'Patience' is key as Craig Smith looks to make his mark with Runnin' Utes

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SALT LAKE CITY — Craig Smith has been patient with his new team.

The goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament remains a top priority, but as the adage goes: Rome wasn't built in a day.

Utah's men's basketball program won't be rebuilt in a day.

Smith knows it will take time to rebuild a Utah program that finished 12-13 (8-11 Pac-12) last season and missed out on its fifth straight season without a tournament appearance. He's cobbled together a last-minute nonconference schedule and a roster of players that have reportedly gelled quickly in the little time they've been together, but it will take time.

The hope is the rebuild will be much quicker than expected — maybe something like Smith's quick rise at Utah State where his team won the Mountain West Conference title and claimed a berth to the tournament his first season. But replicating that quick rise will be all the more difficult in a conference that returns several top players of teams that went deep in the tournament earlier this year.

But patience remains key as Smith looks to return the program to its storied history. And with patience comes a demand to learn and perform at a level requisite to help the program rise from the figurative ashes of the last few seasons under former head coach Larry Krystkowiak.

(Admittedly, Utah's offensive efficiency wasn't terrible last season as the team finished 31st in the country, according to KenPom.com, but there were other fatal flaws that led to the program's first losing season since the 2012-13 season.)

"We're gonna be demanding. When we say patience that doesn't mean we're not demanding and that we've still got to execute what we're trying to execute — so staying locked in," Smith said a week into his team's practices before the season tips off in November.

Part of that demand is making sure every athlete on the roster embodies the identity Smith is looking to create for the team. It's why Smith is throwing every possible combination at the figurative wall to see if something sticks — who are the guys that understand what he's trying to do? who embodies the team identity and helps others get better?

"There comes a point in time where a lot of guys are figuring out there's some guys that aren't figuring it out," Smith said.

And while it's easy as a coaching staff to cast aside those who aren't figuring it out and focus solely on those who are, especially with just over a month before the season starts, Smith and his coaching staff have a "look in the mirror" attitude based on three key areas: personnel issues, player or scheme issues, or coaching issues.

"If nobody's figuring it out, it's the coaching; but if it's only one or two guys, it's probably the individual," Smith said. "I always look at it those three different ways. We're definitely cementing certain things because we've been very, very patient with this team, with the new staff, and so many new players — half our team have never played here — so just trying to get continuity and chemistry and getting them to gel."

Smith says he wants to return the program to the Runnin' Utes moniker. And he's serious; it's not a new coach trying to pander to his audience. Smith's team is expected to run and be an up-tempo team that looks to exploit opposing teams on both sides of the floor.

"I want to run. This team can run," Smith said. "We've got good speed, like we can get out and go."

And while the emphasis is often on the guards to push the tempo, Smith wants positions 1-5 running on both ends of the court — and his practices resemble that. In the two observed practices by media, Smith's players are put through situations where they're constantly pushing the tempo on both ends of the floor.

"I always say it's hard to be a good running team if your bigs can't run," he said. "The general theme is if you have slow plodding bigs, it's hard to get out and go. But if your big can run and put pressure on the rim, now that really puts pressure on the defense to hold in the paint, which opens up — we've got a lot of guys that can make some open shots here — so to get out and run."

From there, it opens up a myriad of possibilities for the team.

"We've done a good job running an offense, but to be an elite running team, you've got to be able to run on offense and you've got to be able to run and get back on defense — it can't be one sided," Smith said. "I think that's the thing that we're really learning and really trying to hammer home right now is to be a very good transition defensive team so we can be a good running team on the offensive end."

So while Smith exhibits patience with his team 33 days before the season officially tips off, the demand to improve each day remains. And maybe that patience will be worth it as his team will "get out and run" through a schedule that positions it to return to the postseason.

But time will tell.