Basketball was played, part IX

[GameForAnyFuss]

Weird game at the Hunty tonight…very open game against an opponent that was pretty wild on both ends of the floor. Utah won 81-63 to move to 7-2. Radford falls to 9-3. Hunter Erickson had a career high 18 on 5/7 shooting.

On the flip side, I got my first look at Lohner. He’s a big body and a load down low, but he seems to not actually be too good at basketball. His wheelhouse appears to be finishing contested dunks and that’s about it. Also, the story of Mongol Mike will someday rival D.B. Cooper as the most mysterious disappearing act in American history. He started, played about two minutes, and never returned. He didn’t even start the second half, where starting your same starting lineup is pretty much an unwritten rule in basketball. He had a bad turnover, and that appeared to be enough for Craig to give him the hook. Not sure what’s going on there.

Go Utes!

[Kellso]

Last game Lohner played well. He hedges very well on screens, move his feet well and adds toughness to the lineup. He might need a few games to mesh.

[nothavingit]

[The Miami Ute]

Mike might not last the whole season. And what I mean by that is that at this rate, he might be gone before the season ends. It really looks like he lacks the physicality to play a P4 schedule.

[Utopia]

Really disappointing trajectory. Had such a great start to the season and was growing as a fan favorite, then his play basically fell off a cliff in a matter of a few games. I predicted athleticism and physicality were going to be the challenge for him, but I didn’t think he would become completely irrelevant.

[Utopia]

I didn’t see the game but noticed in the boxscore that Dawes didn’t play. He only played 4 min each of the two previous games after averaging about 20 min in the first six games and being pretty productive (10pts/8reb) despite being a little “raw”. I wonder what’s going on with him; haven’t heard anything about an injury. I was pretty high on his potential and certainly think he would be a more capable player than Whalin, who continues to get steady minutes even with the additions of Lovering, Keller, Lohner.

Ausar’s minutes are also declining, which is understandable. He is undersized and underskilled, especially compared to P4 competition. Of all the transfer newcomers, it seems only Little is going to be a significant contributor. Early season looked somewhat promising, but I don’t like how things are trending lately. I fear it could get really ugly come conference schedule.

[nothavingit]

[Utopia]

I haven’t seen anything impressive whatsoever about Keller (also a newcomer), but he is also getting playing time over Dawes. It doesn’t make sense when only judging performance and potential.

[GameForAnyFuss]

I think Dawes is simply a freshman who is a victim of the fact that the two centers both returned from injury at the same time.

[Utopia]

Dawes is a newcomer, but he’s a sophomore who got decent playing time and was reasonably productive as a freshman. He looked pretty good in the first six games and was very productive in his minutes (10pts/8reb). He showed so much potential that I thought he could end up becoming our best frontcourt player this year. He was much more productive than Whalin and is physically much more suited for P4 competition. I just had a look at their stats and the difference is even more substantial than I thought. I was expecting Whalin to lose his minutes with the return/addition of the other frontcourt players, but he’s kept most of his minutes while Dawes has lost all of his minutes. I haven’t seen anything impressive whatsoever about Keller (also a newcomer), but he is getting playing time over Dawes. Based purely on performance, it doesn’t make sense. Something else must be going on for Dawes to be completely benched.

[nothavingit]

[AZUTE]

I don’t understand smith and his rotations at all. I predict 8-3 non conference record and the Big12 is gonna be brutal. I don’t see more than 6 or 7 conference wins and no post season which will result in the end of the Craig Smith era at Utah.

This is just kind of a lost year. There is no future of Utah basketball in any reasonable scenario that has Smith in it.

I think deep down he knows he’s a dead man coaching and that explains his rotations and substitution patterns

[Utopia]

Smith’s recruiting has been an abject failure. It’s clear he can’t recruit enough P4 level talent to be competitive. Madsen is currently our top scorer and he’s a very streaky one-dimensional player who would only be a third-option/complementary type player on a tourney team.

Lohner (not a Smith recruit), who is not in basketball shape and has had minimal pratice time with the team, has already outperformed most of the frontcourt in his first two games.

Smith is in his fourth year and the best player he has had was a Coach K holdover who Smith was lucky was a devout Ute. Can you imagine just how much worse the last few seasons would’ve been without Carlson?

[AZUTE]

It’s a broken record but no matter who Utah brings in to coach next season the university needs to up its nil game for basketball.

Right now nil budget for Bball is about 3 mil. It’s needs to be closer to 5 to even remotely compete with other big12 teams for national recruits.

[Utopia]

Certainly doesn’t seem like there is any reason to be optimistic about the hoops program rising from the dead. Basketball seems like an afterthought with football getting all of the attention now. Unless we find a hoops enthusiast benefactor to put some money into NIL (like TDS), the program seems destined to keep rotting in irrelevance.

