Posted By: Gilly
Date: Wednesday, 7 November 2001, at 9:39 p.m.
Well, tonight was much better than last week. And against a better team.
Spivey was great. He was everywhere, and looked faster than at any point last year. He was the victim of at least two bad calls -- one taking a charge, on stripping a guy going up for a shot -- and so had a little foul trouble, but he ran the team and played great defense. Again at the end of the game he took control and drove and finished a couple of times.
Britton had a much better game, and didn't get into foul trouble. Especially at the end, when his request to come out was ignored, he controlled the boards and made some nich dishes, and made a great steal, knocking the ball loose and getting the return pass for a fastbreak dunk. He also beat his man and went hard to the hoop for another dunk from the right wing.
In the first half, the Utes shot a bunch of airballs from close range, and the big men were over-faking whenever they got the ball near the hoop. Even Jacobson clanked his first jumper off the board, not getting any iron. It looked pretty bad. London had a 1 point lead at the half, 34 - 33 I think. Cullen saved the day in the first half, coming in and getting 11 quick points, 3 three pointers and two foul shots. He made the offense go by hitting his jumpers and by knowing where to be. The Utes were even 9-10 from the line in the first half, with the only miss being a Burgess airball, but he was 3-4 in the first half.
Osmondson had to play a little point guard at the end of the first half because of foul trouble, and in one of the worst coaching moves I have seen, Majerus called a time out with about 45 seconds to go, and when they came back on the floor, they left Osmondson all alone in the backcourt to get stripped by the opposing point guard. This guy isn't a point guard, but they wouldn't even set a pick for him. I'd love to hear what Majerus said in the huddle.
London got tired in the second half, and Utah really put the pressure on them. When London cut the lead to single digits, Trace Caton hit a big three (Maybe his first field goal of the night) and reversed the momentum and the game was pretty much over except for some chippy, physical play to finish things off.
Koford again played well, except for going up soft and missing a few layups. Jeff Johnsen hardly got any minutes. Lance Allred got a couple firsthalf minutes. Frost and Goettsche didn't dress, and Jackson didn't get any minutes.
Positive points were good foul shooting, and better offense in the second half. The inside players stopped trying to make so many moves and just went up strong. The post play in the first half was pretty unimpressive. Both point guards play great defense.
More later if I can think of something.
Posted By: S. Gil
Date: Wednesday, 7 November 2001, at 10:16 p.m.
Gilly pretty much sumed it up below.
Pro's
Defensive pressure in the second half
Cullen shooting in the first half
Britton played aggressive on both ends. Hustle play in the first half keeping
the ball from going out of bounds, sweet dunk toward the end of the game
Spivey played good D and pushed the ball well in the second half
Seeing big Rick on the sidelines again
Con's
Burgess and Britton missed several layups in the first half
Point gaurds were all bad in the first half
Poor one on one D in the first half
The Utes don't seem comfortable in the motion offense, they seem more concerned about being in the right place then just playing ball. Players like Spivey, Britton, and J. Johnson just don't fit this offense. I know it's early but there style of play just doesn't fit. The team played much better as Spivey took the ball to the hole.
Is it apparent to anyone else that Caton's minutes have come at the expense of J. Johnson. He seems to be in the Majerus dog house getting about 8-10 minutes in this game. Jeff doesn't appear to pleased by the lack of PT.
Posted By: Wakara <redrock60@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, 7 November 2001, at 11:57 p.m.
Preseason Game, little attendence or enthusiasm from the crowd. More like a practice session
Overall, it was a Majerus team again. Good defensive pressure that rattles the opponents, and awful offense early in the season. I thought Majerus was using the game to get his starters in good shape, as he rotate as much as in the past. London wasn't great, and it almost had a scrimmage like feel. The team doesn't feed the post well and doesn't have a consistent scoring threat. Creating shots with the shot clock winding down may be a problem, but I think Spivey will take that role and do it effectively.
One thing that always annoys me is the way rick holds his teams longer than the timeout and makes the opponents wait. I think it is disrespectful to the referees. Personal peeve.
Player observations.
Britton still made some dumb mistakes that led to turnovers, and I found myself
thinking it was going to be a long year. But as the game wore on he looked a
lot more comfortable. by the end of the game, he was playing on both ends and
making plays. I think we need to post him up more when he's at the 3. He also
seems to have cut down on the english layups, if you know what I mean. Straight
up and in now.
