Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Where has the Mental Toughness Gone?

Utah's play last weekend concerned me. It is one thing to lose when the other team has a lot more talent. Or when the other team gets hot and can't miss, no matter how well you guard. But last weekend, the Utes showed a conspicuous lack of concentration and mental toughness.

Two statistics, one from each game, tell me that Utah's collective mind was not in either game last weekend. In the Stanford game, Stanford out-rebounded Utah 41-27. Rebounding is all about effort and concentration. Stanford was hungry and focused. I really do not know how to describe Utah's effort except to say it was weak on both ends of the floor.

In the Cal game, Utah had 15 turnovers in the first half, and 17 for the game. Many of them unforced. The two point guards, Dean and Taylor, combined for six. And Jordan Loveridge had six by himself. Cal did not do much to force these turnovers. Utah played sloppy, and it cost them the game.

Finally, in both games, Utah had break downs on defense that I have not seen this season.

I can not explain the lack of concentration for both games last weekend. Utah had a great opportunity to get some momentum after beating Washington in Seattle. Cal and Stanford are good, but not great, teams. Perhaps Bachynski's personal struggles reflect larger problems with team chemistry. Perhaps the kids are tired. Being a college basketball player is hard and maybe the kids have just hit the wall. Perhaps Coach Krystko is still learning how to manage that aspect of being a college coach. I do not have any inside knowledge and I have not observed any obvious problems. But for the first time in Coach Krystko's tenure, I did not perceive that Utah's players gave their best effort. And it happened two games in a row. And it happened after their best win in Pac 12 history.

Before the game, Stanford assistant Coach Mark Madsen commented to Bill Riley that his team was hungry. They had just been beaten by 21 points in Boulder. He stated that the loss motivated the Cardinal and he expected a good effort against the Utes. And Stanford played an excellent game against Utah. I am curious to see how Utah responds on Saturday against the Buffs. Will Utah be hungry and fight for a win? Or will Utah falter under the adversity it has faced? Losses can be deflating and 31 point losses in front of 3000 home fans can be devastating.

On Saturday afternoon, we'll see what the boys are made of.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Weekly Postseason Tracker

Conference RPI: #6

NCAAs:
Arizona (17-2, 5-2) | RPI: #4 | SOS: #4
Top-100 Wins: vs. Miami (Fla.) (3); vs. Florida (5); vs. Colorado (21); San Diego State (29); vs. Southern Miss (40); vs. UTEP (64); at Arizona State (58); vs. Oral Roberts (98)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
Arizona State (16-4, 5-2) | RPI: #58 | SOS: #95
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (21); vs. UCLA (32); Arkansas (94)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. DePaul (176)  
Oregon (18-2, 7-0) | RPI: #19 | SOS: #74
Top-100 Wins: vs. Arizona (4); at UNLV (17); at UCLA (32); vs. Nebraska (73); vs. Washington (74); vs. Arizona State (58)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
UCLA (16-5, 6-2) | RPI: #32 | SOS: #23
Top-100 Wins: at Arizona (4); at Colorado (21); vs. Missouri (25); vs. Indiana St. (50); vs. Stanford (75); vs. California (80)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Cal Poly (191)

NIT:

Colorado (14-6, 4-4) | RPI: #21 | SOS: #7
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado St. (23); Baylor (34); vs. Air Force (71); vs. Stanford (75); vs. California (80); Murray St. (96)
Sub-100 Losses: None.

CBI:
California (11-8, 3-4) | RPI: #80 | SOS: #65
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Stanford (12-8, 3-4) | RPI: #75 | SOS: #55
Top-100 Wins: vs. California (80); at Northwestern (88)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (130)

Washington (12-8, 4-3) | RPI: #74 | SOS: #50
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (21); vs. St. Louis (68); at Stanford (75); at California (80); vs. Seton Hall (93)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Nevada (138); at Oregon State (153); vs. Albany (159); vs. Utah (180)

OUT:
Oregon State (11-9, 1-6) | RPI: #153 | SOS: #98
Top-100 Wins: vs. New Mexico State (78)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (130); vs. Washington State (161); vs. Towson (190)  
USC (8-13, 3-5) | RPI: #130 | SOS: #14
Top-100 Wins: vs. Stanford (75)
Sub-100 Losses: at Georgia (147); vs. UC Irvine (189)
Utah (9-11, 1-7) | RPI: #180 | SOS: #73
Top-100 Wins: vs. Boise State (66); at Washington (74)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. USC (130); at Washington State (161); at SMU (183); vs. CS Northridge (219); vs. Sacramento State (260)

Washington State (11-9, 2-5) | RPI: #161 | SOS: #136
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: at Pepperdine (185)

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The last time we played Stanford ...

