Coach Smith

[Rick]

Can anyone on here sell me on Coach Smith? His team plays soft. They are not physical. They are largely poor shooters. They are not aggressive on the boards. He has yet to prove he can recruit top notch players. So sell me on him. I just don’t see it. I am not one to usually compare coaches but compared to Larry, I think Smith was a downgrade. Larry put three guys into the NBA who are significant contributors to their respective teams. Larry’s teams early on progressed each season and didn’t fizzle down the stretch.

I want Smith to do well. I want him to bring our program back into the levels of respect we were getting in Larry’s good years, but I am just not seeing it. I am also not seeing nor hearing any recruiting pipeline buzz that would give me some positive hopes for next season and if Brandon (a Larry recruit) decides to enter the draft, this team will stink on ice next year.

So someone please give me some glimmer of hope here! Thanks!

[chinngiskhaan]

Ugh… Seriously?

This team is ahead of schedule. That much is obvious. We took pretty much the exact roster we had last year and won 6 more games (all of those extra wins came in conference, not because of a terrible OOC schedule).

Worster, Madsen, Carlson and Stefanovic all showed clear improvement from last year. Carlson and Madsen in particular have improved. One look at those two is all you need to see how much this staff has helped them improve. Carlson, who seemingly could not put on useful weight prior to this year, looks like a different person.

Smith has proven, at USU and here at the UofU that he knows how to help his guys improve. What remains to be seen is whether or not he can recruit.

If everyone with eligibility stays, and we can find a replacement for Anthony, I think we could be a tourney team next year. This season was a success even if it ended horribly. We had injuries to two of our most reliable shooters, and things went south from there. I don’t think that is Smith’s fault.

[Rick]

Ugh?  Did you watch that game last night?  Or any of the games the past two months?  Clearly you have much lower expectations than I have for this program if what you have witnessed the past two months is “progress” and “ahead of schedule” whatever “schedule” means.  

The word “if” permeates your entire repsonse.  So you didn’t answer my question at all.  What do you see in the  foreseable future that this team will be better than this dumpster fire that just ended?  Recruits?  Returning TRULY impactful players?  

[RedRocks]

A 17-15 record is a dumpster fire? Sure it is not great, but could we really expect more? It’s not like we are living in 1998 or something…

[Rick]

6 of those 17 wins were complete gimmies.  Going 2-7 from the first of February to close out the season is a dumpster fire in my book.  You can say “injuries” but then that exposes your issues in recruiting because you  have zero bench strength.  In the modern day of basketball you should be able to turn around a roster much faster than you could 10 years ago.  I just really didn’t see it much this year, especially when it mattered the most down the stretch run and I do not see it in our recruiting pipeline.  If you do, please enlighten me.

[Ute Dub]

His starting backcourt was out the second half of the season and trying to work their way back. There you go!

[Rick]

So he had them back the last two games and they were arguably their worst of the stretch.  Also, it reveals an overall lack of depth which cannot be argued.  

[dystopiamembrane]

2018–19	Craig Smith	15–3 (MWC)	28–6	MWC Champion	NCAA, First Round
2019–20	Craig Smith	12–6 (MWC)	26–8	MWC Champion	NCAA (tournament cancelled)
2020–21	Craig Smith	15–4 (MWC)	20–9	MWC Runner-up	NCAA, First Round

[UtesRule]

It’s simple…BIG TIME LACK OF TALENT!

[Rick]

That is what I am seeing too and nothing much on the horizon.

[chinngiskhaan]

If he is able to get any real talent here, Smith will do exceedingly well. I don’t remember ever seeing a team with the same group of guys improve this much from one year to the next. Even if we didn’t add anyone else, I’m confident Smith would get more than 20 wins next year with the same group of guys (assuming we replaced Marco Anthony with a similar player).

If Carlson stays he’ll be better, the other Carlson will be better, Stef will be better, Madsen will be better, Worster will be better, Keita will be better… This team will be better next year if Carlson decides to stay.

[Minnesota Ute]

Biggest concern to me are the dry spells where guys just aren’t hitting shots.  There are a lot of things that I can lay off to coaching, but hitting open shots and making difficult shots are often the key to winning. I’m not entirely sure how much a coaching staff can do to help players make shots.  I feel like their shot selection was on average better and they didn’t seem constantly lost on offense as the team always seemed to under Krystko. 

