After a few days of practice, the Utes have already learned some things about themselves. They have a hard-working group, a talented roster and a stellar game plan for the upcoming season.
Utah convened for media day with optimism in the air last week. The Utes’ enthusiasm for the season carried through their first weekend of practice. All the buzz surrounded the offense going to an up-tempo attack, while kicking the slow, set-driven offense of last year to the curb.
“Its going good,” sophomore wing Dakarai Tucker said. “We’re getting used to the new sets and getting comfortable with our own part and running the new plays.”
It was Utah’s stellar defense that kept them in games last year. While installing the new offense, the Utes are making sure they do not sacrifice defense. Point guard Brandon Taylor said he didn’t think the new offense would affect the Utes’ current defense. He thinks that all the running will actually benefit the team, even on the defensive end.
Utah expects their strong defense to help them get out and run. Krystkowiak said he expects rebounding to come from everyone on the floor.
“We are hoping that playing good defense will lead to open shots for the team,” Tucker said.
According to Krystkowiak, guarding the ball will be the focal point this week. He said that before the team jumps in to defensive rotations, he wants them to be competent in guarding the perimeter ball handlers.
Krystkowiak seems to be elated with the squad. At media day he mentioned how happy he was with the conditioning and work ethic of the group. He also said junior college transfer Princeton Onwas is the type of athlete Utah has been missing since he took the helm at Utah.
Onwas has not only impressed Krystowiak in the first few days of practice but the rest of the team as well. He’s been throwing down alley-oops, and Taylor said it is “lob city” when Onwas is on the court.
The players mentioned that even though practices have begun in earnest, they are working hard outside of practices too.
“Everybody is still working really hard on the court and even off the court,” Tucker said. “We are all really committed.”
Not everything has gone according to plan so far for the Utes — they have received a bit of bad luck on the injury side early on. Junior forward Marko Kovacevic has a sprained wrist, but he participated in practice on Tuesday with his wrist wrapped.
Kovacevic will have plenty of time to recover as the Utes are still a month away from their first exhibition game. They open the season against Saint Martin’s on Nov. 1st at the Huntsman Center.