OCR Text |
Show ^ ^ ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE SPORTS www.daUyutahchronicle.coin Thursday, March 23, 2QQ6 Staying the course Giacoletti not giving up on master plan Joe Bcatty Chronicle Sports Editor Ray Giacoletti dispenses council during a loss to Colorado State. Ray Giacoletti is a brave man. The second-year Runnin' Ute head coach's team just completed a 14-15 season, the U's first losing campaign since freshman forward Shaun Green was three months shy of his second birthday. But instead of listening to fan grumbling and pushing the panic button, Giacoletti is doing what he set out to do when he was confronted with the post-Andrew Bogut era: Stay the course and build from the ground up. "Obviously you always want better, but in the big picture, looking back on things, we were playing three freshmen, two sophomores and a senior the majority of the minutes," Giacoletti said. "I think we got better as we went along. (The season) wasn't what we wanted, but I think it will set the tone for the future." The coach points to two close losses in consecutive late-season home games against Colorado State and Air Force as examples of how close they were to finishing the regular season with a flourish, rather than the publicly perceived flop. "We were really a fine line from getting over the hump," Giacoletti said. "We got beat on last-second shots; you win those two games and you really finish as strong as we would have liked." So what now? At first glance it would appear that the Utes are destined for another down season in 2006-2007. The only seniors next season will be Jonas Langvad and Ricky Johns—neither of whom are expected to shoulder a large load. That leaves the burden resting on the youngsters again, which will be. an even larger bunch as Giacoletti is bringing in five new freshmen for next season. But don't think for a moment that the coach is playing the pessimist. "We're still going to be young, but at least we'll have some people who have been through the wars this past year," Giacoletti said. "They were in situations where there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for older guys to help them out. They just had to live through it and get better by getting thrown to the wolves, and I think we'll be better for it in the future." With the highly touted recruiting class arriving in the fall—including power forward Daniel Deane, the 2006 Mr. Basketball in the state of Utah—the Utes will receive some much needed depth, something they were almost completely devoid of down the stretch. Deane and Frenchman Kim Tillie, whose athleticism has been branded "off the charts" by Giacoletti, will give the Utes two true options at power forward, something they lacked any of this season. Matthew Piper Doing time for brotherly love Tank Carter the victim of a vicious system S See GIACOLETTI Page W Up to the challenge Thorburn stepping up in important games Matt Patton Chronicle Writer The U women's basketball team will be making their second Sweet16 appearance in school history on Saturday, but were it not for the heroics of senior point guard Shona Thorburn, the team would likely be back in Utah already, wondering what it's like to go deep in the NCAA tournament. Quite frankly, Thorburn has simply carried the Utes on her shoulders since the start of the Mountain West Conference tournament, especially when the team is on the brink of tournament extinction. Thorburn has been doing everything for the Utes in the tournament, and her versatility, along with the tough play of fellow seniors Kim Smith and Julie Larsen, has helped the team in every aspect of the game. In the five post-season games the Utes have played this season, Thorburn has averaged 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game, making her one of the most versatile players in the nation. And what has been even more impressive is that she hasn't shown any signs of a physical or mental letdown, despite averaging 39 minutes per game. "Kim and Shona play a lot of minutes," Utah head coach Elaine Elliott said. "Everyone else rotates quite a bit. It's the makeup of the team right now. Kim and Shona usually get their rest in between games." The Utes struggled to get things going in both NCAA tournament games this season, and both times Thorburn was there to take over the game. After falling behind Middle Tennessee 57-42 with just over ten minutes left to play, Thorburn led an incredible comeback, scoring 17 points while dishing out three assists in the final minutes of the half. Two days later, Thorburn's services were needed once again, as the Utes trailed Arizona State 31-17 in the first half of their second round match up. Thorburn either scored or made the assist on n of the next 14 field goals for the Utes, which inevitably