Utah Utes

[shizam]

I am predicting a top 4 finish in PAC 12 standings and Megan Huff a late first or early 2nd round WNBA draft choice

 

[nwhoopfan]

Who among Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford and Arizona St. are you kicking out of the top 4? USC might be in the conversation as well. Will once again be interesting to see the conference race unfold.

I like Huff too. She was playing really well down the stretch last season before she got injured.

 

[shizam]

Think I got carried away. Let me change that to a top 5 finish! I think they can finish ahead of USC and Cal and that’s going to be tough. Utes are playing well together as is Az State.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oh shoot I forgot about Cal! Yeah top 7 could be a dog fight. With Arizona and Colorado as maybe wildcards. And then there's UCLA w/ talent but not playing very well. Like I said conference race will be interesting. Sometimes watching the middle of the pack sort itself out is nearly as interesting as the top.

 

[shizam]

Utah 7-0. 85-47 over Utah Valley. Sarah Porter grad transfer (3rd school) 7-7, 6-6 from deep 20 points. Box score says she missed one but announcers say she was perfect.
Megan Huff 20 points.

 

[LoTrader]

There will be no "nights off" in PAC-12 play. Best conference is the NCAA Women's game.

 

[Plebe]

I am predicting a top 4 finish in PAC 12 standings and Megan Huff a late first or early 2nd round WNBA draft choice

If Megan Huff gets selected in the 1st round I'll climb up on my roof and play that annoying Utah fight song at full blast.

 

[DaBball]

One player who has really impressed me for the Utes is RS Freshman Dru Gylten. Was ranked as the #71 Guard in 2017, but is averaging 7.6 points and 6.7 assists. Pretty good numbers for a freshman ranked so low.

 

[Plebe]

Oh shoot I forgot about Cal! Yeah top 7 could be a dog fight. With Arizona and Colorado as maybe wildcards. And then there's UCLA w/ talent but not playing very well. Like I said conference race will be interesting. Sometimes watching the middle of the pack sort itself out is nearly as interesting as the top.

The "middle tier" of the conference is still a big question mark. None of them have played any teams that can be considered likely to make the NCAAs (although Colorado will have just such a test today).

• Utah's only noteworthy game so far has been a less-than-dominant home win vs. Alabama.
• I consider Cal to be grossly overranked at #15. They barely beat Houston by a point, pulled away late against Penn St., and never gained significant separation in their win over Tulane.
• USC has played no one of note, but they needed a game-winning basket by Mariya Moore to beat Fresno State at home.
• Colorado plays today at #21 Miami (which itself is a bit of a question mark after losses to Iowa St. and Purdue). The only other noteworthy data point in the Buffs' resume so far is a 12-point home win over North Carolina.

At this point I doubt that these two teams can even be described as "middle tier":

• UCLA has the loss to Loyola Marymount and went 0-3 in the Paradise Jam, including a blowout loss to North Carolina. The Bruins did beat then-ranked Georgia at home, but it's not clear yet whether that can be considered a significant win.
• Arizona has played an extremely soft schedule and that includes a loss to Loyola Marymount.

 

[shizam]

The "middle tier" of the conference is still a big question mark. None of them have played any teams that can be considered likely to make the NCAAs (although Colorado will have just such a test today).

• Utah's only noteworthy game so far has been a less-than-dominant home win vs. Alabama.
• I consider Cal to be grossly overranked at #15. They barely beat Houston by a point, pulled away late against Penn St., and never gained significant separation in their win over Tulane.
• USC has played no one of note, but they needed a game-winning basket by Mariya Moore to beat Fresno State at home.
• Colorado plays today at #21 Miami (which itself is a bit of a question mark after losses to Iowa St. and Purdue). The only other noteworthy data point in the Buffs' resume so far is a 12-point home win over North Carolina.

At this point I doubt that these two teams can even be described as "middle tier":

• UCLA has the loss to Loyola Marymount and went 0-3 in the Paradise Jam, including a blowout loss to North Carolina. The Bruins did beat then-ranked Georgia at home, but it's not clear yet whether that can be considered a significant win.
• Arizona has played an extremely soft schedule and that includes a loss to Loyola Marymount.

based on your summary we can surmise Loy Marymount is a high mid-tier Pac 12 club. They should switch conferences. Maybe not. Good knowledge

 

[shizam]

There will be no "nights off" in PAC-12 play. Best conference is the NCAA Women's game.

PAC 12 exciting basketball games to watch imo. South Carolina w 3 and 7 assist games should start a refund policy. Clemson beat them to every loose ball. I will never get back those two hours. Of my life

 

[Plebe]

based on your summary we can surmise Loy Marymount is a high mid-tier Pac 12 club. They should switch conferences. Maybe not. Good knowledge

Yeah, after the wins over UCLA and Arizona I had to wonder. But: they were picked to finish only 4th in the West Coast Conference, and they did just get blown out by 30 points by Denver.

 

[DefenseBB]

Who among Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford and Arizona St. are you kicking out of the top 4? USC might be in the conversation as well...

No one, Utes are a nice team but not ready yet. As much as I truly respect your Left coast views on WCBB, as long as USC has Cynthia Cooper Dykes as coach, be prepared to be underwhelmed and out performed by other teams.

 

[ochoopsfan]

No one, Utes are a nice team but not ready yet. As much as I truly respect your Left coast views on WCBB, as long as USC has Cynthia Cooper Dykes as coach, be prepared to be underwhelmed and out performed by other teams.

Mark Trakh has been the coach of USC for the past 2 seasons(last year and this year)

 

[nwhoopfan]

as long as USC has Cynthia Cooper Dykes as coach

You're lobbing me a softball here. Mark Trakh is back at USC for a 2nd stint, this is his 2nd year back. His first time around was kind of mediocre, but maybe he became a better coach while at NMSU. He had a good record there after he rebuilt the program.

 

[shizam]

I’m impressed with Trakh. After they missed out on tourney bid he said no victims here we just didn’t get it done. Now the players were another story

 

[DefenseBB]

Mark Trakh has been the coach of USC for the past 2 seasons(last year and this year)

Oh my bad! I completely brain cramped on that. I still think the Utes are 5th or 6th which being in the toughest conference will only help them get to a sweet 16 come dancing’s time.