I was underwhelmed by the close to the season.  When I was expecting them to peak, they collapsed. Of course this was also often the case with Larry’s teams. And I beg to differ with the year over year improvement under Larry, in fact that was my biggest complaint. Certain players would get better which I attributed to minutes and reps, but in looking at the NBA careers that Delon, Yakob, and Kuz have put together, it’s hard for me not to feel like they underperformed in college. And of course it’s tough to improve year over year when the roster was a revolving door. 

Bottom line, I believe in Craig as a coach, because I see a system that with the right players could dominate.  But he needs some players in order to get the shooting percentage and turnovers under control so that can happen. So I’m firmly in the camp of ‘can he recruit’. 

Side not of my one nagging complaint, I do wish he could at least get his team making free throws.  Missing an unguarded shot from 14 feet away is just leaving money on the table.  Not sure how Maj did it, but his teams were almost always among the top in the nation at FT %.  I’m tired of not seeing that.  I believe we could have had at least 2 more wins if we made FT.  

[Rick]

If you take the early years of Larry vs. the early years of Smith, Larry’s teams did NOT implode the last two months of the season:

He went 6-25, 15-18, 21-12, 26-9, 27-9, 20-12 and 23-12 before his decline.  Larry inhereted a MUCH worse team in his first year than Smith did as well.  

All that said, I like Smith and want him to do well but all I see and hear are hopes of what is possible with a lot of “ifs” that have to happen in order for the possible to be realized and I don’t see many of those “ifs” on the horizon.  

 

[The Miami Ute]

I know it’s just a gut feeling but I’m starting to get the impression that Smith is a shorter, nicer, and balder version of Coach K. I know it’s only his second season but I’ve been seeing a lot of the same crap I saw in the last few years of Coach K’s regime. I’m talking about a disjointed offense, this even when Worsted and Madsen were available, lack of rebounding, mediocre free throw shooting, etc…and like a lot of people here, I see nothing in the horizon that’s going to change that. Is Smith going to be able to recruit a Delon Wright or Jakob Poetl or Kyle Kuzma? I’ll believe that when I see it.

I said when he was hired that, unimpressed though I was, I’d give him three full seasons to turn around the program. If next year we’re still looking at 17-15 or worse, then it’s time to thank him for his efforts and hand the keys to someone else. Why? Because it doesn’t take geologic time to turn around a basketball program if you know what you’re doing and have the proper connections. As I said in another post, Cronin was handed an absolute dumpster fire left by Alford at UCLA and he turned them around in his inaugural season.

Lastly, it’s obvious to me that a lot of folks supporting Smith on this site are victims of “battered fan syndrome.”. That’s the only explanation I can give for anyone being satisfied with the way this season went and calling it “progress.”. Folks, it’s not how you start that’s important but how you end…and history will show that this 22-23 team ended the season playing some of the worst P5 basketball in the country.

[The Miami Ute]

There are A LOT of people wearing Crimson-colored eyeglasses when it comes to the current state of the Men’s basketball program. I’ll gladly eat crow if Smith overperforms next season and takes the Utes dancing but I wonder what excuse people will come up if the results end up being mediocre.

[EagleMountainUte]

I think your opinions are valid. But we all are very very very biased being fans of the program. The absolute quit in the team to end the season.

[palos_verdes_ute]

My biggest concern with coach smith is the recruiting.    Whatever he does on the court with these kids should be given 3-4 season.  But recruiting is the lifeline of the program and it’s a transparent process. We have no one in the pipeline and it’s clear that the transfer portal is going to be big .  The players he had coming in are all MWC type caliber players.  2 of our starters that are productive are from Larry.  It’s quite dismal.

[SOWhat]

Palos, you said we have no one in the pipeline, how do you know that? Good coaches don’t , or can’t, advertise or comment on who is being recruited. The signing period starts in a few weeks, after that we will know who was in the pipeline and can comment accordingly.

[Charlie]

Last night’s game was disappointing to say the least. But there is more to understand than just the losing streak at the end of the season. You can not compare Smith’s first two years to any other coach’s first two. Now and going forward with the portal new coaches will often start over like never before. The team can just leave which made Smith start from rock bottom. You might note that Arizona did not experience the bottom, why Utah. I went to both schools, follow both schools and understand the two programs are not at all in the same place. Utah’s program was not developed to the point of not hitting the oil pan on that pothole while Arizona’s development took them over the pothole.

Smith has been putting together a team but he is not there yet. Not together enough to lose 2 starting guards and keep moving. If Baxter would have been anything like what he was when he lead the Y over us last year that would have been a great help. Injuries happen but when you have 3 on a building team also short 1 scholarship player, it can be too much. Madsen was half back at best and Worster was much less. If Smith can bring in as many good faces as last year again I can track with his plan.