The last time we played Stanford, this happened:


Chris Hines is currently enjoying a successful season at Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference. He's the second-leading scorer for a team that just upset #17 Creighton on Wednesday. In that game, he had a modest 5 points, but he's averaging 9.6 on the year.

Moreover, it appears his game has become much more balanced. Last year, he led the team in field goal attempts, but was last in shooting percentage (among players with a meaningful number of attempts). But so far this year, his shooting percentage is up (39.8%, compared to 33% last year). Moreover, he's taking fewer shots (one shot every 3.5 minutes, compared to one shot per 3.07 minutes last year) while keeping his scoring average the exact same (9.6 ppg). There was a lot of pressure on him last year to lead a young team; I presume he's found a better role for himself at Drake.

So best of luck to Chris. He's a good guy, and provided some good memories for Ute fans over the years -- including the dagger against Stanford for the 58-57 win last season.

Week 13 TV Schedule

DateTime
MST
GameChannelComcast
Salt Lake
Dish
Jan. 30th8:00USC at UCLAPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 30th9:00Oregon at StanfordESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 31st7:00Arizona at WashingtonESPN668 (HD)140
Jan. 31st8:00Oregon State at CaliforniaESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 31st9:00Arizona State at Washington StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Feb. 2nd12:30Colorado at UtahRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Feb. 2nd2:30Oregon at CaliforniaRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Feb. 2nd7:00Arizona State at WashingtonESPNU755 (HD)141
Feb. 2nd8:00Arizona at Washington State Pac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Feb. 3rd1:00Oregon State at StanfordPac-12 Net757 (HD)413

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Utah hosts Cal Berkeley and Leland Stanford, Jr.

It's been a huge year for Bay Area sports. The Giants won the series, Stanford won the Rose Bowl and the Niners are in the Super Bowl. And Cal and Stanford are both currently ranked in the Top-10 for women's basketball.

And then there's men's basketball. Neither Cal or Stanford has been awful by any means; we've just come to expect more out of these two teams. Cal lost a large part of its NCAA tournament team from last year; Stanford last some key pieces of last year's NIT Championship team. But both were projected at better than the CBI. Cal was picked third in the Pac-12 pre-season media poll and Stanford was picked fourth.

Incidentally, Oregon was picked seventh.

Allen Crabbe (23) and Justin Cobbs (1)
Instead of breaking these two teams down in anticipation for this week's games, I'll discuss their recent matchup against each other. Stanford was the victor at Maples Pavilion last Saturday, 69-59. The Cardinal's approach against Cal was probably the same thing we'll see Utah try: neutralize Allen Crabbe and make the rest of the team beat you. In Stanford's case, this worked like a charm. Crabbe had only two points in the first half. Meanwhile, Justin Cobbs and Ty Wallace couldn't compensate; they combined for 19 points off 6-26 shooting. As for the Cal bench, they were outscored 26-3 by the Stanford bench.

Speaking of bench play, Stanford's John Gage was a huge bright spot on Saturday. He shot 4-5 (4-4 from the 3-point line). Stanford's starting line: Chasson Randle (15 pts), Dwight Powell (17 pts 9 rebs) and Josh Huestis (9 pts 12 rebs), were all as good or better than expected.

Chasson Randle (5), Dwight Powell (33) and Josh Huestis (24)
For the first 14 minutes it looked like anybody's game, but Stanford went on a 14-6 run to end the half. The second half saw both teams shoot right around 30%; Cal cut the lead down to two or three points a few times, but could never get over the hump.

