The Runnin’ Utes have improved each of the last two seasons — but is progress coming fast enough?
Craig Smith as Utah hosts Bellarmine, NCAA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023.
The one acknowledges that, yes, money is money, but how much money is Utah losing by way of putting mediocre teams on the floor that do not inspire fans to show up to the Huntsman Center. That voice says: “The once-proud building — where Bird and Magic so long ago faced off for a national championship — is dark and mostly dead, featuring the feel of an empty airplane hangar. You could park an Airbus A330 on the floor during some games and hardly block anyone’s view.
The other echoes what Smith himself pointed at just a couple of days ago. A reason for Utah’s late-season decline this year was … injuries. “Nobody wants to hear that,” the coach said, “the injury thing, but we were in great position six weeks ago.” Next thing, among others,was nicked, and unable to help the Utes in the close-out game at Oregon. “Carlson scored 40 points against Oregon State.”
“How ‘bout while we’re young?” says the one, who leans further on a mix of brutal truth and emotion, saying the Utes’ move toward what both the school and its fans want their basketball program to be is advancing plate-tectonic style: “It’s been eight years since the Utes have qualified for theand, at the current rate, Utah will be going deep into that madness about the time continental drift smashes North and South America into Europe and Africa.
The one answers: “Arizona State was so lousy, so disjointed in that game it couldn’t have beaten Southwest Purple Presbyterian State, and that school doesn’t even exist. Look what happened against a real team, Colorado, when it mattered most. Utah got the hook, 72-58, with a big L and elimination hung around its neck.”The one interrupts: “There is no b-b-b-b-b-but … other than the Utah butt that got kicked on Thursday night.
The other snaps back with, “Smith, though, on a personal and professional level, is what so many coaches are not — forever likable. He’s a nice man who’s easy to root for. And he’s nobody’s dummy. He knows the game.”
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