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San Francisco • Lynne Roberts moves fast. She wants the Utes to play fast. And the speed of her practices are no joke.
But not everything can move at her pace. For example: acceptance.
When she was hired in April, Roberts met with her new players — many of whom were still reeling from the firing of Anthony Levrets. She told them she was making changes, and some players would buy into those changes sooner than others.
But come fall practices, everybody better be on board.
Roberts brings a recent history of success from her previous stop in Pacific, and she's enacting a plan that she thinks will win games and re-energize the program. And senior point guard Dani Rodriguez, for one, is all in.
"It wasn't easy for everyone," Rodriguez said. "But she believes in us. Once she believes in us, it's easier to believe in her and what she wants to bring to the table."
The Utes were picked to finish 11th Wednesday at Pac-12 women's basketball media day. After winning only three conference games last season, it's no surprise that the perception of Utah in the conference is due for a slow reversal.
As for last year's many injuries and losses, the Utes aren't interested in talking about the past. As Rodriguez said: "We like to say we're in the Roberts era now."
The Roberts era will eventually consist of fast-paced, high-scoring basketball. In nine of Robert's previous 13 seasons as a head coach, her team has led its conference in scoring. In the last two years at Pacific, Roberts earned conference coach of the year honors. In the last four years, she's won at least 18 games with berths in the WNIT.
That being said, the style of basketball won't be a total switch. Roberts plans to play to her strengths, which includes a number of stalwart post players including Emily Potter and Joeseta Fatuesi.
"We have to be intelligent basketball coaches and coach what we have in terms of the style," Roberts said. "A lot of the players we have were recruited to a different system. But I think eventually we want to recruit to a system that's very different than what was run."
Rodriguez is already in tune with what Roberts wants to do: The 5-foot-10 playmaker is a natural uptempo player, and said she prefers to run on offense and pressure on defense. Already 10th in school history in assists (316), Rodriguez will be key to forcing the pace more.
And in a word, Roberts said, her scheme is about "pace." But Rodriguez said it's also giving the team a more free-flowing, fun feel for the game.
"Last year was too many sets, too robotic for us," she said. "Now we're just going out there and playing basketball, taking what the defense gives us, and just having fun."
Utah will benefit greatly from a number of players who missed most or all of last season. Potter, a 6-foot-6 center, will give the Utes length they lacked in the paint. Malia Nawahine is a strong two-way wing who can shoot and defend.
Utah has also gotten a sense of "swagger," Roberts said, from practicing and preparing in Utah basketball's new facility. Adding to the confidence factor of Utah's new home is the recruiting boost: Roberts said she's "two for two" on official visits so far.
But her vision also includes bringing excitement to Utah's home games, which averaged just 743 fans last year. She wants to add some of the things that worked for men's basketball — court projections, marketing tactics included. And she also wants to bring her players out more often in the community to create interest.
She thinks her style of basketball will help bring fans in as well.
"Is it going to be difficult and ultimately take a lot of hard work? Yes," she said. "But bottom line is we've got to have an entertaining product on the floor. It's got to be fun to watch."
Roberts has a lot of lofty ambitions. But, fortunately, she also has some patience.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Pac-12 women's basketball coaches' poll
1. Oregon State (11) 121
2. Stanford 104
3. Arizona State (1) 102
T4. California 88
T4. UCLA 88
6. Washington 68
7. USC 60
8. Oregon 52
9. Colorado 39
10. Washington State 30
11. Utah 23
12. Arizona 17
First-place votes in parentheses