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Post by daytonahoya31 on Mar 20, 2015 14:23:40 GMT -5
Welp, here goes, one game to the sweet 16. It's going to be a tough one, because Utah is truly a good team. Not a great one, but definitely a good one. In Delon Wright, we may be facing the single best player that we've seen this season. So hope this helps, here is some of the stuff we should look for on Saturday. Offense - Everything runs through Wright when the Utes have the ball. They run a motion offense, a ton of pick and rolls and besides pace of play, Utah very much reminds me of an NBA type offense. They value spacing. They try to get the ball inside to Jakob Poeltl - their NBA prospect freshman center. They have great shooting on the wings in Brandon Taylor and Jordan Loveridge. They have a dirty work guy inside named Chris Reyes. A lot of talent, and yet Utah many times struggles mightily to score the basketball. Part of this is due to pace of play. 85 percent of their possessions go at least 25 seconds. And outside of Wright and Taylor, they don't have many guys who can go and get their own shots. Wright truly means everything to this team, and Taylor truthfully isn't that far behind. You take their offense and combine it with their defense, and this game on Saturday may struggle to get to the 60's. If we can find a way to score 70, it may be tough for the Utes to beat us. DEFENSE - This is where the Utes are elite. Wright is a plus defender. Taylor - for his lack of size - is a wonderful defender. Poeltl is a wonderful defender and Utah funnels a lot towards him and his shotblocking abilities. Schematically, the Utes play a lot of man, and will mix in some zone. They don't extend their defense all that often. They just lock up from the three point line down to the hoop. That said, not sure they've seen a guy like Josh Smith this season. They have seen a guy like DSR in Joe Young from Oregon. DSR isn't as aggressive offensively as Young, but he's got the same ability to break a team down like Young did, and the Utes really struggled with him twice this season. So how they defend DSR and who they defend him with will be interesting to see for sure. DELON WRIGHT - We've seen a Wright clone this season. He's an awful lot like Kris Dunn from Providence, only better IMO. Both are NBA guys, but Wright is a little more refined in his game. Wright is tall at 6-5, he's a wonderful point guard. He gets into the lane at will. He's by far the best Utah player in transition. He finishes at the rim, and he's a better shooter than his numbers suggest. He's simply a load. Defensively, he's one of the most opportunistic guys I've seen in a long time at the college level. He jumps passing lanes. He's an elite shotblocker for his position and he's an elite rebounder for his position. He's a triple double threat. He reminds me of a 6-5 Rajon Rondo. He's also a great foul shooter, so we want to keep him off the line. He'll make them. Does he have a weakness? Well, he doesn't shoot it great from three, and he doesn't attack offensively for 40 minutes. He's unselfish, almost to a fault. And defensively, while he's a great help defender, he's not a great man defender. I've seen guys get after him a little bit (Young, Nigel Williams-Goss from Washington).... BRANDON TAYLOR - Has had a career year. Is by far Utah's best perimeter shooter. He's small at 5-9, but he's great off the dribble, and he gets great elevation on his jumper, so people rarely bother his shot. He was a lot more like a spot up shooter in years past, now he gets to the basket and can finish. He's Utah's best perimeter defender as well. I think he actually may be the guy who matches up with DSR, not Wright. Taylor is in many ways the heart and soul of this team. He's the vocal leader on the floor (Wright is not very vocal) and he's the guy whom everyone listens to. He's in a lot of ways almost as important to this team as Wright is. He's made a ton of big shots this year, and he's as tough as they come. JORDAN LOVERIDGE - After Wright, he's the second best overall offensive talent on the team. He started his career as a power forward, and is now playing the three. Have to pay close attention to him because he can get hot from the perimeter and torch people. Has a high release point on his jumper, so he's hard to deal with. He can go inside and get it done as well. Is a junior, and has been at Utah since the days where Utah was awful.Whomever is guarding him can't give him too much room. He provides spacing with his shot. CHRIS REYES - Dirty work guy. Hustler. Small at 6-6, but very athletic and hard nosed. Isaac has to keep him off the glass, so that's a concern. He's not going to create offense against us, but he is more than capable of making his impact felt by generating extra possessions. Is a good post defender, and a guy who can block shots. JAKOB POELTL - Probably an NBA guy. Probably the most talented big Utah has had since Andrew Bogut. He's 7-0, very mobile and athletic. He's good on the block and good in pick and roll. He can do a lot of damage without needing the ball. Poeltl is foul prone. He spent most of Pac-12 conference season battling foul issues. He has Josh Smith syndrome: He gets called for a ton of BS because he's big, and guards run into him and flop and get the call. Him and