Posted By: Gilly
<vandamanfan@yahoo.com>
Date: Saturday, 12 January 2002, at 3:54 p.m.
Nothing in the first four minutes indicated this would be a good offensive game for Utah. Down 7-0, they finally hit a three (JEff Johnsen) which was maybe their second shot attempt of the game. They couldn't get the ball inside, and when they did they lost it or had a shot rejected. Perhaps the club was just trying to show the home fans what it took on Monday night to score 41. It was ugly.
Once Jeff hit a three to take the lid off, the rest of the team followed with 4 three pointers to get back in the game, AND get started on setting a team record of 17 three pointers. I'm not positive, but the first five may have been scored by 5 different guys -- Jeff, NickyJake, Britton, Trace and Cullen.
Then, somewhere around the midpoint of the first half, a new era of Utah basketball was unveiled -- SMALL BALL. Phil Cullen was on the floor with Osimani, Osmundson, Caton and Jacobson. This was an interesting lineup, and it produced the first two layups of the game for Utah as Caton hit Cullen for a layup, and Cullen hit Osmundson (who missed the foul shot, but hit 4 straigh late in the game). This lineup also did a good job on the defensive end, with Caton on Dalron Johnsen. Dalron ended up with alot of points, but the Ute defense was pretty good. Most of the time they made him hit a tough shot - which he is certainly capable of doing.
Jacobson had 3 three's in the first half, two foul shots and a two pointer. In the second half he hit another two triples, a post up move, a jumper and a foul (Which I thought was a three) and a left-handed prayer/runner that was goaltended by UNVL, and two more free throws. I was thinking he needed two more triples to tie the single-game record, and my neighbor at the games has been insisting that Jacobson will drop 30 on someone this season, but he came out with about 5 minutes to go and didn't get the chance at either mark.
Late in the game, after just about everyone else had knocked down a trey, Spivey hucked one up (was it his only shot of the game) and knocked it down so he wouldn't be left out (he started, by the way).
Jacobson got player of the game, but I have to point to Jeff Johnsen as the difference-maker in the past four games. Of course, he DID miss two layups after draining a bunch of three's but that's easy to forgive in a game like this.
Osimani did alright, took the ball to the hoop a couple times, and didn't turn the ball over much until late in the game when UNLV still had its starters in against the bench (Dalron was still in, padding his league-leading scoring average).
Utah is pretty hard to press with the Johnsen brothers in there, because they both showed they can bring the ball up against pressure today. It figures one of them should be guarded by the other team's power forward.
One thing that is troublesome is that SO much of the offense was three pointers. Those were the ONLY shots Utah could get early. If they hadn't been falling, who knows what would have happened.
I really liked the small lineup. When everyone can shoot and pass and handle, it is tough to defend. The middle was wide open for cuts and catches, and guys were going right up with it when they got a pass in the lane. UNLV isn't big - especially with Dalron playing center, so smallball works agains them. Not sure how it will look against other teams.
Ugly first 4 minutes, very good final 34 minutes. Contributions from everyone. Good game.
Posted By: S.
Gil <sgilchr@aol.com>
Date: Saturday, 12 January 2002, at 6:21 p.m.
Ton of individual talent, zero intelligence
One on One offense
Talking smack after you score when you're down 15
Terrible man to man defense
Terrible help defense
Get them down early and they quitHonestly, if they don't block shots they don't defend. They don't even bother with getting into a defensive stance.
Posted By: Wakara
<redrock60@yahoo.com>
Date: Saturday, 12 January 2002, at 3:56 p.m.
It was raining 3's at the Huntsman Center, and at the end, UNLV was all washed up.
That was the best team display of shooting I've ever seen from the team. I've seen single players go off (kvh, dre) but never the entire team from behind the arc. The bad news is that doesn't happen every game...but I sure enjoyed this one. Memo to Spoon: when we are shooting the 3 that well, don't use a zone.
The Good:
- Team Defense was back to majerus standards. There were times it looked like we had 6 players on the floor. UNLV's offensive ineptness helped. Their team looked like they were thinking through their sets. I love to see our team set up the defense to an opposing team's offensive set before the other team gets into it. I saw that 3 or 4 times. You can tell when we are playing good defense by how much the other team was getting frustrated on offense. The rubbles were completely out of their game
- Team offense. It wasn't just the shooting. Best offensive execution this year. The team was making sharp cuts and setting hard screens. If we don't get one or two screen fouls a game, I think it says we're not setting screens hard enough. For the most part, the team moved well and passed well...and oh yeah...shot well
- Jeff Johnsen was on fire offensively. you expect NJ and Phil to shoot well, but when JJ starts firing like that, we are hard to beat.
- Britton played a nice all around game. The alley oop off the inbound was the highest I've seen a Ute jump since KVH against SMU in the Wac Tourney. BJ should be on Sportcenter for that one.