helped Utah to roll past the Sun Devils for the team's second straight comeback victory. Although the Utes have had success with comebacks, it's not 'something they want to have repeated in Ute guard Shona Thorburn drives the lane during regular season action in the Huntsman Center. Thorburn has been a catalyst for the future. the Sweet-16 bound U women. See T H O R B U R N Page 10 Depth perception Kim and Shona make up for U's limited lineup Chris Bellamy Chronicle Asst. Sport? Editor This weekend, the nation will get a chance to catch an extended glimpse of one of the most productive duos in women's college basketball. Despite their mutual success, Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn have been exposed to little fanfare outside the Mountain West Conference, as most pundits focus on teams and players on the other side of the Mississippi. But the two MWC stars step on a much bigger stage this weekend, as they lead the Utes into Albuquerque for the Sweet-16. They weren't even supposed to get there, at least according to many experts. Prior to Utah's second-round meeting with Arizona State—played in Tucson, fewer than two hours away from ASU's home—analysts pointed to the Sun Devils' depth and size as reasons that they would be able to outlast the fifth-seeded Utes. But it was the other way around— and it was primarily because of the Utes' two record-holders. The Sun Devils indeed took advantage of their depth advantage, as nine players played major minutes. The Utes, meanwhile, sent just seven players to the court all night. Smith and ThorSee K I M & S H O N A Page 10 ometimes, just maybe, the law ought to make an exception. On Jan. 6, Tank Carter was scheduled to report to Broward County prison for six months in Pompano Beach, Fla,, but decided to avoid hard time for just a little bit longer. Did Tank need to "tie up some loose ends?" Not quite. Was he planning a vacation to the Bahamas? Uh-uh. Was he picking people off with a sniper rifle at an overpass on 1-95? Nope. Tank, who was found guilty of driving with a revoked license (good God!), just wanted to be on-hand for his brother's Super Bowl run with the Steelers. You see, safety Tyrone had told Tank he was starting to think they had a chance, and Tank in turn assured his beloved brother that he'd be there if it happened. It did happen. And it was the highlight of his whole life. "We never had too much as kids, and he's always been getting bad hands," explained Tyrone on Dan Patrick's radio show Wednesday. For Tank, his brother's Super Bowl appearance represented a rare chance to spell a lifetime of bad beats. That may be tough for some of us to swallow, those of us who are privileged enough to hold high hopes for our own lives, but Tyrone's brother had little choice but to live vicariously through him. "(The Super Bowl) was big for us," Tyrone said. "As a child growing up, it was just me and him and three other sisters. Everybody looked at me and him like a guy that's not going to make it." Tank was at the 50-yard line for the Steelers' win over the Seahawks. According to an AP report, he "partied with rapper Snoop Dogg after the game." Even if it weren't Tank himself on the green grass playing safety at Ford Field, it was as close as he would ever come to experiencing that kind of ecstasy. "Even knowing what I know now, I would do it again," Tank Carter said. "It was the greatest game in my life." After the Super Bowl, he immediately turned himself in and spent 32 days in the clink before trial, the victim of an ultra-backlogged Florida jail system. When he finally saw the judge, Stanton S. Kaplan cut him off as soon he started explaining his story. "The judge was like, 'OK, the train stops now,'" said Tyrone, after receiving an account of the sentencing from Tank in prison. "He told me the judge was making fun of him, like 'Yeah, you had your fun there, you gonna have some fun now.' When you're in Florida where a lot of guys are repeat offenders and stuff, that's how they look at guys." His sentence? Tank got five years, four and a half more than he was slated to serve. Hurricane, meet Tank. I don't know what else Carter did in the past, but it's boggling that they'd treat him as though he's been cooperating with al-Qaida for the last two months. An extra six months might seem fair, but Judge KaSee P I P E R Page 10 TENNIS SWIMMING MONTANA STATE AT UTAH UTAH AT MEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS MARCH 23, 2006 5 P.M. @ ECCLES TENNIS CENTER MARCH 23, 2006 ALL DAY @ ATLANTA, GA. TRACK WOMEN'S HOOPS UTAH UTAH AT ASU INVITATIONAL BOSTON COLLEGE vs UTAH MARCH 24, 2006 7 P.M. @ HUNTSMAN CENTER. MARCH 24, 2006 ALL DAY @TEMPE,ARIZ. MARCH 25, 2006 9 P.M. @ ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. GYMNASTICS BYUAT (21-11) (26-6) |