# Can Utah Beat Oklahoma?



## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

If Bogut is as good as they say, then he should be able to singlehandedly take his team to victory against Oklahoma, which hasn't really impressed me. An individual player can change the game so much on the college level. 

I say they can.


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## HeinzGuderian (Jun 29, 2004)

I guess that are capable of doing it, but I think Bookout and Gray will be able to slow Bogut down enough for OU to win.


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## Pan Mengtu (Jun 18, 2004)

Definitely. Oklahoma isn't that great.


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## KG4MVP2 (Jul 28, 2003)

Go Utah


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## Hollis (Jun 4, 2002)

If Missouri can beat Oklahoma, Utah can beat them. If OU shows up and plays like they did against OSU and KU I don't see how Utah wins though.


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## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

Utah up 13-2 early. They hit a bunch of 3s because OK is trying to guard Bogut.


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## Ghost (Jun 21, 2002)

Utah I think will win this game. I never trusted Oklahoma, I had them getting upset by Niagra in the 1st round, because Juan Mendez is really god but the rest of their team didn't show up.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

They are most defenitly capable of beating them. Utah has to be carried by Bogut wherever they go though...


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## HeinzGuderian (Jun 29, 2004)

Utah is manhandling OU right now.


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

rwj333 said:


> If Bogut is as good as they say, then he should be able to singlehandedly take his team to victory against Oklahoma, which hasn't really impressed me. An individual player can change the game so much on the college level.
> 
> I say they can.


utah is terrible at handling the ball. in the college game the guards are more important than the big men. shaq never went anywhere in the tournament for that exact reason. scouts seem to think bogut is "as good as they say", thats all that counts.


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## TONYALLEN42 (Jan 24, 2005)

with out a doubt


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## vadimivich (Mar 29, 2004)

Bogut is dominating the game by simply being there. This is painful to watch though.


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## Hollis (Jun 4, 2002)

Wow, shooting 20% and down single digits. I think Everett has to take over...Gray and Bookout are crap today.


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## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

The NCAA tournament is a guards game. Danny Manning was the last big man to carry a team to a championship.

The adjustment Utah made to run the offense through Bogut from the top of the key has been great. He is an amazing passer and has changed the game.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Sooners need to get out and run in the second half. I remember that OSU game and they were out on the break almost every 15 seconds. I say keep Bogut out of the paint, but let him try to beat you with a contested mid range jump shot. I could see OU comming out in some kind of a zone, maybe a 2-3 with Grey in the Hakim Warrick position. Forget about the press and make these jokers beat you with their half court offense. I think OU is a really athletic and good team that can make the Final Four.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

It's amazing to me that such a good player could be surrounded by such crap. I mean it's very hard for the Utah players just to dribble the ball, let alone pass it. But somehow Bogut has them out there beating Oklahoma.


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## LuolDeng (Feb 22, 2004)

Jackson, Markson, and Hawkins all in double digits and shooting over 50%


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## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

rainman said:


> utah is terrible at handling the ball. in the college game the guards are more important than the big men. shaq never went anywhere in the tournament for that exact reason. scouts seem to think bogut is "as good as they say", thats all that counts.


 What about Okafor? 

Being a guard or bigman doesn't matter. Carmelo led Syracuse as practically a power forward on the college level.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Actually Melo was a SF. It was

GMac
Edelin/Duany
Melo
Hak
Forth

Look at that Sooner zone. Damn I should be a coach.


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## RP McMurphy (Jul 17, 2003)

I just got switched to the Boston College game. :curse:


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## sMaK (Jun 13, 2002)

rwj333 said:


> What about Okafor?
> 
> Being a guard or bigman doesn't matter. Carmelo led Syracuse as practically a power forward on the college level.


UConn did have Ben Gordon.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

wow Bogut is awesome. he kinda reminds me of what Darko shoulda been.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

I'm officialy on the Bogut bandwagon now. I can't believe you just mentioned Darko and Bogut together, DuMu.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

TonyM said:


> I'm officialy on the Bogut bandwagon now. I can't believe you just mentioned Darko and Bogut together, DuMu.


haha i know but i cant just escape the similarity. theres too many of them. You cant really say Darko is a bad player. He just cant get minutes to show his stuff


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Great players can change the game without scoring. And that's what we're seeing from Bogut. It's like watching a Vlade Divac/Tim Duncan hybrid out there. If his teammates weren't scrubs he'd double digit assists already.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

Dammit, my bracket sucks. I never thought about Utah


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## Sad Mafioso (Nov 7, 2004)

Bogut looks like Roger Federer, basketball wise, I'd say Nenad Kristic if you've seen him play.

I pretty much agree with everything futuresixteen said here and the Draft board. One thing tho, in Utah's case you work with what you have. Obviously none of them outside of Bogut are all-americans and most of them wouldn't play for elite uni's like Duke, UNC(maybe as walk-on's), but they still get the job done.

Go Utes!


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## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

futuristxen said:


> Great players can change the game without scoring. And that's what we're seeing from Bogut. It's like watching a Vlade Divac/Tim Duncan hybrid out there. If his teammates weren't scrubs he'd double digit assists already.


That's true.

His athleticism isn't the best though... I wonder how much that'll hinder him on the NBA level, as well as having to go up against much taller players. Both Taj Gray and Bookout are 6'8 or 6'9. 