I don't know how many boards he got, but he was aggressive on the glass, and I'll guarantee he got more than 2. He let the game come to him and didn't make any glaringly stupid plays.- The O's played amazingly well for their first conference game. Osimani played with a lot less fear, but he does need to learn what a shot clock is. I love the way he took the ball to the hole twice.
- Caton played great D on Johnson. He was shorter, but he banged on DJ into some bad shots. It seemed like DJ took and missed a ton of shots. He had this look on his face like "how is this short, slow, white guy guarding me?"
The Bad
- Only one: Allred. But since he was sick all week I'll cut him some slack. Didn't have one of his better games. In his defense, the Rubbles have nobody in the center position, so they use a bunch of quick 6'7" players. Allred isn't to the point yet where he can dominate them on the offense end and wasn't quick enough on defense. Lot's of turnovers and bonehead plays. But that's how you learn. I don't know how well anyone would play after a week of being ill. I still like Allred.
Other Thoughts
Koford pulled down a rebound in traffic at the end of the game. for that reason alone, I'd like to see him get more time. But he looks mired in the doghouse. We need a rebounding force while burgess is out.
UNLV is a team of run-jump athletes with only really two basketball players, Banks and Johnson. Spoon is trying to implement a structured system but he doesn't have the right personnel to do it. They don't shoot well, and don't seem to have the basketball smarts to play the system he wants. I'll cut them some slack, as we were shooting the lights out. But a lot of those shots were wide open. His team doesn't understand team defense yet.
Great game, but I won't count on us shooting like that again, especially on the road. The lack of a consistent inside game will hurt us. But if you look at the trend on College Ball now, you see all the really good teams heaving up a lot of 3's...Duke Kansas, Arizona. The arc is so close to the basket, if you've got the shooters, shoot.
That was worth the price of admission
1-0. Look forward to Monday against a better team.
: Memo to Spoon: when we are shooting the 3 that well, don't use a zone.
He didn't want to have his Man D exposed by the Utes with that other bastion of one-on-one breakdown offense - BYU - coming up on Tuesday
.
There were a few weaknesses. Caton just wasn't big enough to keep D. Johnson from getting his shot off (and dude has a pretty shot). Caton played him as well as he could have and banged on him relentlessly (which threw DJ out of rhythm or else he could have gone for 30). I couldn't help but think that if Burgess were healthy, he would have dominated the interior (the rebs are short and skinny), nobody owned the paint for the Utes. However those are personel issues that we can't do much about. The guys who played (except for Allred) all brought their A game today.
: - Britton played a nice all around game. The alley oop off the
: inbound was the highest I've seen a Ute jump...I honestly thought that one would be overthrown, but he got it (and didn't fumble it). Even better, it was the Chalupa clinching bucket (you can trade in your ticket stub for a Taco Bell beef Chalupa when the Utes score 75 and win).
: - The O's played amazingly well for their first conference game.
: Osimani played with a lot less fear, but he does need to learn
: what a shot clock is.It's funny because earlier in the game he made a terrific one-on-one move and fake to free up for a 12 footer to beat the clock, and looked like he knew exactly how much time he had. His first bucket on the drive right through the heart of the defense was terrific, and Majerus sat him down immediately...wassup? I guess it was time for Spivey to come back, but Oso needs to develop his confidence.
Speaking of Spivey, it looked like the same old Spivey to me. I can't tell that anything ever happened.
The look on #11's face after our walk-on got his "and one" was priceless.
the lack of an inside game was quite noticable. Of the 83 pints scored, 51 were 3s. So 22 points came from the charity strip, mid-range and under the basket. There were a few notable plays under the basket, such as BJ alley op on the inbounds. However, Allred struggles inside and demonstrated either a lack of concentration on his hands or else he has mallets for hands.
The Utes are as good as I can ever remember in straight ball control today. Few turnovers and great perimeter passing. It seemed easier for the Utes to breakdown the defense to penetrate, than to work the ball into the 4 or 5 position. But as in the Texas game, the Utes controlled the tempo of the game and shot well from beyond the arc.
Spivey was terrific and based on his smiles, he is having fun and back into the fold. I was delighted to see Majerus go to the bench down to a gray shirt.
At the half UNLV and Utah were about even on rebounds, but it looked like Utah picked up in the second half. Part of this was the desperate play of UNLV as they tried to get back into the game. But as the game progressed, Utah continued to break them down.
The Utes are playing tight defense and came up with a number of steals and blocks. Majerus is really working the fundamentals. What a difference a year and a coach makes, taking nothing away from Hunsaker.
Speaking of Hunsaker, the ESPN+ announcers said or speculated that Dick would be looking for HC job next season. Curious to see how the rest of you feel or what you know. ESPN+ also did a nice feature on Cleveland and his club. I guess that club and a couple of its players have become a bit of a pleasant surprise. I think we will have a war in the H. Center at the end of the month.
