Conventional Wisdom Misses Mark With Bryant
One of the most interesting things that came out of talking to the players during their informal media day -- aside from learning that usually soft-spoken junior-college transfer guard Tyler Kepkay apparently refers to himself as the "6-foot LeBron" around his teammates -- was that senior Johnnie Bryant hardly views himself as a shooting guard.
That seems to have long been the prevailing presumption, that Bryant is better suited or more naturally a "two," which theoretically is one of the reasons the Utes so badly needed to bring in a "true" experienced point guard like Kepkay.
But Bryant disputed that notion.
"I've been playing point guard all my life," he said, "so I'm used to playing that position. To be honest, it's pretty much everybody outside the basketball program that says I need to play the 'two,' because I can shoot the basketball. But you look at guys in the NBA. Steve Nash can shoot the ball. Chauncey Billups can shoot the ball. So just because a guy can shoot the ball doesn't mean he’s necessarily a 'two.' I've always just thought of myself as a basketball player."
Certainly, Bryant can shoot.
He shot 42.3 percent from three-point range last season -- second on the team behind forward Shaun Green, who shot 51.2 percent on 125 shots, compared to the 208 that Bryant took. But Bryant shot a more modest 43.6 percent overall, which he believes was a product of opposing defenses being able to focus on him as the only serious backcourt scoring threat.
"What teams did last year was try to run me down in the backcourt so I wouldn't be much of a scoring threat," Bryant said. So Kepkay "is really going to take the pressure off of me."
Coach Jim Boylen agreed that while Kepkay figures to be the primary point guard, both he and Bryant are practically interchangeable in the backcourt. Both will see time playing both the point and shooting guard positions, he said.
"What I like is guys who can bring it up and handle it, and then give it up, come back and get it and do something," Boylen said. "That's kind of how we used Drew Neitzel at Michigan State. He was big enough and could bring it up and handle it, get rid of it, and then all of the sudden he's coming off and doing things with it."
That seems to have long been the prevailing presumption, that Bryant is better suited or more naturally a "two," which theoretically is one of the reasons the Utes so badly needed to bring in a "true" experienced point guard like Kepkay.
But Bryant disputed that notion.
"I've been playing point guard all my life," he said, "so I'm used to playing that position. To be honest, it's pretty much everybody outside the basketball program that says I need to play the 'two,' because I can shoot the basketball. But you look at guys in the NBA. Steve Nash can shoot the ball. Chauncey Billups can shoot the ball. So just because a guy can shoot the ball doesn't mean he’s necessarily a 'two.' I've always just thought of myself as a basketball player."
Certainly, Bryant can shoot.
He shot 42.3 percent from three-point range last season -- second on the team behind forward Shaun Green, who shot 51.2 percent on 125 shots, compared to the 208 that Bryant took. But Bryant shot a more modest 43.6 percent overall, which he believes was a product of opposing defenses being able to focus on him as the only serious backcourt scoring threat.
"What teams did last year was try to run me down in the backcourt so I wouldn't be much of a scoring threat," Bryant said. So Kepkay "is really going to take the pressure off of me."
Coach Jim Boylen agreed that while Kepkay figures to be the primary point guard, both he and Bryant are practically interchangeable in the backcourt. Both will see time playing both the point and shooting guard positions, he said.
"What I like is guys who can bring it up and handle it, and then give it up, come back and get it and do something," Boylen said. "That's kind of how we used Drew Neitzel at Michigan State. He was big enough and could bring it up and handle it, get rid of it, and then all of the sudden he's coming off and doing things with it."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:07 AM |
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