This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When needed, Larry Krystkowiak said he doesn't have a problem "blowing a gasket" in front of his team.
On Saturday, down 18-10 to lowly Washington, it was needed: He chopped the Utes' grease board in half, injuring his hand in the process. But even though he needed a bandage afterward, Krystkowiak said the demonstrative gesture had the intended effect, leading to a 20-0 run in the 85-61 win over the Huskies.
But all things considered, he'd like his team to play well without him having to destroy equipment during timeouts.
"If I have to do that in order to get those kinda spurts, I can do that, but I'd much rather be real instead of being a ploy," he said. "Hopefully we don't get put into that position. We need to get started better in games."
For the past two weeks, Utah has consistently found itself down early in games. At Cal, the Utes trailed 18-4. Against Washington State, they were down 19-9. Without two key starters, Washington went on an 8-0 run early in the first half that made Krystkowiak want to snap a board in two.
Those early stretches have been marked by turnovers, lackadaisical transition defense and — according to the Utes themselves — low energy and intensity.
With a game coming up against Oregon in Eugene, junior forward David Collette said the Utes need more juice.
"We've had some slow starts," he said. "It just can't happen there. We have to come out strong."
Getting out ahead early has been critical for Utah this year: The team is 16-0 (including a 7-0 mark in Pac-12 play) when it leads at halftime, but only 1-8 when it trails. The game against Oregon might have been Utah's last quality start: The team led for most of the first half (12-6 four minutes in) against the Ducks before a go-ahead 3-pointer by Dillon Brooks right before halftime.
Krystkowiak added that he might "tinker with the starting lineup" in order to get the most out of his team early going into upcoming games. He tweaked things last week, starting Parker Van Dyke over JoJo Zamora. Van Dyke scored a career high 16 points in the win over the Huskies.
Standings watch
The Utes annually have a goal to make the top four of the league and thus earn a bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. This year, that battle is going down to the wire.
The Utes are currently tied with USC at fifth in the conference (8-5), but own the tiebreaker over the Trojans via a head-to-head victory. They're chasing Cal (9-4) and perhaps even third-place UCLA (10-3), but have work to do: The Bruins own the tiebreaker over the Utes, and Cal took the first game of the series. Utah will have a rematch with the Golden Bears on March 2 at the Huntsman Center.
If Utah and Cal split and tie at the end of the year in the standings, it will be decided by their records against the top teams in the league. Both Cal and Utah have gone winless against Arizona, but both have a remaining game against Oregon — the Utes on Thursday in Eugene, and the Bears next week in Berkeley.
So while Utah wants to win for many reasons on Thursday — not the least of which is to break an eight-game losing streak to the Ducks — but also to improve its odds of getting that first-round bye in Las Vegas.
"The focus is on Oregon, first and foremost, but that's something that's being talked about a little bit — trying to earn a first-round bye," Krystkowiak said. "Even by the end of this weekend, we'll probably have a better idea if that's an attainable goal or not. Hopefully it is."
Off-day?
After giving his players Monday off, Krystkowiak hopes their batteries are recharged. After saying Saturday that he felt run down and maybe the Utes felt the same, Krystkowiak said Tuesday that he felt a surge run through him as he hit the treadmill that morning.
"We're gonna find out," he said. "I think it's a welcome break from each other."
The coaches didn't take a break. They hit the film room. Krystkowiak mentioned on his coaches show that assistant DeMarlo Slocum was specifically reviewing Oregon forward Dillon Brooks' bad games, looking for common threads. Krystkowiak said the coaching staff had "a pretty good understanding" of its game plan headed into the showdown this week.
Collette said he took advantage of his day off by celebrating Valentine's Day early with his wife. Others said it was hard to fit in a break.
"Still came in here, got some shots up, had a little workout," sophomore Parker Van Dyke said. "We had some school stuff, some study hours to do since we're going on the road. Still had class, still had gym, still had school, just didn't have an organized practice."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah at No. 7 Oregon
P Thursday, 7 p.m.
TV • ESPN2