Utah (5-20, 2-11 Pac-12) hosts Colorado (17-8, 9-4 Pac-12) today at 3 p.m. MT on FSN and Root Sports affiliates. The big story in this one is that Colorado senior Carlon Brown will be returning to the Huntsman Center after spending his first three seasons of eligibility at Utah. Brown transferred after his junior season after a number of run-ins with then Utah coach Jim Boylen.
It's hard to know exactly what the circumstances were regarding Brown's departure, but I will say that it was apparent that he and Boylen were clearly not on the same page during Brown's junior year of 2009-2010. I remember when reading quotes after numerous games, that Brown and Boylen would say almost exactly the opposite things from each other. That's never a good sign.
Brown has said this week a number of the cliche things like he doesn't want to talk about it, it's just another game, etc. However, he has in my opinion slipped in a few things about Utah in a few of his comments. In remarks to the Deseret News, Brown said he felt he could be used better somewhere else than he was being used at Utah.
When asked about his rationale for transferring, Brown, following saying he didn't want to get into it, said that you would have to have been there to understand and used the word endure to describe film sessions. That makes me think that Boylen wasn't exactly being soft on his players. Particularly, it makes me think that Brown (and others, Marshall Henderson comes to mind) weren't very receptive to ways in which they could improve their games. It was clear watching that team that there was some disconnect and that the players didn't always buy in.
I also found it interesting that in comments to the Denver Post, Brown said he wouldn't have come to Colorado if former coach Jeff Bzdelik was still coaching the Buffaloes, saying he likes current coach Tad Boyle's system. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it sounds like Brown has a bit of his own agenda.
Granted, Brown is having a nice year, averaging almost exactly the same amount of points per game this year as he did in his junior year at Utah. He also doesn't seem like he wants to cause too much controversy in advance of today's game in Salt Lake City. However, I think his comments are telling about him as a player and also underlie some resentment toward his time at Utah.
I'm excited about the game today and it really would make this year a lot less painful for me if the Runnin' Utes could somehow pull out this game given Brown's return to the Huntsman Center. I'm hopeful the Utes can build on their encouraging performance at Arizona last Saturday.
Showing posts with label Jim Boylen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Boylen. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
NCAA Tournament under way, thoughts on Utah coaching
The NCAA Tournament gets under way in full force starting tomorrow morning at around 10 a.m. MT. It will be televised on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV and is available to watch online at ncaa.com. I've filled out my bracket and starting at 10 a.m. MT tomorrow you can check it out. Let's just call it the winning bracket. You're welcome. My Final Four is Ohio State, Texas, Kansas and Pittsburgh, with Ohio State topping Kansas in the title game.
There is no other time of year quite like the NCAA Tournament, and the best part if you ask me is the first two full days with upsets, exciting finishes and the like. I like how everyone has a chance to win and to prove it on the floor which is not always the case with college football. It's a great time of year. I'll be tweeting updates throughout the day tomorrow and throughout the Tournament as well. I will attempt to do better with the blogging than I have the last week, especially since it is Spring Break for me at the University of Utah this coming week.
Speaking of the U., basketball coach Jim Boylen was dismissed last Saturday. It wasn't too big of a surprise. I feel bad for the guy, he was classy, passionate and poured his heart into the job. I would have liked to see what he would do with another year at the helm. However, I am anxious to see who Utah will hire as their next basketball coach. I was hoping for Billy Gillespie, but reports have surfaced that he has interviewed at Texas Tech. I think Utah is a better job than Tech, but it looks quite possible that Gillespie will take the job as head coach of the Red Raiders this week. I'm a big fan of Colorado State's Tim Miles who built the Rams into an MWC contender from nothing. However, I think it wouldn't hurt to try and go after some bigger names first.
espn.com's Andy Katz had this to say about the Utah job: "Utah is still a very good basketball job. Rick Majerus wasn't the first to prove this point and he won't be the last. The fan base is extremely passionate about the team, and as the football program has proved, it can compete at a high level for a sustained period." It made me happy to read that and see that someone from the national media recognizes what we are all about at Utah, in particular with our basketball program. It's been a rough week and a rough season, especially with the success of our biggest rival, so it was just something nice to read.