I think this is the best chance we'll get at a home sweep this year. After our win against Washington, I'd like to think we can win both. But we know we're capable of a home let down like we saw against USC. It may be one of those things where we either go 2-0 or 0-2; either we keep up the pace we established in Seattle, beat Cal and soar through Stanford -or- we get tripped up against Cal and get run over by Stanford. In either event, this week will go a long way toward determining what kind of season we'll have from here on out.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Weekly Postseason Tracker

The Pac-12 is still a solid four-bid conference at this point. Arizona State is looking like the last team in (having lost two in a row) with Washington being the first team out (starting conference play with a 4-0 record before falling to Utah). If Washington had beaten our Utes, I believe it would have taken the Sun Devils' spot this week.

Although Stanford beat California last week, those teams still appear even (as far as records, RPI and SOS). And I believe both have clear CBI-worthy resumes as they make the ski trip this week. It's a great opportunity for Utah and Colorado to each pick up a couple quality wins.

Conference RPI: #6

NCAAs:
Arizona (16-1, 4-1) | RPI: #2 | SOS: #4
Top-100 Wins: vs. Miami (Fla.) (4); vs. Florida (6); vs. Colorado (19); San Diego State (35); vs. Southern Miss (40); vs. UTEP (72); at Arizona State (75); vs. Oral Roberts (91); vs. Long Beach State (100)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
Arizona State (14-4, 3-2) | RPI: #75 | SOS: #123
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (19); Arkansas (79)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. DePaul (181)  
Oregon (16-2, 5-0) | RPI: #25 | SOS: #82
Top-100 Wins: vs. Arizona (2); at UNLV (18); at UCLA (43); vs. Nebraska (66); vs. Arizona State (75)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
UCLA (15-4, 5-1) | RPI: #43 | SOS: #54
Top-100 Wins: at Colorado (19); vs. Missouri (26); vs. Indiana St. (47); vs. Stanford (74); vs. California (82); vs. Long Beach State (100)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Cal Poly (207)

NIT:

Colorado (12-6, 2-4) | RPI: #19 | SOS: #5
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado St. (17); Baylor (44); vs. Air Force (86); Dayton (93); Murray St. (96)
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Washington (12-6, 4-1) | RPI: #70 | SOS: #62
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (19); at Stanford (74); vs. St. Louis (78); at California (82); vs. Seton Hall (87)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Albany (121); vs. Utah (149); vs. Nevada (159)

CBI:
California (10-7, 2-3) | RPI: #82 | SOS: #49
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Stanford (11-7, 2-3) | RPI: #74 | SOS: #40
Top-100 Wins: vs. California (82); Northern Iowa (85); at Northwestern (95)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (136)

OUT:
Oregon State (10-8, 0-5) | RPI: #161 | SOS: #111
Top-100 Wins: vs. New Mexico State (90)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (136); vs. Towson (153)  
USC (8-11, 3-3) | RPI: #136 | SOS: #24
Top-100 Wins: vs. Stanford (74); vs. Dayton (93); vs. Long Beach State (100)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. UC Irvine (176); at Georgia (184)
Utah (9-9, 1-5) | RPI: #149 | SOS: #64
Top-100 Wins: vs. Boise State (48); at Washington (70)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. USC (138); at SMU (177); at Washington State (196); vs. CS Northridge (227); vs. Sacramento State (273)

Washington State (10-8, 1-4) | RPI: #196 | SOS: #158
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: at Pepperdine (202)

Sunday, January 20, 2013

From ASU to Washington: Moving Backward, Moving Forward

One of my favorite poems is One Step Backward Taken by Robert Frost. In this poem, Frost illustrates the pain we often have to go through to get to our destination.  He talks about "gulping muddy gallons" and "great boulders off their balance."  Utah has taken several steps forward this season, but against USC and Washington State Utah basketball "started down the gully" and I imagine the players felt, at least in some respects, their "standpoint shaken, in the universal crises."  Not only did they not know how to win basketball games, they forgot how to be competitive.  But Coach Krystko went big picture and had his team take a step backwards, so they could move forward.  At the end of that mini-process, Utah played beautifully in a win against Washington.

The last three weeks of Utah basketball is an illustration of what it takes to learn how to win at this level.  Utah seemed on the brink of being a solid team in close losses to ASU, Arizona, and UCLA.  And then the Utes seemingly digressed in a home loss to USC and a road loss to Washington State.  In the latter two losses, Utah frankly did not look good.  I was curious to see how they would come out against Washington.  Would Utah take a step backward so they could move forward?

