Just got back from the game. What a clinic by a well coached team vs. a talented, but unprepared team. Our movement and passing was a thing of beauty. 29 Assists. And the crowd was LOUD. Makes me proud to be a Ute.

Some other thoughts.

As I thought, Miller outplayed Herren in a big way. Herren is a good PG and much smarter than the last time I saw him. He was just outclassed by the best PG in College Ball. No shame in that.

Jensen was unbelievable. He's so quick on inside rebounds. Besides his triple double, he looked like he crawled inside Alexader's shirt. Alexander only had one open look all night, and missed it. Althoff played agressive, and rebounded well and had the dunk of the night. Harvey played another stellar game, his 3 point shooting is much better than advertised. With him, we are easily top 25, maybe higher. It's not unthinkable to say we would be undefeated or with one loss, if he had his act together and played early in the season. Mottolla played a good solid 20 point game, lots of rebounds. And I like Sharp. I think he's developing into a poor man's alex jensen. Killion can shoot, and tries hard, but his buff body may be a little short for D1 ball. Good role player, though.

As for Fresno, they were more undisciplined than I expected, and I thought they would be bad in that regard. There is no denying the talent. Some of the offensive moves, the blocks, and the off-balanced 3's were amazing. Alexander can border on the unstoppable with that fadeaway. But I don't think I've ever seen our guys get so open. The truth is Tark is a great recruiter, but a mediocre coach. At UNLV, he had Grgrich as a bench coach for X and O's. He needs that at FSU if they are going to take it to the next level.

As for their players, Alexander is an NBA offensive talent, and a pretty classy player. He's a little lazy on defense, but that can develop. He has a great fadeaway shot. I think he's probably the most talented player in the WAC. (Andre is easily the best. WAC POY) Alexander even scored 20 with Alex guarding him. That, in and of itself is an amazing stat that only Ute fans can appreciate.

Herren is good, better than I thought. He just couldn't handle Dre. But then again, no one in college can. Farley is a good all-around player, actually, a very good player; He's FSU's best defender, and a confident offensive player. Ely did not live up to expectations. Part of it was inexperience, part of it is he's not that good. Bad shot form, and no concept of team defense. He gave it his all, but it turned out not to be much. I'd take Althoff over him, which I didn't think I'd say at the beginning of the game. FSU played hard, and they weren't dirty. They just got outplayed by a well coached team.

Like previous years, Utah is barreling thru the WAC. The next three road games will be tough, and we may lose one, but we're in the drivers seat for the division championship

Utes will crack the top 25 once again this week. How sweet it is.
 

Just got back from the game. What a clinic by a well coached team vs. a talented, but unprepared team. Iím not sure we were unprepared so much as we were undisciplined. I think you pegged it; it was a clinic in the benefits of team ball vs. individual talent. Our movement and passing was a thing of beauty. It sure was. 29 Assists. And the crowd was LOUD. Makes me proud to be a Ute.

Some other thoughts.

As I thought, Miller outplayed Herren in a big way. That is certainly true, but I am not sure that he is necessarily the better point guard. I almost posted this yesterday, before the game. But you are comparing players within the context of their supporting casts and Miller has a much more team oriented supporting cast. Just as a good PG makes everyone else look better, a team oriented supporting cast makes the PG look better. He may be the better point guard, but I think thatís a judgment that will have to be made over time. Incidentally, I donít think Herren is back to full strength quite yet. Herren is a good PG and much smarter than the last time I saw him. He was just outclassed by the best PG in College Ball. No shame in that. Herren has come along better than I thought. Earlier this year, a lot of Dog fans were thinking that he should move back to the shooting guard spot.

Jensen was unbelievable. He's so quick on inside rebounds. Besides his triple double, he looked like he crawled inside Alexader's shirt. Alexander only had one open look all night, and missed it. Now thatís silly. Alexander had lots of open shots; he scored 20 or so and many came off of open looks. Althoff played aggressive, and rebounded well and had the dunk of the night. Harvey played another stellar game, his 3 point shooting is much better than advertised. I hate Harvey; those damn threes.... With him, we are easily top 25, maybe higher. It's not unthinkable to say we would be undefeated or with one loss, if he had his act together and played early in the season. Mottolla played a good solid 20 point game, lots of rebounds. And I like Sharp. I think he's developing into a poor man's alex jensen. Killion can shoot, and tries hard, but his buff body may be a little short for D1 ball. Good role player, though. I donít want to minimize your effort, but I think to some extent, our lack of defensive discipline made every player on your team look good.

As for Fresno, they were more undisciplined than I expected, and I thought they would be bad in that regard. True, but some of that was your fault. There is no denying the talent. Some of the offensive moves, the blocks, and the off-balanced 3's were amazing. I think thatís a real key point. In some ways, you beat us much worse than the score indicated. You shot 57% from the floor ­ much of which can be attributed to a gazillion (or so it seemed) uncontested layins. But to my surprise, we both hit 8 three pointers and you did so at near 50% efficiency while we were at 36%. Yours seemed to flow from your offense much more than ours did. Ours were these really impressive things that I am not sure we will hit again in Fresno. You put us in a position where we had to make these incredible shots just to keep from losing by far more than 13 ­ and that doesnít bode well for the rematch in Fresno. Alexander can border on the unstoppable with that fadeaway. But I don't think I've ever seen our guys get so open. The truth is Tark is a great recruiter, but a mediocre coach. At UNLV, he had Grgrich as a bench coach for X and O's. He needs that at FSU if they are going to take it to the next level. Ouch. I am not sure that most Fresno fans would really disagree with that. In some ways, Tark is a pussy cat. Last year the lack of discipline showed up both off court and on. This year things are better off court, but on court there are times where we struggle...

