The Official Ute Basketball Thread

[TripletDaddy]

You forgot that The best high school player from the state of California last year at least according to Jim Boylen is white! It is like the 70s all over again.

I'm not going to comment on that.

[LA Ute]

I think we've figured out the secret. Feed OBrien. Forget Clyburn. He has been holding us back.

Also helps when the opposing coach falls asleep on the bench in a Wink Martindale suit.

Looked more Bert Convy to me.

[DrumNFeather]

"We've won two in a row, if we win one more that's called a winning streak." - Major League.

At this point, I don't care who the competition is, it's nice to see the Utes win back-to-back games and look halfway decent doing it. Given that Watkins is out quite possibly for the season. I hereby retract what I've said about J.J. Obrien. I think that he and Glover are nice building blocks for the program.

It's nice to see the Utes win on a night when Will the Thrill doesn't have that great of a game...it gives me some hope that they might avoid the play-in game down in Vegas. Overall a nice win though...here we come 10 wins!

[BoylenOver]

A month ago, I wouldn't have been surprised if Utah had finished the season with 3 more total wins.

But 3 in a row, including two on the road, is a pleasant surprise.

[Senioritis]

Well.

Uhhh...

I'm not sure what to think. Is this team actually improving, or is this a function of playing two of the worst teams in the conference? I'll say this - I don't really recognize this offense. It's like guys move without the ball, some guys actually will get in the way and make contact with another guy's defender, creating open shots, and guys in the painted region of the floor act like they want the ball. What the hell?

I'm loathe, yes, loathe, to get too fat and happy about these guys, but DANG.

For the last year and a half, Boylen's substitution patterns were the result of one of the following things:

1. He has a "Random" setting in his brain, which generates the lineups and timing of subs without any logical connection to the physical world.

2. Tourette Syndrome.

3. Some sort of bizarre drinking game.

However, I think we have an really for real rotation right now. It's like guys are figuring out their roles, and acting them out like Sidney Poitier. Or at least Frank Stallone. Even, sort of, Chris Kupets. His role is to drink an entire Costco-sized case of RedBull in the short time immediately between the National Anthem and tipoff, shoot as many times as possible whenever he's on the floor, and shave stuff into his hair. He's performing remarkably!

I'm not sure how long the shooting will last, and I still don't trust these guys, but the one thing I'm sure of is that this has become a pretty freaking good rebounding team. Foster, Clyburn, and JJ The Wonder Kid are all very solid on the glass. The only conference game where the Mighty Utes got outrebounded was at AFA, in a game where Foster and JJ played a combined 16 minutes.

After the BYU, uh, challenge at home, they had every chance to cash in, find a lot lizard, and re-enact the last half of Leaving Las Vegas. You know, like last year. But they didn't. There is some testicular fortitude here. The extent, or girth, continues to be up for grabs. Ha-ha!

So, here we are, arguably between 4th and 6th in the conference, but perhaps 8th, or maybe 3rd. Who the hell knows? If the shooting continues like it is, and Utah can limit slightly effeminate opposing point guards to less than 47, they really are pretty good.

Currently, I would describe the team as "plucky." Or perhaps, "feisty." I'm sure I'll feel differently immediately following the SDSU-BYU road swing in three weeks.

Until then, bottoms up!

[LA Ute]

It's possible that reports of Boylen's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

[DrumNFeather]

It's possible that reports of Boylen's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

I no longer believe that the Utes will be in the play-in game. Unfortunately, I also am coming to believe that the MWC is a two bid league this year unless someone knocks off both of the top dogs in the tourney.

I'm starting to like this team a little bit...and I think you're right LA, Boylen may have saved his job. We'll have to see how the rest of the season plays out of course, and we're still probably looking at a .500 record in conference at BEST, but shoot, 7-9 might land you the #5 seed.

[DrumNFeather]

CSU comes to town this week off of a loss to BYU and a narrow win over Air Force. I think this is one Utah can get at home. If CSU can notch road wins @UNLV, @Utah and @UNM, they should easily finish third. I like the Utes chances though.

The biggest question is who to put on Ogeday. Probably some combo of Clyburn and O'Brein.

After the 7 game losing streak, I didn't think they'd make it out of the play-in game. Now they have a chance to finish in the top half of the league if they can win some key home games and steal 1 on the road.

[LA Ute]

CSU comes to town this week off of a loss to BYU and a narrow win over Air Force. I think this is one Utah can get at home. If CSU can notch road wins @UNLV, @Utah and @UNM, they should easily finish third. I like the Utes chances though.

The biggest question is who to put on Ogeday. Probably some combo of Clyburn and O'Brein.

After the 7 game losing streak, I didn't think they'd make it out of the play-in game. Now they have a chance to finish in the top half of the league if they can win some key home games and steal 1 on the road.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Ute fans (including me) are happy that the team may avoid the play-in game. Oh well, reality bites.

[Top Ute]

I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Ute fans (including me) are happy that the team may avoid the play-in game. Oh well, reality bites.

Finish top 3, and you get one of the clearly three weaker MWC teams in the first round. Finish 4/5 and you play a team that is your equal, and quite likely UNLV. Huge difference. The only battle that's bigger is the fight to finish top 6, because 7th gets you BYU or SDSU in your opening game.

Beating CSU in SLC is huge for two reasons: It furthers our goal of finishing 3rd, but playing CSU in the 4/5 game is a real possibility, and we need to enter a neutral site game knowing that we can beat them.

Sweep CSU, split with UNLV (we get a huge break by hosting UNLV in our home finale, IMO) and win out at home against the bottom 3, that puts Utah at 9-7. We'd have the tiebreaker vs. CSU (by sweeping them) and we'd gain the tiebreaker against UNLV (because they would have lost to CSU). That should be good enough for 3rd, unless CSU/UNLV/UNM can get a win against BYU/SDSU.

I would be thrilled with such a finish. The monsters-under-the-bed scenario is that UNLV finishes 6th and we draw them in the first round.

[Jarid in Cedar]

If this team played some team defense, they would be an above average team.

[BoylenOver]

I tried watching the game today. Miserable, even with those nice-looking uni's. How do people watch multiple games of this?

[Top Ute]

If this team played some team defense, they would be an above average team.

I'm resigned to finishing 6th, which wouldn't be the worst thing since it appears teams 3-6 in the MWC don't have much separation, and I don't think UNLV will finish 3rd. Another classic slip-up, however, and we 're staring 7th in the face. UNM's win today vs. BYU was huge and puts it in the driver's seat for 3rd.

[UtahDan]

I tried watching the game today. Miserable, even with those nice-looking uni's. How do people watch multiple games of this?

It is hard to take. I'm glad I don't have access to many of them on TV. The truth is all of us Utes are die hard hoops fans deep down. We are just compartmentalizing that for now so as not to lose our minds.

[DrumNFeather]

I tried watching the game today. Miserable, even with those nice-looking uni's. How do people watch multiple games of this?

So much for not being an also-ran. What a blown opportuity. Starting with Nate Atlhoff and removing Bogut from the discussion, Utah has not had a big man that could just catch the ball and put it in the hoop. I cringe every time I see Foster pull the ball down to his ches or waist because 9/10 times the ball doesn't come back up.

This team has a few nice pieces, but it has a long way to go. I don't even know how to guess how they'll fair in the Pac 12 next year if Boylen is the coach. I suspect he can put together a decent season, and then what do you do? We're right back to the drawing board with O'brien and Glover as hold-overs.