The answer was a resounding Yes!  As Coach Krystko pointed out after the losses to USC and WSU, he was more concerned about some of the big picture issues and not so much on the little details.  Utah was not taking care of the ball, they were not getting back on defense, and they were not playing within themselves.  As often happens after a few tough losses, players try to do too much and get out of what made them competitive.  Coach did a great job getting the players to remember the things that made them competitive against the Arizona schools and UCLA.  Moreover, unlike in past games, Utah punched Washington before getting punched and then did not panic when Washington made its run.  Utah played with toughness, did not panic, and under the leadership of Senior Jason Washburn and Freshman Brandon Taylor, played an entire 40 minutes of basketball.  It was a beautiful thing to watch, and I was pleased to see so much progress made in the space of six games.

Will Utah be able to maintain the same level of intensity against Cal and Stanford next weekend?  I think we will continue to see progress, but don't be surprised if we continue to see some more "two steps forward, three steps back" with this team.  This is a young, rebuilding team.  But we will continue to see gems like we saw against Washington.  I would encourage fans to stick with this team because I am confident, with what we are seeing this season, that the coaching staff is doing it the right way.  Like any work of art, the process is not always pretty, and the steps are not always sequential, but I think the end result will be worth it.

The Top Twenty Players in Utah Basketball History: The Top Ten.

As promised, here is the rest of my list of the Top Twenty Players in Utah Basketball History.

10.  Michael Doleac (1994-98) An important player for those great Majerus teams from the mid to late 90s. Doleac is in the top 15 for total points and the top ten for total rebounds. He was a great complement to Van Horn and Miller.

9.  Vern Gardner (1945-49) A 6'5" forward/center that led the Utes to the 1947 NIT Championship (he was the tournament MVP), Gardner's number 33 has been retired by the U. He was a two-time All-American.

8.  Mike Newlin (1968-71) Newlin was our team leader at the end of my career. He has the third best all-time career scoring average and was a great free-throw shooter. He had a great knack to getting to the line. Incidentally, he had a fairly notable NBA career.

7.  Tom Chambers (1977-81) Part of the great two-headed monster with Danny Vranes on Jerry Pimm's Runnin' Utes. Chambers is in the top ten in both total scoring and rebounding for the Utes. Chambers also had a great NBA career.

6.  Danny Vranes (1977-81) Along with Chambers, Vranes was also a good scorer and rebounder. He is also a top ten in scoring and top 15 in rebounding.

5.  Andrew Bogut (2004-05)  He could arguably be ranked higher than this, he was a number one draft pick after all, but his teams did not go as far as some of those ranked higher.  Bogut is in the top ten in all-time scoring and rebounding average for the U.  He was also a great passer from the post.

4.  Jerry Chambers (1963-66)  Jerry Chambers could score, rebound and get to the line.  He won the outstanding player award at the NCAA tournament in 1966 when we reached the final four.

3.  Keith Van Horn (1993-97)  The all-time leading scorer in Utah history, Keith Van Horn was a great athlete who could do it all.  He was the perfect complement to Andre Miller and led his team to the elite eight in 1997 and was also a consensus first team all-american that season.

2.  Andre Miller (1994-98)  Led his team to the National Finals in 1998 and played probably the single greatest game in Utah history in leading his team into the final four in a route against Arizona.

1.  Billy "the Hill" McGill (1959-62)  In the 1961-62 season, McGill averaged just under 40 points per game and led the Utes to the final four in the 1960-61 season.  He was also a consensus all-american in the 1961-62 season and a number one draft pick.  

Week 12 TV Schedule

DateTime
MST
GameChannelComcast
Salt Lake
Dish
Jan. 23rd7:30Washington State at OregonPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 23rd9:30Washington at Oregon StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 24th6:30California at UtahPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 24th7:00UCLA at ArizonaESPN2669 (HD)144
Jan. 24th8:00Stanford at ColoradoESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 24th8:30USC at Arizona StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 26th2:00UCLA at Arizona StateRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Jan. 26th3:00Washington State at Oregon StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 26th5:00Washington at OregonPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 26th5:00USC at ArizonaESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 27th1:30California at ColoradoRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Jan. 27th7:00Stanford at UtahPac-12 Net757 (HD)413

Friday, January 18, 2013

Der Freitag Links Sind Hier!

