People around the league say that forming a team identity is the toughest thing to do, especially with younger players. But forming an identity is exactly what Utah head coach Lynne Roberts believes her team is doing.
“People complimenting our team about how hard we play is the ultimate compliment,” Roberts said. “That’s what I want. I want our identity to be a tough, blue-collar team.”
Utah has definitely shown toughness through 15 games this year, earning an 11-4 record, including a 3-1 mark in conference play. While the Utes are certainly embracing a”blue-collar” identity from within, national recognition is yet to come.
A win over ranked Cal on its home court is a good place to start.
“What we also talk about, too, is gaining respect. People don’t respect us, necessarily,” Roberts said. “It’s not disrespect. They’re just not talking about us. They’re not thinking about Utah. We want to be better than that. We are better than that, but you have to earn it. You can’t just talk about it. You have to earn it, and these guys are doing it.”
So what does a blue-collar team look like, exactly? Statistically, a hard-nosed team can be easy to pick out by a few key stats: rebounds, opponent field-goal percentage and deflections.
Utah currently leads all Pac-12 opponents, except for No. 12 Oregon State, with a rebound margin of 9.6. Furthermore, Utah has only been out-rebounded once this year, in a loss to Stanford. Early in the season, Roberts continually cited rebounds as a point of emphasis for her team. Its easy to see now, 11 wins later, why this part of the game was such a key factor to the brand of basketball Roberts envisioned for this program.
“For me, [rebounding] is a pillar of what it takes to win games,” she said. “We have a saying up on the wall in our practice gym by Pat Riley: ‘No rebounds. No rings.’ If you don’t rebound, you’re not going to win.”
In addition to rebounding, opponent field-goal percentage can be a great indicator of how successful a team’s defense is at disrupting its opponent’s offensive game plan. In what is arguably the strongest conference in the nation, Utah is middle of the pack, holding opponents to 37.5 percent shooting for sixth in the conference.
While the Utes will continue to work on that side of the floor — sharpening rotations, becoming more active in passing lanes — much of the improvement from last year is due to Utah’s defensive anchor, Emily Potter. She is averaging 2.7 blocks per game thus far, and much of the way Utah plays defensively is predicated on funneling shooters off the three-point line into its rim protector — Potter.
Another statistic that is indicative of a team’s toughness is defensive deflections, a statistic not typically recorded in traditional box scores and thus not available to fans. It is a statistic, however, that Roberts and her staff record and value.
“We just don’t want teams to be comfortable,” Roberts said. “Our pressing, our zone, our man, we’re not gambling too much, but we want to track deflections so that there’s still a level of aggressiveness.”
As with any team, the progress Utah has made thus far will be validated by how it handles adversity. With a two-game road trip against Arizona and 10th-ranked Arizona State coming up, the Utes will look to make another statement on the national stage as to who they are.
@westinjay