I have my frustrations with things I don’t understand like Anthony’s inconsistency with lack of senior improvement or the lack of playing time for Saunders. But there is so much I like about Smith’s approach. He is the only coach since Rick that I enjoyed hearing the details related to his approach. I didn’t track will with the 3 coaches between Rick and Craig, loved Rick, liked all the previous coaches back to Jack that I also loved. I know it isn’t as simple as ring up the next guy to find one like Rick or Jack, Craig simply feels to be like a better possibility than so many before him, I think he can match Jerry with a chance to do more. That would be good.

As you compare years, consider maybe the Pac is much better this year than most since we arrived. Going into the tournament, I thought Stanford and WSU were much much better than most think. This year we ended up with 10 good teams and only 2 that are easy to dispatch in the end. I need to give Craig more credit and more time.

[The Miami Ute]

What are your thoughts on Smith if next year is similar, or worse, to this one? One more year? That would almost take you through the end of his contract, unless he gets extended. I shudder to think what this team will look like next year if Carlson takes his 16 PPG and 8 RPG to a professional league. The Utes might give Cal a run for its money for the cellar spot in the PAC.

[Charlie]

Well, it depends.  I know I would have a rough time with a year going backwards.  He keeps progressing and has his arrow pointing up I have more years to give him but want to keep taking the next step.  Craig does little talking about recruits so we will need to wait to see what happens there.  I also think Burgess is an excellent assistant.  I am hoping you see his fingerprints on the next class which is his first cycle of recruiting.  The next class will impact my thinking a lot.  I think Chandler is still out a year but when he comes home it is now legal for Utah to entice him like the Y did.

Be careful with such a short leash.  I had a close friend that was anxious thru Whitt’s first couple of years.  New to the Pac he had losing records in ’12 and ’13 and he was done with Whitt.  But now look at how many big time names have cycled thru the Pac (many wanted by my friend) and moved on without a championship and here is Whitt sitting at the top.  And most schools in the Pac have more resources and pull than Utah does.  Yes you can improve with a new coach but look at all the times other Pac schools have reset coaches and moved down not up.  Look how hard it is for UCLA to match Whitt even though many would have traded for their new coach every time.

And I agree, if Carlson moves on we have a huge hole to fill, however, rest assured that will not make us look like Cal.  What I want to see is Miller or Bogut get involved with the team but that is more dreaming than a better HC.

[AZUTE]

Miller is Coaching in the G league and AB is on a beach in Australia enjoying his millions.

In retrospect if you wanted an ex player to get involved in the program it should’ve been Alex Jensen as HC

[AZUTE]

He got a lot out of team with only one real Pac12 player/starter

He needs to prove he can recruit better talent.

Lazar and Ben Carlson cannot be starters next season. They are at best bench rotation guys with their talent levels.

Worster is nothing more than a game manager at PG. he’s not gonna make mistakes but at the same time he’s not gonna make a lot of plays.

The roster is to be determined. Can they convince Br Carlson to return? There will undoubtedly be transfers it’s just the nature of CBB today.

[Rick]

That line of thinking works fine in the pre-portal transfer days but not in today’s world of college basketball.  A good coach and recruiter can rebuild a program much faster now than durting the pre-portal days.  Who’s fault is it that we only have 1 PAC 12 player?  Also, that one PAC 12 player was not even a Smith recruit.  

[fosternano]

I really dislike the “next year is our year” mentality. Put simply, it doesn’t work very well in current NCAA guidelines.

There are great coaches out there that recruit well and have immediate success.

I’m also a big Texas tech fan and seeing what Chris Beard did there right away was incredible.

If I had a choice to drop Smith right now for Beard or Mark Adams I would do so in a heartbeat. Chalk it up as both coaches learning not to do stupid stuff and Utah becomes a top 25 team overnight.

[Ute2]

I reckon anybody dogging on Smith has some severe amnesia and isn’t all that realistic.

1.  Literally everyone left when K was canned except Carlson.  Total rebuild.  I’m not sure how you can expect Smith to build a deep roster so quickly.  Our roster composition is way out of whack this year with 2 centers and 12 guards because Smith had like half a cycle to recruit.  And we still won a bunch.

2.  That said you’re sleeping on his recruiting.  Wins include Madsen, Keita, Lazar.  I think we’ll really like Exacte when all is said and done.  If Hoyt sticks around I think he’ll pan out.  Saunders obviously can play even though Saunders just wanted to do what Saundees wants to do rather than get with the program.

