Giacoletti likes team's chemistry

Unlike his predecessor, who was a master at downplaying his team's chances every year, Ray Giacoletti doesn't pull any punches when asked about the 2006-07 Utah basketball team.

Despite having seven new scholarship players who haven't played a minute and just one senior on the entire team, Giacoletti is extremely bullish on his team's outlook.

"I am as excited as I've been since I've been here," he says.

Considering he already led his first Ute team to a 29-6 record and a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16, that's saying a lot.

Giacoletti is not predicting a conference championship or even an NCAA berth. However, he feels with a team consisting entirely of players he has recruited, he has good players at every position and a great team chemistry.

"I'm sure we'll have struggles like any team has, but everybody has bought in to what we're doing and is on the same page. This is a fun team to be around," Giacoletti said.

The Utes officially begin practice tonight at 7, although they've actually been practicing for the past three weeks due to a new NCAA rule that lets teams practice for two hours a week. The Utes have met three times a week for 40 minutes at a time, which has proved very helpful to such a young team.

"It's a benefit for anybody, but it's been good for us with our young players," Giacoletti said.

Leading the way for the Utes this year is 7-foot-1 center Luke Nevill, who improved greatly as last season progressed. He capped off his year with a 29-point, 14-rebound game in an upset win over BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Nevill checked in at 265 pounds this year after finishing last season at 225, making him a stronger inside force. No one's predicting he'll be the next Andrew Bogut, his fellow countryman who became the NBA No. 1 pick after a strong sophomore season, but he is expected to significantly improve his 11.6 scoring and 6.6 rebound averages from a year ago.

Other returning starters are Johnnie Bryant, the top returning scorer at 13.1 points per game and top 3-point threat (45.9 percent) and forward Shaun Green, who played a lot of minutes as a freshman, when he was second in steals and third in rebounding. Junior Chris Grant, who started 16 games, is unlikely to start this year, but will provide needed experience off the bench.