 10 Brandon Morley 16 0 108 12.0 .485 .471 .529 .382 41 15.7 14.1 14.8 3.5 1.1 1.0 16.6 22.8 0.1 0.1 0.2 .058 0.1 -3.5 -3.4 11 Beau Rydalch 11 0 33 16.8 .438 .417 .667 .500 14 14.6 38.9 27.0 5.8 0.0 6.6 11.9 26.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 .088 -2.1 -1.3 -3.4 12 Charles Jones Jr 27 2 319 4.6 .460 .451 .634 .183 71 1.1 7.7 4.5 9.9 1.1 0.0 20.6 15.6 -0.1 0.1 0.0 -.004 -1.9 -1.9 -3.8 13 Marc Reininger 7 0 13 -1.1 .256 .000 .000 2.000 1 0.0 9.0 4.6 0.0 0.0 8.3 33.9 11.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 -.094 -10.2 2.2 -8.0 14 Brooks King 7 0 10 -9.0 .127 .000 1.000 .667 1 0.0 23.4 11.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 20.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 -.162 -11.4 -7.9 -19.3
Last edited by U-Ute; 08-16-2019 at 09:49 AM.
Year over year rankings of Utah basketball recruits by 24/7. I'm not sure they're the best, but they're probably as accurate as anyone.
Screenshot from 2019-08-16 10-37-01.png
That last one is a bit wonky in that it shows the 4 year moving average for the coaches. This is the concrete rankings by coaches, along with the overall 4 year moving average.
Screenshot from 2019-08-16 10-47-33.png
I think we can get his production from a guy like Battin (8 and 8 or so) and it seems like the young centers are better rim protectors than Jayce, but yes, it would've certainly been nice to have him come back for his senior season. He improved a lot by the end of last season. That said, I think he gets bullied in the Big East.
“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.
I agree with this. I think losing Jayce hurts the program more than it hurts the team. We lost a guy that can' shoot to save his life (40% FTs!!!!!), is not a rim protector and is an average defender. He is a huge plus rebounder, however. But when your lone senior starter leaves, that is a gut punch for fans.
Those advanced stats seem to like Timmy. He was really good in conference play. I expect a big leap from him and Gach this year. Hopefully Battin/Carlson/Thioune/Jantunen can do enough to help us forget DT and JJ. This year is all about experience and getting better for a run in 2021.
More charts because I'm a data nerd:
Recruiting classes for a few of our conference mates that we like to compare ourselves with
Concrete year/year
Screenshot from 2019-08-16 12-47-41.png
4 year moving averages
Screenshot from 2019-08-16 12-48-34.png
Downplaying Jayce's impact is nonsense, and I say this as one who posted before league play started (or shortly thereafter) that Jayce was our worst offensive option. That changed in league play (like Barefield and Allen, his PER was better in league games than in the non-con), and if he could shoot even 65 percent from the line, he'd probably be one of our best offensive options (as far as 2-point scoring options are concerned).
On a lousy defensive team, almost a generational worst (only the 2006-07 team in Ray's last team was worse), Jayce was still far and away our best defensive player. His defensive rating of 104.4 is almost five points better than the next-best guy in the rotation (Allen 109.2). Jayce's departure isn't what's gonna keep us out of the NCAA tournament, but he would've been a seasoned vet for the young guys to go up against and he would've accelerated their development. There is simply zero case that can be made that Jayce's departure from the program isn't a significant loss.
Yes, he was a good defensive presence. Your argument appears to be based on the premise that what he did defensively can't be easily replaced. I'd argue that it can - provided you have any 7-footers who can move a little bit.
He was big and played with effort. You seem to think we lost Mutombo or something.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Sounds like we're on the verge of securing a commitment from (or may have already secured a commitment from) another guy ranked in 247's, Rivals', and ESPN's top 100. For all the consternation around LK he's recruiting better than any Utah coach ever (at least on paper, of course).
"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
We finally get a guy from Wasatch Academy?
I don't know anything about this kid. Seems like a tweener though. 6'7" seems a bit small for a PF. Is he quick enough to be a SF?