Close but No Cigar

[DrumNFeather]

Another tough, hard fought game that the Utes came up short in. They had their chances to win, but they took a lot of bad shots down the stretch, forgot how to rebound defensively, and got homered slightly.

It was fairly obvious that Nevill didn't have a lot left in the tank, but he's got to get the ball on every posession, and not allow dinky guys like Darger and Rougeau to push him away from the basket. I think he has improved his game quite a bit this season, and if he can get a mean streak and forget about the officiating, he could have an all conference senior campaign.

UNLV over the years has had three things. 1. A guy that can shoot from anywhere on the floor blindfolded and make it. 2. No offensive system to speak of (other than shooting from anywhere on the floor and making it) and 3. Have always had guys that play defense about two inches from the offensive guys face...and rarely get called for fouls. (Banks, Blassningame, We Willy Winky)

All in all I think the Utes showed a lot of heart in this conference tourney. Although meaningless, on the grand scheme of things, playing in the NIT will really help them continue to gell and get better moving forward.

Boylan certainly had his hiccups this season, but he got a lot more out of some of his players than I thought was possible.

[Mormon Red Death]

the more I look at this team the more I realize...

Its too bad Deane and Weigh left. Deane could have helped when Neville had foul trouble and weigh could have helped us scoring... However, I am pretty happy with the direction Utah is taking

[MikeWaters]

I thought Boylen was going to teach your boys defense.

[il Padrino Ute]

DnF - you left a 4th important thing UNLV has (just about) every year - the tournament is on their home court.

MRD - Deane had to go. There is no reason to keep a kid who refuses to attend class.

Mike - Utah's defense is improved exponentially compared to under Giacoletti. Utah would have lost to New Mexico by 30 on Thursday and by at least the same margin last night.

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

DnF - you left a 4th important thing UNLV has (just about) every year - the tournament is on their home court.

MRD - Deane had to go. There is no reason to keep a kid who refuses to attend class.

Mike - Utah's defense is improved exponentially compared to under Giacoletti. Utah would have lost to New Mexico by 30 on Thursday and by at least the same margin last night.

I know he had to go... I'm just saying losing those two really impacted our team.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

I know he had to go... I'm just saying losing those two really impacted our team.

I agree completely. They would have helped a ton.

I can't fault Weigh - why turn down good money now when he'd never be an NBA type anyway. Get it while he can is what I say.

Deane, OTH, it's all on him.