Before conference play I assumed Boyle would have his team in good shape, probably not title contenders, but solid. Boyle can recruit, and he can coach.
CU may be a little off their normal trajectory, but this game was more about Utah being better than expected. The Buffs fought all the way, Utah was just better.
Worster is quite a bit better than last year, Anthony is still good, Branden can blossom depending on the situation, Lazar operates at about 95% of potential all the time. Ben has gotten better.
With Gabe out, Exacte is getting his chance and developing nicely. He has the talent to create on his own, but is getting a really good foundation in team ball. That foundation will pay off later when he can exert his will, pick the spots to strike, make his teammates better.
Year 2 of the Smith era is still a lot of fun, halfway through February.
Has anyone else noticed how we have in-bounds plays from under the basket that are meant to get a score rather than just get the ball in bounds? I had been missing those since about 2003.
Majerus had the best under-the-basket plays. I remember seeing Tim Frost swing outside and nail many 3s from the corner off those plays. This was back when it was fairly rare to see centers hit 3s. Side note, Frost had awful hair. I always remember that.
With 5 Left to play we are in 3rd place. Hereās how I think Utah and the Pac-12 End up
UCLA wins their last atleast 5 of their last 6 (maybe lose to AZ) and are the 1 seed
AZ wins their last 5 and is two seed
Oregon @washingtons, @Oregon St NoCals - 14 wins and the 3 seed
So the 4th seed is between ASU, USC and Utah with Utah having a one win lead. The Schedule breaks down like this
USC - Nocals, @mountains, Zonas - Lose to Utah and AZ 13 wins 4th seed (via tiebreaker cause they beat UCLA)
ASU - Mountains, @Az, @Socals - Lose to Utah, AZ and Socal - 10 wins
Utah - @Zonas, Socals @colorado - Lose to AZ, UCLA 13 wins 5th Seed
We need a split on the road this weekend to position better for the conference tournament. Beating Zona in McKale Center is a tall order. Us getting the upset win at home against the Wildcats was awesome. Because we got that win, they wonāt be overlooking us in the rematch.
ASU has generally underachieved. If we get a win in Tempe on Saturday, it will definitely help the cause to a better seed.
Ok, last season we sucked so bad we stayed home from the CCT. The fact we have gotten to the middle of the road in the seeding is a huge lift. The fact this team is post season relevant is a huge lift. The fact we are still talking about this team at this point of the season is transformational. Give props where they are due. Smith ought to get the conference coach of the year honors for what this team has done.
Team has more than doubled the conference win total from last year (with 5 games, all of them quite challenging) left before the tourney in Vegas.
Trying to be optimistic and hope Gabe can come back at some point (thought I saw him walking around the floor Saturday night without the brace he wore on Thursday which is a good sign).
Alabama is no. 1 in basketball for the first time in 20 years. If Iām not mistaken, last time this happened it was the Utes who beat them and knocked them out of that perch.
I like Gabe a lot. But his injury is not the end of the world. We have a lot of young wing players and itās good to give the younger ones more time playing. (You canāt have too many of those.)
If Utah wins two of their remaining games I would be pleasantly surprised. They could easily lose them all and if they do they still have 10 conference wins which is a huge step forward. Iāll celebrate that. Whenever we get ahead of ourselves about what could be it leads to huge disappointment and fan apathy after losses. Hopefully everyone recognizes the progress and shows up to home games regardless of the outcome. Now, after the season ends, letās go get some NBA potential players and take another step next year!
Is that how it happened? I thought Britton Johnsen missed a free throw butbgot the rebound and putnit back in. Maybe I am thinking of a different game.
Somehow that team was #1 but ended up a fraud. Didnāt even have a winning season in conference. I would say this team isnāt as much about āHypeā as that one. Iād honestly give three football titles back for one final-four appearance.
Now, Iāll stop talking Bama hoops in a Utes thread.
With only a second or two left, Utah had the ball out of bounds under its own basket. I donāt recall if Alabama or Utah was ahead by 1, or down by 1, or if the score was tied. What I do remember is this: Rick called a time out. I turned to my son and said, āWatch, theyāre going to run a play to get the ball into (Nick) Jacobsonās hands.ā Thatās just what happened. The Utes ran a clever screen to get Nick open, he got the inbounds pass, and Alabama immediately had to foul him. It was 1 and 1, and Nick of course made both shots. Game over. It was wonderful to watch. If someone else remembers it better, please chime in.
Just whipped us down low the whole game. I think the size of the shorts are why these games were so low scoring. lol
Rickās teams were always better coached than the opponent in that era. I sort of feel that way about the current tide. Nate Oats was a steal for Alabama to get as a coach.
That highlight package brings back some fond memories of UF.net back in those days. The whole DMC thing with Drisdom, Markson, Chaney, with Jacobson, Frost, Johnsen. Good and fun team.
Saw a guy in the highlights, Korford, I have no memory of that guy whatsoever.
