Utah 'struggling together' as they look to rebound


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SALT LAKE CITY — No matter the sport, coaches and players love to talk about the game not being won on the court or field but in the practice and preparation leading up to the game. The preparation is just an extension of what took place in the game.

In Utah's case that pregame preparation has been the difference in success on the court and the inexplicable losses that seemed to get away from Utah this season. Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said Tuesday it's time to "put on our big-boy pants" and take some ownership for the team and overcome the mistakes that continue to hamper the team.

Krystkowiak said his team has looked disengaged at times, particularly on the Oregon road trip, and has been one of the biggest factors in games getting away from the team. He said he's not worried about their understanding of the play-calling or overall strategy of the game, but said the team needs to play "smart."

"I don't want to chew guys out and punish anybody, but we're at the point of the season with a little over a month to go that we're either going to get it or we're not," he said. "I think we've learned enough lessons that when we don't play very intelligently that can be just as disastrous as not playing hard. And we've had very few games that we haven't played hard. But the smart part has got to start rising up here a little bit more."

Krystkowiak said there has been a bit of a "cloud" hanging over the team as a result of the two loses in Oregon last week, but that the overall road-heavy schedule has contributed to some fatigue and lack of consistency in some of the games. However, that schedule doesn't account for the guard play being less than desirable, turnover prone and simply inefficient.

"We've just got to get dialed in and take a lot more pride in possessions throughout the course of the game and not make mistakes and making it as tough as we can on the other team instead of beating ourself," Krystkowiak said. "I have no problem getting beat. I don't like when we make mistakes, and I feel like we beat ourself.

"We're struggling, we've got a couple of loses and we've got to deal with it and ... find a way to pick each other up and try to lift the level of our play," he added.

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Krystkowiak said the team is "struggling together" as they each look to improve their game as a collective whole and that the effort and focus has been great, for the most part, in practice settings. He said the team has to have more compassion as they look to rebound at home and improve their conference standings.

"Compassion is not really to be confused with empathy, where you could feel sorry for somebody. But compassion was probably more of the concept that you have to struggle together," he said. "If you want to take action instead of feeling sorry for somebody, then jump in their shoes with them, try to lift them up and help them.

"We've got a resilient group based on our practice (Monday), and the guys are ready to come in," he added. "Nobody feels sorry for themself."

As Utah prepares to play Washington Wednesday night, Krystkowiak is open to altering the starting lineup in an effort to get more from his guards, who have seemed to struggle the most this year in handling the ball. Krystkowiak said Lorenzo Bonam wasn't good enough in the Oregon series and that a change was necessary, which gave Gabe Bealer an opportunity at some playing time.

Whether Bealer or some other player sees more playing time will be only known to Krystkowiak, who said he won't divulge his strategies. However, whomever plays, he wants them to take ownership and "be tougher on themselves."

"I think you try to put your players in situations where they can be successful," Krystkowiak said. "I think the guys know what's expected and we've had plenty of glimpses of being productive."

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Josh Furlong

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