New leader emerging from youth ranks
Forward Shaun Green had perhaps the most dazzling statistical line of the season for the Utes in their double-overtime victory over New Mexico last weekend - 21 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and no turnovers in 46 minutes.
And afterward, he said coach Ray Giacoletti has been encouraging him to be more of a leader on the floor.
"He's been talking to me about being more vocal," Green said. "I'm just used to leading by example, just go out there and play hard and give it my all. But I just need to be more vocal and I think I did a pretty good job of that [against the Lobos], and I'm going to try to carry that load the rest of the year."
My personal theory had been that Green - clearly the steadiest and most natural leader on the team - nevertheless had been wary of asserting himself too much because, as only a sophomore and not a captain like senior Ricky Johns and junior Johnnie Bryant, he did not feel it was his place to take charge.
But Green said that actually has been far from the case.
It might have been hard to assert himself "on a different team, just because of the whole sophomore-senior thing," he said. "But with our team, we're such a close team, everybody listens to each other when they make suggestions. So it hasn't been that hard, because people just respect everyone on the team."
Green indeed has been pretty amazing lately, after a bit of a lull in the middle of the season.
In his last three games, he's averaging 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 60 percent from the field and 7-for-12 on three-pointers. He also has not committed a turnover in the last two games.
"He's doing all the little things," Giacoletti said. "I'm going to him, for him to pull guys together. ... He's done it already on his own, and we need somebody else to step up and we've talked about it and it's him. And not so much with his play, just with him pulling guys together. Even I snapped one time, in a timeout, and he told me, ‘Hey, it's OK.' Great."
And afterward, he said coach Ray Giacoletti has been encouraging him to be more of a leader on the floor.
"He's been talking to me about being more vocal," Green said. "I'm just used to leading by example, just go out there and play hard and give it my all. But I just need to be more vocal and I think I did a pretty good job of that [against the Lobos], and I'm going to try to carry that load the rest of the year."
My personal theory had been that Green - clearly the steadiest and most natural leader on the team - nevertheless had been wary of asserting himself too much because, as only a sophomore and not a captain like senior Ricky Johns and junior Johnnie Bryant, he did not feel it was his place to take charge.
But Green said that actually has been far from the case.
It might have been hard to assert himself "on a different team, just because of the whole sophomore-senior thing," he said. "But with our team, we're such a close team, everybody listens to each other when they make suggestions. So it hasn't been that hard, because people just respect everyone on the team."
Green indeed has been pretty amazing lately, after a bit of a lull in the middle of the season.
In his last three games, he's averaging 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 60 percent from the field and 7-for-12 on three-pointers. He also has not committed a turnover in the last two games.
"He's doing all the little things," Giacoletti said. "I'm going to him, for him to pull guys together. ... He's done it already on his own, and we need somebody else to step up and we've talked about it and it's him. And not so much with his play, just with him pulling guys together. Even I snapped one time, in a timeout, and he told me, ‘Hey, it's OK.' Great."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 9:47 AM |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home