Sometimes the fix is simple.
It was ex-Utah coach Jim Boylen whoonce said, “Ball didn’t go in the hoop,” in response to a question about his team’s offensive ineptitude.
Sure, it was a dickish response but he kind of had a point. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in the hoop. And for a team like Utah, who has so heavily relied on its shooting, that can create problems.
On Monday, Utah guard Brandon Taylor was named to the All Pac-12 Second team, and it was a well-earned reward for the undersized guard who has spent his whole life, and certainly his Utah career, proving people wrong.
In the early part of the conference season Taylor was simply excellent, leading the Pac-12 in three-point shooting for much the year, but things eventually started going a little cold for the junior.
As the season progressed Taylor started misfiring, and the Utes felt the impact. Utah lost three of its last five games heading into the Pac-12 Tournament. In those three losses Taylor shot a combined 8-for-28 from the field, including 6-for-23 from behind the arc. Not exactly what you would call knock-down shooting.
In the opening half of Utah’s 80-56 victory over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, Taylor was 0-for-2. After an ill-advised turnover early in the second half, he was pulled in favor of Isaiah Wright.
Things quickly turned for the Utes.
Wright gave the Utes the boost Taylor has often given them this season both on the offensive and defensive end.
Utah trailed by four at the time of Taylor’s turnover but quickly surged to a seven-point lead in the matter of minutes.
“[Wright] was a big lift,” said Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak . “I thought Isaiah defensively did a nice job … he’s gaining more and more confidence.”
With about 11 minutes to go, Taylor checked back in the game and once again did what Utah fans have come to expect.
The ball was swung to Taylor, who was wide open in the corner. There was a slight hesitation from the guard — maybe he was thinking about all the misses he’s had over the last few games or maybe he was just lining up his shot — but Taylor eventually fired away and the ball found the bottom of the net, giving the Utes their first double-digit lead, 60-59.
From there the floodgates opened, with Delon Wright nailing a three, Jordan Loveridge firing one in from deep and Taylor getting back in on the action with his second triple.
Utah was back to where they were a month ago — soundly beating a Pac-12 opponent and looking like a team ready for a deep tournament run.
To be fair, there were other reasons the Utes rolled over Stanford in their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday. They killed the Cardinal on the boards and played suffocating defense in the second half, but the blistering 63.2 percent from three on 19 attempts made it so Stanford lost all fight.
The ball went into the hoop, and the Utes are now onto the semifinals.
@millerjryan