Dr. Jekyl or Mr. Hyde

[Goatnapper'96]

I vaguely recall hearing talk that Majerus would have to play 2nd fiddle to Reid. This was in 94, when Majerus was in his .500 season and after BYU throttled Utah in the conference tournament.

I vaguely remember that Utah team having Keith Van Horn. I am pretty sure that I watched Utah yesterday and there is no vagueness about my assuring you that you don't have a player of that caliber to build around. Marshall Henderson has a cool name for a kid that hangs out with gorillas and his facial features could make an adult film afficianado blush, but when the dust settles he will be much more Mike Rose than Keith Van Horn.

I also can assure you that no Cougar fan has the same enmity towards Boylen that they had towards Majerus. Now help me out here why do string pulling rival fans normally hate an opposing coach?

[Jarid in Cedar]

I also can assure you that no Cougar fan has the same enmity towards Boylen that they had towards Majerus. Now help me out here why do string pulling rival fans normally hate an opposing coach?

Good point. That Ute fans don't universally hate Rose speaks volumes.

[Goatnapper'96]

Good point. That Ute fans don't universally hate Rose speaks volumes.

I saw your arena yesterday. You no longer have any string-pulling hoops fans.......

[jay santos]

I am convinced that Abouo starts next year. This year I think Kyle would have started, but next year when a stronger and more skilled Davies replaces Miles in the starting lineup, I doubt BYU will need another prolific scorer in its starting 5 - lest we have to pay luxury taxes! Honestly, I think Abouo will be a threat to still score 10 ppg so teams can't totally ignore him while trying to cover the greatest PG to ever play college ball in the lovely Deseret, Emery the Oldest, Miles, Hartsock....uhhhh sigh. Point is that BYU will have 1 prolific scorer, 2 very good scorers and one good scorer. Chucky's defense, offensive rebounding and athleticism will be more valuable than Collinsworth's highly polished offensive game. For that reason he will probably not get the freshman POY award, although all informed opinions will rate him as the best freshman player! Sorry! Just being honest!

Collinsworth and Haws are two peas in a pod. Collinsworth will come in a very fundamentally sound, polished player. More athletic than Haws and more valuable on D, but not as good an outside shooter.

But you're probably right. Charles began the year as a starter and was surpassed by Haws. With a year of experience and polish on his game, he probably begins again as the starter over K Collins and likely stays ahead of him. Let's say this. K Collins starts as a frosh and wins the MWC frosh of the year for any team in the MWC next year that doesn't have Jimmer/Jackson/Charles on its guard line.

[Flattop]

I think there are a lot of coaches who don't believe they can meet their fans' expectations of previous glories under legendary coaches. I also am of the highly uninformed opinion that he doesn't view himself as a Utah lifer and part of that is that I think he is recognizing that he better be really good to get Utah back to dominating the MWC or being the cream de la cream!

The conference is better now than the WAC/MWC was when Majerus was at Utah, so that kind of domination is probably not in the cards. But Utah should be able to compete and win conference titles on occasion. But the real key is tournament success. Getting out of the first round regularly, with occasional trips to the Sweet Sixteen is certainly possible at Utah.

I doubt Boylen is a Utah lifer, as well. But to get a better job, he has to get Utah out of the first round of the NCAA tournament.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I saw your arena yesterday. You no longer have any string-pulling hoops fans.......

They are all posting on Utezone the last 2 months.

[Flattop]

I vaguely remember that Utah team having Keith Van Horn. I am pretty sure that I watched Utah yesterday and there is no vagueness about my assuring you that you don't have a player of that caliber to build around. Marshall Henderson has a cool name for a kid that hangs out with gorillas and his facial features could make an adult film afficianado blush, but when the dust settles he will be much more Mike Rose than Keith Van Horn.

It was Van Horn and a bunch of also rans (Ma Jin, Jackman). Sans Van Horn, I think this year's Utes might have more talent. Foster needs to develop his offensive game, when he does he will be a dominant center. He's already having a huge impact on the defensive end of the court. Henderson definately won't be the next Van Horn, but he might be the next Nick Jacobsen.