It's Friday and we're on the eve of another big Pac-12 weekend. The current conference standings show the top-5 teams have consolidated the wins so far (19-2 combined record). Four of the five will turn against each other this weekend: Arizona is at Arizona State, Oregon is at UCLA.

That leaves Washington as the only top-5 team without a top-5 matchup this weekend. They'll host the Utes instead.

Here's a few links to check out in the meantime:

• Crucial test for both teams involved in The Big (Basketball) Game. But Stanford has the most to lose.

• Pat Haden has received a lot of interest in the open USC job. Including "a lot of indirect talking" with potential hires.

• The UA-ASU game in Tempe is "the best rivalry no one ever talks about." Keep an eye on the point guard matchup in particular.

• Parker Van Dyke will make his college debut for Utah next year afterall. And a sophomore guard from Michigan State is transferring to Arizona State.

• Tad Boyle is seeing signs of improvement.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Luke Nevill

This is the guy I put at #16 on my list of all-time greatest Runnin' Utes. He's currently tearing it up for the Townsville Crocodiles of Australia's National Basketball League. His 16.7 ppg/5.7 rpg is pretty damn solid no matter what hemisphere you're on.

Luke Nevill carried our team through some tough seasons, but ultimately finished his career on top -- with a MWC title, conference honors and an all-too-brief trip to Miami, FL. Along the way he made huge strides in developing his play and racked up all kinds of stats.

One game I remember, in particular, was when he laid a beat down on Washington State in the Huntsman Center a few years back. It was the Cougars' best team in recent memory, but Nevill had his way with 16 pts and 12 rbs.

There will be a few Australians on the court tonight, but they'll all be wearing a different shade of red. Washington State boasts three Aussies on its team -- most notably the lefty Brock Motum who, like Luke Nevill, is an alumnus of the Australian Institute of Sport.

While I've been pleased with the Center production we've seen from Washburn & co. this season, it sure would be nice to have Luke Nevill around for a game like the one before us tonight.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Weekly Postseason Tracker

It's hard to put Colorado in the NIT because they have a great RPI and impressive SOS. But they have two things against them at this point: First, it seems they let the monitor fiasco in Tucson beat them three times. Second, the Pac-12 is a solid four-bid conference this week, and Colorado is frankly the first team out of the top four. You'd be hard-pressed to say otherwise since three of the top four teams have already beat the Buffs.

As for Utah: we've also lost to three of the top four teams. No shame there. But that loss to USC was huge.  Now, instead of looking to pick up steam with winnable games in Washington, we're still looking for our first conference win. And so is our opponent on Wednesday. The difference is we're the visitor and have yet to ever claim a Pac-12 road win. So another tall task awaits our boys.

Note, however, how Boise State keeps climbing the RPI. That win keeps looking better and better for the Utes. Having now lost five of our last six games, we must remember that we still have the capacity to beat really good teams. We just have to find our offense. It's there somewhere.

Finally, Washington got a good bump by beating the NorCal schools. I think the entire conference will be looking forward to the Cal/Stanford stretch. It's a good thing Utah will see it twice; and soon too. On that same note, it's a good thing we're done with UCLA and USC.

Conference RPI: #6

NCAAs:
Arizona (15-1, 3-1) | RPI: #3 | SOS: #6
Top-100 Wins: vs. Miami (Fla.) (5); vs. Florida (10); Colorado (17); San Diego State (35); vs. Southern Miss (52); UTEP (62); Oral Roberts (88)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
Arizona State (14-3, 3-1) | RPI: #59 | SOS: #132
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (17); Arkansas (72)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. DePaul (173)  
Oregon (14-2, 3-0) | RPI: #26 | SOS: #87
Top-100 Wins: vs. Arizona (3); at UNLV (24); vs. Arizona State (59); vs. Nebraska (61)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
UCLA (14-3, 4-0) | RPI: #32 | SOS: #50
Top-100 Wins: at Colorado (17); vs. Missouri (23); vs. Indiana St. (42); vs. California (69); vs. Stanford (75)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Cal Poly (214)