There is no other time of year quite like the NCAA Tournament, and the best part if you ask me is the first two full days with upsets, exciting finishes and the like. I like how everyone has a chance to win and to prove it on the floor which is not always the case with college football. It's a great time of year. I'll be tweeting updates throughout the day tomorrow and throughout the Tournament as well. I will attempt to do better with the blogging than I have the last week, especially since it is Spring Break for me at the University of Utah this coming week.
Speaking of the U., basketball coach Jim Boylen was dismissed last Saturday. It wasn't too big of a surprise. I feel bad for the guy, he was classy, passionate and poured his heart into the job. I would have liked to see what he would do with another year at the helm. However, I am anxious to see who Utah will hire as their next basketball coach. I was hoping for Billy Gillespie, but reports have surfaced that he has interviewed at Texas Tech. I think Utah is a better job than Tech, but it looks quite possible that Gillespie will take the job as head coach of the Red Raiders this week. I'm a big fan of Colorado State's Tim Miles who built the Rams into an MWC contender from nothing. However, I think it wouldn't hurt to try and go after some bigger names first.
espn.com's Andy Katz had this to say about the Utah job: "Utah is still a very good basketball job. Rick Majerus wasn't the first to prove this point and he won't be the last. The fan base is extremely passionate about the team, and as the football program has proved, it can compete at a high level for a sustained period." It made me happy to read that and see that someone from the national media recognizes what we are all about at Utah, in particular with our basketball program. It's been a rough week and a rough season, especially with the success of our biggest rival, so it was just something nice to read.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Utah falls to Air Force again
Utah (10-13, 3-6 MWC) opened the second half of conference play with a 54-49 loss to Air Force (13-9, 4-5 MWC). It was just another embarrassing loss (of which the Utes have had too many this season). Utah has the players to beat Air Force, something is just missing. The Runnin' Utes shot 7-17 from the free throw line, which is definitely not a recipe to win games. And once again, the offense couldn't score. Air Force also got a crucial offensive put back with under a minute to go to put the Falcons up by 4.
So, it's the same story that we have gotten used to as Utah fans, offensive inconsistency and inability to get key rebounds. The rebounds thing may not always be true, but it always seems to rear its ugly head near the end of games that Utah loses. Air Force plays a disciplined, methodical style of basketball and typically doesn't beat themselves. The Utes made too many mistakes and lost. There have just been too many failings this year in fundamental areas, I was really amazed at how many free throws were missed, especially by the guards who are supposed to be the best shooters on the team. The fundamentals, particularly on offense as well as nabbing clutch rebounds, will likely be the reason for Coach Jim Boylen not coming back next season. The season isn't over, so I'm willing to stick it out, but unless there's a big turnaround, it'll be tough for him to keep his job. Utah next plays at #7 San Diego State (23-1, 8-1 MWC) on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. MT on the Mtn. Needless to say I'm not too optimistic about the Runnin' Utes' chances in that one.
So, it's the same story that we have gotten used to as Utah fans, offensive inconsistency and inability to get key rebounds. The rebounds thing may not always be true, but it always seems to rear its ugly head near the end of games that Utah loses. Air Force plays a disciplined, methodical style of basketball and typically doesn't beat themselves. The Utes made too many mistakes and lost. There have just been too many failings this year in fundamental areas, I was really amazed at how many free throws were missed, especially by the guards who are supposed to be the best shooters on the team. The fundamentals, particularly on offense as well as nabbing clutch rebounds, will likely be the reason for Coach Jim Boylen not coming back next season. The season isn't over, so I'm willing to stick it out, but unless there's a big turnaround, it'll be tough for him to keep his job. Utah next plays at #7 San Diego State (23-1, 8-1 MWC) on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. MT on the Mtn. Needless to say I'm not too optimistic about the Runnin' Utes' chances in that one.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Utah gets blown out by Fredette, BYU
#11 BYU (17-1, 3-0 MWC) defeated Utah (7-10, 0-3 MWC) last night by a score of 104-79. BYU's National Player of the Year candidate Jimmer Fredette had 47 points, including 32 in the first half. Fredette made just about every shot he took, no matter the level of difficulty. I thought Utah guarded him pretty well for the most part. There's just not a whole lot you can do when I guy is in the zone like that.
Late in the first half Utah was down by just five and following a three the lead was 8 with it appearing that the Runnin' Utes would get the last shot of the half. The Utes came up empty and BYU had just a couple of ticks left on the clock. My girlfriend turned to me and said that at least we would only be down by 8 at halftime and I (rather sarcastically) said "Unless Jimmer makes a shot from half-court." And well, he made a shot from just inside half-court (with a hand in his face) to give BYU an 11 point lead at the break. Again, not a lot you can do.
It really was a remarkable performance by Fredette and I can appreciate seeing a guy do that to some extent even though he plays for my school's hated rival. As I told a friend of mine, I just wish he had picked someone else to have that huge of a night against. It was a tough pill to swallow, I really hate to see my team lose to those guys, especially when it's by 25 points.
I thought Utah played pretty well for about 3/4 of the game, believe it or not. The Runnin' Utes had the lead about half way through the first half and looked like they had a lot of energy and focus. I thought they maintained that pretty much through the remainder of the half, but fell behind mainly because Fredette was going off.
Utah did enough to stay relatively in the game at least through about the first ten minutes of the second half, trailing by roughly 10 points for most of the stretch. The Utes were running their offense pretty well and trading punches with Fredette and the Cougars. I thought a really crushing blow came when BYU center Noah Hartsock made back-to-back wide open three-pointers to stretch the lead from 9 to 15. After that the Runnin' Utes still had energy, but their focus wasn't as much. I think they panicked as they began to turn it over on just about every possession -- usually very quickly -- and BYU would capitalize with points on the other end.
Look, BYU still would have won the game even if the Utes hadn't had the wheels come off and started turning it over on almost every possession, but it would have been by more like 10 or 15 points rather than 25 points. It would have been nice to keep it close, but as it was Utah got embarrassed.
I was noting that I thought BYU coach Dave Rose was a classy guy for removing Fredette from the game with 5:44 left and the Cougars up 29 points, but then he put him back in shortly after that with the lead all the way down to 24 points with a little over four minutes to go. Rose said "I thought the momentum had changed, so I got him in and got him out of there." Fredette added a couple of more points before Rose pulled him again with 3:07 to go. I still think Rose is a good guy, but there is no way that Utah was going to overcome that 24 point deficit with 4 minutes and change left. It was completely unnecessary; the Utes had gone on a little run, but it was still far from being a game.
To Rose's credit, he did pull Fredette again rather than leave him in to pursue the magical number of 50 points. A lot of coaches would have left a guy going for that many points out there. So, though the move was totally unnecessary, at least Rose didn't leave him out there for the duration of the game. Utah coach Jim Boylen, like me, didn't appear to like the move to reinsert Fredette much when he said after the game that he didn't want to comment on it. I don't blame him for not saying anything, but I'm positive he wasn't thrilled about it.
I wasn't too impressed by how Fredette handled the situation, who appeared to attempt to have another player run to the bench when Rose subbed him out for the final time. It was clear he wanted 50 points and he admitted as much afterward. I just don't think he had enough respect for the opponent or class in how he handled that situation. Basketball is a team game and when your team has the win wrapped up you should just take that, lay off a little bit and not make the game a total embarrassment. I've thought Fredette was a nice enough guy, but I wasn't impressed with how he handled all that. All that being said, as a Utah fan I have to tip my hat to him for having a great night.
Will Clyburn led the Runnin' Utes with 23 points, Josh Watkins had 18, and freshman J.J. O'Brien pitched in 13. Jackson Emery added 20 for the Cougars who next play at home next Tuesday against TCU (9-8, 0-2 MWC) at 8 p.m. MT. Utah next plays at Wyoming (8-8, 1-1 MWC) on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. MT in a game that will be televised by the Mtn.