[Surfah]

Trace Caton was better than his older brother. Britton Johnsen was better than his older brother. Alex Jensen was better than his older brother.

I hear the emery kid who is a sophmore is the best player in state.

I served part of my mission in Alamosa. The Caton's are good people. I rooted for their boys at Utah. But I wished everyone else missed.

[Goatnapper'96]

The conference is better now than the WAC/MWC was when Majerus was at Utah, so that kind of domination is probably not in the cards. But Utah should be able to compete and win conference titles on occasion. But the real key is tournament success. Getting out of the first round regularly, with occasional trips to the Sweet Sixteen is certainly possible at Utah.

I doubt Boylen is a Utah lifer, as well. But to get a better job, he has to get Utah out of the first round of the NCAA tournament.

He almost got the U of A job last year. I also don't know what defines as better to him, but I do agree that to an outside program looking to hire an up and comer his resume doesn't qualify. I think he is a solid coach I just don't think he is good enough to make Utah the cream of the MWC. I think it will be pretty similar as BYU with Cleveland.

[Blueintheface]

Thought I'd do a little piling on since I watched my 5th Utah game of the season last night....

I've decided to avoid the Christmas rush and officially hate Marshall Henderson now rather than later. Don't take that as flattery Ute fans, the kid is an asshat with Terry Nashif talent. How can a kid that size not dribble penetrate better than that? He's a spot up 2 plain and simple and lacks the size to make a difference. It says something that he's about to break the "long-standing" record of Shaun Green from way back in 2005.

Washburn and James Anderson need to have a contest to see who can NOT look awkward the longest. Neither would win unless they were sleeping. Foster is blossoming as a very nice shot blocker and if his free throws can get up to 80% by next year he'll be invaluable down the stretch. Not yet a real option on the offense end but he may turn into a double digit scorer in the future with a lot of work.

Watkins is a beast but as someone already pointed out is not the guy to run plays through since his game is rebounding and hustle plays. I wish Drca had another year of eligibility because I can never get enough of the jump-pass-turnover that he's perfected in his 4 years. Remind me again why Tavita plays so much? Is his defense supposed to make up for his inability to score at all?

That first half was the worst basketball I've watched this year in college basketball. Both teams appeared to be High Priests in the Big Cottonwood Stake. Face it Ute fans, this team is not good and may not be good for a few seasons.

[Flattop]

As the 1993-94 Utah team has been referenced, I thought I would post the roster:

http://www.fanbase.com/Utah-Utes-Men...1993-94/roster

and the schedule w/ results (my gosh, they lost to Weber St!):

http://www.fanbase.com/Utah-Utes-Men...93-94/schedule

[Jarid in Cedar]

That first half was the worst basketball I've watched this year in college basketball.

It was like rubber necking on a freeway accident. You kno w you shouldn't watch, you know you don't want to see how bad it is, but you still watch anyway.

[Flattop]

He almost got the U of A job last year. I also don't know what defines as better to him, but I do agree that to an outside program looking to hire an up and comer his resume doesn't qualify. I think he is a solid coach I just don't think he is good enough to make Utah the cream of the MWC. I think it will be pretty similar as BYU with Cleveland.

I think he can at least do better than Cleveland.

[Blueintheface]

Why isn't Hines get more minutes? He only has 1 assist and 6 turnovers on the season in very limited minutes but in the two games I watched he seemed at least capable of running the offense and dribbled better than Drca and Henderson. He's not a scorer but wouldn't a dribble penetrator help that?

[UtahDan]

If I were a BYU fan, I don't think I would contribute to this thread. The more you pile on and the more you say how bad Utah is, the more the cosmos aligns and points to a day, in the very near future, where SU will gleefully spill gallons of ink reminding you that the best BYU team ever couldn't sweep the worst Utah team ever.

You guys are setting yourselves up.