This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
So the University of Utah fires a basketball coach who thrived in the Big Sky Conference and axes another with extensive NBA experience and then hires Larry Krystkowiak, whose playing and coaching background makes him a composite character of Ray Giacoletti, Jim Boylen and Tyrone Corbin.
And we're supposed to be impressed?
Follow-up question: Is this the best the Utes could do?
Well, yeah.
The state of Utah's proud basketball program is such that the latest search could not deliver a proven, long-term coach or a rising star in the profession. Krystkowiak's lifetime winning percentage in the Huntsman Center is .500, which sounds about right for Utah's current condition.
Blame whomever you like, whether that's Rick Majerus for applying some kind of Chicago Cubs curse on his way out, Giacoletti and Boylen for not maintaining their initial success or athletic director Chris Hill for hiring them, but Krystkowiak's credentials say everything about the Utes' status in college basketball.
Utah did not land a big name, just a long name.
He's a really good guy and was an overachieving NBA player for six teams — including his season with the Jazz (1992-93) as Corbin's teammate — and he just might work out well for Utah. But who can say for sure that he will succeed? For that matter, who can even say his name correctly? For 20-plus years, I've said "Krys-TOW-vee-ak," with the second "k" silent. Utah's news release says "Krys-KOH-vee-ak."
Regardless, the Utes' rebuilding project will take awhile, and some skepticism about this hiring is the only reasonable response. Krystkowiak's experience is so varied that reading too much into either the ups and downs of his coaching career is dangerous. Judging by his two seasons as Montana's coach, he could be the basketball version of Joe Glenn, Mick Dennehy and Bobby Hauck, former Grizzly football coaches who went on to have varying degrees of failure at other schools. Or maybe he's another Stew Morrill, capable of building other basketball programs beyond Missoula.
While Krystkowiak did a nice job at Montana, including the 24-7 season of 2005-06 when his No. 12-seeded team beat Nevada before losing to Boston College in the NCAA Tournament at the Huntsman Center, his recruiting efforts did not sustain success.
Evaluating his one full season as the Milwaukee Bucks' head coach is tricky, amid the team's personnel issues. Still, Giacoletti produced more victories (29) in a college season with Andrew Bogut as his center than Krystkowiak's 26 wins in an NBA season, even though Bogut was healthy that year.
And then, after two years out of basketball while being paid by the Bucks, Krystkowiak joined the New Jersey Nets' staff this season. So in between Montana and Utah, including most of one season as a Milwaukee assistant, he experienced 77 wins and 162 losses.
The Utes will do better than that under Krystkowiak, I guarantee it. Beyond that, I'm making no predictions or promises. Is the program cursed? I just know the Utes have not been the same since Majerus left, and he expresses a little too much satisfaction regarding that downturn. "They're not my guys; they're not disciplined, they're not whatever … they've gone south," Majerus told me in February.
Four years ago, I walked out of Boylen's introductory news conference convinced he would succeed — believing, as he said, that he was "born for this job."
Saying that Boylen completely failed is wrong, because he won a Mountain West Conference co-championship in his second season, mostly with Giacoletti's players. But he could not show any staying power with his own recruits. Those guys now are left to Krystkowiak, who will have a chance to make an impression Monday.
Scarred by the last experience, I won't be overwhelmed by the new guy's presentation. Withholding any celebrating of his hiring, I'll limit myself to learning how to pronounce Krystkowiak's name.