"It's like Christmas in October"
Posted By: UTEthanasia <mikeseipp@home.com>
Date: Monday, 22 October 2001, at 9:59 p.m.
First of all, Osimani is great! Really enjoyed watching him play, surprisingly quick hands and soft shot. Boy he is big too, 6'3" is right and he is probably a strong 210+ in pounds.
I think we will see Osmundson redshirted, he is quick smart and has a nice shot but is undersized for a 6'4" person, needs a lot of bulk.
Goetsche will be a decent player down the line but I predict that he will never be a star at Utah. A few reasons, defense (or lack thereof) and he has no nose for the ball ( did he get a single rebound?).
Jackson is an impressive specimen for his size. Nice touch, was always around the ball on both ends of the court. He reminds me a lot of a young Doleac.
As was stated below, the only seniors that showed were Spivey, who played and Burgess and J.Johnson, who didn't.
I am excited to see the battle for playing time at point guard. Spivey looks better than last year but I think that Osimani is a better over all player, experience under pressure is difference here but I believe that Osimani will be the point by the end of the season.
BTW Frost will be a great addition to this team. Nice touch for a big man and was always around the ball. We will have to wait for a year though.
Britton and Trace both seemed to have shed the mission. Britton seemed a lot more cut than even before his mission. Both move well and I forgot how quick Trace is.
Nick Jacobson hinted that his role may shift this year to scoring, I hope so. I believe that he is one of the best shooters in the country.
OK, I am sure that I am missing stuff and may post again tomorrow but I have to post that I talked to Ben Caton during the game. I asked Ben what Trace thought about the recruits coming in next year (Drisdom, Markson, and Chaney), and he said that Trace was happy that he would be a senior because these guys are going to take up a lot of playing time. Trace said that Drisdom was a carbon copy of Andre Miller in demeanor and stature. Anyways, he said that they were all incredible players.
Well that is about it. Good to see Webmonkey, Flushboy, KauaiUte and Gator ---> WOW what a diverse group we make. :-)
Night All. Confessions from a UTE Fan.
UTEthanasia
Posted By: Wakara
Date: Monday, 22 October 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
First, the U needs a new marketing guru. I nominate ColoUte, but it doesn't matter who it is, they need to change. NWTRU could be a fun event, but it was poorly advertised, very badly run, and fairly boring, until the scrimmage. It looked like Bill M. was making up the program up as they went. They should do some giveaways, contests that are fun, skills, get the thing better organized, play music that works. The event was dissapointing and boring...and it could be great. The 3 point contest winner was Frost. Osimani and Jacobson "won" by draining 7, but Frost took the title because his kid hit 5 and he hit 3 for a total of 8. Sign the kid up. BJ won the slam dunk contest by default.
Having vented about the program, I have to say that overall, I enjoyed the evening because I love Ute B-ball.
Overall observations: 2 good freshmen 2 projects, and a good transfer. The one thing I really liked was that this felt like a Majerus team again. By the end of the year last year the team looked lost. I can't say exactly why it felt like Rick's team again, other than they looked very focused on the defensive end. There was a point in the second scrimmage where the returning players completely took over the game on the defensive end. I didn't see that last year
While I don't think you can take much from this scrimmage, but I'll give you my observations. The returning players squared off against the new guys, and it showed as they won both scrimmages, the second coming from behind.
First the newcomers, since that is the interesting part:
Osimani was the best of the new players and very good on both ends of the floor. Very heady, good quicks, great handle,a good passer and a smart basketball mind. He was a true point guard. He played Travis straight up, though Travis wasn't driving on him, and also came in cold. But he clearly wasn't intimidated. He will see a lot of time this year, and should do great.
Jackson was a surprise after I got my first look at him. He has a duck walk and thin shoulders so my first thought was that he's an unathletic stiff (apologies, Mr. Jackson) However, in the game he played very well. Koford was quicker and more experienced, but Jackson was very effective. He rebounded better than anyone else on the floor and played good d. He's clearly better than my first impression, and he's a very smart player. The kid maximizes his talent. My guess is that he will be redshirted because of the logjam at center, but he's pretty good and will play a lot over the next 4-5 years.
Osmundsen was a good shooter and a decent athlete, but he looked young and disappeared in the scrimmage. He was outmatched by Jacobson in the scrimmage, and only scored on a great pass from Osimani. I predict a redshirt.
Gotcha will not be freshman of the year in the WAC. He's got some skills and can jump, but Caton totally dominated him. He looked lost, but could be a player in time.
