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And Mason Madsen. He has been criminally under used by Smith lately. And his frustration has been obvious on his YT channel. I’ll bet he’s excited about the change.

Smith thought his success pre Utah would transfer to a higher level of competition Minnesota. The talent and athleticism is hard to overcome if you can’t match it. The Josh Grant interview showed Smith’s lack of respect for past players.

I couldn’t agree more Rick. The same 4 I would keep. The turnovers and lack of free throw success is on coaching. Smith never defined roles and never settled in to a rotation. Josh Grant interview backed these thoughts.

Watched Smith play a couple games for St Johns. He looked like a true point guard under Pittino. Coaching matters.

What I got out of the Josh Grant interview:

The decision has been made to hire Alex. It makes sense, as he was 10 years as an assistant in SLC for the Jazz (when the Jazz were good), but has been in Dallas the last couple years. He had a brief stint as a college coach before joining the Jazz. It would make sense that he would want to get back…[Read more]

I thought it was very interesting when he said “if the decision can be announced sooner”, which s is the ure implied that the decision has been made not that a coach needs to be found.

Agreed. I can’t help but think that it’s the former, because the rest of what he’s saying makes too much sense. He knows it. I know it. We all know how Ute mbb becomes successful, and we all know it’s not going to work when the recipe is ignored.

Hmmmm…I’m not sure TBH. The evidence suggests the players liked Craig – they were playing hard for him – but I’m sure there was some animosity from some of the players who probably couldn’t understand how minutes were being divvied up. Can you imagine Keanu Dawes watching Zach Keller get big man minutes ahead of him?

I hope the effect is a net…[Read more]

Or, the reason is that there is one candidate. We all know who that is. And the boosters basically said “We’ve seen enough. Smith is done. Here are the keys to the Brinks truck. Now, Harlan, go get the guy you were supposed to get last time so he can come in asap and keep as much of what’s worth keeping as possible.”

I feel bad for the boys…[Read more]

Or, the reason is that there is one candidate. We all know who that is. And the boosters basically said “We’ve seen enough. Smith is done. Here are the keys to the Brinks truck. Now, Harlan, go get the guy you were supposed to get last time so he can come in asap and keep as much of what’s worth keeping as possible.”

I feel bad for the boys…[Read more]

This team has shown buy in all season. I’d be very surprised if they check out the rest of the season when there’s still a chance at a postseason bid.

Yeap to all three. Good analysis…but how do you think the team will take it? Will they mail in the remaining three games now that Smith is out of the picture?

Three possible reasons why you do it now:
1. So players don’t have a visceral reaction and hit the portal before you have a chance to show them the benefits of staying.
2. You want to lock up a good candidate before he’s in greater demand once the firings begin at season’s end.
3. You have someone in mind already but you’re afraid he’ll cool off…[Read more]

Both of them were taught how to play the game by Majerus. Utah has been waiting for a descendant of the tree of the Maji to bring us to the promised land.

I have the opposite opinion. Last year was extremely disappointing, but fans ran out a competent backup from 2023 for a true freshman. The fact we banked on true freshman Isaac Wilson to pick up Ludwig’s scheme was an absolute flop by the coaching staff! That being said …

2023 was an absolute success of a season with the circumstances given. 8 w…[Read more]

Jensen has the coaching experience but Miller has greater NBA clout.

What PG wouldn’t want to play for a Coach that played the position in the NBA for 17 seasons and is 12th all time in career assists?

Miller is extremely well respected in NBA circles. The Nuggets trust him to develop their young and up and coming talent.

He’s not a loud mou…[Read more]

#5 is sooooo candid. Either he is plugged in and this is happening. Or he is waaay out over his skis.

OMG. Alex mfn Jensen!!

Yeah because every college football team in America used their 5th string QB to start games the last two seasons.

Original post doesn’t exist if Utah doesn’t suffer fluke injuries the last two seasons.

You don’t need to gut everything and start over.

I second the suggestion on listening to the Josh Grant interview by Spence. Lots of great stuff from Josh such as why Smith wasn’t successful and who the next coach should be and why.

One of best interviews I’ve ever listened to concerning anything related to Utah athletics.
Here is the apple podcast link:

Josh Grant on Smith dismissal &…[Read more]