[The Miami Ute]

Funny how Utah State is on its third head coach in three years and they still do well. Smith is the fruit of the poisoned tree. He never would have gotten the Utah job but for Harlan not wanting to be bothered and doing an actual coaching search. If you look at all of the teams that Utah has beaten this season, well, they’re teams that any P4 basketball school should be beating easily anyways. I predict that this team will finish either just over .500 for the season or just under it. I also predict that this record will be sold by the administration as part of the “acclimation process” to a new conference and we’ll have Craig with us once again when the 25-26 season rolls around.

[chinngiskhaan]

I don’t think anyone with a brain is expecting this team to do well in Big12 play. We would be a decent MWC team, thats about it.

[Utefanbybirthandchoice]

I have read Utehub for a while, and resisted posting. However, I cannot take it anymore. A few thoughts regarding men’s basketball and Mark Harlan. I really don’t get the hate for either. Harlan has done what an AD is supposed to do raise money and administrate a budget. His few hires have been solid. The athletic department as whole is as good as it has been in a really long time. He has raised funds to for a number of projects, not the least of which is getting a baseball stadium built. I for one was happy when he called out the big 12 officiating. As for basketball Larry K was a dumpster fire, Craig Smith inherited nothing. He has improved year over year and does not embarrass the program. I believe had Rolly not gotten hurt last year we would have been a tournament team. Rolly was a very good defender and made those around him better. DS was a me first player that only got assists when he dribbled himself into trouble looking for his own shot, and then had to use his athleticism to pass himself out of trouble. He has already been benched by Pitino this season for his me first attitude. As for the comments about Smith’s inability to recruit, Wahlin was a 4 star offered by everyone, Gabe Madsen and his brother could play anywhere. Mongolian Mike had numerous offers in the portal. The reason Whalin gets minutes is all the thing he does away from the ball. This team plays great D and that will keep them in most games. I’m willing to bet this team does 3 things if they stay healthy. They will split or sweep BYU, they will finish in the upper 1/2 of the big 12 ahead of byu, and they will make the tourney. Now if some of the whiners would show up to the games you might realize this team is fun to watch and invested in the program. My only concern is free Throw shooting and Mike’s health and if Daws is injured or ill as well. Watching them on the bench neither acts like a player in the doghouse, they are engaged and cheering on their team. One more thought I will take Micro Little over DS all day. Sorry for the long rant, I just think some of you want Smith and Harlan to fail so you can say I to,d you so.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m a season ticket holder and I’ve been one since I moved back to Utah in 2019. I attend all home games, no matter the competition unless I have some health issue. As such, I believe that I have an educated, though not expert, view of Utah basketball. I’m glad that you still have faith in Smith because I sure don’t. Maybe this team could be something if Smith could recruit like Coach K and still maintain his human touch. Where’s Smith’s Jakob Poetl? Where’s Smith’s Delon Wright? Where’s Smith’s Kyle Kuzma? Where’s Smith’s Timmy Allen? Where’s Smith’s Branden Carlson? I’ll tell you where, in some fantasy land.

The fact is that there isn’t one player on this roster that can compare with the best guys that K recruited or the rosters that he built. Gabe Madsen is a role player that has been elevated to a starring role because of the lack of overall talent and athleticism in this team. Again, I predict that this team will end up either just above .500 or just below it. And just because an athlete had some mythical star rating in high school doesn’t mean anything if the guy doesn’t produce consistently. At the end of the day, you are what your record says you are. Let’s hope that we don’t end up with another middle of the road record this season.

[Utefanbybirthandchoice]

I’ve been attending games since 1976, I’ve seen the good and the bad. Krysta could recruit talent, he rarely retained it. His best team made the sweet 16 because Delon Wright was great floor general. This team is better than last year, I wish BC had had Ausar to play off of. Whalin is a taller Alex Jensen and Miro Little is a guard that would start for most teams. I never saw Larry K’s team fight back from a big half time deficit like the Utes did against St. Mary’s. This team will keep fighting, and that is a sign of good character and good coaching. I’m going to enjoy watching them in the tourney this year.

[The Miami Ute]

You never saw Larry K’s team fight from a big halftime deficit like at the game vs Saint Mary’s? Give me a break…how about this 22 point comeback in the last 10 minutes of the game versus UCLA in 2019 at Pauley Pavilion. This is the best Utah comeback of ALL TIME.

Utah shocks UCLA with comeback win at buzzer | College Basketball Highlights

[J]

I agree. The team has been better than the previous past two years.

[utefansince79]

Team has had trouble playing 40 quality minutes. We let 2-9 Eastern Washington hang around far too long (had a dominant start getting up 16 before letting them back to within a basket or two, then a final push in the closing minutes put the Eagles away), and not showing up until after halftime cost us against the Gaels. After what should be a scrimmage tomorrow night (Florida A&M) we get a good neutral site test on Saturday (in South Dakota of all places) against the Hawkeyes.

After that very few easy games in a very challenging conference and it will take a full 40 minute effort to get many wins in our league.

[Author]

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