Posted By: Gilly
Date: Sunday, 25 November 2001, at 12:55 p.m.
I like reading this board when the posts are actually sports-related. Inevitably, someone has a different perspective on the basketball team than I do and it makes me think a little bit.
Anyway, last year we started the Bandwagon as part of our rededication to fun, didn't we? We decided to stop angst-ing over the hoop team and just whoop it up and see what happens. I agree with Former Ute -- it doesn't look like anyone is having any fun on the court. Even though Van Horn admits he thought about transferring all the time while he was at Utah, he played the game with joy, I thought. Last year, probably the only time I saw 'fun' on the court was when Utah was demolishing Louisville. Obviously, winning is more fun that losing, but if you loathe practicing and playing, you stand a better chance of not playing well, I think.
Now, if you love the way Majerus coaches and prepares and demands top performance all the time, then you have to live with players who are scared of making mistakes and who aren't out there having a ton of fun. Dave Jackson said basketball at Utah was "Four hours of hell everyday." Tony Harvey has since changed his mind, but when he left he said he would never play basketball again. The flip side of that is guys like the NBA-ers, Drew Hansen, Alex Jensen -- guys who developed far beyond anyone's expectations while they were at Utah. Sometimes Majerus's approach works, and sometimes it doesn't.
As far as this year's team goes, here is how I see it:
They are slow. That's just a fact. They will have to play some wild team defense
in order to stop other teams. Bradley was the quickest player last year, and
he's gone. Britton is the quickest guy on the team this year. I'm not even sure
who is second.
At times against Utah State, the defense was good, and the Aggies still scored.
There were a number of post moves where the Utah defender stayed in front of
the guy and got a good hand in his face as he shot and the ball still went in.
What are you going to do?
There were also times when the Utah defender couldn't stay with his man. Not
sure what you can do about that either.
They are offensively-challeneged. You have Jacobson who is a great shooter, and Britton who can drive (and is actually shooting well) and then you have a bunch of guys who struggle to create their own shot. Perhaps when the motion offense is in full swing, that won't matter so much as the offense will creat open jumpers and easy layups. For the time being, the passing is slow, the ball bogs down, and there aren't many good screens being set.
I don't know if these guys just aren't gifted offensively, or if the emphasis on defense has taken something away from their offensive skills. John Thompson of Georgetown was a great defensive coach, but toward the end of his career he would take high school players who averaged over 30 points a game, turn them into defenders, and by the end of their college careers, there were bad offensive players. I don't know if it is the coach's fault, or if other players 'catch up' to these guys and learn how to shut them down, or what. But I'd guess that most of the guys on the Utah squad were big scorers in high school.
One thing I don't like to hear is Majerus (or anyone) saying the players lack heart or commitment. I'm not part of the program, but I seriously doubt that is the case. To me, it sounds very similar to what Jerry Sloan says whenever the Jazz get hammered by a better team. He doesn't like to admit the other team is better, so he questions his own players commitment and effort. I was at the game Friday, and I honestly thought Utah played very hard in the second half. They just couldn't get a key stop or make enough big plays to overcome the deficit.
When Keith and Andre stepped onto a court, most of the time they were the best player there. It's easier to play when you KNOW no one else is as good as you are -- if everyone gives equal effort, you win. I'm not sure that means you have more 'heart' than someone who isn't as athletically gifted as you are who is out there trying his best but not making great plays.
How about Friday night when Utah cut the lead to 5? When Spivey was creating turnover after turnover? And Jacobson hit a couple threes after having a horrible shooting night? Isn't that playing with heart?
If you love Majerus, then you will have to live with certain things. He prepares for a game great, but he doesn't adjust well during a game. He's trying to play Britton at the 4, not the 3. He yanks guys when he feels like it. He recruits his type of players who will play his style of basketball. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Finally, I think the team is still recovering from 1998. After that great season,
Hansen graduated and Doleac used up his eligibility, McTavish and Jackson transferred,
and Caton, Carlisle and Johnsen went on missions. The Utes brought in Heusser,
Crocket, Cullen, Killion, Harvey and Colbert to replace them. The team went
5-4 before going undefeated in conference play, with pros like Miller, Mottola
and Jensen in the lineup. There has been a merry-go-round at point guard, with
McTavish leaving, Willis blowing out a knee, Colbert leaving, Jackson and Bradley
leaving. Next year, there will be Osimani (playing about 5-8 minutes a game
this year) and Drisdom, a freshman. For whatever reasons, too many quality guys
have left the program, and there has been no continuity.
Also, Majerus got depressed when they lost the title game, was hailed as an
almost infallible genius, and started recruiting juco players, who struggle
with the system in their two years here. All of these things seem to have decreased
his coaching impact and effectiveness.
Here's hoping that:
1. the team starts enjoying playing basketball. (it is a game, isn't it?)
2. The transfers out of the program stop
3. The fans stay positive, as those did who stayed Friday night and went wild
when the deficit was trimmed to 5.
I've been very disturbed by people questioning the players heart and character. When a team doesn't perform you can question the talent level (which is easy to observe) all you want, I have no problem with that. But I have a very hard time with people saying a person (or collection of people) have no heart or character when they don't really know that. Heart and character is something you need to observe up close--you can only question someone's heart and character when you know enough about them to make that judgment. Basketball is just a game after all, a person may have great commitment to academics or family and thus seem to slack off on the court because it isn't the highest of priorities. I'm not saying that I know that is the case, I'm just saying it's a thought.
Having said that, I think this team has shown some heart. In fact, Friday night was an example. While they didn't come ready to play they never did give up. As Gilly mentioned, you had guys diving for loose balls, creating turnovers and selling it out until the final buzzer. If Caton could have hit that three to cut the lead to three we may very well have won the game (even thought we didn't deserve it) and we'd all be sitting here talking about the great heart we showed to come from behind.
Another example was last season. The program had so much turmoil and dirt being thrown on it. There was the instability with Majerus, injury to the starting center, a selfish leading scorer, etc. Yet, the team still banded together, put together an undefeated February (with many hard-fought victories) and earned a share of the conference title. What better example of heart do you need to see?
You cannot judge this team based on what happened last year. There are too many variables--last year was just a strange and challenging year (and would have been for any program in that situation). The team did a decent job given the circumstances, but now it feels like they are almost starting from scratch. I still believe this can be a good year and things should be better over the next few years as we appear to be set with talented players who will (knock on wood) be in the program for four years.
As for this season, I'll be very satisfied if we win 20+ games, finish in the top 2-3 in the conference and make it to the Dance.
Go Utes!!!!!!!!
P.S. Gilly, isn't it ironic that as soon as I start wondering if we're back
to "Utah basketball" we come out and play a game that is about the exact opposite
of what we have come to know as "Utah basketball."