Late in the first half Utah was down by just five and following a three the lead was 8 with it appearing that the Runnin' Utes would get the last shot of the half. The Utes came up empty and BYU had just a couple of ticks left on the clock. My girlfriend turned to me and said that at least we would only be down by 8 at halftime and I (rather sarcastically) said "Unless Jimmer makes a shot from half-court." And well, he made a shot from just inside half-court (with a hand in his face) to give BYU an 11 point lead at the break. Again, not a lot you can do.
It really was a remarkable performance by Fredette and I can appreciate seeing a guy do that to some extent even though he plays for my school's hated rival. As I told a friend of mine, I just wish he had picked someone else to have that huge of a night against. It was a tough pill to swallow, I really hate to see my team lose to those guys, especially when it's by 25 points.
I thought Utah played pretty well for about 3/4 of the game, believe it or not. The Runnin' Utes had the lead about half way through the first half and looked like they had a lot of energy and focus. I thought they maintained that pretty much through the remainder of the half, but fell behind mainly because Fredette was going off.
Utah did enough to stay relatively in the game at least through about the first ten minutes of the second half, trailing by roughly 10 points for most of the stretch. The Utes were running their offense pretty well and trading punches with Fredette and the Cougars. I thought a really crushing blow came when BYU center Noah Hartsock made back-to-back wide open three-pointers to stretch the lead from 9 to 15. After that the Runnin' Utes still had energy, but their focus wasn't as much. I think they panicked as they began to turn it over on just about every possession -- usually very quickly -- and BYU would capitalize with points on the other end.
Look, BYU still would have won the game even if the Utes hadn't had the wheels come off and started turning it over on almost every possession, but it would have been by more like 10 or 15 points rather than 25 points. It would have been nice to keep it close, but as it was Utah got embarrassed.
I was noting that I thought BYU coach Dave Rose was a classy guy for removing Fredette from the game with 5:44 left and the Cougars up 29 points, but then he put him back in shortly after that with the lead all the way down to 24 points with a little over four minutes to go. Rose said "I thought the momentum had changed, so I got him in and got him out of there." Fredette added a couple of more points before Rose pulled him again with 3:07 to go. I still think Rose is a good guy, but there is no way that Utah was going to overcome that 24 point deficit with 4 minutes and change left. It was completely unnecessary; the Utes had gone on a little run, but it was still far from being a game.
To Rose's credit, he did pull Fredette again rather than leave him in to pursue the magical number of 50 points. A lot of coaches would have left a guy going for that many points out there. So, though the move was totally unnecessary, at least Rose didn't leave him out there for the duration of the game. Utah coach Jim Boylen, like me, didn't appear to like the move to reinsert Fredette much when he said after the game that he didn't want to comment on it. I don't blame him for not saying anything, but I'm positive he wasn't thrilled about it.
I wasn't too impressed by how Fredette handled the situation, who appeared to attempt to have another player run to the bench when Rose subbed him out for the final time. It was clear he wanted 50 points and he admitted as much afterward. I just don't think he had enough respect for the opponent or class in how he handled that situation. Basketball is a team game and when your team has the win wrapped up you should just take that, lay off a little bit and not make the game a total embarrassment. I've thought Fredette was a nice enough guy, but I wasn't impressed with how he handled all that. All that being said, as a Utah fan I have to tip my hat to him for having a great night.
Will Clyburn led the Runnin' Utes with 23 points, Josh Watkins had 18, and freshman J.J. O'Brien pitched in 13. Jackson Emery added 20 for the Cougars who next play at home next Tuesday against TCU (9-8, 0-2 MWC) at 8 p.m. MT. Utah next plays at Wyoming (8-8, 1-1 MWC) on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. MT in a game that will be televised by the Mtn.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Utah falls to #6 San Diego State
Utah (7-9, 0-2 MWC) lost yesterday afternoon to #6 San Diego State (17-0, 2-0 MWC) by a score of 71-62 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. The Runnin' Utes have now lost 6 straight. Kawhi Leonard led the Aztecs with 20 points, D.J. Gay had 18, and Malcolm Thomas had 17. Josh Watkins of the led all scorers with 24 and Will Clyburn had 17 for the Utes.
