The University of Utah basketball team is 2-0 following a 72-44 blowout of Cal State Bakersfield on Friday night at the Huntsman Center. Here are the takeaways from the win:
It’s tough to get a clear picture of the rotation
This season is two games (plus an exhibition) old, and Utah head coach Craig Smith has already pointed out that the slew of injuries and illnesses throughout last season hampered continuity, which made it hard to get rolling at any point.
Despite bludgeoning a pair of low-majors this week, this season is starting out much the same.
Marco Anthony (bruised heel) hasn’t suited up yet. Neither Smith, nor anyone else around the program is offering optimism that the sixth-year senior will be ready for next week when Utah hosts Idaho State on Monday, followed by a semi-intriguing Thursday matchup with Sam Houston, which has a win over Oklahoma on its resume. If Anthony cannot go next week, Nov. 21 vs. Georgia Tech at the Fort Myers Tip-Off becomes the next possibility, and even that might be just a maybe.
Beyond Anthony and freshman wing Luka Tarlac (ankle), who has yet to debut, oft-injured BYU transfer Gavin Baxter was just fully cleared two weeks ago, and Bostyn Holt missed three weeks during the fall. That was after he missed most of last season with a torn ACL.
That’s four projected rotation guys, including a likely starter in Anthony, who have either not played a minute, or are working their way back from injury. Either way, that makes it very hard to set a rotation, or at least have a firm understanding of what is at your disposal if you’re Smith.
Those four guys aside, the rotation tightened up considerably vs. Cal State Bakersfield compared to LIU. Four starters played 30-plus minutes, the fifth played 22, and only two players off the bench played more than 11 minutes.
It’s too small a sample size, but most of the bench did not have a productive night. Baxter, Holt, Mike Saunders Jr. and Wilguens Jr. Exacte played to a combined plus-minus of three in 47 minutes.
“There’s quite a few things we’re juggling right now, but to our guys’ credit, I think they’re working hard to figure things out and trying to be the best version of themselves that they can be every day,” Smith said.
What happens with Gabe Madsen when Marco Anthony is ready?
In a public setting, Smith will often deflect when asked about who starts and who comes off the bench. The fact of the matter is, that matters for role allocation, playing time allocation, and frankly, some guys operate better starting a game and some operate better when they come in fresh after seeing things unfold from the bench.
If Anthony were healthy, it is a safe bet he would be starting for the Utes, with Madsen one of the first calls off Smith’s bench. With that, we might find out how much the situation changes if and when Anthony is ready, because Madsen is playing at a high level to open the season.
The third-year sophomore guard had a career-high 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range. As was the case vs. LIU, Madsen was aggressive in looking for his shot, banging jumpers from all over the perimeter as Cal State Bakersfield showed little interest in closing out on a guy who is 42.1% from deep for his career. A nice added wrinkle on Friday was Madsen’s defense as he did a terrific job playing passing lanes with active hands. He picked off one pass and took it in for a dunk, then picked off another one before connecting on a tough up-and-under layup in transition.
If Madsen keeps playing this way, Anthony starting would be eating into Madsen’s minutes. In fairness, Anthony can do things that Madsen cannot. He is an effective rebounder and a more physical, more versatile defender. Those are two key factors he has that Madsen does not.
“Time will tell, hopefully we’ll get Marco back and healthy,” Smith said. “This team is built different than last year, so we can play a lot of different ways depending on who’s playing well and who’s doing the right thing.”
Ben Carlson played his role to a tee
Utah’s startling lack of size and physicality last season has not been fully remedied, but Ben Carlson is looking like a clear upgrade.
Thirteen points and seven rebounds on Friday night are almost less important against that opponent than the fact the Carlson did exactly what he was brought in to do. He rebounded, he defended, and he finished at the rim. That’s all Utah needs from Carlson. There will be the occasional drift out to the perimeter, but based on Friday, his best is absolutely doing those three things.
Carlson had one highlight moment that gave a glimpse at his value. Early second half, Rollie Worster gets a step into the lane, draws the defense, drops off a pass off at the block for Carlson, and he rose over a defender and flushed it with two hands. No frills, just effectiveness at point-blank range.
Not long after Carlson showed up in Salt Lake City, I wrote a feature on the Wisconsin transfer where I contended that he “might be the most important recruiting victory, at least as far as the NCAA Transfer Portal goes, since Utes coach Craig Smith took over the program.”
I’m sticking with that, because Carlson brings an element to this team that last season’s team simply did not have. After a nondescript exhibition game and a so-so opener, Friday night was proof that Carlson can be a big-impact guy for Smith.
Other things on my mind
• Exacte was equal parts aggressive and simply just out there on Friday. He needs to be more consistent, but you can see he has the stuff.
• Smith demands you play defense. His team has held its first two opponents to under 30% shooting, which, regardless of the opponent, is very hard to do.
• Those of you clamoring for less Worster and more Saunders Jr. should let go of that one, at least in the short-term forecast. It’s Worster at the point.
• Friday was a good reminder that Keba Keita has not played a lot of high-level hoops and is still quite raw despite his freakish athleticism.
• As the competition gets stiffer, defenses will start taking stuff away. Someone besides Madsen is going to have to knock down a jumper. Players not named Madsen were 3-for-11 from 3-point range.
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