Posted By: Gilly
Date: Friday, 16 November 2001, at 10:35 p.m.
This was not the most entertaining of games, to be sure.
I think Burgess probably led the team in scoring, with around 20. He just was
too big for the post players of St. Francis, and once he realized that and quit
faking and finessing, he scored at will. He made half his foul shots.
Jacobson played alot for a guy with a sore back and a sore ankle. I was wondering if he would play at all, but he was out there for mucho minutes. When you think about it, he's the only true off-guard they have. Caton and Jeff Johnsen are more small forwards. Anyway, Jacobson was shooting pretty well and had 10 at the half. Not sure how many he had at the end.
Britton got two fouls in the first half, and in the second half his man scored twice in a row after halftime, and Majerus benched him until there were two minutes left to play. Not sure what the point was, as Utah needs its top-rung players to get game-ready. I liked it better last week when Britton asked to come out, but Majerus left him in there and made him play some more when he was tired.
The scariest part of the evening was that the St. Francis point guard was penetrating and dishing for easy baskets. At first, he was just beating Osimani, but later he started getting by Spivey as well. When a big man stepped up to challenge he just slipped the ball to the open guy for a layup. I kept thinking of what would happen against New Mexico.
Koford did exactly what the Utes need -- he came in and defended and challenged shots and got rebounds. He had 3 or 4 offensive rebounds. He set a nice screen to get Jacobson open for a 3 pointer in the second half. He started picking up fouls quickly in the second half, but why not? He's big and he's got that wingspan and he might as well try to block everything. Granted, the tallest opponent was 6'6", but at least Koford was making use of his height advantage. He also finished a nice alley-oop from Osmondson on an out of bounds play, and may have finished another (I can't remember). He also kinda dunked an offensive rebound, although it rattled around quite a bit.
When Britton came back in at the end, the first thing he did was huck up a three pointer, which I thought was funny, but then he and Spivey had a nice exchange on a fast break, going Britton to Spivey back to Britton for the alley oop.
Caton played a solid game, although I don't think he shot until a three pointer in the second half. He might not have scored. Osimani might not have scored either. He struggled in the first half, played better in the second. Osimani actually dribbles the ball, as opposed to palming it on every dribble. Maybe that's the South American influence?
Cullen didn't score in the first half ( I think) and when he hit a three in the second half, he got yanked (probably for some defensive transgression). He seemed to be checking in and out of the game all night. He did miss a wide open dunk late in the game that was pretty funny.
Jeff Johnsen played pretty well. Hit a three, didn't make any turnovers that I noticed.
Osmondson got into the game very late, and got a rebound and airballed a three from the corner. I thought Majerus would play him more in a game like this, because it's very likely the Utes will need him at some point either as the third point guard, or to come in at shooting guard.
Allred got a couple minutes in each half and didn't do a whole lot.
All in all it was a dreary affair, and Cullen and Britton seemed to be in the doghouse all night long. I was surprised at how many times their post players scored over Ute defenders,since they had a severe height disadvantage. I was surprised how easily their point guard broke down the Ute defense.
I'm looking forward to next week and some Division I teams.
Posted By: Flushboy <steven.gray@m.cc.utah.edu>
Date: Saturday, 17 November 2001, at 11:24 a.m.
The fan club got a QnA session from one of the assistant coaches before the game. He shared the following information:
- Butter is 100%, injuries are not bothering him at all.
- Goettsche's injury is a knee and he it out for 4 weeks at least, but he thinks
Cameron can help the team this year with his rebounding ability, so he may not
redshirt afterall.
- Otherwise the team is healthy.
- The three amigoes, aka Run DMC, are signed.
- Chris Jackson can be either the next Doleac or the next Godfread.
- Marc Jackson is indeed redshirting at UVSC, and the team may or may not resign
him in two seasons.
- Marc Jackson's mother is doing very well in her recovery.
- Majerus' mom is cancer free.
- The team suffers from the lack of leadership.
Now on to the game... my observations on the individual players...
Butter: Got a lot of open looks and made them count. He was 4-5 from threeland.
Burgess: Dominated the post, and to his credit spent plenty of time there, but his moves will get rejected by bigger and more athletic defenders. He did a lot of head fakes when just powering to the rim would have been better. Failed to provide robust help defense and wasn't overwhelming on the boards like he needs to be. Saw some action at PF because Britt and Phil were in the dog house.
Britt: As has been mentioned, his D sucked big time. He only played a few minutes, and I think his guy made five FGs on him in that short time. Of course, he did get his quota of two highlight reel dunks. If only he cared about the other aspects of the game.
JJ: He played a smart and effort driven game, he was not at fault in many of the defensive breakdowns. If only he had a PF body.
Koford: Wow, dude keeps surprising me with his mobility. A couple of alley-oop jams tonight, better help defense and nice screens from the high post. He got a lot of boards, but not always because he boxed out well, so much as he is just LONG. His matchup was often a 6-6 300 lb. Greek dude and Cam used his mobility to his advantage. Major problem though: 6 turnovers.
Caton: Didn't look to score at all, he was just out there trying to blend.
Spivey: Had some beautiful passes, and kept the D honest with a couple of outside shots, but his opposite got way too much penetration.
Osimani: Also had some nice passes (including the oop to Cam on the inbounds), and less mistakes than in the exhibitions. His defensive stance has a flaw in it and he gets burned by the crossover dribble quite a bit (compounded by the fact that he's not very quick laterally). He took one shot tonight and didn't look confident in doing it (he took a three early in the shot clock and must have heard Majerus' voice in his head).
Cullen: Got plenty of rebounds, but did only marginally better than Britt defensively. He missed what should have been an easy dunk off of a great pass from Oso because his legs didn't give any spring. I think Phil will be OK if he ever gets his legs back.
Allred: Played a couple of minutes and did nothing.
Osmundsen: Ditto.
Posted By: Diehard Ute
Date: Friday, 16 November 2001, at 9:26 p.m.
but couldn't really say much. He was very upset with the team's defense tonight (It was porous, reminded me of BYU's football team..it's rivalry week, I had to) and it obviously was bothering him.
My thoughts on the game...Britton is worthless right now. Yes he's got talent, but he lacks any sense of the game. Starting the second half Britton plays defense about as well as a piece of paper and is yanked, he just didn't give any effort.
Burgess had some nice moves against some very inferior inside competition, put up 20 points.
Koford really is an entirely different player, he's going to be a great asset.
Butter had his usual jumpers. He buried them, they were released quickly and looked good, the guy's just a player.
Spivey and Osimani both played pretty well, although both had lapses on defense. IMO
Cullen's legs are horrid, he's having a hard time getting high enough to dunk, baseball was not kind to him.
Jeff Johnsen played a good game. Didn't force things, played good defense, maybe he's turned the corner some.
This team was better than most of our first games...they're scrappers and have some good players, they just don't have the size we've got. Decent first game, but we have a lot of work to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Last modified .