Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak has said it many times — tournament time is a whole other season.
Thursday began what the Utes called a “clean slate,” and things stared off well for Utah, leveling Stanford in the second half to run away with a 80-56 victory.
But for one Ute it may serve him well to do some remembering, and not just of this year, but last year too.
As great as Wright has been in his two years at Utah, his postseason performances haven’t quite matched what he has done in the regular season.
The last memory Wright had of the Pac-12 Tournament before Thursday’s win was him struggling to a nine point, three rebound, one assist performance in the Utes’ humbling 71-39 loss to Arizona in last year’s quarterfinals. There wasn’t a Ute that had a good game that day, but Wright is held to higher standard. And when the stakes were at their highest, he didn’t live up to the expectations, especially his own.
Don’t let the calm demeanor or the braces-filled smile deceive you, Wright thinks he is the best player each time he takes the court. He has spent his summers not just holding his own but schooling NBA and other professional players in summer leagues, and sometimes this college game is nothing but child’s play.
He knows how important he is to the team, and he has thrived in that role. And while he may not say it publicly, he’s got one big chip on his shoulder heading into Friday’s semifinal against Oregon.
“You are always excited to play, rematch against a team that beat you,” Wright said about the matchup with the Ducks. “And we only played them one time, we didn’t get our rematch. So this is our rematch.”
This game is so much more than just a chance for the Utes to get some redemption, it’s a chance for Wright to get some vindication.
Standing across the court from Wright tonight will be the player the Pac-12 coaches voted as the conference’s best— Joseph Young.
Young took home the Player of the Year award and let’s not pretend that Wright didn’t feel snubbed. The Ute guard is really without question the best player in the conference. There are arguments that can be made for other players, but those mostly involve (like Young’s) his team’s success, not necessarily the player’s individual merit. In a head-to-head comparison, Wright wins against every player, every single time.
This tournament is working out perfectly for Wright to slay some demons. First, he got to erase some bad tournament memories, now he gets to prove that he is the league’s best against Young and it is all is lining up for one more crack at the team that has proved to be Utah’s ultimate challenge — Arizona.
When Wright didn’t win the Player of the Year award, heck, even when Krsystkowiak didn’t win the Coach of the Year, it showed that there are doubts about what this program has accomplished.
In three days Wright, Larry K and the rest of the Utes can put all the doubts to bed. It’s a new season and it couldn’t have been scripted better.
@millerjryan