Frost is a good player and you could tell he had some D1 experience. While he made some stupid decisions, he was aggressive with Britton. Very nice shooter. He will be a good one for the Utes and may start in 2 years. My 8 year old shocked me when he told me walking out that Frost surprised him because he played Britton great. Very astute observation from a kid. I was so proud of my future Ute.
The Returnees:
My advice to the MWC: don't mess with Caton. The guy is cut and players were bouncing off him like pinballs. He's a very physical player and played outrageous defense on gotcha. Since JJ never hasassumed the role of doing all the dirty work that Alex Jensen played, Caton might. He looked much better this year than last. I see him as a Majerus blue collar favorite.
Jacobson looked very comfortable and played great d on Osmundsen. He may lose the "toast" nickname as he seems to have figured out the defensive end. He lets the game come to him. I don't think he's the savior of the team like some claim, but he's a fine ballplayer that will take what the d gives him. Very pure stroke. To teach kids how to shoot, they should have videotaped his three point shooting in the contest. It was beautiful to watch.
Britton looked better physically, but still was playing at 78 rpm in an offense meant for 45. If this were playground ball, I'd pick him first for my team, but Rick's system is a thinking mans game. Only time will tell if he can learn, like Dre and KVH learned, when to keep within the speed limit and when to put the pedal to the metal.
Spivey came late, and played a quiet, but effective game. Nothing can be learned from this.
Koford is much better, and had a great steal and breakaway dunk, but I still think he needs about 15-20 more lbs. He and Allred will fight for backup time.
All in all it was a lousy production, but a night spent at the huntsman center watching basketball is better than most other things. My son got his U basketball signed by all the players. It's become a nice tradition for us as father and son.
Also, I got a bunch of great pictures, but don't have an url at which to post them. Could I email them to someone who's got a server? Ancient perhaps?
As for the team, let me be the first to say it, I sense Majerus will have them
playing like the Utes of Old, and they win their 8th straight conference title.
Too many good players. I look for a breakout year for Burgess and Jacobson.
See you later
Posted By: Flushboy <steven.gray@m.cc.utah.edu>
Date: Monday, 22 October 2001, at 11:18 p.m.
The Night had much more of the games and drills and less scrimmage time than
usual. It was great for the kids, but for hoop freaks like me a bit disappointing.
Also, four key players did not participate. Burgess, JJ and Cullen were in class.
Allred is still recovering from his back injury and the team doctors didn't
want to risk his playing tonight after the practice this afternoon (fatigue
is a major factor in injuries, that's why Rick hates this event). Burgess did
make an appearance at the end of the night and the reports of his being in better
shape appear to be true.
Dunk contest: Due to the non-presence of Burgess, Allred and JJ, there was no serious competition to spur Britt to new creative heights (Will Carlton cartwheel dunk, whither art thou?) Goettsche was a distant second, and he doesn't have sick hops as it has been speculated.
Trey shooting: Osimani opened some eyes by nailing six straight. He could have hit more and won the thing but wasn't shooting very quickly, he spent equal time giving directions to his little partner. Frost has a nice touch outside and got some help from his kid to win it. Jacobsen didn't have help from his kid.
The good stuff: As always it was a very sloppy affair. Even more so with several main cogs not present. Unfortunately, with only 20 minutes of scrimmage, I didn't get to see enough of everybody, but I'll take a stab at it anyways:
Koford - Dude is making a serious bid for entry into the regular rotation. He hit jumpers, intimidated on D, and even picked an Osimani pass at the top of the arc and took it to the house for a dunk. He gets good position on the low block and gives the guards a big target for the entry pass. He is a mobile 7 footer with freaky wingspan. He should have been stealing Althoff's PT last year. Maybe Burgess will get his wish to play some four this season.
Osimani - Looked real good out there. He's a good ball handler and held his own against a late-arriving Spivey (who didn't have the luxury of warming up). Before Spivey, he was picking on the cadre of Freshmen and walkons playing guard against him. He also boxed out and got a few rebounds. He kept his head up while dribbling, switched well on defense and always knew where the ball was. Some of his passes were scary (see above) but his shooting touch is wicked (see above). Look out with he and Jacobsen in the backcourt together. BTW, he is the same height as Nick.
Goettsche - He matched up against Caton. Trace made him disappear.
Caton - He is easily the closest thing to Alex on the team, and though he can never be Alex, there's no excuse to not have a guy like this on the court. He was killing Goettsche by coming off the screen and drilling the jumper. He runs hard on the break along with Spivey and Britt, the others don't keep pace.