If Bogut is the next Vlade Divac and Marvin Williams the next Shawn Marion (with much better scoring but less rebounding) who do you choose?


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## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

RP McMurphy said:


> I just got switched to the Boston College game. :curse:


I did too, but what a great coaching job by Bruce Pearl to keep UWM head's in the game. Down 11-0 and then now up 19-16.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

rwj333 said:


> That's true.
> 
> His athleticism isn't the best though... I wonder how much that'll hinder him on the NBA level, as well as having to go up against much taller players. Both Taj Gray and Bookout are 6'8 or 6'9.
> 
> If Bogut is the next Vlade Divac and Marvin Williams the next Shawn Marion (with much better scoring but less rebounding) who do you choose?


Vlade. Easily.
And I don't see Bogut having problems athletically. I think that's overstated. Look at his size. Most NBA centers his size are not athletic. Few run the floor as hard as he does. I think he has to continue to bulk up though.


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## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

What's amazing about this game is that Oklahoma shot 66 field goals, but Utah shot 37. That's practically 2-1.


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

rwj333 said:


> What about Okafor?
> 
> Being a guard or bigman doesn't matter. Carmelo led Syracuse as practically a power forward on the college level.


i didnt mean to imply that big men arent important. as for okafor he did have this guy named gordon and syracuse had gerry mcnamara who was huge against kansas.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

rwj333 said:


> If Bogut is the next Vlade Divac and Marvin Williams the next Shawn Marion (with much better scoring but less rebounding) who do you choose?


Vlad has been around for quite a while now. Tough choice. Lemme think about it.


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

DuMa said:


> wow Bogut is awesome. he kinda reminds me of what Darko shoulda been.


that thought has crossed my mind before. darko looked great because of his size and quickness. i think the differance is bogut is much more mature and has better hands. who knows what darko would have done in detroit if they actually used him.


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## rwj333 (Aug 10, 2002)

I think the only reason people say guards are more important is that there are hardly ever any quality big men in the college game anymore.


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

I'll go out on a limb and say yes, Utah can beat Oklahoma


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## DanDickau (Jan 9, 2005)

They did and Bogut had a pretty good game!


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## Hollis (Jun 4, 2002)

Nice time to play your worst game of the season, bums. Shooting 32% and losing to an inferior team hurts more than playing good and losing to a better team...Damn. Players were horrible, Sampson was ****. "There's always next year"...**** that. 

Oh, and Bogut's alright I guess.


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## SausageKingofChicago (Feb 14, 2005)

Bogut was extraordinary 

I've always thought of him as a capable passer but today, against a very physical and harassing Sooner defense , a quality defense , he just went on to a completely new level as a player with his passing game 

He truly is a special talent

For me ... I'm starting to see him as one of the most _complete_ and well rounded big man to be coming into NBA the since Tim Duncan . 

And yes I include Amare Stoudamire and Elton Brand in that company 

He's not as explosive as Stoudamire but I think he will be stronger across all facets of the game that Stoudamire and Brand when they came to the NBA 

Both Amare and Elton are very good passers but some of the stuff that Bogut was throwing today against real physical pressure showed the real sense he has of the game , how much he is in control of his game and how patient he is and what incredible vision he has . Bounce passes into space , dribble jump step bounce passes , Vlade like over the opposite shoulder to the cutter passes

Rather than try to force his offense he became kind of Vlade / CWebb / like in the post - a real post pivot and the Utes were just clicking 

Nothing like watching a big man play pivot point like Sabonis and Divac did and what Shaq and CWebb do when they want to turn their passing games on 

Bogut seems to have this type of quality to his passing game which , in combination with his other skills , makes him a pretty special talent


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

I was impressed with Bogut as I usually am, but I was NOT impressed with Kelvin Sampson and Taj Grey. How many bricks can Grey put up before Sampson takes him out! I mean, Bookout was actually pretty good against Bogut. I just think it was a terrible gameplan. I'm going to make Bogut shoot, meaning NOT double team him 15 feet out allowing him to find 98 different cutters each posession.

Bogut more mature than Darko? Well what do you expect, Bogut's older!!

Whatever, Sampson just ruined my bracket by coaching as well as the South Bend coach at the end of Hoosiers. Looks like it was the heart of Hollis price that got you that fat contract, not your skill Kelvin.


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## Ron Mexico (Feb 14, 2004)

whats up with the bashing of the Utah players??? they were up when Bogut had the line of 2 points 8 rebounds and 4 turnovers?? were we watching the same game??


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

Another upset? Dayuuuuuummmmmmmmm


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## Hollis (Jun 4, 2002)

> I was impressed with Bogut as I usually am, but I was NOT impressed with Kelvin Sampson and Taj Grey. How many bricks can Grey put up before Sampson takes him out! I mean, Bookout was actually pretty good against Bogut. I just think it was a terrible gameplan.


Gray scored every time he touched it in the last 5 minutes...Maybe they should've gone to him MORE. 



> Whatever, Sampson just ruined my bracket by coaching as well as the South Bend coach at the end of Hoosiers. Looks like it was the heart of Hollis price that got you that fat contract, not your skill Kelvin.


He's actually a very good coach at times...to win 20 games with last year's talent and to win the Big 12 the year before they were supposed to be 'good' is pretty good. But he does have his 'moments'.


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