3.  We were picked tenth in conference and spent most of the year on the bubble.  That’s solid.

Let’s get real and enjoy the journey.  Smith is doing fabulous work!

[The Miami Ute]

I couldn’t disagree more strongly with you. No, Smith is not doing “fabulous work.”. If Smith was doing that, he would have had a winning record last year and made it to the NCAAs this year. In fact, what Smith is doing is eerily similar to what K did his first two years in Utah with the absolute guarantee that there isn’t a Wright, Poetl, or Kuzma around the corner.

I don’t dislike Smith at all and want him to succeed but I’m starting to have doubts about his recruiting prowess as I don’t see a single player in the roster, with the exception of Carlson and Saunders, who are anything more than just a guy. You mention guys like Stefanovic and Exacte but neither one of those players is special at all. Exacte couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo and Stefanovic is slow, an inconsistent shooter, and commits way too many turnovers.

As I said in a previous post, next year will be the tell. If the team regresses, then we’ll have definite proof that Smith probably won’t succeed in Utah.

[Ute2]

Ya know… in what world is going from 10 to 17 wins bad?  In what world is going from an after-thought 1 season to being on the bubble most of the next year bad work?

Yeah… the end-year-slide was brutal.  Injuries suck and sometimes they’re the story.  In the rose bowl we were tied with the ball 1st&10 in PSU territory when our qb blew out his ACL.  Then the game changed.  Does that mean KWitt isn’t up to snuff?  Madsen suffered a high-ankle which was devistating to our offense.  It’s ok to say it.

The bar this year, preseason, was to take a step forward and improve. Unless you’re suffering from recency bias.  

Smith clearly did that.  And then some.  Mission accomplished.  We beat an elite team.  We played great contests against a few others.  We were a factor in the conference.  

Sure.  Smith needs to take another step next year.  Stay on the bubble.  Maybe make the tourney.  Or at least a tourney.  But today, let’s give credit where credit is due to a guy that inarguably exceeded expectations this year.

[The Miami Ute]

You’ve got your views and I’ve got mine. My view is that the way the current roster is constituted, their reality is closer to the last two months of the season than the early part of the year. It almost feels like they’ve been found out and cannot adjust to what the opponents throw at them. In addition, I just don’t see any difference-makers on the team with the exception of Braden and Saunders, and Saunders would be crazy to stay at Utah given the confluence of his talent and lack of playing time. I can’t remember who it was on this board but I remember someone mentioning that Smith’s recruiting MO is to go after one blue-chip player extremely hard with little backup if that tactic fails. Whatever the case, it’s an indictment on Smith that the best player on the team, by far, is someone he didn’t recruit and only stayed with the program because he’s a local.

[Ute2]

You’re moving the goal posts on coach because we sniffed some success this year.

starting the year we were picked 10th and weren’t expected to sniff the tourney.  We finished 7th and we’re a bubble team for much of the year.  And because of that you think we should be at some level that NOBODY expected going into the year.

Gimme 7 win improvement any day of the week.

the roster this year is much improved from last year.  This is a rebuild after all.  I’ll be happy with the incremental progress. 

and I’ll congratulate coach on a great year rather than indict him because some blue chips didn’t want to join a 10 win team.  They’ll be a lot more apt to join a 17 win team though.  📈

[The Miami Ute]

and I’ll congratulate coach on a great year rather than indict him because some blue chips didn’t want to join a 10 win team. They’ll be a lot more apt to join a 17 win team though. 📈

You got any names? Because otherwise it’s all conjecture on your part. I haven’t read anything, and I mean zilch, about Smith having any talent in the pipeline.

[Ute2]

It’s college basketball in the era of the transfer portal.  100s(maybe even thousands) of players are about to hit the portal.  So sure it’s conjecture until that process heats up. 

[SOWhat]

Having read the many diverse posts about coach Smith I have noticed that there were no comments on the way the team played defense. I was very impressed with the way coach Smith had them playing defense. It’s much harder to play good defense than to play good offense. You can teach the team offensive plays but you can’t shoot the ball for them. The team fought hard but ran out of gas after losing two starters in the last month of the season. That is the result of the lack of depth. Lack of depth is a result of a very short recruiting period in his first year and trying to catch up in his second. As I said in a previous post, the said spring signing period starts in mid April and lasts until the end of May, if I remember correctly. Let’s see what happens.

[Author]

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