Josh will be a key matchup. This game may very well hinge on which one of those guys can stay on the floor. Poeltl is a bad free throw shooter. So we have 15 fouls in the middle, and we should use them. DAKARAI TUCKER - He's the first wing off the bench for the Utes. Great three point shooter in the corners. Seriously, he's like 50 percent from the corners. Get him anywhere else and those percentages drop drastically. Not great off the dribble, but can get to the basket in a sneaky way. Is long and athletic. Is a very needed veteran presence. Brekkott Chapman - Very talented freshman off the bench. Very talented. left handed. Can play inside and out. Could become a star at this level. His problem now? Can't keep out of foul trouble. Has issues defending and rebounding. It's limited his playing time in recent weeks. But he's someone more than capable of scoring 15 points and coming out of nowhere to do so. Dallin Bachynski - Is the only Ute remaining on the team from Larry Krystokowiak's 6-25 team from 2012. He's got size at 7-0. He's older and he's strong and athletic. He's capable of hitting a foul line jumper and he's another dirty work guy. Isaiah Wright - Is a freshman back-up point guard. Another very talented rookie. Will probably play about 10 minutes. Can make a jumper. Is good defensively That will be Utah's rotation, by and large. In a pinch, you may see Kyle Kuzma, or maybe Jeremy Olsen. Coach K is a lot like the other coach K: He has a lot of talent on his bench, but he can't play them all. He has his set rotation and he largely sticks to it. Utah is as good a defensive team we will see all season. I would say we are more athletic, but that really doesn't mean much. Expect a low possession, low scoring affair. This will be a great challenge for us. The crowd will be against us, so we have to prepare for that as well. What do you think of the matchup between Poeltl and Joshua? I doubt he's faced anyone with Joshua's size. I could see Smith being very effective putting Poeltl on his back and making a move. He hasn't. Maybe Kaleb T from Arizona, but that's about it. They will like Jakob and Josh battle it out, but Josh has to be aggressive in there and stay out of foul trouble. Should be a good matchup
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Post by jeffgreensmom2015 on Mar 20, 2015 14:56:05 GMT -5
New to the board here. DaytonaHoya gave a really good outlook on Utah. A couple of things to add... Utah is a really deceptive team if you just look at their KenPom numbers. They rank in KenPom's top 10, but look at their schedule, and until their win last night, they hadn't beaten a tournament team since January 4th. They really look like a team that beat up on a down Pac 12 all year long, and then struggled against the good teams (Oregon and Arizona). Also, they were 16-1 at home this year, with their sole loss coming to Arizona. In other words, they're a much different - worse- team away from home. Having said that, they slow it down, shoot a lot of 3s, and let Wright create. Should be a lot of motivation for Brill. Got to defend the nation's leading scorer last night, and tomorrow night he'll get his toughest defensive assignment of the year. Trawick has the size though to guard Wright. I agree that the closest comparison to Wright for us this year is probably Dunn, but Wright is a little lankier, longer, and more composed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2015 15:05:44 GMT -5
New to the board here. DaytonaHoya gave a really good outlook on Utah. A couple of things to add... Utah is a really deceptive team if you just look at their KenPom numbers. They rank in KenPom's top 10, but look at their schedule, and until their win last night, they hadn't beaten a tournament team since January 4th. They really look like a team that beat up on a down Pac 12 all year long, and then struggled against the good teams (Oregon and Arizona). Also, they were 16-1 at home this year, with their sole loss coming to Arizona. In other words, they're a much different - worse- team away from home. Having said that, they slow it down, shoot a lot of 3s, and let Wright create. Should be a lot of motivation for Brill. Got to defend the nation's leading scorer last night, and tomorrow night he'll get his toughest defensive assignment of the year. Trawick has the size though to guard Wright. I agree that the closest comparison to Wright for us this year is probably Dunn, but Wright is a little lankier, longer, and more composed. Think LJ could help with Wright also.. Would be a good game for him to get it going again, he defended Dunn really well at times this year
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Filo
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Post by Filo on Mar 20, 2015 15:10:06 GMT -5
The fouls with Josh are always frustrating since he inevitably has a combination of really dumb fouls and complete non-fouls that are unfairly called when guys hit him and bump off of him. He has been running up to the top of the key and reaching in all year, and sometimes he would get called for it, sometimes he would not. But that third foul occurred in the very beginning of the second of half of a tournament game, which made it all the more glaring and moronic. Don't know why he continues to do that. Head-scratching to say the least.
