Nice, Final Lady Utes 67 UCF 57
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Yes, in the end a win is a win, even if it is an ugly win. I have said it again and again, this team could be so good, and an easy selection for the tournament if they just got out of their own way. If not for some timely 3s by Wilke and 3-4 circus shots that White made, that game last night is a loss.
I don’t know what is going on with Walker, but she seems to be out of control and rushing when she has the ball, and it leads directly to turnovers. I coach my little leagers in baseball to be quick and not charge or be “fast”. Quick connotes speed with control. Someone needs to tell Brook that just needs to just slow down a bit and the game will come to her more.
As you said, its a win. Now go home and get ready to try to beat Iowa State by pushing Crooks out of the block and double team when she gets the ball in the paint. Keep Crooks from scoring 30, and more like 20 and you have a much better chance of winning.
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Yep. And, I think our WBB players still pass too much like our MBB players – not a compliment.
To beat Utah, just press and speed it up. Sure, Utah might get a few easy buckets, but I think it’s well worth it.
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oopsies, again. Wilke picked a bad night to miss all those shots.
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I appreciated teh fight tonight but so many times where we are just all out of sorts. gotta 5 wins, which at this point feels like we are going to have to win @ asu, home to byu, AND @colorado. Not impossible, but any of the baylor/tech/iowa state games would have been really nice to bank at the moment.
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To be fair to Gavin, I forget that he was replacing all 5 starters. Hoping he does some work in the portal this year, and that he can keep most of the returning players. We should be fine going forward.
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Yes, myself I have been too negative. Need to be more positive about the growth. That said, my fortune for a made basket from in the paint and not an air ball from 10 feet. 
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We lose quite a few next year, I think. Wilke, White, and Evans? 3 of 5 starters.
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Wilke and White for sure. Evans is a redshirt junior so could be back for one more.
On paper, it should be a good battle between Avery, Grace, Ella (redshirt), and incoming recruits Peyton Jones and Milika Satuala (both top 100) for the 2 wing spots that wilke and White are giving up but those who have played are struggling to find consistency and of course the portal always looms large both ways.
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I dont follow the big 12 closely but I just noticed that our friends to the south got absolutely walloped in both games on the kansas road swing, a road trip that we swept about a month ago.
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It seems that both Utah and the Zoo are playing themselves out of the tourney.
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Tuesday morning and the update is a good one! Despite the loss to Iowa State, we have moved up to “last four byes” in bracketology. I think that our road wins over Kansas and K state did some heavy lifting for us.
Tomorrow night’s road opponent, ASU, is second in the “first four out” right now, so we are going to get their best shot. I feel like we owe them for how the game earlier this year ended.
EDIT: As of now, Charlie is updating his posts every tuesday and friday mornings. I suspect that it will increase at some point down the stretch here.
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Since a few weeks ago, every game is the most important game. Glad to see the movement in the projections. And yes, a beat-down of ASU is very badly needed.
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Not a good game against ASU with a 10 point loss. Good thing was that the team kept it close until a spurt by ASU in the last 4 minutes put the game away.
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The Utes had it within 2 with about 4 minutes left and Walker comes in for Sneed. I don’t know if they keep the plus/minus stat anymore but Sneed would have been way above Walker. All Walker did in that critical 4Q time was miss two shots badly enough that there was no rebound chance AND to throw the ball away couple times. That specific portion of the game (where Utah had cut the lead and was on a roll) was what lost it for Utah. Walker is NOT a point guard and should only be coming in to back-up Wilke. She had 3 TOs credited to here in only 14 minutes and was an o-fer on her shot.
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White and Wilke had good nights, but Wilke struggled a bit with her threes. Really the only two that what would considered a good shooting night (38% overall and only 24% from 3).
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ASU had three players total 45 points a major portion of the team’s total. Guard Elliott, Brackins and Carrera just a bit and guard the 3-pt line a little better (ASU shot 54% from 3).
Next up, Cincinnati at home, then OKSt on the round for a afternoon game on Prez Day. That game versus OSU will be absolutely critical to getting a Group A win on the road and having a chance at the tournament.
Right now, are tied in 7th in the standing at 7-6 and tied with ASU, ISU, and KSU (with KSU the only team we have a tie-breaker against). It is likely that only of these 4 will make the tourney.
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Tough to win when you have more turnovers than made FG.
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Friday morning bracketology has us back in the “last four in” category, but we are the top team there. We really gotta start winning.
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Yep. That said, unless the team starts showing some fight, I’m not sanguine about getting into the tourney. We beat a couple of ranked teams, but then really fell short agains tier 2/3 teams of in the conference. Teams are starting to figure out how to speed up or press Utah.
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Wins are wins, especially at this point in the season, but the fourth quarter meltdowns are so frustrating.
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sanguine ? I’m impressed, haven’t seen that word in years. I actually had to look it up to see if it meant what I thought it meant.
Que up Inigo Montoya meme 
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Yes indeed. Also, once again, we play like that against any kind of team with any decent shooting ability, that is a loss.
That said, I was happy that Sneed started and played more minutes than Walker, and Walker had a better game when used like that with 7 pts and 3 assists and no turnovers in 19 minutes.
Team shooting overall was up to 42% but 3’s remained low at 28%. With the way this team shoots 3’s, maybe working inside (with everybody) is better. As an example, I think Otto is a better shooter when she faces the basket, so when she is in, let her shoot those 8-10 footers. Otherwise, drives to the basket, getting to the free throw line more?
Running out of games at this point with a big game today at Noon MST at Oklahoma State with the wayward Whiting, who, by the way, is having a pretty good season. Much better than she ever played at the Y, which is indictment of her mom as a coach and why the Y is better this year.
Then a good rest to get ready for BYU coming in to the Huntsman on Saturday at 2PM MDT. Then the games at Colorado and home for Arizona to finish the season. Hopefully, counting today’s game the Utes can go 3-1, with the critical game being winning in Colorado. Do that and it seems we get in to the tourney?
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