The Utes head to Myrtle Beach this weekend for the 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational. They open up with Coastal Carolina, who is 2-2 after knocking off MTSU last night, and moving 22 spots up in the KenPom to 171. This will count as a true road game as the Chanticleers are hosting this event.
They would get the winner of Baylor and Ohio, who are 18, and 178 in KenPom, respectively.
The other side of the bracket features Villanova (12) vs. MTSU (182) and Miss St. (57) vs. Tulane (265).
This event will be a great test for the Utes. Presumably, a win vs. CCU means that you've got 2 additional games against quality competition that could potentially help build your resume. At worst, you aren't walking away with any bad losses between Baylor, Nova, and Miss St.
The tournament starts at 11:30 AM, Eastern with Nova and MTSU. Utah plays the final game of the night at 7:00 PM, Eastern, 5:00 PM, Mountain.
“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.
First up, the..... Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina.
Alrighty then.
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Villanova and Miss St. advance.
“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.
“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.
The line is Utah at -5. I really hope that we're better than that.
Well, the dream is over. It was fun while it lasted. Time to start hoping for next season.
Brutal game to watch.
Utes have dropped 3 of 4 opening games of exempt tournaments, and in those losses, here are the 3 point fg % of the opposing teams:
USF: 57.1%
Hawaii: 37.5%
CCU: 45.8%
Not good.
Utes dropped to 115 in the KenPom rankings, and CCU moved up to 142 (you're welcome).
Time to salvage this. They play Ohio today (186 in KenPom) and will get the winner/loser of MTSU/Tulane, which is the early game today. Utes play at 5:00 PM and again are a 5.5 point favorite. Pro-tip: Ohio can shoot the 3, so you might want to defend it.
“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.
Gach was tired and kept turning the ball be over
"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
Those who follow Utah basketball understood that for the Utes to compete, they needed Gach and Battin to make a jump in their games. The Utes have won every game in which these two have scored in double figures and have lost the two games that they did not.
Allen certainly has, but he's also trying to do too much by himself right now. I think of Utah's 20ish turnovers vs. Tulane, he had 7 or 8 of them. Now, that said, that is how it is going to be if the other guys aren't getting open, hitting shots, etc.
The rotation was also odd for a team playing its third game in four days. Thiune got 3 minutes and Plummer 4.
“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.
Here's some data I posted to the Twitter that may or may not be interesting:
In Larry's tenure, Utah is 16-10 in exempt tournaments and 5-4 in opening-round games.
However...
3 of those tournaments were hosted in SLC against pretty bad competition in which Utah went 9-0. So, take those away and we're 7-10 in those exempt tournaments and 2-4 in opening round games. Not great.
Next year we play in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which features Duke, Creighton, Texas A&M, Ohio St., Marshall, WVU, and Wichita St.
Last year, our OOC KenPom average finished at 165 and had a NET of 161. This year, our current OOC KenPom average is 178.
Three more decent opportunities remain:
BYU - 76
Kentucky - 6
SDSU - 66
The other three games will not help...at all.
Nevada is 104 and Minnesota is 73.
“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.
“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.
SOS is not a factor for a team that will be fortunate to go .500. I watched about 10 minutes of the BYU/UCLA game and I will be shocked if the Utes stay within 20 of BYU. We don't play tough enough defense to limit them and we can't score enough to keep pace with them. It is a good thing we don't play USU, because they would destroy us. These young guys might grow into something, but it is still discouraging that a 3rd year coach at USU has a more established program than the guy going into his 9th year.
Does USU have a more established program, or are they just in the middle of a lucky streak? They are heavily dependent on a random super recruit from Brazil, right? I expect that they will fall back to normal when he leaves.
That said, it is tragic that we don't have an established program. We have stronger recruiting classes than USU and BYU. We should be the top dog again soon. We'll see.
Independence has not been great for BYU football, but it's been really good for BYU basketball. They fill their arena (which they don't do in football), and they have a shot at the Dance every year just by virtue of being a big fish in a small pond.
“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.
Neither has Childs. Will he be eligible for our game, or for the game after? I didn't watch the UCLA game, and they were really spotty against Kansas. They're 62nd in Pomeroy and have a top 50 non-con SOS. They're within their right to think they're a tournament team. The stat that really jumped out at me is that they've really slowed things down under Pope -- 220th in tempo.
"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
How does this team win games? Taking out the Mississippi Valley State and Ohio games, which the Utes won the statistical battle comfortably, it is really amazing that the Utes have won any other games. In the remaining 5 games, the Utes are -12.1 FGA per game and are -6.4 in turnovers. They have won the rebound battle by +7.8 per game, but that can be explained by the many more defensive rebound attempts they have due to the FGA margin. They have attempted an average of 11 more FT per game than their opponents.