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SALT LAKE CITY - It might have taken a couple months, but the Runnin' Utes are finally looking like a competitive basketball team.
Though there is still lots of room to grow, the progress made, especially in the last couple weeks, has been pretty significant and should offer Utah fans hope that Larry Krystkowiak might just be turning this ship around - even if slowly.
It wasn't that long ago the Utes opened up conference play with a record-setting loss to Colorado. Since, though, they've played three conference games extremely close and even managed to win one.
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It seems like forever ago to many Ute fans of having a successful basketball team up on the hill. @ Colorado (11-5) | L 33-73 |
 Washington St. (9-7) | W 62-60 |
 Washington (10-6) | L 53-57 |
 @ Stanford (14-3) | L 65-68 |
 @ California (14-4) | Sat 1/14 8:30 pm |
Thursday night, against conference-leading Stanford, they once again found themselves in a tight contest and, like against Washington the game before, couldn't quite get over the hump, losing by three on the road.
It has been quite the turn around for the Utes, who, at least back in late 2011, were vying for the dubious honor of being labeled the worst basketball program in the history of the Big Six conferences.
Fortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore and now the program does seem to be making legitimate steps toward improvement.
But that doesn't mean they're ready to contend for the Pac-12 title just yet. This team is far from being good and still could finish at the very bottom of the conference. In fact, even though they've managed to stay close in their last two defeats, it's probably smart for Utah fans to not get too excited about the progression seen from this year's team.
They're still one of the worst teams in the nation.
That sounds harsh, and maybe by the end of the year we won't consider them one, but even aggressively losing doesn't change the fact the Utes are still, you know, losing games. They're 4-12 and 1-3 in conference play and probably staring down the school's first 20-loss season.
Still, it's hard not to get at least a bit excited for the closeness of the last three conference games. After the Colorado debacle, a forty-point rout, most Ute fans probably wondered if they would contend in any conference game, let alone win one. They did - the very next one - and probably should have defeated either Washington or Stanford.
Because of that abrupt change, there is now potential for some surprising victories along the way. It's certainly made the season more intriguing and because of that new life, there is more buzz today than a few weeks ago.
Utah can actually win a game!
Of course, this team is still likely prone to major setbacks. Especially on the road. It would be foolish to expect every game from here on out to go down to the wire, especially against the elite of the conference.
They're probably going to get pounded and that could happen as early as Saturday against Cal, who, at least right now, appears to be the team to beat in the Pac-12.
When that happens, when they're blown off the court, the true progress won't necessarily be how they respond within the game, but their response in the subsequent ones. Can they shake it off and put it behind them?
But for now, at least the team is leaving everything they have on the court and that is a huge step in the right direction. No one likes blowouts and hopefully they're going to become less and less frequent once Utah gets into the meat of their conference schedule.
They should be aided by the fact the Pac-12 is very mediocre this season and even calling it that might be a bit generous. Sure, the Utes might be the worst of the bunch, but it's not hard to imagine a surprise win or two - especially with how many teams at the bottom are struggling. Arizona State will duke it out with Utah for the bottom, UCLA is but a shell of their former selves and Utah proved Thursday they were capable of putting themselves in position to win a game, on the road, against the top of the league.
So, with the down league and the Utes' improved play, maybe they can string together a few wins to pull themselves out of the bottom of the conference and settle in at the murky middle. It's unlikely and, as I mentioned, there is still a good chance the team regresses, at least temporarily, at some point this season - but the fact we're having this discussion just goes to show you how much has changed the last three games.
Hopefully it continues. But for now, Larry Krystkowiak seems to be getting the most out of his guys. After that 1-8 start and the numerous blowouts sprinkled throughout the early part of the season, I'll take it.