Someone mentioned how the Utes are pulling together after Burges and Spivey. That was evident today. Earlier in the year folks mentioned that the Utes were not having fun. Well I suspect not since Majerus was probably working their butts off in fundamentals. But based on what I saw today, clearly these guys have bonded and are having fun. Hope that glow survives the inevitable losses.
Good game, guys, thanks.
HOOPS: More thoughts on the game and the team
Posted By: Gilly
<vandamanfan@yahoo.com>
Date: Saturday, 12 January 2002, at 8:34 p.m.
First off, Jacobson. With a shot like that, you'd think that if he just lurked around the arc and the team got him the ball, he could score 15 points every game just throwing up three pointers. I've always thought that if he hung at the arc, and Burgess hung around the rim, they would both score 15 a game just from taking shots within the offense and cleaning up the mess on the boards. We'll see.
One of my favorite things before a game is to watch Jacobson shoot. My neighbor at the Hunty likes to count the number of three's he makes in a row...."four.......five.......six.......seven......" Today I also noticed Osmundson, warming up from deep. He was nailing shots from about 3 feet behind the line. I know there's a big difference between warmups and the game, but if Osmundson has that kind of range, and has the rest of the game that he appears to have, he could be very good for the next 3 and a half years.
Moving screens: Utah gets called for fouls when setting screens alot, and I think there are three reasons:
1. THey do move sometimes. Often they lean into the scren, or lean to the side.
2. The cutter often doesn't wait for the screener to get set. I love NickyJake, but sometimes he takes off before the screener has stopped moving and the screener gets called for the foul. Also, the cutters don't always shave close enough to the screeners.
3. The refs like to call it. They let alot of pushing and shoving and elbowing go, but woe unto him who sets a borderline pick.
I really don't think #3 is going to change, but the Utes can work on #1 and #2.Utah's inside guys either have to get better hands or get stronger with the ball. THat ball is stripped or pops out of their hands far too often after rebounds or lob passes inside. Sure makes me appreciate Burgess more to see how many times a Ute seems to have locked up a rebound, only to see it poked away.
Jeff Johnsen was on fire today. I don't know what else to say. This guy was great down the stretch against Texas, then I believe led the team in scoring against Whitworth and St. Mary's, and was a real catalyst today.
I sometimes criticize Majerus for being inflexible during the games, and maybe he thought of the Smallball lineup during the week, but that was a great move, especially if he thought of it on the fly.
As someone else pointed out, UNLV's idea of playing defense is blocking a shot, and the Smallball team ran them to death AND had the shooting ability to keep them out of the zone.I hope Osmundson never loses his aggressiveness/confidence. He doesn't hesitate when driving for a layup and he looks like he wants to take his man off the dribble. He and Osimani both played well today, and when they are in together it means that both guards can handle the ball, help against the press, and run the offense. I'm not sure what Osimani's outside shot is like, but if they can both shoot the three, then it will really help out.
The Utes still gave up a rebound on a foul shot today. And I think it was Banks who got it, then scored and got fouled. Other than that I thought they took care of the rebounding pretty well.
I don't envy Majerus when Burgess comes back. Since Burgess got hurt, he's been coaching more of an open, perimeter, motion-oriented offense instead of the pound-it-inside stuff that he seems to prefer. Obviously, it will be great to have the inside scoring threat back but it will be a rather major adjustment from what I can see.
MISC: My Tribune came with a special treat this
morning! 
Posted By: Tville
24 (aka proud dad HoopUte) <hoopers5@worldnet.att.net>
Date: Sunday, 13 January 2002, at 9:13 a.m.
No column by Gordon Monson! I just wish the realist in me didn't think this must mean he's on vacation. The Reader Advocate didn't address the board concerns from last week, either. But, all in all, it was a nicer edition than in the past.
Oh, yeah, and there were quotes from Jeff Johnsen, Britton Johnsen, and Travis Spivey, and Travis was on Ch. 2's Talkin' Sports last night in a post-game interview. Damn that control freak Majerus anyway.
Do you get the same edition as I?
My Trib Sports fron page has a 5/8" top headline "Double Trouble for Jazz" over Steve Luhm's article about the Jazz losing in double OT.
The center page headline is a big 1 1/8" "Opening Statement" with a 1/4" opening "BYU: Defense Is Simply Stellar Vs. Aztecs' Big Three over Phil Miller's article about the Y beating SDSU by 11. There's a 5 1/2" by 7 1/2" picture of Travis Hansen in the center of the front page.
On the bottom right is a 1/4" "UTAH: Sets Record From Long Range" over Patrick Kinahan's article about Utah's 23 point win over UNLV. Kinahan's opening line is "Jeff Johnsen used discetion, knowing a toothy flash of his pearly whites most likely would have provoked unwanted grief from his coach."
I guess that was the most negative thing he could think of to write about Majerus & the team's performance.
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