Colorado win boosts team morale
Since the Utes got their first win in the Pac-12 last Friday night, head coach Larry Krystkowiak hopes this can give the players a jump start they need for the slate of home games they have scheduled this week.
A close win in Boulder gives the team more confidence, Krystkowiak believes, especially after losing a close one against the Cardinal just two games before. However, he still sees plenty of room for improvement.
“I think the emotion of the win is what we focused on,” Krystkowiak said. “It was one of those games that was close to the wire, felt good to win that one in light of what took place at Stanford. I watched all the game tape yesterday and I have clips offensively and defensively of how we need to get better.”
Thursday night, the team will take on Oregon and then they will face Oregon State on Sunday, both inside the walls of the Huntsman Center. The team is ready to get out on its home court for the first time this year during conference play.
Although playing three road games to open up the season can be rough, Krystkowiak looks at it as a positive. He would much rather have the students in class and on campus versus home games over the break where hardly any students show up, which was the case last season.
Bonam adjusting more and more
Since the beginning of the season, Krystkowiak has seen guard Lorenzo Bonam have his fair share of ups and downs. He’s gone from starting, to coming off the bench, and then back to starting.
Bonam hit the game-winning shot against the Buffs and Krystkowiak thinks this will only motivate him to perform better down the road. He also thinks that Bonam is finally starting to come into his own after completely adjusting to the tone of Division-I play.
“He’s really grown and I’ve said it for years, but you don’t really have a junior college player until Christmas,” Krystkowiak said. “Not unusual for that period of adjustment, but he’s jumped right in. He’s shown improvement.”
Off the court as well, Bonam is more than acclimated to the environment around him.
“He’s a joy to be around,” Krystkowiak said. “For our players, he might be the most popular guy in the locker room.”
Poeltl looking to bounce back
Jakob Poeltl typically dominates the paint, but struggled on the road against Colorado. He only scored six points, and although he had 11 rebounds, he was still off his game with all the extra attention put on him.
Usually one of Utah’s leading scorers, Krystkowiak knows other teams are focusing a lot of their efforts on him. It will be up to Poeltl to withstand the pressure.
“In fairness to Jakob, he has a pretty big bullseye on his chest,” Krystkowiak said. “You have to bring it daily. Jakob’s done a nice job, but give Colorado some credit. They didn’t double him.”
So long as he protects the rim, Krystkowiak will be satisfied with his performance. Something else Poeltl has been impressing his coach with is his overall physicality. He no longer shies away from contact, and instead embraces it and tries to get to the line more often. Even though he did not play his best on Friday, Krystkowiak knows this will only make him better.
“It’s good for Jakob to struggle against someone,” Krystkowiak said.
@kbrenneisen