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NCHoya
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Post by NCHoya on Mar 20, 2015 15:31:50 GMT -5
My biggest concern after reading all this is our ability to score. It reads like Utah is a good defensive team, and if we are not shooting well from outside, we could struggle to score. You know, those 7-8 minute long droughts. I hope DSR brings his A game tomorrow, we will need all the craftiness he has to work for open looks. Copeland will also need to step up after an off game.
I am hoping the guys like Cope, LJ and Smith that appeared a little tight for their first NCAA game will have adapted and calmed down som. We need good minutes from those guys. Especially Cope, he makes all the difference for our offense when playing a good defensive team.
If we are going to make the Sweet 16, we are going to have to earn it for sure. I would not want it any other way though.
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drquigley
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Post by drquigley on Mar 20, 2015 15:32:43 GMT -5
Josh is a really big guy who tries hard but is just not a very talented athlete. Face it, he looks ridiculous when he gets stuck more than 3 feet from the basket. EWU loved taking it to him. there may be some points in a game where he could be effective but a year from now if he is playing professionally it won't be in this country.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Mar 20, 2015 15:34:13 GMT -5
I do not believe for one second that Josh "does not give a crap." However, I must confess I do not have any idea why he seems unable to control that impulse to reach out when someone is going by him. It is amazing how a little habit like that basically nullifies his chances to be a big time player, and possible make a good living playing bball. It worked in the BET. He got the steal which led to a fast-break basket. But, he needs to understand the risk and the game situation before taking the risk and being in foul trouble.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Mar 20, 2015 15:41:23 GMT -5
Unfortunately since Utah is now a Pac 12 team, we will have to listen to Reggie Miller trying to put us down every chance he gets. But it worked out okay last night, so . . . At the beginning of the game it was all about Harvey and EWU, but by half time Reggie Miller was really loving us, especially Jabril. Jabril's energy and competitiveness is what we lacked in past tournament games. If he goes a little overboard, so be it. We could never have won without him. Just absolutely love Bril and will miss him terribly. Agree. Who takes over the Jabril role next year?
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Post by jeffgreensmom2015 on Mar 20, 2015 15:45:43 GMT -5
At the beginning of the game it was all about Harvey and EWU, but by half time Reggie Miller was really loving us, especially Jabril. Jabril's energy and competitiveness is what we lacked in past tournament games. If he goes a little overboard, so be it. We could never have won without him. Just absolutely love Bril and will miss him terribly. Agree. Who takes over the Jabril role next year? I'd be shocked if it's not Tre. He's not physically imposing like Jabril, but he has some Jessie Sapp in him. You can see he has an edge and a fire. He's not afraid to mix it up with guys.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Mar 20, 2015 15:47:32 GMT -5
Agree. Who takes over the Jabril role next year? I'd be shocked if it's not Tre. He's not physically imposing like Jabril, but he has some Jessie Sapp in him. You can see he has an edge and a fire. He's not afraid to mix it up with guys. Welcome. Nice name!
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jld
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Post by jld on Mar 20, 2015 17:13:03 GMT -5
I believe that we need a real contribution from Copeland against Utah. They play very good D and have good size, and do not think we can necessarily replicate the bench contributions of Hayes and Bowen again. Utah did not see him live yesterday and he is due for a good game.
