HOOPS: Utah 46, Wyo 54
Posted By: Gilly
<vandamanfan@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 12:45 a.m.
What a frustrating game. Kind of game I've been expecting/dreading.
It all started well enough with Koford starting at center and quickly getting a block, a deflection, a hoop and a rebound. Davis got two quick fouls. Jacobson had 12 points in the first half. Koford was at least forcing WYO's big guys to hit tough shots. Bailey didn't score. Utah was playing tough defense, and Caton hit a rebound basket at the buzzer for his only hoop of the night for a 30 - 29 lead.
Phil Cullen is the story of this game, from my point of view. In the first half, he gave up an offensive rebound and fouled the guy on the putback, and got yanked. In the second half, he came in a hit a three, got a steal, dove on the floor, got a rebound, hit a tough shot from behind the backboard, and then got yanked. I can't remember -- 12 minutes to go??? and Cullen was done. I think I heard that Utah had 3 field goals in the second half -- if that's true, two were made by Cullen, and one was an alley-oop that bouncedin accidentally off Britton's hands.
We were screaming for Rick to put Cullen back in, but he rode his five guys to the death down the stretch. He kept running his 1-4 set, which didn't produce a thing all night. Once people started missing, Britton was the only one who even tried to make something happen, and he kept getting his shot swatted in the lane.
The shooting was bad, the foul shooting was bad, the defense was great. Listening to Majerus on the way home, I think I heard him mention 4 defensive transgressions. But, they held WYO to 54 points. WHat more can he ask for?
The Utes couldn't shoot, the Utes were tired, and the coach wouldn't go to the bench, and he wouldn't change the offensive set.
Game over.
HOOPS: This loss has to go to the coach.
Posted By: Be-Ute
<dutchman84017@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 12:29 a.m.
There were alot of things that you can point to as reasons for the loss. BJ forced too many plays and did not let the game come to him. This team still does not set screens like the teams of two and three years ago and the shooters still do not come of the screens close enough. No Phil cullen in the 1/2 half.
No mental toughness. Taking 12-15 foot shots instead of looking for the 3-pointer. Living by the jump sot and dying by the jump shot.
The biggest reason, not having players good enough to compete at each of the 5 positions. I think that Coach is still one of the best around, but even the best make mistakes. Someone please explain how we keep Allred and Koford and dumped Puzey (sp?)? Are either of the two we have really better than Puzey? Perhaps I am mistaken but the Puzey I remember, was a battler and hustled. Additionally, he played within himself and the game plan. You need back-ups at every position. We have no back up for burgess. That is the coach's fault.
HOOPS: View from row 4...
Posted By: Wakara
<redrock60@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 12:23 a.m.
live by the 3, die by the three. I wish I had the stats. Must be one of the worst shooting nights ever. And many shots were open.
Just who was guarding us so well at the foul line. That was great defense on our free throws. Jacobson missing 3?
Congrats Wyo, you did what you needed to.
Mistake of the game. Cullen was the only one shooting well, and he saw only token minutes in the second half. Defense was great, but you can't win if you can't score. One well timed three changes the comlexion of the game.
I thought Koford played well while in there, for having so little time. Wyo just beat us up when we were small ball the last 8 minutes and we didn't substitue any bigs to bang back.
I thought the defensive effort was good, but we looked like air force playing us. We needed beef in their. I thought Britton shut down davis pretty well, but we just couldn't score.
the story of the game was our missed free throws and missed open 3 point looks. Most of the shots were flat, with a hurried/desparate feel. Even Jacobson's. May have been a result of being banged around so much.
I hope Rick adjusts next time we meet them and plays a little bigger. All we have to do is shoot better next time and it will be a barn burner.
HOOPS: A couple of game thoughts
Posted By: codeRed
<yugly1@iwon.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 12:09 a.m.
A) You all will hate to hear it, but Utah was outcoached, plain and simple.