I'm actually not surprised that Utah kept the game close because they match up well with San Diego State and played basically the same roster of players close in two games last year. I'm also not surprised that the Runnin' Utes weren't able to pull out a victory as they once again faltered down the stretch and didn't make enough plays to win. As you may remember, I picked SDSU by about 10 and I was pretty much right on with that prediction as the Aztecs won by 9.
Utah led by 1 at halftime and looked like they would have a shot at an upset. However, San Diego State showcased its athleticism and explosive offense during a couple of key stretches in the second half. It looked like Utah lost a little bit of its edge and focus and the Aztecs pounced on that. Utah coach Jim Boylen put it really well when he stated that the Runnin' Utes got absolutely manhandled on the boards the last 7 or 8 minutes of the year. You have to get those rebounds if you are going to win close games. That just hasn't happened a lot this year for Utah where rebounding has been a big issue throughout games, but especially in crunch time. Nowhere was this more evident than when San Diego State was able to get 3 offensive rebounds on one possession late in the game and take about 1:30 off the clock in the process.
Utah played pretty well all things considered and I'm not too disheartened by the way they played. If they had played like that all year I don't think they would be 7-9 and on a 6 game losing streak right now. I liked that the Runnin' Utes were playing with heart and grit and I thought the perfect example of this was 7-foot-3 David Foster diving on the floor to get a loose ball and putting in extra effort to get an offensive rebound at one point. The focus needs to be on the rest of the season and trying to salvage it. This game can be a building block for some prolonged success. The next opportunity comes Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. MT at home on the Mtn. against rival #15 BYU (16-1, 2-0 MWC).
I'm actually not surprised that Utah kept the game close because they match up well with San Diego State and played basically the same roster of players close in two games last year. I'm also not surprised that the Runnin' Utes weren't able to pull out a victory as they once again faltered down the stretch and didn't make enough plays to win. As you may remember, I picked SDSU by about 10 and I was pretty much right on with that prediction as the Aztecs won by 9.
Utah led by 1 at halftime and looked like they would have a shot at an upset. However, San Diego State showcased its athleticism and explosive offense during a couple of key stretches in the second half. It looked like Utah lost a little bit of its edge and focus and the Aztecs pounced on that. Utah coach Jim Boylen put it really well when he stated that the Runnin' Utes got absolutely manhandled on the boards the last 7 or 8 minutes of the year. You have to get those rebounds if you are going to win close games. That just hasn't happened a lot this year for Utah where rebounding has been a big issue throughout games, but especially in crunch time. Nowhere was this more evident than when San Diego State was able to get 3 offensive rebounds on one possession late in the game and take about 1:30 off the clock in the process.
Utah played pretty well all things considered and I'm not too disheartened by the way they played. If they had played like that all year I don't think they would be 7-9 and on a 6 game losing streak right now. I liked that the Runnin' Utes were playing with heart and grit and I thought the perfect example of this was 7-foot-3 David Foster diving on the floor to get a loose ball and putting in extra effort to get an offensive rebound at one point. The focus needs to be on the rest of the season and trying to salvage it. This game can be a building block for some prolonged success. The next opportunity comes Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. MT at home on the Mtn. against rival #15 BYU (16-1, 2-0 MWC).
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Runnin' Utes set to open final MWC season
The Utah Runnin' Utes (7-7, 0-0 MWC) open their final season of Mountain West Conference play Wednesday night at Air Force (9-4, 0-0 MWC) at 8 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on the Mtn. (channel 616 on DirecTV). I'll be watching and tweeting, which you can follow along with at twitter.com/dpaysports. I'll be back on here for recap and analysis following the game. I blogged last week about the struggles of the Utah basketball program and I feel that I chronicled my thoughts on what is going on very well. All that being said, there still is a lot of season left and the Runnin' Utes can't get down about being on a 4 game losing streak or having a couple of bad losses this season. Conference play is beginning, and everyone needs to look at it as an opportunity for a fresh start. If the team puts things together now, there is still the possibility of a good season.
