The Utah Basketball Rebuild Project Thread: 2013 and after

[concerned]

based on expectations I give Utah a B+ on the year, but can we all agree this was Larry's last mulligan. No more:

- revolving door for talented players

- OOC schedules that hurt rather than help with March Madness

- losing to a lower seed in Vegas

I love Larry, but his warts aren't moving the program forward

Agreed. I dont see how next year is better, unless certain players improve dramatically and unexpectedly. Our highly rated talent will be very young. Without Collette, we will have to establish inside scoring from someone, or we will be relegated to launching 3's. I dont see how Jayce is going to become that person over a summer. Maybe Tillman, possibly Seeley (has he shown any low post moves other than a dunk?), but that is asking a lot. We have to improve rebounding, and losing Collette (despite what I said) and Rawson wont help. That has to come from Tillman and Seeley for the most part. I question whether either Barefield or Jones can run the offense as well as Bibbins did this year. And once again, we likely wont have a go-to scorer we can rely on when we need to. Maybe one of the newcomers will surprise ala Donovan Mitchell. One or more may have to. Asking a lot of an 18 or 19 year old.

[sancho]

Asking a lot of an 18 or 19 year old.

Asking a lot of an 18 year old, but we have 6 of them coming in, and we only need 1 of them to be amazing. We need two more to be serviceable. This is how college basketball works now, right?

Guards: Barefield, Jones, PVD, Doutrive, Gaskin, Popoola
Forwards: Seeley, Tillman, Battin, Allen, Caldwell
Centers: Johnson, Thione

None of the returning players will ever be a post presence for us. For post play, 100% of the hope in in Battin. For interior defense, on the other hand, we have plenty to feel optimistic over.

For the rebounding, Jayce is already a strong rebounder. I think we can place hope in Seeley and Tillman, too. They've shown flashes with rebounding. Then there's Battin and Thione. Doutrive is a tall guard, and Gaskin is an athletic 6'3". I think rebounding will be better next season.

We'll certainly miss having a PG like Bibbins. We know Barefield can't do that, so the hope is riding on Jones.

That's two big parts of the game - post play and PG - where all of our eggs are in one unknown basket. That's kinda scary.

[Rocker Ute]

Asking a lot of an 18 year old, but we have 6 of them coming in, and we only need 1 of them to be amazing. We need two more to be serviceable. This is how college basketball works now, right?

Guards: Barefield, Jones, PVD, Doutrive, Gaskin, Popoola
Forwards: Seeley, Tillman, Battin, Allen, Caldwell
Centers: Johnson, Thione

None of the returning players will ever be a post presence for us. For post play, 100% of the hope in in Battin. For interior defense, on the other hand, we have plenty to feel optimistic over.

For the rebounding, Jayce is already a strong rebounder. I think we can place hope in Seeley and Tillman, too. They've shown flashes with rebounding. Then there's Battin and Thione. Doutrive is a tall guard, and Gaskin is an athletic 6'3". I think rebounding will be better next season.

We'll certainly miss having a PG like Bibbins. We know Barefield can't do that, so the hope is riding on Jones.

That's two big parts of the game - post play and PG - where all of our eggs are in one unknown basket. That's kinda scary.

I'm of the opinion that Jayce Johnson is going to surprise some people next year.

[concerned]

I'm of the opinion that Jayce Johnson is going to surprise some people next year.

I will be one of them, that is for sure. I hope you are right. Larry needs to pull a Washburn with him.

[sancho]

I'm of the opinion that Jayce Johnson is going to surprise some people next year.

Jayce is great. He's another Dalin Bachynski for us. He plays good defense and rebounds. He works hard, so I wouldn't be surprised to see his FT% get up into the high 60's, even with the awful form. But I would be very surprised to see him turn into a strong low post presence on offense.

[Rocker Ute]

Jayce is great. He's another Dalin Bachynski for us. He plays good defense and rebounds. He works hard, so I wouldn't be surprised to see his FT% get up into the high 60's, even with the awful form. But I would be very surprised to see him turn into a strong low post presence on offense.

This year has been hard for me to watch a lot of basketball games so the improvement I’m seeing with him may seem a little more stark than if I’d watched like I normally do. I’ll just say that Jayce has gone from a guy that I questioned if he was really a D1 player to a pretty solid presence out there. He still does a lot of stupid stuff, but nothing I see that isn’t correctable (except his FT shooting form) and given his improvement trajectory I think it’ll happen.

I’d like to say I’ll happily admit I’m wrong, but I won’t be happy about it - for him or me.


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[SoCalPat]

I had a much longer post typed up, but it repeated a lot of things people have already said. I will say this: Larry is 3-26 against Arizona and Oregon. That's not the stuff of coaches who get paid $3.3M per year.

[Scorcho]

I had a much longer post typed up, but it repeated a lot of things people have already said. I will say this: Larry is 3-26 against Arizona and Oregon. That's not the stuff of coaches who get paid $3.3M per year.

considering that Utah basketball was crawling out of the grave for the first 2-3 years of Larry's tenure not sure I would count those. Same with those who say he's only made the tourney 2 out of 7 years

[justaute]

I like Jayce, but don't think he has the same athleticism as Bachynski. He just isn't coordinated and fluid -- Bachynski wasn't fluid either, but I thought he was more coordinated and had more athleticism, and stronger. I think Jayce is an ok back-up. He's just not what I'd expect from a 4* recruit.

This year has been hard for me to watch a lot of basketball games so the improvement I’m seeing with him may seem a little more stark than if I’d watched like I normally do. I’ll just say that Jayce has gone from a guy that I questioned if he was really a D1 player to a pretty solid presence out there. He still does a lot of stupid stuff, but nothing I see that isn’t correctable (except his FT shooting form) and given his improvement trajectory I think it’ll happen.

I’d like to say I’ll happily admit I’m wrong, but I won’t be happy about it - for him or me.


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[sancho]

just not what I'd expect from a 4* recruit.

Recruits are lottery tickets. The 4* recruits have better odds of paying off than the 3*'s do, but the odds are low on all of them. That's why Duke, UNC, and Kentucky stockpile. They grab 6 four-star recruits knowing that, on average, only 2 of them will end up good.

Jayce can be a fine starter for us - but only if we have interior offense coming from someone else. He just isn't going to reliably fill that role.

[UtahsMrSports]

I like Jayce, but don't think he has the same athleticism as Bachynski. He just isn't coordinated and fluid -- Bachynski wasn't fluid either, but I thought he was more coordinated and had more athleticism, and stronger. I think Jayce is an ok back-up. He's just not what I'd expect from a 4* recruit.

For all that Jayce does that frustrates us, when he is able to stay in the game, he rebounds at an almost elite clip (like almost top 10 nationally).