Minnesota Ute

If I have one concern, it is his humility. Maybe in the NIL era, that actually will play better. But it certainly seems like many successful NCAA coaches have pretty big egos, at least in the past. That said, I see a good number of successful coaches at the NBA level that seem more quiet and humble. From my perspective, this is the difference…[Read more]

I often wonder what all those players would have been and become without RM though. Not saying they wouldn’t, but I do wonder.

Isn’t that an interesting irony…

On one hand, kid was struggling to get off the bench for Craig.

On the other hand, he is pretty much in our top 3, if not our top guy, that we want to retain for next year and will be getting significant offers from other programs.

Maybe Craig was just stupid?

Sorry, but it doesn’t appear to be correct in any meaningful sense that I can see.

He has the lowest (good) defensive rating on the team and it’s not even close. He is 98.9, and next closest is Miro at 102.1, Ezra is down at 103.5.

He has the highest defensive rebounding rating at 13.8, and again it’s not even close. Next one on the ist is…[Read more]

I wonder if the current NIL era is actually better for folks with NBA chops than it was back when we brough in Boylen from the Bucks. I have heard many commentators talk about how NCAA teams will be run much more like professional franchises in the go forward, with a GM type making player decisions around money in consultation with the head…[Read more]

Help yourself to a larger dose of frustration, link below. To me, there is no excuse for his not playing more. Hell, he doesn’t even strike me as a player that has off court issues, as he seems to be the very “lunch pail” type player that works just as hard off the court as he does on it. He doesn’t seem to have a temper or a bad attitude, just…[Read more]

I’ve never understood the blind spot. I’ve relayed on this board many times how that touched my family with my son’s high school career. Coincidentally, when I saw Robbie Benson in last week’s episode of Severance, it reminded me of the movie One on One a 1977 classic basketball movie where the dickhead college coach essentially blackballs Henry…[Read more]

Uh, not so fast…

You know what changed? Keanu played 26 minutes which was the most he’s played all season. What did he do with that opportunity? 6 of 8 shooting (75%) including 1 of 2 from 3pt; 100% from the ft line 5 for 5; 10 rebounds including 2 offensive; 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 18 points. Game Score of 18.2 (almost double the…[Read more]

Interesting point about Larry being bitter over losing players to cheating programs. I never considered that, but I could see it. You bust your ass sweet talking and sucking up the kid and the parents, you are already fighting a difficult battle to try to get kids to want to come to Utah, then you lose out because some crooked program drops some…[Read more]

Yeah, I think that’s correct. With NIL system and the transfer portal, it’s essentially unlimited free agency every year without contracts. So you almost need to think about it that way and manage it as a business. Which is another place I think Craig went wrong, you have to treat the players like adults at a minimum, if not outright…[Read more]

I’m not one that wants to die on that hill. All I’ll say is that from my perspective, I thought Larry was a shitty X’s & O’s coach. Too many times we just looked lost on end of play situations, in-game adjustments were minimal, and rarely did we get good looks off of inbound plays. From what I’ve seen, it seemed like Smith did a better job in…[Read more]

I dare say that parts of my anatomy respond favorably to that idea…

And I would be the mid-manager pulling you aside after the meeting and saying “we all know John is a fucking idiot, just nod along and we’ll get together later and talk about what we actually need to do”

Someone else brought up a good point that as a job at a state university, they have to create the vacancy (aka fire smith) then post the position and interview applicants that are qualified. There may be some EEOC boxes to check as well. I’m not sure how true that is or what the requirements are exactly, but that sounds like it could be the…[Read more]

It’s like fingernails on a chalk board to me. I had an asshole of a boss that came from that milieu and that was his goto when he was pontificating about something especially when it was clear to everyone in the room that he didn’t understand shit. Inside everyone just died a little every time he said “right?” when he clearly was wrong but…[Read more]

Thanks for the answer, but I’m not gonna lie, that is something concrete I will hold against Harlan. I miss Jimmy and I dare say the program also misses him. Maybe with the right hire, he can patch up some of those relationships.

I wish I would stop hearing about Richard Pitino, he is not a good coach.

By him saying that, I had to conclude that this is already a done deal. Otherwise why go out on that limb dragging the rest of the program with him.

The last thing a prospective new coach wants to hear is a Utah legend saying in essence, any hire that isn’t Alex is a disappointment and will fail. He also was highly critical of Craig for not…[Read more]