B) Why in the hell didn't Cullen play after the 15 min mark of the second 1/2? He was the only one playing with any brains or hustle tonight. Let alone he was the only one who was hitting any of his shots. Why was he on the bench? STUPID!
C) Why in the hell was Koford playing at all? This guy would'nt make the varsity team at Bingham High. He has horrible hands, plays little to no D and apparently doesn't know that you can pass the ball to other teammates. Cut his ass now! He's a waste of a valuable schorlarship.
D) I think little Nicky has lost his confidence. If I were Rick I'd be doing everything in my power to help him find it.
E) Malam and others, please tell me again how we are a better team without Chris? I really wish you were right, but without a true center, we are not so good.
F) Last year no one knew how to throw the ball to the post. This year no one including Britton knows how to throw it back out.
G) Britton forced his game tonight. This will be a good growing experience for him. Unfortunately not for us.
H) Spivey is a great competitor. I like his hustle.Cowboys played a great game and was totally awesome on the defensive side of things. They're living up to their preseason hype IMHO. Only one question....What happened in provo? I didn't see the game and though I know the Y is a good team they're in no way 15 pts better than Wyo. Strange game sometimes. Good job cowboys!
Go Utes!
HOOPS: The way I see it......
Posted By: ColoUte
<everutes@hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 7:26 a.m.
The Utes owe me 4 hours of sleep.
Oh well, never mind. After watching the team sleepwalk through their offensive sets in the 2nd half last night, it's obvious that they need the sleep a lot more than I do.
Still, it would have been courteous to have someone call me to tell me that I needn't bother to show up as my team wasn't planning on it either.
As it is, when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, my head was pounding like the stairs in Helaman Halls when the Twinkie truck arrives. I don't even have alcohol to blame this time.
Well, here are my thoughts formulated while navigating through the inversion induced, pea-soup fog at 5:30 this morning.
- If we could have shot 25% in the 2nd half we would have won. How sad a statement is that?
- Is winning the Mountain West POW award the kiss of death or what? Nicky J wins it, and averages 4.3 ppg over the next 3 games. Britton won it yesterday, and responded with an uninspired 6 point effort (by my count) which included a whopping 1 fg.
- It's sad to see the streak end, but streaks always do. Sometimes, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It removes a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, this was the worst possible team to break the streak.
- The next couple of games will be a character test for this team. They lost serve, but they're still tied for 1st. They just need to really suck it up on the road now. They're capable of winning on the road, but they'll have to start manufacturing ways to score. As the last 3 games have proved, sometimes the perimeter shots don't always fall.
- I don't think Wyo runs the table until we meet again. Granted, their road is much easier than ours. They have 3 road games, we have 5 - including San Diego, Vegas, Provo, Ft. Collins, and Laramie. They only have to go to Ft. Collins, Air Force, and Albuquerque. Now, that doesn't look all that intimidating, but none of those games are gimmies. The Rams are looking better each week, AFA took Wyo to 4 OT's in Laramie, they could steal one in Colorado Springs, and UNM still has enough athletes and shooters to be dangerous - especially in the Pit.
- That said, the fact remains that we don't need anyone's help to win the conference. If we win out, we win it. It'll require winning on the road and beating a team that beat us on our home floor. It's not impossible to win in Laramie, just difficult. Nevertheless, our destiny is still in our hands. We'll have to start playing a LOT better, though.
- I'm not sure we'll need to win the conference outright to get an at-large berth either. It'll be difficult to do, but if we can manage to sweep this next roadie - we'll be in good position for the post-season. If we can win the next 4, I think we'll only need to get one of the last 3 and a conference tourney 1st round win to get an NCAA tourney invite. We'd be 22-7 with an RPI in the mid 30's, which should be a good enough resume - though the 6-4 in the last 10 could hurt us.
It's time to see what we're made of. We can let this loss kill our confidence, and go on a 3 game losing streak - essentially eliminating our conference title possibilities - or we can get over it, sweep two teams we're fully capable of beating, even on the road, and regain our rightful spot atop the MWC. I hope our guys have the heart enough to do the latter.
GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOOPS: The shooting was the worst I have ever seen and so was the coaching ...
Posted By: Proud2BAmerican
<mvanord@ws.state.ut.us>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 7:26 a.m.
I am sorry, but I am going to vent. Maybe it will make me feel better about last night.
An average high school team could have played better offense. Wyoming may be a good defensive team. But, we had plenty of good looks. Their confidence is way down. Hopefully, they will find a way to come back.
I know it is a sin to say Majerus coached poorly. However, I firmly believe he made many mistakes.
1. What is the deal with the centers. We do not play Koford for two games and then he starts and Allred does not play. This does not lead to continuity.
2. With the poor shooting, why did he have Cullen on the bench for the last 12 minutes. He should have at least played the last 4 minues.
3. Why didn't Majerus post up Britton where he could have made his best moves. He should have especially done so in the 1st half when Davis had two fouls.
4. Trailing late in the game we took 25 to 30 seconds to get a shot off. Why did he play the slow motion offense when we trailed late. Why didn't we go with some set plays. This one really bugs me.
Granted, Rick could not make the team shoot better. This was the players fault. However, he needed to make adjustments when the shots did not fall.
I know many of you will disagree with my evluation. If you did not love Rick so much - would you have feel the same? If you were watching two other teams play - would you not be saying something like, "This coach is a moron."? I will chalk it up to one bad game for the coach. I am a big Majerus fan, but he also can have an off game.
I'm done venting. Hope the Utes get out of this funk by Saturday. Could it be - being out of school pulls us out of our normal routine and it effect our play? Just a thought.
HOOPS: My take on the only game I've seen live...
Posted By: LC
UTE <toekneesee@go.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 8:16 a.m.
well, I was in LA, but I saw it live and not on tape. I must say it's good to see the Utes play. I haven't slapped the pillow, thrown the remote and storm out of a room before jumping up and down for joy so many times in a long time! Here are my thoughts:
1. Great energy on the defensive end. I was most impressed by the many times our defenders would fall to the floor scrambling to steal the entry pass into their bigs. I think the defense kept us in the game. Their interior play was tough, but our defense was good enough to neutralize it. Had our defense not been as good, Wyo would have beaten us handily.
2. Offense. Our energy was good at the beginning. Jacobson, if anyone noticed, was running...flat around running, around the court trying to free himself up for a shot. But as the game went on the motion was less intense and a lot of players ended up standing around.
3. The three point-shot. A lot was made about how deadly we are, but the truth be told, we've gone three games now and haven't shot the ball well from 3 land. Many of the shots last night were taken out of the rhythm of the offense. They were shots taken as the ball handler stared down the defense, decided not to pass or drive and shot instead. Not good.
4. Foul shooting. The announcers were dead on when they said that foul shooting is mostly mental. Just by looking at the Utes in the second half you could tell they didn't have their confidence. They weren't hitting anything, and you knew it was going to translate over into poor foul shooting.
5. Give Wyo credit. Although we had numerous chances to win this game. That Uche guy really was the difference. His presence down low stilted our efforts to drive to the basket. Britton's drive were ineffective and the other players were just stuffed. Uche's free throws down the stretch were pretty nails, too.
6. We really miss Burgess. He gives us legitimate bulk down low. I hope he continues to recover well!
Sorry for the long post. But I don't believe that this was Majerus' fault. We didn't have the man-power to overcome the bulk of Wyo...and it was exacerbated by the fact that we couldn't hit a free throw. It only gets tougher from here...5 of 7 on the road. Go Utes!
HOOPS: Paper Tiger, Hidden Johnsen
Posted By: Utah
Hick <ldtclowa@ihc.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 9:21 a.m.
Some Observations:
1) That is the most disciplined that I have EVER seen Wyoming play. My critique of their team last year was that their run-and-gun style ignored the strength of their team (Amadi and Davis). Impressive win for the Pokes.
