The Runnin’ Utes haven’t had an ideal start to open up Pac-12 play. They were on the road for the first three games, and although they got a win against Colorado on Friday night, it wasn’t pretty.
Utah is currently 1-2 in league play. They opened up with a loss in Palo Alto against Stanford, a game the Utes came close to winning. Two days later, the Utes suffered another loss, this time to Cal. Then against the Buffs, they pulled out a close win, but neither team was able to outshine the other.
What Utah has been struggling with for the majority of the season are the fundamentals. Against the Cardinal, the Utes turned the ball over 19 times, something head coach Larry Krystkowiak has been working on correcting during recent practices.
“How would you like to have a couple of those mindless ones back and know that we don’t go to overtime?” Krystkowiak said.
They also missed four free throws in the final minute against Cal, any one of which would have virtually given the Utes a win. Brandon Taylor was one of the culprits, missing a couple of those free throws in the closing seconds, and although it may have derailed his play in overtime, he understands that it cannot happen again.
“It’s a matter of not thinking too much,” Taylor said. “Whether shots go down or shots miss, just have the same mindset and keep approaching the game the same way you’ve been approaching it.”
Going up against the Golden Bears, Utah was only down by four points and with under two minutes to go, only down six— a win within reach. However, as the Utes were attempting to make a comeback, a foul sent Cal to the free-throw line for a one-and-one. Cal missed the front end of it, but thanks to a lane violation from the Utes, Cal was awarded a second chance and ended up making two free throws.
Utah eventually lost the game, but it had a much cleaner effort for the majority of the 40 minutes than the previous two contests. The team turned the ball over nine times, but Cal only got four steals, so five turnovers were because of things Utah should have been in control of.
Taylor, who’s made his fair share of turnovers in these games, is happy that they’re realizing it is a problem now. As the team continues to see what it needs to work on early in this young campaign, the players are better able to step it up in the following games.
“We’re going through some bumps and bruises early in the season, but I’d rather it be now than later, opposed to the Pac-12 Tournament or even the NCAA Tournament, or any tournament we go to,” Taylor said. “We’re learning and now I think it’s up to us to take our learning to the next game.”
Although Taylor knows what he needs to work on to take better care of the ball, Krystkowiak isn’t putting all the blame on his players. He places as much responsibility on the coaching staff as he does the team itself.
Krystkowiak is not sure why some players are forcing plays that do not need to be made, so it’s been something he’s been focusing a lot of time on.
“Everyone needs to take some accountability,” Krystkowiak said. “We’re looking at how we can build the system to not tempt them to turn it over, but we’re also asking them to take a heck of a lot more pride in the fact that we have a possession and every possession is worth a point.”
The team doesn’t expect to be perfect. The Utes typically have a goal of only nine turnovers per game, but to help get the turnovers down, they’ve been working on footwork — basic, clean footwork. It doesn’t need to be fancy, so long as the Utes get the job done and get a win. That’s all they’ll need.
“It’s just a matter of focus taking care of the ball,” Taylor said. “There’s no magic to it, just don’t turn the ball over.”
@kbrenneisen