It’s Time To Win Basketball Games

When it comes to Utah Basketball, people have spent the better part of two years calling me a Larry hater saying I hate Utah basketball and so on.  This has largely come because I questioned the wisdom of running off everyone when he took the program and bristling at the idea that it takes 12 years to rebuild a program.  In essence, if the program was spinning a story, I thought it was prudent to ask if it was true.

Like here was an interesting fact.  Jim Boylen’s championship team lost 74% of scoring.  And we eviscerated him for only winning 14 games.  Larry only lost 76% of scoring with all the departures, and we celebrated his five wins and now his doing better than five wins.  See these are things that make at least me go hmm…

But at some point Larry is going to have to do more than have his lapdogs raving about the screens we set.  At some point he has to win actual basketball games.  And doesn’t that time have to be now.  He’s gotten two full remakes of the roster and this year is nearly a third.  We’ll see six new players on the court for Utah this year, a seventh is going on a mission and if Darryl Reynolds signs tomorrow, well that makes eight more players.

If there has been a coach turn his roster over more in two years than Larry I’d like to see it.  And we thought Rick dumped a lot of players.

So here is the squad that Larry has married his career to.

Renan Lenz Sr. 6-9 Forward

Dallin Bachynski Jr. 7-0 Center

Jordan Loveridge So. 6-6 Forward

Jeremy Olesn So. 6-10 Forward

Brandon Taylor So. 5-10 Guard

Dakari Tucker So. 6-5 Guard

Delon Wright Jr. 6-5 Guard

Princeton Onwas Jr. 6-5 Forward

Marko Kovacevic Jr. 6-11 Center

Kenneth Ogbe Fr. 6-6 Guard

Ahman Fields Fr. 6-5 Forward

Parker Van Dyke Fr. 6-3 Guard

There are also some walk-ons in the mix and the possibility that the Reynolds kid could sign with Utah on Tuesday.  So that brings me to point and a question.  Surely there can’t be much more turnover in the Larry era, if there is you’d have to think that is the end of the Larry era.

So this is the team that Larry must win with.  Will it be enough to justify an extension at the end of year four?