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HoyaFanNY
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Mar 20, 2015 17:30:57 GMT -5
this is going to be a good ole fashioned rock fight. I said when the pairings came out that if we play Utah it might a 46-45 game. peak and Copeland have to give us something offensively. the up and down nature of our offense the last 3 games does not give me much confidence against a team that defends as well as Utah. the Hoyas need to defend like mad and rebound since I can't see us scoring over 60 in this game.
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daveg023
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Post by daveg023 on Mar 20, 2015 17:49:05 GMT -5
What team that we have played this year (Big East or OOC) do you guys think Utah most resembles?
My initial thought was Butler, but this team seems more athletic. Providence?
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dense
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Post by dense on Mar 20, 2015 18:08:01 GMT -5
What team that we have played this year (Big East or OOC) do you guys think Utah most resembles? My initial thought was Butler, but this team seems more athletic. Providence? Butler with more size
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Hoya Rich
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Post by Hoya Rich on Mar 20, 2015 18:13:41 GMT -5
I have watched Utah a fair amount, being a Pac-12 (USC) guy. This will likely be a very ugly game with very little "flow" to it. Probably comes down to some late stops, a big shot or two, and free-throw shooting. Utah truly has a gift for making offenses look bad.
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Mar 20, 2015 19:03:50 GMT -5
I have watched Utah a fair amount, being a Pac-12 (USC) guy. This will likely be a very ugly game with very little "flow" to it. Probably comes down to some late stops, a big shot or two, and free-throw shooting. Utah truly has a gift for making offenses look bad. We have a gift for making our offense look bad, so it should be a beautiful game to watch. The thing about this team and Georgetown in general is that we are very used to playing in ugly low possession games when nothing is working. That doesn't scare me and if Utah wants to limit possessions and make it a knock down drag out fight that comes down to the last few possessions, go for it. Despite the seeding, they are supposed to win this game, if they want to play a style that is going to allow us to hang around near the end even if we play terribly offensively, then so be it. We may not win, but the teams that have really put us away and didn't give us much of a chance of a W were Nova game 2, St Johns, and Xavier. Teams that really wanted to push the pace and speed us up. We can play fast, but not consistently every game. Teams that play up tempo and want to run are kind of a coin toss of whether we dominate or get blown out depending on how we are playing that day, see Villanova and St Johns, games 1 and 2. It doesn't seem like this game is going to go in either direction, which imo, is probably a good thing considering they are the better team by all metrics I've seen. But who knows, maybe they blow us out from the tip and that's all she wrote. I just don't know if they line up with the blue print to dominate us.
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lichoya68
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Post by lichoya68 on Mar 20, 2015 19:13:10 GMT -5
DSR TIME yup DSR TIME finish hoyas hustle for forty minutes OR MORE> score 70 to win.
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mfk24
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Post by mfk24 on Mar 20, 2015 19:16:53 GMT -5
Agreed. They let an SFA team that couldn't throw it in the ocean yesterday, hang around, and hang around, until the very end. I don't think we make 11 threes tomorrow, but we make 6+ I think we're in the game at the end with an opportunity to win.
Also, defensively as long as they don't go 1-3-1 or a zone that sags and clogs the lane, I think we still find ways to score. We'll probably go Ina 5+ minute drought, but it's not as though Utah won't go on a scoring drought of their own.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Mar 20, 2015 19:57:04 GMT -5
I'm not ready for it to be the last game for our seniors yet. Keep it rolling Hoyas! If we can get Tre, Ike, and PW playing well at the same time, this can be a very dangerous squad. How 'bout tomorrow gents? Hoya Saxa!
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njhoya78
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Post by njhoya78 on Mar 20, 2015 22:50:47 GMT -5
I'm not ready for it to be the last game for our seniors yet. Keep it rolling Hoyas! If we can get Tre, Ike, and PW playing well at the same time, this can be a very dangerous squad. How 'bout tomorrow gents? Hoya Saxa! We have been waiting for this all season. It would be nice to see all three hitting on all cylinders, but I'll settle for two of the three. . .which will be enough to cause big problems for the Utes. Maybe I'm living in a fool's paradise, but I think we have this one tomorrow, and will do it more easily than we've thought. I have a feeling Ike goes wild tomorrow.
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