Air Force is a tough team to prepare for as they test your discipline and really work the clock. However, I think Utah will win this game because they have more talent and because Coach Jim Boylen has never lost to Air Force in his tenure at Utah. I think the Falcons are better than in years past, but I think Boylen and his staff have the confidence to bring the Utes into Colorado Springs and come out with a victory.
Following the road game with Air Force, the Runnin' Utes return home for a pair of games against ranked opponents. First, Utah takes on #6 San Diego State (15-0, 0-0 MWC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT and then hosts rival #15 BYU (14-1, 0-0 MWC) next Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. MT. I'm hoping for more of an electric atmosphere at the Huntsman Center for these two games. If San Diego State can win at TCU (9-6, 0-0 MWC) tomorrow night, they will be unbeaten coming into Saturday's match-up. That would be pretty special to have an undefeated team ranked #6 in the country come into our arena this far into the season. So I hope that happens. BYU is also playing some really good basketball this season and I fully expect a loud crowd for the game next Tuesday. Utah is encouraging fans to wear red for a "Red Out" for the BYU game and I am on board with that. I just like the sound of that and hope that it brings out people wearing even more red and being even more passionate about the Utah basketball than usual. As part of the Red Out, the Runnin' Utes will be wearing their red uniforms at home for the first time that I can ever remember.
I'm excited for conference play to get going in full swing. The Mountain West is a fun conference to follow and some good basketball is played there. It's been fun to have my team in the conference and be able to follow them for years. I'm going to try and soak up this last season of Utah in the Mountain West and enjoy the competitiveness and the rivalries the conference has to offer. Hopefully the Utes will put a product on the floor that I can be proud to call my team. It all starts Wednesday night.
Air Force is a tough team to prepare for as they test your discipline and really work the clock. However, I think Utah will win this game because they have more talent and because Coach Jim Boylen has never lost to Air Force in his tenure at Utah. I think the Falcons are better than in years past, but I think Boylen and his staff have the confidence to bring the Utes into Colorado Springs and come out with a victory.
Following the road game with Air Force, the Runnin' Utes return home for a pair of games against ranked opponents. First, Utah takes on #6 San Diego State (15-0, 0-0 MWC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT and then hosts rival #15 BYU (14-1, 0-0 MWC) next Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. MT. I'm hoping for more of an electric atmosphere at the Huntsman Center for these two games. If San Diego State can win at TCU (9-6, 0-0 MWC) tomorrow night, they will be unbeaten coming into Saturday's match-up. That would be pretty special to have an undefeated team ranked #6 in the country come into our arena this far into the season. So I hope that happens. BYU is also playing some really good basketball this season and I fully expect a loud crowd for the game next Tuesday. Utah is encouraging fans to wear red for a "Red Out" for the BYU game and I am on board with that. I just like the sound of that and hope that it brings out people wearing even more red and being even more passionate about the Utah basketball than usual. As part of the Red Out, the Runnin' Utes will be wearing their red uniforms at home for the first time that I can ever remember.
I'm excited for conference play to get going in full swing. The Mountain West is a fun conference to follow and some good basketball is played there. It's been fun to have my team in the conference and be able to follow them for years. I'm going to try and soak up this last season of Utah in the Mountain West and enjoy the competitiveness and the rivalries the conference has to offer. Hopefully the Utes will put a product on the floor that I can be proud to call my team. It all starts Wednesday night.
Monday, December 27, 2010
What to do about the Runnin' Utes?
The Utah Runnin' Utes (7-6) took 8th place (out of 8 teams) in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii last week, losing to Butler 74-62, Hawaii 68-55, and San Diego 67-64. Losing to Butler (9-4) is understandable, the Bulldogs are a really good team and have most of their players back from their run to the National Championship Game last March. Losing to Hawaii (9-3) on their home court isn't a terrible loss, but it's not exactly a great loss either as in not understandable the way the Butler loss was.
And then there was the Christmas Day loss to San Diego (3-10). That loss on a neutral court (or any court really) in completely unacceptable. We are Utah and we have too good of a program and tradition to accept losing games like that. San Diego is a really bad team. The win against Utah was their first against a Division I school all season. The Toreros have lost to bad teams along the way to getting to 3-10, including the likes of Cal State Fullerton (4-8) and Fresno State (4-6), which I saw for myself as being a really bad team. I love Utah basketball and will continue to support the team no matter what, but I am growing weary of watching the team I love lose games they should win.
