Coach Larry Krystkowiak’s Utah men’s basketball team plays its first game of the season Thursday when it hosts Washington at 4 p.m. at the Huntsman Center
In most seasons, word that the University of Utah men’s basketball team would have to open the season against another Pac-12 foe would have been met with disgust, perhaps even outrage.
But the pandemic-ravaged 2020-21 season is already unlike any other that coach Larry Krystkowiak and his staff have dealt with, so Thursday afternoon’s matchup with Washington at the Huntsman Center (4 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) has barely raised an eyebrow among the Utes.
“It is not ideal, but I believe we are ready and am (happy) we are starting off with a heckuva game,” sophomore point guard Rylan Jones said Tuesday via Zoom. “I would rather play a really good opponent than play a team like Mississippi Valley State like last year.”
Even the tipoff time of 4 p.m. MST is unusual, at least for a weekday game. Blame the pandemic for that one as well.
Utes assistant coach Andy Hill explained Monday that games played in California are likely subject to that state’s 10 p.m. curfew, so in order to pack several games in on the same night, they have to get an early start.
“It is probably something we are going to be dealing with all year long,” Hill said.
That, and no spectators at the games — at least for the foreseeable future. Jones said the Utes will have to rely on their teammates to give them an emotional lift.
“We just got to play our guts out,” he said. “With no fans, we got to create our own energy, and just feed off each other and feed off the bench, and that’s what we are going to try to do.”
Jones said he talked to a member of the Utes football team about what it is like to play a big-time conference game with nobody in the stands.
“He just said it is like nothing you have ever experienced before,” Jones said.
Krystkowiak, who acknowledged he was also infected with the virus last month, said during a Tuesday Zoom meeting that winning will bring that energy.
“You witnessed that in the NBA bubble,” he said. “You could tell the teams that almost didn’t want to be there. They didn’t end up staying there that long.”
Krystkowiak said the teams that will flourish are those that are “in it for the right reasons” and draw their strength internally.
“I think you are going to separate the men from the boys a little bit, with who is depending on a crowd and that type of thing, and who is able to manufacture that (energy) themselves,” he said.
The coach said more than half of his players have tested positive, but as of Tuesday afternoon all would be available in the opener.
“Close to two-thirds of our roster has joined the 19 club, as I am calling it,” he quipped.
Washington is known throughout the league for its zone defense, and the difficulty of simulating that in practice to be ready for it is real. But the Utes may be catching the Huskies at the right time.
Picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12, a spot behind the Utes, Washington is 0-2, having lost 86-52 to No. 2 Baylor on Sunday and 57-42 to UC Riverside on Tuesday. Both those games were played in Las Vegas.
Washington got 18 points from Quade Green, but shot just 29.6% from the field against the Big West Conference team and was outrebounded 49-33.
“Green is an elite point guard,” Krystkowiak said.
Whereas Utah returns 85.7% of its scoring from last year, UW returns just 35% and has struggled to get things going offensively without recent NBA draft picks Isaiah Stewart II and Jaden McDaniels.
“Their zone is super unique,” Jones said. “It is almost like four guys across the free-throw line and one guy below them, and they are extremely long, extremely athletic. … It is a zone that you have never seen before, unless you have played Washington or Syracuse.”
Jones was named a team captain last week, along with juniors Timmy Allen and Riley Battin.
After facing Washington, the Utes are scheduled to host Idaho State on Tuesday before traveling to BYU on Dec. 12 for the annual rivalry game. However, Krystkowiak is not ruling out picking up another nonconference game before the first league road game at Arizona State on Dec. 22.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3ohkAeJ
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