Utah Utes basketball: Experienced Utes begin building chemistry for upcoming season

Even though the Utah basketball team has been practicing a couple of hours a week for the past month, the Utes officially kicked off the 2008-09 season Friday with a spirited 2 1/2-hour practice.

College teams around the country were allowed to begin their 20-hours-a-week practice schedules Friday, and the Utes started off in the HPER-101 gym, where the Ute volleyball team plays its games.

Last year, the Utes' opening practice was open to the public, but this year they'll have a "Jimmy Ball Scrimmage" on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes have an experienced team with seven of their top eight scorers back from last year, led by seniors Luke Nevill, Shaun Green and Lawrence Borha, with five freshmen joining the mix.

Coach Jim Boylen calls himself more "confident" as a second-year coach and believes having his rookie year behind him will help the team as well.

"Our system is in place; we have to get better at it, but it's a nice feeling to know that we're going into our second year," Boylen said. "I want to teach as much as I can. I'm going to focus on teaching, getting my players to do what's expected and how we do that."

The Utes have all their starters back and only lost sixth man Johnnie Bryant, who was second on the team in scoring last season.

"A year under coach Boylen helps us a lot," said Green. "We have high expectations for our team. We want to be competitive in every game. Of course, we want to play in the postseason, hopefully in the NCAA tournament."

One of the Ute freshmen is former Brighton High star Jace Tavita, who was just cleared to play by the NCAA a week ago. He found practice different from high school.

"It was a lot different — really, really intense," he said. "Once we stepped on the court, we were ready to run."

In Friday's opening practice, the Utes worked on fast breaks and running the ball, something Boylen wants to emphasize more this year.

"One of our main focuses this fall and our first day is our running game," Boylen said. "We want to push the ball, and I want to be a more consistent running team this year."

The Utes' first exhibition game will be Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. against Grand Valley State, and their first official game will be Nov. 15 against Southwest Baptist, also at 2 p.m. Utah's home schedule includes games against Oregon, California, Gonzaga and LSU.

"We've got a schedule fans can be excited about and rally around, and I hope they do," Boylen said.