Bartle latest to criticize Craig Smith’s sub patterns

[Yergensen]

Bartle

Substitution Patterns and Lineup Uncertainty

“Perhaps the most maddening aspect of the inconsistency theme is the substitution patterns, which have been discussed for much of the season. The rotations appear to lack continuity, with players often not knowing when or how long they will be on the floor.

This uncertainty can lead to lapses in focus and rhythm, as players struggle to find a consistent groove. Utah doesn’t have a short rotation like other programs. The depth of this team is its strength, but it’s also an issue in defining the rotations.

Against West Virginia, the bench—namely Keanu Dawes—provided the spark that Utah so desperately needed. Dawes led Utah’s second-half efforts. At one point, he had a personal 5-0 run and added another layup later on.

He then converted two free throws, which gave him 9 second-half points and cut West Virginia’s lead to 60-54 at the 4:42 mark. He was subbed out. He was clearly the difference maker in the second half for Utah, so it had to be a short breather.

A timeout was called at 4:01, and Dawes remained on the bench. Then, the media timeout came and went, leaving Dawes still on the bench. He did not re-enter the game until the 1:41 mark after West Virginia rebuilt a 10-point cushion.”

This is both inexplicable and damning. KD almost single handedly cuts the lead down to 6. He is the hot hand. The only reason Smith has given for his erratic rotations this season is to see who has the hot hand in any given game and play said hot hand. Not true, he pulled the hot hand for the stretch run, lost momentum and lost the game. Even his apologists can’t defend this. This is a man without a plan.

[Utopia]

The Dawes dynamic continues to be so frustrating and confounding. He is the only the player on this team with quality size and athleticism and is the most consistently and efficiently productive player and yet he isn’t even consistently playing 20 min. At this point I will be very surprised if he doesn’t transfer. He will have plenty of interest/offers from better programs and he would be completely justified in thinking there are better opportunities for him.

[Minnesota Ute]

It is not comforting to hear everyone finally coming around to what I’ve been saying for weeks if not a month, but at least the ones making excuses for Smith and saying Keanu lacks consistency will disappear. He has been nothing but consistent, but as I said again on late last week, there is something Craig “doesn’t like” about Keanu, because despite the data (which is considerable: BPM 7.1 not including this game), Craig just won’t play him the 30 min a game that he should.

[Utopia]

I for one have been harping on the Dawes situation since mid-Dec. I’ve been high on Dawes since the beginning of the season, so I noticed when his minutes suddenly plummeted in Dec. I pointed out his DNPs following the Radford and Iowa games and have continually questioned and been critical of his erratic playing time considering his consistent productivity.

[Minnesota Ute]

I’d have to go back and look to see when I first started ramping up my criticism, but I believe it was around the BYU/Houston games because he had good minutes and put up solid numbers in victories over OSU and TCU, only to fall off the map against BYU. Anyway, regardless of when it started, it’s beyond ridiculous now.

Keanu’s BPM for WV game was 24.3, and he had the highest Defensive rating and the second highest Offensive rating. His line is insane, 4/7 52%; 2/4 from 2, and 2 of 3 from 3pt; 4/5 from line, 11 rebounds (which by the way was double anyone else) along with 1 asst and 1 steal to go with just one turnover; 14 points in all.

And yet he played just 22 min to Ezra’s 21 (BPM 2.1), Lawson’s 19 (BPM -6.5), and Keller’s 15 (BPM -5).

Keanu now has a team leading BPM of 8.0, Mason is effectively in second with 5.1, then Jake with 4.8, Lawson with 4.1, Mike with 3.8, and then Miro, Ezra, & Gabe at 2.8 2.5 & 2.3 respectively (toss up).

So, to me, I don’t see how you don’t trust the numbers and make those five your starters playing most of the game, then off the bench take your pick of one of the last three according to matchups or hot hand. Erickson could see some spot time (at least his BPM at 1.3 is positive) and Keller/Lohner (who was in street clothes I noticed) really shouldn’t see the floor.

[Utah#1]

I am past my criticism of the Utah MBB head coach Craig Smith. The issues with the team is his responsibility, period! No experienced D1 MBB coach should be trying to figure out how to coach his team whose going on four years now with Utah. His inept coaching is inexcusable! His former school school’s MBB coach is doing an excellent job coaching his team with the limited resources they have but has fielded a winning team and probably created a winning culture. Craig Smith has had his opportunity, but isn’t getting it done.

[Author]

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