In the portal but on the floor

[WasatchRanger]

The Running Utes are playing Butler in the first round of the Crown Basketball tournament. It’s weird to see how many guys who are in the transfer portal (or in the case of Madsen, out of eligibility) playing big minutes.

ESPN Gamecast

I realize the portal guys are probably playing because of the NIL payout this tournament promises, but it still feels strange.

EDIT: Spelling.

[AlohaUte]

I think this is the reality of college sports now. I mean the portal is open while games are still going on. With the % of players who will enter the portal (not all will leave), if you don’t let any of them play you aren’t going to be able to field a team.

Keep in mind, some of these guys may return to the U. In many respects it’s a negotiating tactic for money. There is unlimited free agency out there now, entering the portal may be just a way to see what you are worth on the open market and negotiate with Utah.

[UTE98]

What’s up with Zach Keller? Quietly got 8 points, 3-3, and 2-2 from 3pt range. He’s a local kid and I think he has potential, was Smith just not the right coach for him? Or is he just getting lucky?

If he sticks around I think AJ can make something out of him.

[The Miami Ute]

Someone posted here recently that Miro Little, at $500K, had the highest NIL payout of any current Ute. If so, wow…never has so much been ventured for so little return. Well, maybe Rising’s last two seasons are up there as well, but at least he had a massive body of work backing him up.

[Holladay Ute]

Miro Little was horrible. Example from today: We had a solid double-digit lead. Butler starts to make a run and gains some momentum. I think they cut the lead to mid/high single-digits. We are inbounding the ball from the sideline. They pressure our inbound. And he makes zero effort to get open. Instead, he tries to body up against a bigger guard and expects our guy to throw it over the defender. Naturally, they steal it for a breakaway and get 2 points out of it. Terrible.

He was a low IQ basketball player. And he definitely wasn’t a guy that hustled either. Didn’t impact the offensive side of the ball much, if ever, even though he had some skills we occasionally could (but didn’t often) exploit. And he was a poor defender. Undersized. Goodbye. I hope I never see him again.

[The Miami Ute]

His play in the last minute of the game would have seen him cut immediately if he was a pro…his airball with the game tied and 20+ seconds left in the game was a microcosm of his soon-to-be short career at Utah.

[TomahawkCruise]

And that was only like an 8-foot shot. It’s kind of amazing how professional players can air ball a shot that close. I think any one of us in the forum could have come closer in that spot.

[TomahawkCruise]

That was the exact moment I felt a colossal choke coming on.

Just before that, Madsen got the technical foul and gave them 2 free points. Then the Butler coach kind of distracted everything by double checking with the refs that they, not Utah, should be getting the ball after the technical. He knew it was Utah’s, but he did it to see what would happen. Then it showed Dawes kind of smiling and speaking to Matta about the move. A few seconds later, he throws into a stationary Little and they get the steal.

At that very moment I was seeing two different vibes from both teams. Butler was playing hard and doing everything they could to grab momentum. Utah, on the other hand, seemed to be playing loose and casual and with no urgency. From there, things started to snowball and Utah folded with another one of their famous scoring droughts, allowing Butler to go on a 10-0 run and tie the game.

I think the coaching was terrible today, as it has been virtually all season, and Little continued to show that he’s got a lot of improvement to do.

[Holladay Ute]

I am so done w/ this team. I hope I can forget all the low quality basketball I watched this year. I’m so excited for Alex Jensen to clean house and get us back to gritty fundamental basketball. Good riddance to the lack of fundamentals, the inconsistency, the complete absence of grit, the constant underachieving, losing to teams we should beat, etc.

I’d be happy to see Ausar, Dawes, and Wahlin back next year. I think those guys can be winners. Everybody else, please leave.

[TomahawkCruise]

Yeah that’s how I felt after the game too. I’m ready to flush this season.

If you have a double digit lead with 13 mins left in the game, you should win the game 1000 out of 1000 times, period. To lose from that position is inexcusable, and we saw Utah do that multiple times this year.

The reason we went into scoring funks every single game is because our coaches don’t know how to adjust when the other team starts to figure us out.

[Holladay Ute]

If we gave up the lead to a team like Florida (which TT just did), it’s more understandable. Against a below average team (they weren’t even a 0.500 team) in a below average conference (the Big East didn’t even have a Sweet 16 team)?!

[The Miami Ute]

Butler was a bad team in a G5 conference and Utah still lost to them in a neutral (but favorable to Utah) venue. Makes you wonder how this Utah team ever won any conference games at all. Seeing as almost all of their conference victories took place at the JHC, I tend to think that altitude had something major to do with it. The only exception to that victory narrative was the victory versus BYU but that was a rivalry game, which is a completely different dynamic.

[D T]

The Big East is considered a Power conference.

[TomahawkCruise]

Not only that, Butler was without its best player.

There was absolutely positively no excuse for losing to a team like that – ESPECIALLY after maintaining a solid lead all game long and then being up double digits in the last 13 minutes.

Several times when we were up 10 or 11 points we got stops on the other end and had multiple opportunities to build the lead even bigger (which is what good teams do), and we wasted every one of them to either a bad shot or a turnover. I can remember one of those times, they threw it into the paint to a wide open Keller for what should’ve been an easy uncontested dunk. Instead, Keller fumbled the ball out of bounds. That was just one of many chances to build on that lead that we p**sed away.