NIT:

Colorado (11-5, 1-3) | RPI: #17 | SOS: #4
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado St. (25); Baylor (45); Murray St. (70); Dayton (89)
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Washington (11-5, 3-0) | RPI: #58 | SOS: #43
Top-100 Wins: vs. St. Louis (50); at California (69); at Stanford (75); Seton Hall (79)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Albany (124); vs. Nevada (176)

CBI:
California (10-6, 2-2) | RPI: #69 | SOS: #39
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Stanford (10-7, 1-3) | RPI: #75 | SOS: #37
Top-100 Wins: Northern Iowa (99)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (138)

OUT:
Oregon State (10-6, 0-3) | RPI: #154 | SOS: #134
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Towson (174)  
USC (7-10, 2-2) | RPI: #138 | SOS: #23
Top-100 Wins: vs. Stanford (75); vs. Dayton (89)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. UC Irvine (168); at Georgia (213) 
Utah (8-8, 0-4) | RPI: #144 | SOS: #31
Top-100 Wins: vs. Boise State (28)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. USC (138); at SMU (166); vs. CS Northridge (178); vs. Sacramento State (256)

Washington State (9-7, 0-3) | RPI: #204 | SOS: #185
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: at Pepperdine (193)

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Week 11 TV Schedule

DateTime
MST
GameChannelComcast
Salt Lake
Dish
Jan. 16th7:30Utah at Washington StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 16th9:30Colorado at WashingtonPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 17th7:00Oregon State at UCLAESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 17th9:00Oregon at USCESPNU755 (HD)141
Jan. 19th12:30Arizona at Arizona StateRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Jan. 19th2:00Oregon at UCLACBS654 (HD)5
Jan. 19th2:30California at StanfordRoot Sports693 (HD)414
Jan. 19th6:00Oregon State at USCPac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 19th8:00Colorado at Washington StatePac-12 Net757 (HD)413
Jan. 19th9:00Utah at WashingtonESPNU755 (HD)141

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Top Twenty Players in Utah Basketball History: Countdown from 20 to 11.

I apologize for the delay in getting this out.  All the black clothing from Thursday night's game really sucked me of my ghostly energy.  A little known fact about ghosts is that if you want to get rid of us, wear lots and lots of black.  Frankly, I don't think it helped the players much either.  What a stupid tradition.  But I digress.

As promised on Twitter, here is my list of the top 20 players in Utah history.  In this post, I will list numbers 11-20 in reverse order.  I will release my top 10 in the next couple of days.


20.  Mike Sojourner (1972-74)  Mike was a rebounding machine and a good post option for those Utah teams right after I retired.

19.  Luther "Ticky" Burden (1972-75)  What a great scorer Ticky was for the Utes, averaging over 22 points a game for his career at Utah.  While he had to fight off some demons throughout and after his career, he played some memorable games for Utah and made the All-American team for the '75 season.

18.  Jeff Judkins (1974-78) Jeff was a great shooter for those Jerry Pimm teams in the mid 70s and averaged over 16 points a game for his career.

17.  Luke Nevill (2005-2009)  The only representative on the list from the last five years, Luke Nevill is in the all time top ten in career scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage.  He was a great option in the post and led Utah to the Mountain West Conference Championship in 2009 and was an Honorable Mention all American in the 2009 season.

16.  Merv Jackson (1965-68)  Merv was our team captain and the soul of some of our great teams in the mid to late 60s.  He is also in the top ten for career scoring average.  I love Merv Jackson.

15.  Jeff Jonas (1973-77)  The all-time assists leader for the Utes.  Jeff was a great play-maker for Jerry Pimm's Runnin' Utes.

14.  Wat Misaka (1944-47)  Basketball is about winning games and Wat Misaka was a winner, helping the Utes to the 1944 NCAA championship and the 1947 NIT championship.

13.  Josh Grant (1988-93)  In the top three in both total points and total rebounds in team history, Josh Grant was a big part of the transition between the Archibald years and the Majerus years.  He was the WAC conference player of the year in 1991 and 1993.

