Runnin’ Utes coach Craig Smith thinks his team finally has what it’s been missing most

Runnin’ Utes coach Craig Smith channeled his inner Urban Meyer this offseason — in a good way, he hopes.

“Meyer supposedly said when he first came to Utah, ‘Hey, our ones can hang with anybody’s ones,’” Smith said. “And that’s how I thought we were. ... But when we had those injuries, we just didn’t have what we needed to. The depth of our program just wasn’t there.”

So, like Meyer did back in 2003, Smith spent the offseason reshaping the back-end talent of his team. He signed four transfers to help the Utes, particularly on offense. He is hoping it will translate to tangible results in his third year in the program.

Smith is yet to make the postseason in his first two years. Coming off a 17-15 season (10-10 in the Pac-12), the Utes want to show they’ve taken another step.

Utah cruised to a 100-66 win over Eastern Washington to start — but, as Smith said, starters aren’t the Utes’ concern.

Storylines

1. Is there enough shooting on the roster?

If there was one glaring weakness in Utah’s offense last year, it was a lack of shooting.

Utah ranked 204th in three-point percentage. It was 257th in effective field goal percentage. Even free throws were difficult (ranking 221th).

“You always have to self reflect as a coach,” Smith said. “How can I set us up better for success? What do we need to add on our roster?... Certainly we needed better shooting, consistent shooting.”

Did that happen?

Utah certainly brought in size — like the 7-foot-1 Lawson Lovering from Colorado. It also brought in talent — like Deivon Smith from Georgia Tech (who is still waiting on a waiver) and Hunter Erickson from SLCC. But as far as shooting, only Washington transfer Cole Bajema shot over 30% from three.

So, a big part of the formula for Smith will be relying on returning players to refine their shot.

Smith pointed out that Branden Carlson hit the most threes in the country last year for a center (41). He also believes Gabe Madsen can change a game with his shooting on a given night, pointing to the TCU game where he scored 26 points.

“Ben Carlson has also really improved in that facet,” Smith said. “So we have really upgraded our shooting.”

But even Smith admitted the Utes have to show it in a game before he is convinced. And he knows one of his better shooters last year, Lazar Stefanovic, is now at UCLA.

2. Making things simpler

Smith acknowledged that Utah’s offense felt unsustainable at times last year.

“It felt like you had to run perfect offense to get a clean shot,” he said. “And then it’s like, ‘OK, are we going to make it or not?’”

One way to simplify that is by upgrading talent.

“Even if things break down now, we just have more guys who can make a play,” Smith said.

One of those guys is Deivon Smith. He was 52nd in the country last year in assist rate and third in the ACC.

The problem is, Smith hasn’t received a waiver to play this year. And with the way the NCAA has been stingy in giving out waivers to two-time transfers (Georgia Tech and Mississippi State), it might not be wise to bank on one coming.

Other than Smith, Utah brought in former BYU and SLCC guard Hunter Erickson. He averaged around 12 points per game last year, but showed flashes of being the “high-level scorer” that Smith wanted. Can that translate to the Pac-12? There is certainly hope.

But outside of that, Utah might again be reliant on some of the returners to get better. Rollie Worster is back. Branden Carlson is Utah’s best player. But the best player and the best playmaker are two different things.

3. Keeping the defensive identity

The Utes took a step in the right direction on the defensive end last year. They were top 10 in effective field goal percentage against.

This year, Utah will have to keep that pace.

Good thing for Smith, it looks like he has the pieces. Lovering was ninth in the Pac-12 in block percentage last year. He gives Utah two seven-footers.

The returners were also solid. Keba Keita is coming into his sophomore season.

Perhaps the silent needle mover could be freshman Jake Wahlin. He is just coming off his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission. But he is 6-foot-9 and looks to be further ahead defensively than most thought.

4. Branden Carlson returns

Carlson decided to return to Utah this offseason after testing the NBA waters.

He is in his fifth year and Smith’s best option. If Utah is going to break out this year, it needs Carlson to be the seasoned leader.

Last year, the Utes ranked 186th in D-I experience. Now, Smith will have a bunch of players who have logged Pac-12 minutes, including the transfers.

“It is a little bit of a race to get older,” Smith said at Pac-12 media day.

5. The final ride for the Pac-12

The Pac-12 had four teams go to the dance last year. This year, it probably could be around the same with Arizona, UCLA, USC and Colorado as the heavy hitters in the league.

So can Utah make the tournament this year? Well, Smith has laid that out as the goal for this group.

Utah, as of right now, is probably in that second tier of teams in the conference. The Utes will need to find a way to break out of that if they can make it to March.

Projected starting lineup

G Rollie Worster (Sr.)

G Cole Bajema (Sr.)

G. Gabe Madsen (Sr.)

F Lawson Lovering (Jr.)

C Branden Carlson (Sr.)

Key role players: Keba Keita, Ben Carlson, Hunter Erickson, Wilguens Exacte Jr.

Key dates

vs. Wake Forest (Neutral) Nov. 16

at Saint Mary’s Nov. 27

vs. BYU Dec. 9

vs. Utah Valley Dec. 16

at Arizona Jan. 6

vs. UCLA Jan. 11

vs. Colorado Feb. 3

vs. Arizona Feb 8

at USC Feb 15