Tag Archives: Larry Krystkowiak

PacHoops Two-A-Days: The Ski Schools (CU and Utah)

Colorado, Utah, , , ,

We’re finally previewing the Pac-12. This week, the last before games actually tip, I’ll post two previews of travel mates (i.e. UW and WSU will appear in the same post) and, in the interest of being fully prepared for Friday’s hoop joy, I’ll post two-a-day. Thus the title. Although it’s 4 previews-a-day. Regardless. Enjoy. (Other school previews)

Colorado preview

Tad Shot Clock

Has Tad Boyle built a program? There’s a big distinction between programs and individual teams, collections of talent that achieve something nice. Chauncey Billups’ Buffs? Team. Mark Few at Gonzaga? Program. Follow? In the latter half of this post we’ll explore Larry Krystkowiak’s program. It’s a good one. But for now, what do we make of Boyle’s six years in Boulder? At the surface, they’re great. Some readers have suggested statues. That’s a little much but four dances in six years isn’t just unprecedented out of The Keg, it’s – well – statue conjuring. So in considering Boyle’s program, this is a critical year. We could excuse a chunk of the past to Josh Scott; a local talent who blossomed into a transcendent player. He was fantastic. An All-Time Buff. But J40 isn’t suiting up in 2017. And what we’re left with, according to resident CU expert Ben Burrows in his monster CU preview, is:

I get the feeling that this, finally, is what the ideal Tad Boyle roster is supposed to look like.

If that’s indeed the case, we’ll have a really good feel for what the Tad Boyle program looks like and likely further optimism oozing out of Boulder.

Last season on The [other] Rise

Continue reading →

Podcast of Champions. Calm before the storm

Podcast of Champions: PacHoops Podcast, , , , ,

Although I’m not entirely convinced things will be calm this weekend, we’re here, it is now, March. Sure that narrative gets blown up but even on Monday without any posts to this blog, pageviews spiked. The people demand college hoops this month and it’s my (un)expert opinion that we’re about to get it. Wildest tournament ever? I’m predicting chalk.

Alas, this is the one where Spencer and I run through a few of the scenarios playing out as it pertains to Conference championships and there’s even a shoutout to WSU.

Pod:

Brandon Taylor’s (currently) historical decline

Utah, ,

Opened up my tee-shirt drawer the other day. In there I spotted my favorite and slipped it on. Didn’t matter the tattered fabric or faded images, the arm pits’ hue at least suggesting a semblance of hygiene. I like my favorite shirt because it takes care of my essential: makes me happy, is reliably comfortable, and can get me where I need to be (grocery store, Laundromat, gym, warmly into bed) in my own aesthetic. The shirt knows what’s up.

And so I ask: What’s up with Brandon Taylor? Continue reading →

Pac-12 Preseason Stuff: Rankings, Superlatives, Awards

Pac-12, , , , , , , ,

If you’re anything like me (heaven forbid), it’s been a touch of a struggle to get really, way way way up for this season. Last year there was historic greatness! How do you follow that up? This isn’t 2am bar trash but it also isn’t going to be your wife.

Of course as we’re on season’s eve, all of the feels return, excitement bubbles to standard levels, and we college basketball.

But it remains that this is an odd one. Drawing our attention to the premise of this blog – the Pac-12 – I thought we could contextualize the forthcoming events. If prescribing a single word (or phrase for leeway with possible imagery linked for effect) for each of the Pac-12’s four seasons it’d look something like this:

2011-12: Woof
2012-13: He touched the ball
2013-14: Progress!
2014-15: Arizona Continue reading →

2015-16 Utah Basketball Preview: Not replacing Delon

Utah, , , , , ,

If it hasn’t been said yet, allow me: Welcome to the Pac, Utes! From the marked and steady progress of Larry’s program to this year’s football performance, Utah has taken full advantage of its place at the big kid’s table. They’re clearly playing the part on the court. But off the court? Just a brand new $36 million practice facility. Watch the video. Larry Krystkowiak’s office is bigger than my apartment (he’s also taller than me so it’s cool). And his team is probably better than yours. If you’re reading other previews, there’s going to be a focus on “replacing Delon.” In college basketball, if you’re trying to “replace” anyone, you’re in trouble. A college basketball season is a flash in the pan, a shooting star, Josh Rosen’s hot tub. It’s a 30-ish game sample set of whatever you can milk out of immature and budding talents. Delon Wright was exceptional. So, so good. You don’t replace him. You adjust, take inventory of the talent you have and that you’ve brought in, and you coach to that roster. Look at Arizona’s “struggles” last year as they seemingly tried to “replace” Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson. That was never Stanley Johnson’s game. What Utah has going for themselves is a lot more known commodities as opposed to unknowns. Brandon Taylor is great. Brekkot Chapman is a sophomore! Jakob Poeltl might be the best player in the conference and Dakari Tucker – not Delon Wright – was the one who drove, drew contact and hit two free throws while down a deuce with 18-seconds left against Wichita State. He’s back.

