There might not be a better resource for understanding the magnitude of the Utah Utes’ return to national prominence than the Utah Jazz bench.
Assistant coaches Alex Jensen and Johnnie Bryant both call the U. their alma mater, and each suited up in the crimson and white during important, but very different, eras in the program’s history.
Jensen’s time on the hill was marked with unparalleled success, the highlight being his sophomore year when Utah went 30-4 and made it to the 1998 national championship game under Rick Majerus.
Bryant’s two-year Ute career was much more rocky. He arrived on campus soon after Andrew Bogut led Utah to the Sweet 16 in 2005, and he and the Utes experienced a pair of rough campaigns, winning a combined 25 games under Ray Giacoletti.
For the first time since 2005, Utah will play in the Sweet 16 on Friday when it faces Duke, and the two Jazz assistants couldn’t be happier about it.
“My first thought is that I’m surprised (Utah's not playing) Kentucky, because that’s who it was for a long time,” Jensen quipped. “It’s good to see (the Utes) back there again.”
Bryant, who taught at the U. before joining the Jazz coaching staff in 2012, got to know Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak well in the early months of Krystkowiak’s rebuilding effort, even taking the coach’s kids to school sometimes.
“I think (Krystkowiak’s) been doing a great job,” Bryant said. “He built (the program) the right way. He mixed in a couple junior college guys, and obviously they’ve developed a lot of younger guys, high school guys. They’ve got a great staff and they’re doing a great job teaching. He’s doing a great job up there putting it all together and not really skipping any steps.”
Both Jensen and Bryant have predicted a Utah victory Friday, though there’s been a fair amount of trash talk this week between that duo and the trio of Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, assistant Antonio Lang and rookie Rodney Hood, who all went to Duke.
Jensen is confident he and Bryant will get the last laugh.
“If Utah wins,” he said, “I’m sure I’ll bring it up months from now.”
INJURY UPDATE: With both Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood suffering from different ailments Wednesday, Snyder reiterated his feeling that it’s better to have a player sit until he is back to full health rather than rush his return, even if it means that player misses a longer stretch of games.
He noted that at this time of year, part of that thinking has to do with the offseason in mind.
“As you get to the end of the season, you would hate to sacrifice someone’s offseason and their health for one win,” he said. “I think we’ve approached the year with our players’ health in mind all the time. I think we’re always aware of injuries, but right now, you want the offseason to be really productive and for us to get better in the offseason.”
BLOCK PARTY: After a somewhat typical six-block performance Monday against Minnesota, Rudy Gobert moved into a tie for first in the NBA in total blocked shots with New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis. They both have 163 rejections on the season.
Entering March, Gobert and Davis were third and fourth respectively behind Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka and the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan.
Ibaka was sidelined with injury for at least a month in early March, and Jordan has fallen off the pace a bit, allowing Gobert and Davis to leapfrog them.
Would winning the title matter to the Frenchman?
“Of course, of course,” he said. “Obviously I like to block shots, so I always want to lead in that category.”
Ryan McDonald is a part-time reporter for the Deseret News. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald