North by Northwest: Utes vs. WSU/UW Road Trip

[DrumNFeather]

Welp - we've got a game tonight, and despite WSU being down in recent years, the Cougars are a team on the rise in the Pac 12, and I fully expect them to pick a few squads off this season. We just have to hope we're not one of them. They are currently 2-3 with wins over UW and Oregon St, and of their losses, the Cal one was very narrow on the road.

Hawkinson leads them in points and rebounds and LK basically said in his presser, you shut him down you shut them down.

Utah is a 10 point favorite, and I think that is probably right around where this one will end up.

Prediction: 76-66 Utes.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Josh Hawkinson reminds me a great deal of Josh Grant. He is a fun player to watch.

[Utebiquitous]

I'm a little surprised at the line. Pullman is a tough place to play for us. I was talking to Jim Soto about the game tonight. He said it's a really tough environment for the team to be motivated. Small/bad gym. Usually not a lot of fans. Basically no energy is provided from the environment.

I know many on the board expect a Utah sweep this week. If we split on road trips I'm always happy. It would be great to get this one.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I'm a little surprised at the line. Pullman is a tough place to play for us. I was talking to Jim Soto about the game tonight. He said it's a really tough environment for the team to be motivated. Small/bad gym. Usually not a lot of fans. Basically no energy is provided from the environment.

I know many on the board expect a Utah sweep this week. If we split on road trips I'm always happy. It would be great to get this one.

Hopefully Krystkowiak has reached out to Dave Rose to get a few pointers.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Interesting comment on the team's FB page.

2089

[DrumNFeather]

Hopefully Krystkowiak has reached out to Dave Rose to get a few pointers.

2090

[DrumNFeather]

Interesting comment on the team's FB page.



Yeah - there was a rumor going around that he wasn't going to play tonight...more time for Jokel! :)

[sancho]

I know many on the board expect a Utah sweep this week. If we split on road trips I'm always happy. It would be great to get this one.

I think we would usually be in agreement about road trips. This season, though, I think our margin of error is down to zero. I'm still clinging to NCAA tournament hopes, and I think we need a sweep for that.

[justaute]

Per Goon, Collette did not make the Washington trip as he is under the concussion protocol.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Per Goon, Collette did not make the Washington trip as he is under the concussion protocol.

What is this, some sort of sick Jokl?! Not funny.

[SeattleUte]

Where's Collette?


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[chrisrenrut]

Where's Collette?


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http://www.utahby5.com/showthread.php?2214-North-by-Northwest-Utes-vs-WSU-UW-Road-Trip&p=92790&viewfull=1#post92790

[chrisrenrut]

Yeah - there was a rumor going around that he wasn't going to play tonight...more time for Jokel! :)

Maybe some time for Jokl, but more time for Jayce! I like seeing him in. He was stiff at first but seems to be loosening up.

[U-Ute]

Where's Collette?


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Concussion protocol. No word on when it happened but I assume practice.


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[U-Ute]

The Utes with a workman like first half. No post-UCLA letdown. This team is starting to come together.


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[U-Ute]

As long as we don't let them get it down to 10 in the first 5 minutes of the second half, we will run away with this.


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[Mormon Red Death]

Bealer and van dyke seeing some action

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[chrisrenrut]

Daniels can't seem to hold onto the ball tonight.

[U-Ute]

Daniels can't seem to hold onto the ball tonight.

Fortunately, neither can Wazzu


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[U-Ute]

Maybe some time for Jokl, but more time for Jayce! I like seeing him in. He was stiff at first but seems to be loosening up.

Gaining confidence and starting to relax.


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[Ma'ake]

Wazzu is not a good team, but these Utes are still getting better. A lot of fun to watch.

Bonam was a monster, until Kuzma took over.

Nice dish from Kuz to Rawson.

Fortunately, this is the insanely long road trip, and Collette can hopefully get to Seattle, because Dime and the UW front line will be a challenge.

[Ma'ake]

I think the Cougs have turned it down slightly, but Van Dyke and Bealer getting some experience and success is a nice investment.

[DrumNFeather]

Nice start to the road trip!

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[Ma'ake]

Bealer, Bealer, Bealer.... what might have been.

Maybe he's earned some minutes behind Daniels as a long 3 with a nice stroke from range. He'll be abused by physical forwards ala Stanley Johnson, but I think he just is a laid back kid. They didn't lie, though - similar dimensions to Delon, better outside shooter.

[Solon]

I think the Cougs have turned it down slightly, but Van Dyke and Bealer getting some experience and success is a nice investment.
Johnson too - I thought he did well in place of Collette

[SeattleUte]

Holy shit.


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[Ma'ake]

Johnson too - I thought he did well in place of Collette

Yeah, you can tell he's worked hard, and his confidence is rising. Wazzu is terrible, but Jayce is coachable, and it shows. Great to see.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

821927545780260868


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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Bealer, Bealer, Bealer.... what might have been.

Maybe he's earned some minutes behind Daniels as a long 3 with a nice stroke from range. He'll be abused by physical forwards ala Stanley Johnson, but I think he just is a laid back kid. They didn't lie, though - similar dimensions to Delon, better outside shooter.

This seems like a slightly higher probability inbounds play than a fade away three. Just saying.

821928057799843840



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[Old Standing ute]

Holy shit.


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X 2==

Utah plus 40---missed on that bet.

[snafu]

Fortunately, this is the insanely long road trip, and Collette can hopefully get to Seattle, because Dime and the UW front line will be a challenge.

I believe Dime is out with an injury of some sort.

[Applejack]

This seems like a slightly higher probability inbounds play than a fade away three. Just saying.

821928057799843840


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An inbounds play!

[Ma'ake]

I believe Dime is out with an injury of some sort.

I saw that Dime had a finger or hand injury, and sat out a game, then he came back with a splint/wrap on his hand for the next game. He's not an all-PAC kind of player (IMO), but he's long, very quick off his feet, could present problems. Similar to Metu of USC, maybe a little more bounce, but not as good of shooter (especially with a hand splint).

Maybe Dime has another injury now.

Their freshman 2/3 Fultz is a one-and-gone kind of talent, ala Marquise Chriss (now of the Suns). Fultz leads the PAC in scoring.

[DrumNFeather]

UW beats Colorado in overtime...I'm hoping that, much like ASU, they spent all their emotional capital on winning that game.

[311ute]

Dime broke his finger, tried to play through it, but determined it too painful. He'll be out another 3-4 weeks from now. It's a big loss for the Huskies. http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/broken-finger-forces-uw-center-malik-dime-to-miss-4-5-weeks/


I saw that Dime had a finger or hand injury, and sat out a game, then he came back with a splint/wrap on his hand for the next game. He's not an all-PAC kind of player (IMO), but he's long, very quick off his feet, could present problems. Similar to Metu of USC, maybe a little more bounce, but not as good of shooter (especially with a hand splint).

Maybe Dime has another injury now.

Their freshman 2/3 Fultz is a one-and-gone kind of talent, ala Marquise Chriss (now of the Suns). Fultz leads the PAC in scoring.

[311ute]

Washington's a bit of a scary team, IMO. They are very poorly coached, but are MUCH more talented than their record. Fultz is a top-3 pick in the draft, but guys like Crisp, Thybulle and Dickerson are decent players. I really hope we have Collette for this one.

FWIW, here are how the Pac-12 teams are currently ranked in KenPom:

UCLA 12
Arizona 17
Oregon 21
Utah 41 (moved up 10 spots after last night)
Cal 50
USC 56
CU 78
Stanford 109
ASU 123
UW 124
Wazzu 221
OSU 272

KenPom projects an 84-79 Utah win on Saturday.

[UTEopia]

This seems like a slightly higher probability inbounds play than a fade away three. Just saying.

821928057799843840



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Tough to compare situations where one team UCLA took away the first and second options and one where the other team does not know the word defense. I do agree with Larry's assessment that Kuzma should have driven the ball to the rim instead of taking that three. Three's like that are what you get when players do not execute what a coach asks them to do.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I saw that Dime had a finger or hand injury, and sat out a game, then he came back with a splint/wrap on his hand for the next game. He's not an all-PAC kind of player (IMO), but he's long, very quick off his feet, could present problems. Similar to Metu of USC, maybe a little more bounce, but not as good of shooter (especially with a hand splint).

Maybe Dime has another injury now.

Their freshman 2/3 Fultz is a one-and-gone kind of talent, ala Marquise Chriss (now of the Suns). Fultz leads the PAC in scoring.


It turned out that Dime suffered a broken finger in the collision with Fultz. As a result, he will miss between four and five weeks of action.


Also, Dime became a US citizen yesterday.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Tough to compare situations where one team UCLA took away the first and second options and one where the other team does not know the word defense. I do agree with Larry's assessment that Kuzma should have driven the ball to the rim instead of taking that three. Three's like that are what you get when players do not execute what a coach asks them to do.

For the record, my comment was 97% in jest. Clearly the situations were quite different from each other.

[U-Ute]

This seems like a slightly higher probability inbounds play than a fade away three. Just saying.

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It looks like Kuzma's defender was appreciating it too as he stood there in awe. He even points it out saying "Hey! Watch this dunk!"

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Any update on Collette?


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[Scorcho]

on the twitter last night they said it was up to the medical staff, but he was still in SLC last night.

I think that means no

[Diehard Ute]

on the twitter last night they said it was up to the medical staff, but he was still in SLC last night.

I think that means no

It's likely no but Krysko said if he was cleared this morning they'd fly him in.


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[justaute]

Am I missing something? I think the score is wrong. They did not give us the bucket for goal-tending on Jayce's board.

[chrisrenrut]

The score is wrong. They did not give us the bucket for goal-tending on Jayce's board.

I think they called goaltending on ​Jayce.

[chrisrenrut]

53 points in the first half! Fun team to watch.

[justaute]

I think they called goaltending on ​Jayce.

Oh,they called it on Jayce.

[chrisrenrut]

McLean not even trying to hide his bias for Washington. He hopes Washington will get some stops to come back. He wants Fultz to take over the game. He thinks utah's points in the paint is "ungodly".

[mUUser]

The color guy sounds like he might cry. For sure he's wearing a Markelle Fultz autographed purple tie tonight.

[U-Ute]

McLean not even trying to hide his bias for Washington. He hopes Washington will get some stops to come back. He wants Fultz to take over the game. He thinks utah's points in the paint is "ungodly".

He's just pissed UCLA lost.


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[chrisrenrut]

This is our best offensive team since when? Andre Miller's era?

[justaute]

This is our best offensive team since when? Andre Miller's era?

We are definitely the Running Utes this year. Just think what if we could shoot free throws.:)

[Diehard Ute]

This is our best offensive team since when? Andre Miller's era?

Per Reily before that. First time since '93-94 that Utah has scored 80+ in 5 straight.




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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

823010413201670145


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[SeattleUte]

Devon Daniels.


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[Diehard Ute]

Per Goon an usher looked at Devon and said "you're 18? I was hoping you were a senior"


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[sancho]

I was stuck at the airport and missed the game. Pretty encouraging to come home to this score.

[Scorcho]

this team is so balanced and Devon Daniels is a blessing from the god of roundball Hooplar

[concerned]

This team is playing so much better than I ever thought it would. I figured them for 8-10 in the conference.

[chrisrenrut]

The freshman class in the PAC-12 this year is an embarrassment of riches. Daniels isn't on the same level of talent as Ball, Markannen, or Fultz. But he damn well better get a good, hard look at the All Freshman team this year.

[concerned]

The freshman class in the PAC-12 this year is an embarrassment of riches. Daniels isn't on the same level of talent as Ball, Markannen, or Fultz. But he damn well better get a good, hard look at the All Freshman team this year.

Of those talented four freshmen, Daniels is the only one who will be a sophmore.

[Ma'ake]

Don McLean's crush on Fultz was understandable - kid's a talent - but even funnier was Kevin O'Neil's halftime indictment of Fultz.

"Look, I hope he makes $500 million dollars in the NBA and plays for 30 years with 5 championships. I'm just saying he doesn't play very hard." The other studio analyst, Eldridge Recasner, who was a 3-time All-PAC guard who played in the league, was trying to defend Fultz, "He's only 18 years old, but I agree, it looks like he just got up from a nap".

O'Neil can get pretty wrapped around the axle about stuff - he was fired at USC right after spanking us by 30 points, at our place. Still, I think the dude's pretty funny - he looks like Fred Flintstone, with horn rimmed glasses.

I really like Lorenzo Romar, and I appreciate fellow SoCal fanboy Bill Walton talking him up a couple of weeks ago, but geez, his team can't play defense to save their lives.

That whole telecast started out as a Markelle Fultz love fest - which led to Kevin O'Neil's halftime rant - and then in the second half McLean found his marbles and the theme became about Utah scoring in the paint, at will.

Hard to find fault with a 20 point road win, where your 2nd best player didn't play, and his replacement (JJ) was mediocre, and the other big was a foul machine, and your two new guards were Houdinis.

McLean said he wanted to see Fultz line up vs Bonam, noting that Zo has an NBA body, but while Fultz got his points, Bonam sliced their D to pieces and got a bunch of assists, too, and hit some 3s

Our coaching brain trust gives us a serious advantage against lower tier league teams.

Wazzu got the win vs the Buffs, who simply must be smoking a lot weed to be THAT pathetic, with that much talent. Tad Boyle will go back to stock broking after this season.

[SeattleUte]

LK or somebody keeps pulling these terrific players out of his ass. Wright, Poettle, Bonam, Kuzma, Daniels, et al. Whoever heard of these guys before they came to Utah? I guarantee they weren't on any long list of even USC. Okay, Poetel, maybe. I can't believe it. I wouldn't count Bonam out of a shot at the NBA. I forgive them for missing the Wasatch Academy kid who went to Utah State.

[LA Ute]

LK or somebody keeps pulling these terrific players out of his ass. Wright, Poettle, Bonam, Kuzma, Daniels, et al. Whoever heard of these guys before they came to Utah? I guarantee they weren't on any long list of even USC. Okay, Poetel, maybe. I can't believe it. I wouldn't count Bonam out of a shot at the NBA. I forgive them for missing the Wasatch Academy kid who went to Utah State.

He has an eye for diamonds in the rough. You and I both agree that to be successful at Utah a coach needs that ability. Majerus had it in spades.

Coaches who identify under-the-radar talent

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/bossi-s-best-coaches-who-identify-under-the-radar-talent

[Diehard Ute]

LK or somebody keeps pulling these terrific players out of his ass. Wright, Poettle, Bonam, Kuzma, Daniels, et al. Whoever heard of these guys before they came to Utah? I guarantee they weren't on any long list of even USC. Okay, Poetel, maybe. I can't believe it. I wouldn't count Bonam out of a shot at the NBA. I forgive them for missing the Wasatch Academy kid who went to Utah State.

Daniels wasn't under the radar as much as we think.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4844304-155/utah-basketball-devon-daniels-is-utes


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[concerned]

Daniels wasn't under the radar as much as we think.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4844304-155/utah-basketball-devon-daniels-is-utes


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Neither was Johnson

[LA Ute]

Neither was Johnson

It's reasonable to believe that if the program continues to perform as it has in the last several seasons, we will gradually get more and more of those highly ranked recruits. I think our coaches will always need to identify under the radar talent, however.

[Utebiquitous]

Hats off to all of you who believed in our Utes more than me predicting a sweep this week. To do it so impressively and without Collette is something I never would have predicted.

A couple of things of note to me. I liked our composure in the second half tonight on both of the occasions the Huskies made a mini-run to get inside of ten points. On a macro-level, I like that this team can play fast and slow. I think we'll need Collette healthy to play our best half-court basketball due to Johnson's inexperience/current inability in the post; but I've loved what David can do in the post. Turning Bonham and Daniels loose to push the tempo a bit has been fun to watch. If Barefield can get a little more consistent, watch out.

I really didn't think we'd be sitting in fourth place ever this season. I sure hope we can keep this up. Could we sweep our Oregon brothers?

[Applejack]

Let me add my voice to the chorus: I didn't believe we would be in contention for the tourney this year. Hats off to the coaches.

[sancho]

I really didn't think we'd be sitting in fourth place ever this season. I sure hope we can keep this up. Could we sweep our Oregon brothers?

I'm seeing the following tiers:

Tier one: zona, ucla, Oregon

Tier two: Utah

Tier three: cal, usc

Tier four: everyone else

Problem is that we need some wins against tournament teams, but our only chances at that come against potential final four teams.

[Mormon Red Death]

I'm seeing the following tiers:

Tier one: zona, ucla, Oregon

Tier two: Utah

Tier three: cal, usc

Tier four: everyone else

Problem is that we need some wins against tournament teams, but our only chances at that come against potential final four teams.

Cal is in our tier. How we do against them will determine if we finish 4th

[SeattleUte]

Hats off to all of you who believed in our Utes more than me predicting a sweep this week. To do it so impressively and without Collette is something I never would have predicted.

A couple of things of note to me. I liked our composure in the second half tonight on both of the occasions the Huskies made a mini-run to get inside of ten points. On a macro-level, I like that this team can play fast and slow. I think we'll need Collette healthy to play our best half-court basketball due to Johnson's inexperience/current inability in the post; but I've loved what David can do in the post. Turning Bonham and Daniels loose to push the tempo a bit has been fun to watch. If Barefield can get a little more consistent, watch out.

I really didn't think we'd be sitting in fourth place ever this season. I sure hope we can keep this up. Could we sweep our Oregon brothers?

Sure, they can beat Oregon next week. But I despair of it happening in a close game. They will have to win at least by 5.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Depends on whether Brooks is good to go. Without him we should look very good, especially if Collette is back.

[U-Ute]

Been watching the UW this morning. McLane has definitely had a love fest for Fultz, and rightly so, but I don't think he was "rooting" for UW.

I think it is no secret about the financial situation the P12 Network is in, and they need something to hang their hat on. In sports it is the stars. Fultz is a star in the making so I think the on air personalities have been told to build him up whenever possible.


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[sancho]

Cal is in our tier. How we do against them will determine if we finish 4th

I'm thinking that we look stronger than the bears. We'll see.

[chrisrenrut]

Been watching the UW this morning. McLane has definitely had a love fest for Fultz, and rightly so, but I don't think he was "rooting" for UW.

I think it is no secret about the financial situation the P12 Network is in, and they need something to hang their hat on. In sports it is the stars. Fultz is a star in the making so I think the on air personalities have been told to build him up whenever possible.


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Yeah, he probably just needs to work on his phrasing. With about 8 minutes left, he said he "hoped" UW would start to get some defensive stops, he "wanted" Fultz to take over the game. I get that he is probably hoping and wanting these things so it becomes a better, more intense game for the viewers, but the way he said it could be taken as UW homerism.

[Scorcho]

https://twitter.com/Runnin_Utes/status/823347245449768960