And maybe you don’t like my Arizona analogy (relax, it’s my bread and butter). For the record, it’s probably the most optimistic you’ll find. I looked at Delon’s 2015 comparables (the players, according to KenPom, that most closely resembled Delon’s contributions). This afforded us access to just a small sample set (4 players + Jerian Grant who’s Notre Dame team has yet to play a season without him). The results showed that, the season after a Delon comparable left school, those teams achieved 3 fewer wins, about a 6% drop in offensive efficiency, while approximately maintaining defensive efficiency. Is this the hard and fast rule? Hell no. But I also think this serves as a good reminder of the aforementioned fluidity, brevity and immediacy of college basketball. One player does not a team make (except for Spencer Dinwiddie at Colorado). Heading into a given season we have no barometer but those 30-ish games played by a nearly completely different group. I wonder what the average percentage of returning minutes is across college basketball? For Utah it’s 75% which is very high and – considering the past success of that three-quarters – is good stuff.

Why I love them

Continue reading →

THREE FOR BART: Shot clock, Haden, Utah hoops

Three For Bart, , , , ,
  1. 30-second shot clock doesn’t bother Oregon basketball – My gut reaction is, “Tell me something I don’t know.” Then you read an article full of Dana Altman quotes and again I react with, “Tell me anything.” But this is worth for Dana’s passive aggressive comments about his most impactful players as well as the fact that he discusses playing 11 guys will be critical. Did you know that Altman teams have pretty traditionally ranked in the latter half of bench minutes? He goes deep into that thing. More fouls won’t be a terrible concern.
  2. Outside of USC, Pat Haden holds more than a dozen roles that pay at least a half-million dollars a year – This article says that Pat Haden is a bad athletic director because he has too many peripheral jobs. Yet, if you have any familiarity with the role of an AD, he’s being called out for over reaching in a role that’s specifically built for creating reach. Someone tell me what Haden is doing besides making bad hires because from a fiscal standpoint I believe USC athletics is doing just fine. Additionally, if any of you would like to hire me to be a professional networker, I’m your guy.
  3. 2016 wing Josh Conley commits to Utah – You all know that I’m an Arizona fan. What you might not know is that there’s a slogan flung around by Nike – presumably propigated by Miller but who really knows – that says, “Arizona Basketball Never Stops.” As it were, there’s a pretty consistent Arizona basketball news cycle: TJ McConnell a 76er, Rondae buys his mom a house, Luke Walton (35) is the head coach of the defending NBA champs, etc. But here’s a piece on Utah signing their second significant recruit of the week. Utah basketball (athletics?) might not be stopping any time soon. (they also received a commitment from Devon Daniels).

Utah vs. Duke: Wright Comparable, Okafor, Offense, Okafor

Utah, , , , , , , ,

We must begin by saying the Jahlil Okafor is really good. I’m not messing around and neither is he. Okafor scored in single figures only once this season and his team won that game by 43 and he was 2-2 from the field. He played 19 minutes. Here’s what it can look like: Continue reading →

NCAA Tournament Preview: #5 Utah Utes

Utah, , , , ,

So they’re not the hottest team in the country and have slumped to the point that my March 2014 prediction of the Utes being a four-seed was narrowly missed. I’ve been further off on other predictions – I see you 2015 Buffs – so I won’t soon lose any sleep over this. What I might lose some sleep over is how tough these Utes really are. There’s a je ne sias quoi that I’m going to try to sais quoi: They don’t have it. Whatever that gene is that allows you to flush goldfish down the toilet or take the last piece of cake at not your birthday party or win a close basketball game, that seems to be missing for the Utes. They’re just 4-11 the last two years in games decided by 6 points or fewer. Sometimes in a tournament you’ve got to be able to do that. Can the Utes? My hope is that the imminent finality of these fantastic two years instills some of that DGAF in Delon Wright. He’s too good to play just one more time for us.

FIRST OPPONENT:

Continue reading →

Pac-12 Tournament: The Event to be a Part Of

Pac-12, , ,

The Pac-12 tournament isn’t so much an exercise in basketball competition (that was great) as it is an event. A destination for hoopniks to congregate in a city that allows them to stay up past their bedtimes and participate in all manner of fandom. I watched eleven basketball games. Some of them were close and others were sharpied at the second media timeout. I met Ken Pomeroy and completely froze in the moment. I wish I’d asked if he could tell when exactly his numbers were predictably significant. After all, the college basketball season is only about 30 games long. That’s brief. Is that sample size significant to predicting a team’s performance? Similarly it’s been just three tournaments in Las Vegas. What do we really know about it? Is the fun we’ve had the shiny newness? The experiential equivalent of Washington being ranked 13th in the nation. It’s a small sample size and very few would be quick to celebrate the tournament’s Los Angeles iteration. Continue reading →

WANE: The Calm Before The Vegas

Podcast of Champions: PacHoops Podcast, , , , , , , ,

Because we’re honest with each other, Spencer and I really weren’t sure what to Pod-out this week. Arizona had wrapped the conference, Stanford was Dawkinsing, UCLA is just letting things play out, and – well – Oregon has impressed. But then 30-minutes of Pac-12 basketball pre-tournament-and-everything-we-love-about-college-basketball was discussed. The madness may have already begun, but now is the calm before the Vegas. Before the Dance.

WANE (and on SoundCloud):

Continue reading →