Congrats...

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I don't know what you call "talent". I define it as basketball ability sufficient to win games.

And I know, without a doubt, that BYU has more basketball talent than Utah. Look at Young making the Utes look like they were playing in slow motion.

I'm just going to laugh when next year you guys are puzzled why you aren't ranked in the top 25.

The point about Majerus is that he cripped Giac's ability to recruit due to the recruiting restrictions.

But of course, you guys think that Giac recruited great talent.

I think it's interesting that Ute fans give credit to the players for all the good wins this year, and credit to the coach for every loss.

But on the other hand, I guess you have to credit the Utes for not turning on everyone. They very easily could have turned on the coach AND the players.

And having coached five games today, I can tell you that players don't always listen. Whether it be among deacons, college, or the NBA. I have a guy on my team who is convinced he is a good outside shooter. His shots freqently miss the rim and backboard by several feet. The announcers said that Giac did everything he could to try and get his guys to play defense. It takes heart to play defense. And those players didn't have any heart. "You knew what I was when you recruited me."

There are only two reasons informed Ute fans think this team may have some talent: First, Neville; Neville scored 26 points and had 9 rebounds against BYU the first time they played and he had these types of numbers over and over again this year. He's only a sophomore and any objective person recognizes his current worth and very high upside. He has received a fair amount of national recognition for being on such a bad team. So if you think Neville lacks talent you're alone in that assessment.

Second, Utah beat two teams from the ACC and Pac 10 that have been ranked almost all year and were among the elite of those conferences--UVA tied for first, and WA State second place. I believe WA State cracked the top ten. It is currently ranked no. 13. This is something that BYU may not have achieved since Ainge for all I know and probably won't match even this year. Some people not unreasonably believe it takes some real talent to beat UVA (on a neutral court) and WA St if not AF for that matter. BYU got a scheduling break in that it didn't play AF until it began its annual death spiral. The Utes handed AF its frist MWC loss, when AF was ranked no. 11.

These facts suggest a more than respectable talent pool.