Frost - As mentioned he can shoot. He spent too much time on the wing for my taste and once he made a crappy entry pass right to Koford (on the other team). Didn't notice him on the boards much.
Osmundsen - Nicky Jake frustrated him defensively a bit. He's got a some skill, and actually reminds me of Nick as a true freshman (though not quite as good). Unfortunately for him, he's got an uphill battle for PT for his entire career here. He will have to start wowing.
Jackson - Well, you can tell he is smart. He earned all of his points with some heads up play, notably on the offensive glass. His size is good but his footspeed is poor and his hops make Nate look like a jackrabbit. He does look like he's never played with guys this size before (call it Tyson Johnson syndrome). He's got some scoring ability...a few moves in the post (which could use a touch of the refiner's fire). I think a redshirt year would help him out immensely.
B. Johnsen - Same ol' Britt, get ready for more high wire excitement where everything looks harder than it should.
Jacobson - Same ol' Nicky Jake, but he says he'll be a bigger part of the offense this year.
Spivey - A solid performance. He did some of the little things, however he must be looking over his shoulder already because Osimani is promising. Hopefully Oso pushes Trav to a better overall season.
Posted By: Official Bandwagon Dancer (aka UteStar)
<utestar@hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2001, at 5:04 a.m.
I am very excited about this years hoops team. This group could do a lot of good things. I would have loved to have come to last night, but alas, it is hard to take a plane for 12 hours to come over. Oh well, my loss.
It is nice to hear that Osimani is better than most expected. I think many forgot that this kid was a top 100 recruit who played in some international basketball games. He is mature (19 years old) and he has a lot of experience. He is also big and strong, and Bob Gibbons did say that the next mistake this kid makes on the basketball court will be his first. Now with that being said, we can't expect the world from him, but it is nice to know that he will more than just fill in this year at point.
This years team is shaping up to be pretty tough. I had said earlier that I would love for Osimani to get around 12 minutes a game. Well, maybe we can bump that up to 15-20 minutes a game. I don't think we should be surprised to see him and Spivey play occasionally in the backcourt together when Butter is out...though we do have others like JJohnsen who can play shooting guard.
I have a hard time seeing Jackson playing this year. I would love for him to redshirt and learn the system. Osmundsen is a definate candidate to redshirt too, but they may keep him. Goettsche, to read from all of you, was slightly disppointing. Hopefully he can give some minutes when needed.
Next years team looks very solid once again. With Britton and Butter leading the charge...we will have some other experienced players still in the system with Osimani, Allred, possibly Koford, and Frost (who I think will do some nice things for the Utes during his two years). It will give Drisdom, Markson and Chaney a chance to work their way into the system.
A backcourt for the next 3 years that will include Butter, Osimani and soon Drisdom is pretty exciting. That is some good shooting and some bigger guys to throw at teams on the guardline. And will the Utes ever run out of big guys (with Koford, Burgess and Allred this year) and then in the future with Allred, Jackson, Zimmerman...it is neverending. This post seems neverending. I will wrap it up. This bandwagon is ready to rock and roll...hopefull it won't get lost like it did last year. Lets get it going. Go Utes!
Posted By: Proud2BAmerican
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2001, at 7:28 a.m.
Many posts have been made by loyal UTES on last night's events. I do agree with most everything that was posted. This is just a little different approach to posting on the NWTRU.
THE GOOD:
Osimani (VERY impressed) He may be a starter before this season is over.
Caton - He has bulked up and has a nice jumper. (I predict he get 15 minutes of playing time a game.)
Frost - Nice addition to the Utes. Nice touch for a big man.
Jackson - Big man for 18 years old. Rebounds hard.
Britton - Says he is healthier than ever. I understand that Burgess feels the same.
Jacobson - I predict that he will be this year's leading scorer.
THE BAD
Attendance - There was maybe 4 to 5 thousand people in attendance. It amazes me every year that we cannot get 10,000 for a free event like this.
Rick not participating - Often Rick will take a part of this event. He said nothing and only watched from the scorer's table.
The 4 seniors (other than a late appearance by Spivey) did not participate last night. That may be four of our five starters, but probably three. I really wanted to see the Freshman play against the more seasoned players.
THE UGLY
Overall the play was a bit sloppy. However, I beleive this is the earliest that they have ever held this event. They have only been practicing together for 9 days.
Posted By: ColoUte - Future Director of Marketing
for the Utes <everutes@hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2001, at 10:10 a.m.