12.  Art Bunte (1954-56)  Art was an All-American, in the top ten for both career scoring and career rebounding for the U, and a great post option for us in the mid 50s.  And despite his portly demeanor (he was 6'3" and 225 pounds), he had a "feather touch."  With Bunte in the pivot, there was little room for anyone else.

11.  Arnie Ferrin (1944-48) Arnie was a consensus All-American in 1945 and the leader of the championship Utah teams in the mid to late forties.  I worry that I am putting him a little low for what he and his teams accomplished.

To be continued ....


Friday, January 11, 2013

Hector, Jack Gardner and Jio Fontan

What do I have in common with Hector from the Iliad and Jio Fontan?


If you said we're all Trojan Captains, you're correct!


Precisely 80 years ago, I was the captain of the USC basketball team. I played under the tutelage of Coach Sam Barry, with whom I'm honored to join in the Hall-of-Fame. We had a decent team that year and played some memorable games. It was a young team that greatly depended on us upperclassmen -- especially early in the season. Like most of my playing career, I was hampered with injuries that season. I believe that was the year I played through a broken nose.


There will always be a special place in my heart for USC basketball. You can only imagine how excited I am for our Utes to join them in the conference and host them in a key game tomorrow afternoon!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Are you ready for the blackout?

Big game tonight. Two storied programs will clash in a historic venue. What better way to commemorate the event than by sporting modified Texas Tech road jerseys?

Watchout, UCLA. There's a blackout a-comin'!

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Catching up with Coach Wooden

I had the opportunity this week to speak briefly with former UCLA coach John Wooden. Our paths rarely cross, as my time is spent here at the U. campus. Coach Wooden, on the other hand, has become quite an accomplished harpist among the heavenly host these past two years. While I exist from one basketball game to the next, he has transcended to more pious concerns.

Still, he sure loves the Bruins. I saw him at the Huntsman Center as he was arriving to take in the game this week. Here's a bit of what transpired:

JGardner: Welcome to the Special Events Center, Coach. We are very proud of this fine facility. Do you have any fond memories about this building?

JWooden: Of course! In particular was a game I coached here in the early-seventies. It must have only been open for a couple years by that time. We were playing Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament; a win meant a trip to the semi-finals in Houston. Jerry Tarkanian was still the coach for Long Beach and was turning them into quite a regional power. Although we were the national power during that era, Long Beach really gave us a fight. The game came down to just a couple points -- it was the closest we came to putting our championship streak in jeopardy.

JGardner: Yes, that was an unforgettable game. Your boys came back from eleven down to win. Can you recall any memorable UCLA-Utah games?

JWooden: Well, there was one way, way back. Except it wasn't played here -- it was down in LA for a holiday tournament. You'll remember it because you were Utah's coach at the time ...

JGardner: I know the one you're talking about ... and frankly, I was hoping you wouldn't bring it up ...

JWooden: Yes! It was a great game; not just because we won, but because of the way we won. We were the better team, if I may say so myself. But it didn't seem so in the first half. We simply couldn't shake Jerry Chambers and your other boys off our tail. And to make matters worse, our best scorer -- Gail Goodrich -- had four fouls at halftime and had to sit out.

JGardner: Oh, but that was just the first half ...

JWooden: True. The second half was a completely different story. We brought Kenny Washington in off the bench and he had the game of his life. Some other guys stepped up as well and allowed us to play our game. We went on an incredible run to start the second half and the rest was history. That second effort, without Gail, is what made the game so remarkable to me. It really helped our team build some cohesion.

JGardner: Yes, I remember it well. That's the year you won your first national championship, if I'm not mistaken.

JWooden: That's right. Now, it seems there was an element of revenge associated with that game. Didn't you beat us a few years earlier?

JGardner: Yes. It was the Los Angeles Tournament a couple years prior. We had one of our all-time best scorers at the time ...

JWooden: I remember! Billy the Hill!

JGardner: That's right! Billy McGill was on the team. He played a great game against West Virginia two nights before and had another scoring burst against you guys. He led us to a sizable lead before fouling out midway through the second half. But we played well enough without him to cruise to a comfortable win in the end.

JWooden: Indeed. How that kid could shoot! He probably scored 30 against us before fouling out!