Jacobson is good all around player, but is not a star yet, if ever. He will hit the shots and plays his position. But he doesn't seem to take over a game.
Spivey looked the best of all the players, especially in the second half. Got his teammates involved, but took it to the rack just enough to keep teams honest, and played disruptive defense by doubling down. His lack of an outside shot may hurt us, but his defense is solid.
Burgess looked disinterested at times. Once in a while you get a glimpse of what he could be, but he seems to be thinking too much on the offensive end, rather than having a natural feel for the game. He's a very good athlete and needs to get aggressive in the post, establish position closer to the basket, and take the ball to the rack. He's the best rebounder we have, and he does play pretty good post defense.
Caton has officially assumed the pick and shovel role. He is a different player under majerus. Not a great scorer, but good enough so opposing defenses can't leave him. Rick's team always needs role players to be the extermintor on the defensive end. Trace looks like he's going to step into that role and JJ's time will suffer as a result.
Reserves:
Cullen was Cullen, a good spot up shooter who can stretch the defense. He saved the team in the first half. He seems comfortable with the program now and his role in it. Leave him open, and he will burn you.
Osimani will be very good. Heck, he already is. There is not a major drop-off when he replaces Spivey. Spivey is too good right now, so I don't see him taking over starting, but he's going to fill the backup role well. We didn't get to see him shoot tonite, but he runs the team like a veteran, and gets into people's faces on the defensive end. Like Andre, he's deceptively quick. He will see a lot of time this year. I get excited for his 4 years here. First Uruguyan in the NBA perhaps? A bit of a stretch, but concievable.
Allred and Koford played ok, not great, but not bad. I see them as equally good in the backup role, but I think Allred will fare better in the MWC wars as he is more physical by nature. I think he should go on his mission next year, and come back when the logjam at center has thinned. (that and personal reasons)
JJ's time has been cut down, and he looked a little lost. I hope he turns it around for his senior year, and makes a contribution. I wonder if the Memphis debacle has him thinking too much while he plays. He has high energy, just needs to play smarter.
Osmundsen should not play point guard...can you say jordie mctavish? A redshirt with a little body building will do wonders for him. Since he's a 2 guard and given the talent coming in the program at that position, and with Jacobson only a year ahead of him, I would think that maybe he'd be a better fit at a Big West type of school. If he wants to stick it out, great, but he's got an uphill battle. Nothing wrong with him. Smart player that hustles, just may be in over his head talent-wise. Of course, I've seen him twice in his Freshman year, so it is unfair to judge him yet.
Reasons for optimism:
-Britton is playing a little smarter...thank you rick
-PG seems solid and 2 deep
-Rick's focus is back: defense and rebounding first. While this makes us look
ugly at the beginning of the year, it pays dividends.
-No weak spots in the two deep. Lots of players and combinations to throw at
opponents. Lots of chess pieces for the master
Reasons for Concern
-No great scorer, like a kvh, doleac, dre, mottola. Who's going to get the bucket
to stop a 5 minute scoring drought, or take the last shot. Jacobson is nails,
but can't create his own shot well, and BJ and spivey are great penetrators,
not shooters. I wish BJ would just stroke the shot. Unless he's driving there
seems to be hesitation on the jumper.
- Quickness on the Guardline. Spivey is adequate, but he's more a strong guard than a jet. Little quick guys will give him trouble. Jacobson is rather slow, relatively speaking. He's making up for it with good positioning and smart play, but there's no substitute for horsepower. He needs to be in the game for his outside shooting, as I think he's the only one who's not streaky from the outside.
My prediction for the year
Rick molds the team, plugs players into roles and plays to the stregnths of the talent we have. That will take some time, but I have faith it will happen. We win the MWC regular season crown outright as the league has forgotten how good the defense Majerus coached teams play. MWC tournament is a wild card. We win 20-25 games and get an NCAA berth with a 5 seed. We make a run to the sweet 16, and lose when Steve Cleveland's BYU squad overwhelms us with their quickness in the regionals.
I'm hereby joining the bandwagon as its official entrepreneur. If you'd like
to "buy" a seat on the wagon, let me know.
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