Taking Stock of the Lineup and Rotation
The Utes play their first exhibition game against Montana Tech one week from tonight, but already a few things are starting to come clear about coach Jim Boylen's lineup plans.
It's not exactly a tough guess, considering which players are returning from last year, but the starting lineup figures to include junor Tyler Kepkay at point guard, junior Lawrence Borha at shooting guard, sophomore Stephen Weigh at small forward, junior Shaun Green at power forward and junior Luke Nevill at center.
Guard Johnnie Bryant probably will be coming off the bench for his senior season, along with sophomore swingman Luka Drca and sophomore forward Kim Tillie in the other most prominent roles.
Drca, in fact, could be particularly useful.
Boylen said he can envision using the 6-foot-5 Serbian as the point guard alongside Kepkay and Bryant in a lineup aimed at breaking full-court pressure. All three are adept ball-handlers, Boylen said, and have the kind of offensive talent that could make an opponent pay for trying to press the Utes.
Only problem?
Defense.
Though he would like to use Bryant and Kepkay together at times, he has not been impressed so far with what happens to the Utes' perimeter defense when Borha leaves the lineup. The coach also is concerned about injuries in the frontcourt, considering that Tillie is really the only experienced backup for both Nevill and Green. If one of those guys goes down, suddenly freshman Morgan Grim is being asked to make a major contribution, just a few months removed from his senior prom at Riverton High School.
On the bright side, though, Grim has been impressive in preseason workouts, even if the coaching staff is trying desperately to get him to gain weight. And Tillie? He's only 6-9, but every time I see him going against the 7-1 Nevill, he's overpowering or outmaneuvering the center in the low post. To my eye, he's easily the toughest post player on the team.
It's not exactly a tough guess, considering which players are returning from last year, but the starting lineup figures to include junor Tyler Kepkay at point guard, junior Lawrence Borha at shooting guard, sophomore Stephen Weigh at small forward, junior Shaun Green at power forward and junior Luke Nevill at center.
Guard Johnnie Bryant probably will be coming off the bench for his senior season, along with sophomore swingman Luka Drca and sophomore forward Kim Tillie in the other most prominent roles.
Drca, in fact, could be particularly useful.
Boylen said he can envision using the 6-foot-5 Serbian as the point guard alongside Kepkay and Bryant in a lineup aimed at breaking full-court pressure. All three are adept ball-handlers, Boylen said, and have the kind of offensive talent that could make an opponent pay for trying to press the Utes.
Only problem?
Defense.
Though he would like to use Bryant and Kepkay together at times, he has not been impressed so far with what happens to the Utes' perimeter defense when Borha leaves the lineup. The coach also is concerned about injuries in the frontcourt, considering that Tillie is really the only experienced backup for both Nevill and Green. If one of those guys goes down, suddenly freshman Morgan Grim is being asked to make a major contribution, just a few months removed from his senior prom at Riverton High School.
On the bright side, though, Grim has been impressive in preseason workouts, even if the coaching staff is trying desperately to get him to gain weight. And Tillie? He's only 6-9, but every time I see him going against the 7-1 Nevill, he's overpowering or outmaneuvering the center in the low post. To my eye, he's easily the toughest post player on the team.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:35 AM |
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