JGardner: That sounds about right. Those were some great times and some great games. What do you think the chances are that this week's game will be just as memorable?

JWooden: No matter what, it will be a memorable one for me! This game; this arena; these teams ... it all really takes me back. Thanks for the chat, my good friend.

JGardner: The pleasure was all mine. We'll be sure to do it again sometime!

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Monday, January 07, 2013

Weekly Postseason Tracker

I usually publish my Weekly Pac-12 Rankings each Monday morning. But now that Pac-12 play has begun, the only standings that matter are the conference standings. So for the rest of the season I'm going to try something a little bit different. I will attempt to identify which Pac-12 teams deserve to play in post-season tournaments.

A couple ground rules:
  • I will not attempt to predict who will earn automatic-bids. Technically, an NCAA auto-bid is awarded to the Pac-12 Tournament winner and an NIT auto-bid is awarded to a regular season champion that does not earn a NCAA bid (e.g., Washington last season). But I will ignore auto-bids and make my picks based on whether teams would qualify for at-large selections.
  • In addition to the NCAA and NIT tournaments, we now have the College Basketball Invitational ("CBI") and CollegeInsider.com ("CIT") tournaments as well. I understand the CIT is geared for mid-major teams that don't make either the NCAA or NIT; so Pac-12 teams are technically ineligible for that tournament.
  • I will not attempt to rank or seed teams. Teams will be listed in alphabetical order within each tournament.
This is obviously just for fun. As we all know, the actual selection process can be a bit of a crap-shoot and I don't claim to be any kind of expert on bracketology or bubble watching. I'll pay attention to things like RPI, conference strength and the bracket predictions made on other reputable websites. It's not an exact science, but hopefully I can get a feel for it as the season progresses.

+ + +

Conference RPI: #5

At this moment, the Pac-12 deserves five NCAA bids. Period. It also has a couple teams with mediocre records but respectable RPI, which I believe equates to an NIT or CIT bid. Then there's Oregon State, who has a solid record and some great talent; but lacks a quality win (many close calls!) and has a horrendous RPI. We'll see if these things balance out as the conference season develops.

NCAAs:
Arizona (14-0, 2-0) | RPI: #4 | SOS: #16
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (6); Miami (Fla.) (8); vs. Florida (15); San Diego State (47); vs. Southern Miss (49); UTEP (85)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
Arizona State (13-2, 2-0) | RPI: #55 | SOS: #151
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado (6); Arkansas (87)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. DePaul (176)  

Colorado (10-4, 0-2) | RPI: #6 | SOS: #2
Top-100 Wins: vs. Colorado St. (20); Baylor (35); Murray St. (45); Dayton (82)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
Oregon (12-2, 1-0) | RPI: #48 | SOS: #185
Top-100 Wins: at UNLV (23); vs. Nebraska (78)
Sub-100 Losses: None.
UCLA (12-3, 2-0) | RPI: #39 | SOS: #47
Top-100 Wins: vs. Missouri (25); vs. Indiana St. (26); vs. California (70); vs. Stanford (81)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Cal Poly (167)

NIT:
California (9-5, 1-1) | RPI: #70 | SOS: #50
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: None.

Washington (9-5, 1-0) | RPI: #71 | SOS: #33
Top-100 Wins: Seton Hall (50); vs. St. Louis (58)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Albany (127); vs. Nevada (181)

CBI:

Stanford (9-6, 0-2) | RPI: #81 | SOS: #52
Top-100 Wins: Northern Iowa (96)
Sub-100 Losses: at USC (154)

OUT:
Oregon State (10-4, 0-1) | RPI: #184 | SOS: #291
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: vs. Towson (152)  
USC (6-9, 1-1) | RPI: #154 | SOS: #18
Top-100 Wins: vs. Stanford (81); vs. Dayton (82)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. UC Irvine (186); at Georgia (205) 
Utah (8-6, 0-2) | RPI: #108 | SOS: #32
Top-100 Wins: vs. Boise State (31)
Sub-100 Losses: vs. CS Northridge (151); at SMU (190); vs. Sacramento State (238)  

Washington State (9-5, 0-1) | RPI: #203 | SOS: #242
Top-100 Wins: None.
Sub-100 Losses: at Pepperdine (165)