The San Diego loss is the kind of loss that can lead to coaches getting fired. Losing to Oral Roberts (5-8) at home this season was bad enough. However, the San Diego loss is definitely worse, ranking among the worst in the Jim Boylen era at Utah, up there with the loss to Division II Southwest Baptist in 2008 and the blowout loss at home to BYU to end the regular season in 2010.
Now I do have a good memory and I remember that Utah also lost to Idaho State in 2008 but still managed to beat BYU, share the 2009 Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship and subsequently won the Mountain West Tournament on the way to earning a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament. All of those things were great and earned Coach Boylen a contract extension. And if he is kept around and able to do that again, I would be happy. Those memories are why I was hoping something similar would happen this year following the Oral Roberts loss.
However, the San Diego loss is much worse than the Oral Roberts loss. Coach Boylen is in his 4th season and simply cannot be having losses like this one anymore if he is trying to build the program to a national level. Every year dating back to the Ray Giacoletti era, there have been at least 1 or 2 of these losses per season to the likes of Southern Utah, Albany, Santa Clara, the aforementioned Southwest Baptist and Idaho State, Idaho, Seattle and the pair of losses this year to Oral Roberts and San Diego.
Look, I'm a patient guy, a tolerant guy. Every once in a while, something fluky can happen and a loss like this can happen and be just a blip on the radar for a program that is still really good. Syracuse lost to Le Moyne in an exhibition game last season, but still made the Sweet 16. This year they are 13-0, ranked 5th in the country, and looking strong heading into Big East play. The point is, losses like that can happen and they don't have to ruin a season. But if they are happening on an annual basis, as they are at Utah, it can bring down a program and keep it short of achieving greatness. A great program is consistent throughout the season, which puts it in to position to get a favorable seed and make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. I'm not saying Utah has to be Syracuse, but they should be a lot further along than where they are now.
Losses like the one to San Diego can wear on a team's confidence as well. I remember in the 2006-07 season, Giacoletti's last at Utah, the Runnin' Utes lost to Southern Utah and Albany in non-conference play, but also beat Washington State (3-seed in the Tournament) and Virginia (4 seed in the Tournament) by double-digit margins. They also beat an Air Force team that was ranked 11th in the country at the time and took a UNLV team that advanced to the Sweet 16 to double overtime on its home floor. However, they had 11 wins on the year and that just wasn't good enough. Good wins can offset bad losses, but they won't substitute for a total lack of consistency.
This year, the Utes have exactly zero of what I would call good wins in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. So there is nothing to offset the bad losses. And the Diamond Head Classic exhibits a trend toward a disturbing lack of consistency. The season is not totally lost at this point, but the Runnin' Utes cannot let losses lead to more losses as they clearly did in Hawaii. I believe they have more talent than both Hawaii and San Diego, but lost both games. If that trend continues, I can pretty much guarantee you that Coach Boylen won't be back next year.
The season resumes for the Runnin' Utes this Friday at 5 p.m. MT at Portland (11-3). The game is not being televised, but can be watched live online at portlandpilots.com. Here's a link to the video page. Once there you will have to click on the "Watch" button on the event "Portland Men's Basketball vs. Utah." The game can also be heard on AM 700 in the Salt Lake City area and on kall700sports.com. The Pilots have a nice record that includes no bad losses, but no eye-popping wins either. Even though I would bet Utah is more talented than Portland, I still think the Pilots will win this game because they will be on their home floor and because they have been the more consistent team this season. The Runnin' Utes open conference play on Wednesday, January 5th at Air Force (7-3). Utah should win both games based on talent, but I think they will only win one. If they are looking to get headed back in the right direction, however, they would do well to win both heading into a home match-up with #7 San Diego State (14-0) on Saturday, January 8th.