2) Hey, didn't you used to be Phil Culen?
3) Majerus thinks that Allred and Koford are the same person (I've made the same mistake myself), as if one plays, the other is guaranteed to sit for the entire game.
4) Are the Utes a paper tiger? I don't think so. We were beaten by a good team that exposed some weaknesses that we already knew we had, such as rebounding, lack of post presence, few players who can drive and slash to the basket effectively.
5) On the brighter side, how many times are we going to shoot that poorly from 3-point land?
6) Still on the brighter side, if Burgess returns, a lot of these weaknesses are eliminated or reduced.
7) If Caton is going to play the 5 position, he has to take advantage of his quickness and shooting ability on the offensive end. His lack of aggression looking for his shot is a big negative. He's a great shooter, but you have to, ummm, SHOOT it, if you know what I mean.
Amadi has a soft touch, and is great from the line.
9) The game at Laramie is going to be HUGE.
10) Props to Jeff for clamping down on Bailey. Britton expended so much energy on the defensive end, that he didn't have anything left on the offensive end.
HOOPS: Maybe the "small ball" thing has run its course (lots more)
Posted By: Ute_In_Texas
<crotex_99@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February 2002, at 9:45 a.m.
Sorry this is 8 hours late, but when I headed to the computer after the game (1:00 AM local time) I found my teenage son had faked going to sleep and was at the upstairs computer checking out the porn. He hadn't figured on dear old Dad being up so late. Sigh!! Whatever happened to hiding a Playboy between the mattress and box springs, then checking it out under the covers with a flashlight?
1) The "small ball" thing worked for a few games, but now that other teams have some film they have figured out how to stop it. Hope Burgess comes back soon. His inside presence is needed to win the conference and get past Round 1 of the NCAA tournament.
2) Many posters are complaining about the shooting, but I have to give Wyoming credit for playing a great defensive game. I'll watch the tape again tonight, but when the game ended I did NOT feel the Utes missed a huge number of open shots. I thought the low shooting percentage resulted from two factors:
a) Wyoming got back on defense very quickly. Even though the Utes got a bunch of turnovers from Wyoming, I don't remember a single easy layup coming from one of the turnovers. When Spivey tried to push the ball after a turnover, he usually ended up 2 on 4 and had to pull the ball out and wait for the rest of the Utes to catch up. Just a few easy layups would have changed the outcome and made the shooting percentage look a lot better.
b) Wyoming did SOMETHING defensively that confused our half court offense. I'm not sure what they did besides switch on almost every pick, but they clearly found something on the tape that we never adjusted to. I thought the Utes got RELATIVELY FEW few open looks, thus the poor shooting percentage. The failure to adjust is the most disappointing aspect of the game. I'm not qualified to say if it's a coaching issue or a talent issue, but I suspect the latter. The answer to aggressive perimeter defense is to pound the ball inside, and the Utes have no quality offensive threat to feed in the post at the moment.
3) I was also asking the TV "Where's Cullen?" during the last 5 minutes. I think Rick goofed here, and he pretty much admitted it in the post game.
4) Maybe the guys who were at the game could comment on this: I observed Koford has no wind!! The guy is great for two or three minutes, then winds down. As he winds down he loses his intensity and court awareness and ends up standing around. After 5 minutes he's totally gassed. He needs a 15 minute rest, then you can get 2 more good minutes. I think he shows the dreaded "potential" but he's got to get in better shape so he can be effective for more that 5 minutes each half. BTW I thought starting Koford was a good move. The Utes needed some defensive presence in the post, and he was good whenever he was fresh.
5) FABULOUS defensive effort by the Utes. Scrappy, ball-hawking, kamikaze style stuff. Great to watch. Holding Wyoming to 54 points should have been good enough.
This season continues to be a pleasant surprise to me. I'll take 11-3 in conference. Now that it's clear the other teams have figured out the "small ball" thing, it will be interesting to see what Rick pulls out of his bag of tricks next.
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