10 things that are more likely to happen than Utah beating BYU

Did UCLA really try to go after Sark?

Sark said no thanks.

As I’m a season ticket holder (football and basketball), I will be there to witness the slaughter.

I’m calling a 30+ margin of victory for the blue pansies, but I’m hoping to be stunned.

Y 89
U 52

God I hope I’m wrong!

Want to mention this also…

I was totally disgusted by the showing on Wednesday night for the CS Fullerton game. For several reasons:

1) Utah showed me absolutely nothing. I was actually shellshocked how lifeless Utah appeared to be. It was visually apparent they had no heart, no fire, no strategy and absolutely no CONFIDENCE whatsoever. And versus a mid-grade team like CS Fullerton, it concerned me greatly.

Every single possession, Utah looked scared to try and penetrate down low. All they did was kick the ball around the perimeter until the shot clock got close enough to zero, at which point they appeared to just toss it up there. Every time they made a small effort to drive inside, they quickly retreated at the first sign of resistance. Meanwhile, CS Fullerton drove and drove and drove on the Utes all night, getting a bunch of easy baskets.

I lay this on the coach. Krystkowiak is responsible for getting these kids mentally prepared and ready to play. Every single one of them looked like they were playing scared and that absolutely is coach’s fault. It’s the only thing right now that is making me wonder if he’s the right guy for this job.

If Krystkowiak was our man, I still would expect to see an undersized and outmatched Utah squad on the floor. But I would expect to see the Utes fighting hard… diving for loose balls, going for steals, showing aggression with the ball… basically just being a scrappy bunch. For example, on Wednesday it appeared that every time there was a loose ball, our guys would go after it… but immediately give up the second a CS Fullerton player even got close to the ball. Almost like, “OK, he’s got it. He got there first and I’m not gonna try and take it from him.”

And the fact that I’m seeing NOT A SHRED of this is what is worrying me right now. This is coach’s responsibility and he’s not instilling this in his team. I’m seriously starting to feel that maybe Krystkowiak was a bad hire.

2. It didn’t appear at all that Utah had a gameplan. I saw absolutely no strategy on the floor. I couldn’t tell whether Utah was trying to run a perimeter game, what kind of a defense they were employing, whether they were double-teaming on purpose (or by accident), or whether the point guard (Storey) was actually calling any plays.

This is a major problem. As they’re already at such a huge disadvantage, Utah only has a chance to win if they stick to a solid gameplan. There is no way this team can win if their gameplan is “just go out there and try to make plays on the fly.”

3. I don’t see Krystkowiak getting emotional AT ALL. Successful coaches get fired up. Majerus was famous for it, and it’s necessary. A stoic coach can effectively coach only so far. In the emotionally-charged world of college basketball, a coach needs to get his team fired up… and I don’t think he’s pushing his kids by folding his arms stone-faced. Bronco Mendenhall is exactly this way, and I think it shows in the way BYU plays football.

The bottom line is, it’s difficult for players to want to make coach happy if he acts exactly the same whether the team wins or loses.

I don’t simply want Utah to get better. I NEED Utah to get better. We NEED Utah to get better. If Utah’s basketball history was like BYU’s, this wouldn’t be such a problem. But considering that Utah used to be a national powerhouse in basketball less than a decade ago makes this train wreck so much less palatable.

In fact, it’s almost too much for my stomach to take. And if it gets worse, which it very well could, I’m afraid to see what it might do to me.

Can the Pac-12 drop Utah down to Division III?