First off, I totally agree with Wakara. The event side of NWTRU was pathetic. It'll be totally different when I'm in charge. I guarantee that. The thing that upset me the most is the fact that NONE, Zero, Zilch, Nada, of the local media stations covered the event at all. Usually, we at least get a blurb on the evening sports, but they didn't even acknowledge that it occurred. Oh, but Channel 2 showed some highlights of the Local Media vs. the Murray Cops charity game.
That said, I think there was some worth in watching the team last night. The first thing I noticed was that everyone is in MUCH better shape than they were last year. Britton wasn't sucking wind nearly as much as he was last year. Nick Jacobson has gotten quite a bit bigger, and Trace Caton is cut like a Michaelangelo statue. It was really nice because it's like starting this season at the point the team was at in December or January of last year.
The other thing that hit me was Britton being more vocal. On offense, he was shouting at his team-mates to flare, he was calling for the ball in the post, he was setting screens, and just basically being a leader. I turned to UBlender and pointed that out. He said that it was nice to see Britton take more of a leadership role, but that he'd prefer to see Jeff or Burgess take it. I agreed, but I pointed out that there's no shame in having your best player be your leader as well. That said, Britton still made a couple of spectacular plays, and he made a couple of horrendous plays while trying to make spectacular plays. It'll be interesting to see what he brings while tethered on Majerus' leash this year.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the new-comers. Frost is a very very good offensive player. He could fit in at that prototypical Majerus 4 spot very nicely. He had a very nice 20 footer with Britton's chest in his face.
I actually was impressed with a couple of plays by Osmundson. He had a nice double crossover move where he split Osimani and Butter and drove in for the lay-up. I also think he could struggle for minutes in the future. He has a decent - though not spectacular - shot.
Osimani is really, really, a nice pick-up. He had a very heady steal early in the scrimmage. He had a couple of nice boards. He had a VERY nice pass to Caton on the break, but Caton blew the lay-up. Overall, I think he could be the best true freshman I've seen since Hanno - and he may be a better overall player.
Jackson is big and could be a great rebounder. He's already got a big body, he just needs some definition and strength - and a redshirt is probably in his best interests. But, if he can get stronger, and learn some solid post moves from Majerus, I think he'll be a very, very nice player for the Utes for the next few years.
On the returners, I'm curious to see what Koford's role will be. He's gotten a lot better than he was last year, but still struggled a bit. He had a nice swat of one of the walk-ons, and showed some quickness on a steal and dunk, but still looked lost a couple of times, and certainly wasn't a force on the boards.
Nick, Britton, and Trace all looked good, but they were playing against freshmen and gray-squad players. Only Britton was challenged defensively at all. It'll be nice to see them against some more experienced competition. What will be really nice will be to have Markson and Chaney next year to push Britton in the dunk competition.
Overall, I'm really looking forward to this season. Like I said, we're already way ahead of last year in conditioning, in installing the offense, and in developing team chemistry. Now, throw in Majerus to increase the slope of that learning curve, and it could be a very very nice season.
Posted By: The Ghost of Jimmy Carroll (aka UBlender)
<blender444@hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2001, at 9:24 p.m.
I agree with most of what has been posted on this already. Disappointed in the missing seniors. Osimani is good. Frost and Jackson were better than expected. Everybody (except Rick) was in better shape than last year, especially Caton. Ya da ya da ya da....
One thing that stood out to me that I haven't seen posted yet was that the team seemed to have more comraderie (sp?) than last year. They never really seemed to be functioning as a real cohesive unit on or off the court last year. They seemed more like a collection of players rather than a team. I had a different feeling this year when watching the players interact with each other. They seemed to be on the same page and seemed like they actually liked each other.
One thing that really disturbed me last year was that I had a class with two of the players on the team who were from very similar backgrounds. Yet, these two never sat together and hardly ever acknowledged each other. One would hope that the teammates are tight enough that they would want to sit together in class and hang out off the court. We didn't have that last year, but I picked up a better vibe with this year's group.
While I'm raving, I was glad to see several posts below that agree with me about Trace Caton. He needs to be a bigger part of the team than he was last year. He is unselfish, likes to play defense and sets some of the best screens on the team. Plus, he has obviously worked his butt off in the weight room. If I were Rick (and you should all be grateful that I'm not!) I would start a lineup of Burgess, Britton, Caton, Jacobson and Spivey. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Okay, back to gripping about whether or not we win the turnover margin at CSU this weekend (I think we need to in order to win).
Go Utes!!!!!!!!
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