You need to quit using absolutes, because they make you absolutely wrong.
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Maybe he’s a with and has to deal in absolutes.
Sith*
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maybe this is an excuse, but I think Larry’s cancer also took a toll on his health and passion. I think that was 2017 or 18. If that never happens, maybe Larry is more successful and is still employed?
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Are we still arguing about Larry K’s talent as a coach? I’m the king of realistic expectations and I’ve been calling for Larry K to be fired for three seasons now. I don’t think I’m being unrealistic to expect Utah to push for NIT bubble status every few years.
Yeah. He was not a good coach, ultimately. Disappointing. Seemed to retire in place. So glad he’s gone.
When BYU hired Pope I said now BYU has a real coach but at least that will hasten the end of Krystkowiak. Some got their noses out of joint at me for saying that but I was right. Swish!
Now hopefully Smith is the kind of workaholic with a system Utah needs to succeed in DI.
Anyone who cares about Krystowiak should not be unhappy for him. The contract was terminable at will if Utah paid the buy out. A deal’s a deal. He was treated justly.
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Coaching is a shades situation. Over the years I have seen any number of sports and programs fire their HC - and that HC was winning games. In the end it comes down to winning enough games. LK wasn’t winning enough to meet expectations, which we all know includes getting into the NCAA Tourney consistently. Most coaches I have ever met are (sans Roger Reid) have been really nice, stand-up guys. You hate to see anyone get fired; but when you are a HC, it’s part of your life that you have to reconcile.
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Don’t forget Frank Arnold.
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And Gary Crowton (although in a different sport)
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Was Crowton not a nice guy or was he just an idiot? My hunch is he was just an idiot.
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When he first arrived he refused to attend the Big 5 huddles unless they were held in provo because he was apparently too busy to journey to SLC.
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Crowton was my brother’s friend. He was a good guy, but coaching TDS kinda had an effect.
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Had dinner a couple of times with him. Seemed like a decent person to me. Wife was nice as well.
[quote=“operaman86, post:1, topic:6522”]o
Isn’t that what you all said every single time krystkowiak lost a game? Just holding them to the same standard.
[/quote]Checked notes. Nobody complained game 6 of LK’s first year after inheriting a depleted roster. Come in 7 years from now and my guess is that will again be the mantra.
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Exactly - can’t compare the later K years and the frustrations of a lack of progress (perpetual young team that actually usually overachieved compared with pre-season conference rankings) with 1st several Smith games. Not apples to apples and just a ridiculous claim.
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Well, the season is officially over and they were just terrible this year. They’re worse now than they were last year. 11-20 and 4-16 in conference play. Y’all get what you pay for, and that equals a terrible team. This year could have been an NCAA Tournament year but you all demanded that Krystkowiak be fired, causing ALL OF THE GOOD RECRUITS HE HAD BROUGHT IN TO TRANSFER. And the awful season they had this year is the result. Your impatient, short-sighted demands are EXACTLY why this team sucked something awful. Is this what you envisioned? Instead of being, you know, PATIENT, INTELLIGENT HUMAN BEINGS, you demanded that the coach be fired when the team was on a serious developmental upswing towards the end of last year. Nope. Couldn’t give them one more offseason together and another year to develop. You just HAD TO BLOW IT ALL UP AND START OVER, which lead to the terrible results this year. You all have delusions of grandeur that Utah should magically make the NCAA Tournament every season because you still think that they play in the Mountain West or the WAC. THEY DO NOT. You CANNOT EXPECT THE SAME LEVEL OF SUCCESS CONSISTENTLY WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING BETTER COMPETITION. Utah was successful in the mid-2010’s specifically because they were allowed to bring in recruits and build over a several year process. Yet, when those players graduated, they took steps back. Only to rebuild and have decent success again a couple seasons later by getting all the way to the NIT Championship Game. Then most of the players on that team graduated, and they had to bring in a bunch of freshmen. Those freshmen were building into pretty decent players by last season, yet you all demanded that their coach be fired, causing most of them to transfer, including Timmy Allen, Mikael Jantunen, Pelle Larsson, Ian Martinez, and others. Think how much better the team could have been this year had you given that core of players and their coach one additional offseason together to see how much they could improve coming into this year, but you REFUSED TO DO SO, CAUSING ALL OF THEM TO TRANSFER. Utah had better land some pretty stellar recruits this offseason, or they are not going to be any better next year or any time soon. Was it worth it? Larry Krystkowiak beat Duke, Kentucky, Oregon, Arizona, UCLA, and other teams while he was here, yet none of you could see the development of the team last year in a season where they barely finished under .500. Was it worth it? Are you happy with this terrible season?
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This is Utah’s worst Men’s Basketball season since 2011-2012, which was Krystkowiak’s first season as coach (and Utah’s first season in the PAC-12). This is also Utah’s first 20-loss season since then. I am NOT happy with what has transpired. All Craig Smith has proven so far is that he can lead Utah to their worst season in ten years. They’d better improve next year, or else…
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You’re an idiot. You still live in the Utah pre-Pac-12 era of basketball. And you’re arrogant as crap. Utah is NEVER going to return to the level that they were at under Rick Majerus or anybody else who coached at Utah before they joined the pac-12. You still set the standard that they should be consistently making the NCAA Tournament or their season is a failure. You have ZERO understanding nor ability to see how a team is actually improving on a year to year basis, nor are you capable of understanding why they might not be as good one year as they were the year previous. Utah will NEVER be able to recruit the level of player to be good enough on a consistent basis to regularly make the NCAA Tournament as a member of the pac-12. You still live under the delusion that they made the NCAA Tournament all the time back then because they were just such an awesome program with unbelievable coaching. They weren’t. They made it all the time because their competition was sub-par, which allowed for them to rack up wins against terrible teams and win conference championships more easily. When you can do that, you’re going to make the NCAA tournament more often. When you’re in a conference like the Pac-12 however, that luxury is gone because the competition is just as talented and well coached as you are, thus negating the advantage. It causes more losses, which hurts your resume and makes it nearly impossible to consistently make the NCAA Tournament unless you are one of the best teams in the league every single year. Which is often a byproduct of getting the best recruits, which aren’t going to come to Utah over the Arizona’s, Oregon’s, and UCLA’s of the world. You have to build CONSISTENCY, which takes time unless you happen to get the best recruits every single season.
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I stopped reading after these three words. Please stop.
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Holy wall of text. Paragraphs are your friends, especially for making points.
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