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May 23, 2024
7:07:41pm
icecougar All-American
I wouldn't think Koz would start, however, with the current roster he would...
...play a fair amount for a freshman. I would expect we'd see:
Hall, Baker, Knell, Saunders and Fouss

with our bench:
Keita, Koz, Tripp, Crawford, Stewart

I know a lot of fans think Keita is a rim running phenom of sorts because he got max-hyped up by Dave McCann and podcasters like Jake Hatch but I would be a little surprised if he started over Fouss for a couple reasons.

One big reason, he is a foul machine and that was a contributing factor why he didn't play more for Utah in his 2 yrs there. Several CB'ers were really impressed when he scored 10 pts against us in 14 mins of playing time but they didn't account for the reason why he only played 14 mins in that game, it's because he had 4 fouls and it limited his minutes. Starting him would be a bad idea because often times refs call games a little tighter in the beginning then relax things as the game goes one. He would be better served to come in the game after refs and players have had time to figure each other out and settle in. It might keep him from getting too many cheap fouls too quickly.

2nd, there are holes to Keita's game and it was a reason why he rode the bench behind Lovering (who wasn't a very good 5 man for Utah). The Utes tried Keita out for a stretch as the starting 5 alongside Brandon Carlsen at the 4 but they went 6-7 in those 13 games that Keita started and they gave up on that idea and went back to Lovering as the starting 5. Keita is a good athlete but he has holes in his game and Pac12 teams figured him out. In Keita's last 6 games as a starter he failed to break double-digits in scoring and finished the season on a 13 game stretch where he didn't score double-digits.

Fouss is a more well-rounded player who is a guy that when you absolutely need a bucket you can throw it into him in the post and he has the low post skills to get you a bucket. He's also a decent shot blocker and a good rebounder so you get a well-rounded player at that position.
This message has been modified
Originally posted on May 23, 2024 at 7:07:41pm
Message modified by icecougar on May 24, 2024 at 10:28:01am
icecougar
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