It's Anybody's Guess Where Utah Hoops Go From Here
Throughout his 12-year head coaching career, Larry Krystkowiak has never been one to make excuses. He's also been known to defend his players at all costs, never blaming them for a loss but rather taking it on himself.
Well those two worlds collided late Saturday night when Utah blew 12-point halftime lead en route to a 72-63 loss to Cal, the third time in four games the Utes have blown a double digit halftime lead.
During his postgame presser, Krystkowiak gave a very impassioned, and at points defensive, speech regarding the status of his team. Although he refused to make excuses for the loss, his demeanor changed when speaking of the difficulty this past week was for the Utes — Utah played four games over eight days.
"I'm not here to make excuses, but I don't know if you guys. ... This is something that's a little bit troubling and I'm trying to protect our team, not make an excuse, but we just played four games in a week," he said. "That doesn't happen very often in college basketball. And if there were a few shots that came up short or maybe we didn't quite have it, I'd like to maybe chalk it up to just having a hell of a challenge ahead of us."
Jan 16, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak reacts in the first half against the California Golden Bears at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
On one end Krystkowiak is 110% correct, the Utes did play four games in four days. Regardless of any situation, that is extremely difficult to do, even moreso when three of those teams reside in the top-4 of the Pac-12 standings.
But should it be used as an excuse for the Utes' reasoning as to why they couldn't close out Cal, the Pac-12's second worst team? Not a chance. Tired legs or not, this game should never have been as close as it was. And for that reason, the Utes have nobody to blame but themselves.
Utah turned the ball over a ridiculous 17 times, with at least 10 of them being unforced errors. That disregard for taking care of the ball was completely abnormal for a team that typically takes great care of the rock.
"It's the turnovers," Krystkowiak said. "I think you've got to have some discipline to have more value for the ball to take care of the basketball. It wasn't as much about energy as it was the mental side of the game and being disciplined and fundamental and not giving them points."
Jan 16, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes guard Rylan Jones (15) controls the ball against California Golden Bears guard Makale Foreman (10) in the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Four players had at least two turnovers, but none more than forward Timmy Allen and his seven.
But Allen doesn't deserve a lot of the blame as he finished with a game-high 26 points, adding six rebounds and five assists. The heart and leadership displayed during the final 5 minutes of the game with Utah trailing was more the enviable. He fought every possession, often having the ball in his hands and bullying his way to the rim or making the extra pass for a bucket.
Despite Allen's heart, there are some glaring questions with Utah now. The loss to Cal, especially when considered after taking down second-place Stanford two nights prior, is one of the lowest points for the program in the last five years or so.
Blowing three double-digit halftime leads in the past four games is not a good look, and it now speaks to larger problems. Why does it happen?
Against Oregon, the Utes got extremely sloppy with the ball and struggled handling Oregon's 3/4 court pressure. Against Colorado, Utah couldn't match the Buffaloes physicality and lost the rebounding battle 49-31. And finally against Cal, it was a lack of respect for the opponent as the Utes more than likely assumed they would roll to victory against the lowly Golden Bears.
“We can’t lose like that, especially at home,” Allen said/ “We just gotta be better. If we can beat Stanford, we can beat anybody. ... If we can lose to Cal, we can lose to anybody.”
The one common thread throughout the three losses was Utah's overall lack of effort and fight.
Each time an opponent came out and began to seize control early int he second half, Utah's offense broke down into singular play rather than the unit playing together. The offense became all about the name on the back rather than the name on the front and it wasn't surprising to seem the struggle.
Now is discovery time for the Utes. Following the atrocious loss, the only way this team can go now is up. It's time for them to look inside themselves as players and diagnose the heart of the issues, which is not necessarily X's and O's.
Jan 16, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes guard Ian Martinez (2) runs into California Golden Bears forward Lars Thiemann (21) in the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
There are some in the fanbase who will now be calling for Krystkowiak's head, and a lot of it makes sense.
He is the Pac-12's second-highest paid coach (No. 14 in the country) and yet has only made the NCAA Tournament twice in the past nine years as leader of the Utes. He has missed the tournament the past four years, including the postseason as whole the previous two.
He made 'March Madness' the same amount of times while coaching at Montana for two years prior to coming to Utah.
But he's owed $9 million for his buyout, and with the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic has caused on the athletic department's finances, firing him seems highly unlikely.
Even then though, I'm not convinced that's the best option.
Krystkowiak can win at this level — he has won at this level. But I think he needs to change the way he recruits and the way he runs his overall offense to better suit the modern day game. It's all about fit and right now, he just doesn't have the right system in place with his player compete at the Pac-12 level.
Whether that changes or not over the coming months, nobody knows. But Ute fans need to get used to seeing him on the sideline because it's highly unlikely he's going anywhere for the next two years.
Jan 16, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes guard Rylan Jones (15) and Utah Utes guard Alfonso Plummer (25) react to their loss against the California Golden Bears at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
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