And then there was the Christmas Day loss to San Diego (3-10). That loss on a neutral court (or any court really) in completely unacceptable. We are Utah and we have too good of a program and tradition to accept losing games like that. San Diego is a really bad team. The win against Utah was their first against a Division I school all season. The Toreros have lost to bad teams along the way to getting to 3-10, including the likes of Cal State Fullerton (4-8) and Fresno State (4-6), which I saw for myself as being a really bad team. I love Utah basketball and will continue to support the team no matter what, but I am growing weary of watching the team I love lose games they should win.
The San Diego loss is the kind of loss that can lead to coaches getting fired. Losing to Oral Roberts (5-8) at home this season was bad enough. However, the San Diego loss is definitely worse, ranking among the worst in the Jim Boylen era at Utah, up there with the loss to Division II Southwest Baptist in 2008 and the blowout loss at home to BYU to end the regular season in 2010.
Now I do have a good memory and I remember that Utah also lost to Idaho State in 2008 but still managed to beat BYU, share the 2009 Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship and subsequently won the Mountain West Tournament on the way to earning a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament. All of those things were great and earned Coach Boylen a contract extension. And if he is kept around and able to do that again, I would be happy. Those memories are why I was hoping something similar would happen this year following the Oral Roberts loss.
However, the San Diego loss is much worse than the Oral Roberts loss. Coach Boylen is in his 4th season and simply cannot be having losses like this one anymore if he is trying to build the program to a national level. Every year dating back to the Ray Giacoletti era, there have been at least 1 or 2 of these losses per season to the likes of Southern Utah, Albany, Santa Clara, the aforementioned Southwest Baptist and Idaho State, Idaho, Seattle and the pair of losses this year to Oral Roberts and San Diego.
Look, I'm a patient guy, a tolerant guy. Every once in a while, something fluky can happen and a loss like this can happen and be just a blip on the radar for a program that is still really good. Syracuse lost to Le Moyne in an exhibition game last season, but still made the Sweet 16. This year they are 13-0, ranked 5th in the country, and looking strong heading into Big East play. The point is, losses like that can happen and they don't have to ruin a season. But if they are happening on an annual basis, as they are at Utah, it can bring down a program and keep it short of achieving greatness. A great program is consistent throughout the season, which puts it in to position to get a favorable seed and make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. I'm not saying Utah has to be Syracuse, but they should be a lot further along than where they are now.
Losses like the one to San Diego can wear on a team's confidence as well. I remember in the 2006-07 season, Giacoletti's last at Utah, the Runnin' Utes lost to Southern Utah and Albany in non-conference play, but also beat Washington State (3-seed in the Tournament) and Virginia (4 seed in the Tournament) by double-digit margins. They also beat an Air Force team that was ranked 11th in the country at the time and took a UNLV team that advanced to the Sweet 16 to double overtime on its home floor. However, they had 11 wins on the year and that just wasn't good enough. Good wins can offset bad losses, but they won't substitute for a total lack of consistency.
This year, the Utes have exactly zero of what I would call good wins in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. So there is nothing to offset the bad losses. And the Diamond Head Classic exhibits a trend toward a disturbing lack of consistency. The season is not totally lost at this point, but the Runnin' Utes cannot let losses lead to more losses as they clearly did in Hawaii. I believe they have more talent than both Hawaii and San Diego, but lost both games. If that trend continues, I can pretty much guarantee you that Coach Boylen won't be back next year.
The season resumes for the Runnin' Utes this Friday at 5 p.m. MT at Portland (11-3). The game is not being televised, but can be watched live online at portlandpilots.com. Here's a link to the video page. Once there you will have to click on the "Watch" button on the event "Portland Men's Basketball vs. Utah." The game can also be heard on AM 700 in the Salt Lake City area and on kall700sports.com. The Pilots have a nice record that includes no bad losses, but no eye-popping wins either. Even though I would bet Utah is more talented than Portland, I still think the Pilots will win this game because they will be on their home floor and because they have been the more consistent team this season. The Runnin' Utes open conference play on Wednesday, January 5th at Air Force (7-3). Utah should win both games based on talent, but I think they will only win one. If they are looking to get headed back in the right direction, however, they would do well to win both heading into a home match-up with #7 San Diego State (14-0) on Saturday, January 8th.
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