As for their players, Alexander is an NBA offensive talent, and a pretty classy player. He's a little lazy on defense, but that can develop. He has a great fadeaway shot. I think he's probably the most talented player in the WAC. (Andre is easily the best. WAC POY) Alexander even scored 20 with Alex guarding him. That, in and of itself is an amazing stat that only Ute fans can appreciate.

Herren is good, better than I thought. He just couldn't handle Dre. How much was he on Miller? Tark put Courtney on him early and Farley, I believe, later. Another sign, in my mind, that Chris isnít all the way back. But then again, no one in college can. Farley is a good all-around player, actually, a very good player; He's FSU's best defender, and a confident offensive player. Ely did not live up to expectations. Part of it was inexperience, part of it is he's not that good. Bad shot form, and no concept of team defense. He gave it his all, but it turned out not to be much. I'd take Althoff over him, which I didn't think I'd say at the beginning of the game. I donít agree with you there. Ely is a power forward ­ not a center. He has little backup and he was playing at altitude. In fact, those of you at the game may not have noticed this but the refs called a time out near the game and took him out as he appeared ready to pass out. FSU played hard, and they weren't dirty. They just got outplayed by a well coached team. Agreed.

Like previous years, Utah is barreling thru the WAC. The next three road games will be tough, and we may lose one, but we're in the drivers seat for the division championship I wouldnít get too cocky just yet. You are undefeated in conference play but have played all your games at home or against the weakest competition in the conference. All of your tough road games are ahead of you and I wouldnít be surprised to see two or three conference losses before this is over. Unfortunately, we might have three or four.
 

You sound as if Utah got lucky to win that game, that Andre Miller had an unusually good game (based on luck) against the best PG ever in Chris Herron and that Alex Jensen and Motolla are just average players who had unusually good games.

This was a very well played game, where Utah simply outplayed Fresno in nearly every category. They were outcaoched, out hustled and out defensed. Miller is CLEARLY superior to Herron (recovering from injury or not), and Utah is CLEARLY a better team right now than Fresno State.

Yes Utah is 5-0 with 3 of those games home games and the other 2 against weak teams on the road, but Utah has been VERY successful in the 90's (the Majerus era) on the road in the WAC based on 2 constants: 1-) Defense, 2-) Rebounding, both of which Utah excels in once again this season.

You may be right that Utah will end up with 2 or 3 WAC losses, but I think that 1, maybe 2 at most are likely with Utah winning the WAC for a 7th time this year. They will not lose at home, and the only real tough games remaining on the road are At UNM and At Fresno. Utah will split those 2 games.

Rule
 

:That is certainly true, but I am not sure that he is necessarily the better point guard. I almost posted this yesterday, before the game. But you are comparing players within the context of their supporting casts and Miller has a much more team orientedsupporting cast. Just as a good PG makes everyone else look better, a team oriented supporting cast makes the PG look better. He may be the better point guard, but I think thatís a judgment that will have to be made over time. Incidentally, I donít think Herren is back to full strength quite yet.

Herren is a decent PG, but if Tark has to put Alexander or Farley on Andre on the defensive end, it tells you how well he believes Herren matches up with Dre. Utah has more talent for Dre to pass to? Please. Herren has Roberson, Alexander, and Farley, to distribute to. All great talents. Utah has talent too, but andre is very skilled at getting the ball to the right person at the right time. That's what a pg does. Who's the better PG? Game, set, match, to Miller.

:Now thatís silly. Alexander had lots of open shots; he scored 20 or so and many came off of open looks.

Trust me, I was there. He was closely guarded. His ability to fadeaway and hang so long may have made him look open on TV, but most of his shots were tough ones, with people in his face. The guy will play at the next level....and he may see Jensen there guarding him there as well.

: I donít want to minimize your effort, but I think to some extent, our lack of defensive discipline made every player on your team look good.

I think you also ran out of gas. Playing BYU and Utah at altitude has never been easy for the flatlanders.

: Tark put Courtney on him early and Farley, I believe, later. Another sign, in my mind, that Chris isnít all the way back.

Or he knows that Herren just can't guard Miller.

: I donít agree with you there. Ely is a power forward ­ not a center. He has little backup and he was playing at altitude. In fact, those of you at the game may not have noticed this but the refs called a time out near the game and took him out as he appeared ready to pass out.

I noticed. He did give it his all, but he has a long way to go before he's effective as a center or a PF in D1 ball

: FSU played hard, and they weren't dirty. They just got outplayed by a well coached team. Agreed.

Actually, your team seems to have turned over a new leaf and shed some of the problem children. They play hard, and clean. They just need a coach that will make them as disciplined on the floor as they have started to become off the floor.

By the way. Roberson was so highly touted, yet he seems an average player. What's the scoop? Jensen was clearly the better player at that position. The guy had a triple double.

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