Put ANY halfway decent team in Utah’s position yesterday at the 13 minute mark (like say WV, Iowa State, Baylor, or BYU) and every single one of them would have turned that into a win. In fact, I’d bet that most or all of those teams would have won with a 20+ point margin by the final buzzer.

Not a single one of them would have blown it and lost the game. Yes, probably a few of them would have endured a Butler run like Utah did, but I think all of them would have stopped the bleeding and got back on track.

This year, Utah had a miserable habit of taking their foot off the gas when they were in a comfortable position, and completely lacking urgency when they needed it. That is one of myriad examples of the bad coaching we had this season.

[Trailgoat]

Man, cleaning house might be the right move for AJ, coaches included. Plenty of players in the portal as good and better than what’s left over. The entire program needs a reset.

[D T]

Bring back KD/JW & possibly EA, but nobody else….Blow it up & clean house beyond these 2-3.

Great news is we’re already hosting recruits.

[Fred]

That was just pathetic effort in the 2nd half. I know there’s a lot of pro-Dawes sentiment and rightfully so as far as scoring and rebounding, but if AJ ball is going to be centered on defense, he won’t get any more minutes than what he was getting from Smith. I’m curious to see what AJ can do with Dawes, Ausar and perhaps Wahling but there aren’t any more BIG 12 players worth keeping.

[Minnesota Ute]

RE Dawes, I work so haven’t watched game yet, so I’ll reserve judgement on today’s performance. But on the season, his defensive rating was quite high, in fact highest on the team per 100 possessions. Couple that with his outstanding rebounding, and I don’t think you can point at that for his lack of minutes. In fact, rebounding being 75% effort and 25% technique, I would think with the right coaching, he could be an excellent defensive stopper because if his D is bad, it’s not for lack of effort.

[Holladay Ute]

I didn’t pay enough attention to Dawes’ defense throughout the year, but I agree w/ your assessment on his defense in the Butler game today. It lacked focus and intensity (i.e. effort). It seems like he’s athletic enough and has the body to be a great defender and a monster rebounder, right?

[Yergensen]

Would you have limited Van Horn’s minutes? KVH was a warm body defensively. Seems a bit like cutting off nose to spite face.

KD was tops on the team all year in bpm or +\-. We outscored the competition the most with KD on the floor, both sides of it.

Can’t deny his scoring. Can’t deny his rebounding. Question his defense or defensive effort all you want. KD on the floor gave us the best chance to win games all year and that’s what matters.

[Fred]

First off, KD is no KVH, which I doubt you were inferring. All I’m saying is if we want to compete in the Big 12 we need guys that can do what KD does AND play defense. Take a look at all the teams that were in the Sweet 16. With very, very few exceptions their lineups were filled with defensive tigers. And, for the record, I did say that I am curious as to what AJ can get out of him and I do hope we keep him.

[Utegator]

Honestly, I’m shocked at how many of you can continue to care about basketball. It’s pretty obvious that they are in the portal in an attempt to get more money. Whether or not if they want to leave, their motivation is money. Agree or disagree. I gave up on the NBA 2 years ago for the same reasons

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Utegator this was once a competitive basketball program. The Huntsman center was packed and the teams played hard and smart. The portal and NIL has become a money grab. If you don’t like your pay check or role leave. Can’t blame the players for going after a bigger pay day and playing time.

It’s sad college sports has now become professional. If you think the fans have it bad. Look at the donors who pay the players millions of dollars on a year to year basis with little or no return on their investment. Constant pressure to give more so we can get an 18 year old entitled athlete to play one year.

[TomahawkCruise]

The NIL/portal system will equalize soon and there will be more structure.

In the meantime, I have no contempt whatsoever for players who are trying to maximize what they can get in the small window of time they have to get it. The market forces working to take players from Utah will also benefit by bringing players to Utah. And if Utah is committed to being competitive, which they clearly are, they will have plenty of opportunities to be relevant again.

[TomahawkCruise]

I care about basketball because I love the game and I love my school. Which means I have a vested interest in watching them play. I’m not a fairweather fan who only bothers to show his face when the team is good. There are already way too many of those types in the Utah base.

If the football team continued to struggle like they did last year, would you give up on them too? Because it sounds like you are only a fan for Utah teams that win.

[Minnesota Ute]

The whole latter part of this thread is patently ridiculous.
KD’s BPM for the game was 14.2, highest on the team for the day. His Game Score was 20.5, which was nearly double the next highest who were Lawson and Ezra at 11. His Defensive rating was the lowest (good) at 113, and his offensive rating was second highest at 166. He was 4 of 5 from 2 and 1 of 1 from 3, and 8 of 9 from the line. He had 11 rebounds including 3 offensive, 1 block, 1 steal, and 1 assist to 2 turnovers.

Every single one of you doubters can bag off. Dude is a cold blooded stud that is probably going to leave because Craig is a moron. Period.

[utefansince79]

Really hope Alex (with help of NIL $$$$) can encourage Dawes to stay. Unfortunate that for some reason former Coach Smith didn’t give him the consistent minutes he deserved.

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