Coach Lavishes Praise on JB After Scoring Spree
Senior guard Johnnie Bryant enjoyed an outstanding performance for the Utes in their 77-64 victory over High Point in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament in Seattle tonight.
Then, he enjoyed lavish praise from his coach.
Just two games into the season, coach Jim Boylen anointed Bryant a "sixth-man of the year candidate" after Bryant erupted for all 10 of his points in a 2:07 span that helped the Utes bury the Panthers and set up a meeting with Washington in the second round of the tournament tonight.
"Johnnie has embraced coming off the bench," Boylen said. "He has shown great leadership, supporting me in what I think is best for our team. Tonight, I think it proved why he's an effective player off the bench. He can score anytime. He can play the one, he can play the two. ... He was terrific."
Center Luke Nevill was pretty good, too, although pretty soft and off-balance in the first half. (Frankly, it drives me nuts that he never seems able to post up with even one foot in the paint, and he has a maddening tendency to spin and awkwardly fling up shots without squaring his shoulders, in the hope that he can draw a foul.)
The coaches "talked to him" at halftime -- which is probably code for screamed him senseless, since Nevill later vaguedly mentioned "trying to prove them wrong" -- and he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds (though he was only 6-for-10 from the free-throw line).
However hard he might have been on Nevill on the bench or in the locker room, Boylen wound up complimenting Nevill for contributing to more plays than his one assist would suggest.
"To me, he had five to seven to 10 of what I call 'hockey assists,'" Boylen said. "Where it came from him, he created the situation, and then it goes to somebody and then somebody else. So to me, that assist total for him is wrong, the way he creates for us."
Among the other tidbits from the game worth mentioning:
-- Forward Kim Tillie was fantastic for the Utes, going 4-for-4 from the field as well as the line to finish with 12 points, two rebounds and two steals while helping keep High Point's Arizona Reid from taking over the game.
-- Attendance at tip-off, by official and exact media count, was 131. That just barely outstripped the crowd that greeted the Utes at any of their games last season at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
-- And after mentioning how High Point's Cruz Daniels might have a chance to slow Nevill, he came up a bust. Daniels sat out the last 12:46 of the first half in foul trouble, did not score until the Panthers trailed by 23 with 3:40 remaining, and finished with four points, five rebounds and a block in 25 minutes. Ugh.
Then, he enjoyed lavish praise from his coach.
Just two games into the season, coach Jim Boylen anointed Bryant a "sixth-man of the year candidate" after Bryant erupted for all 10 of his points in a 2:07 span that helped the Utes bury the Panthers and set up a meeting with Washington in the second round of the tournament tonight.
"Johnnie has embraced coming off the bench," Boylen said. "He has shown great leadership, supporting me in what I think is best for our team. Tonight, I think it proved why he's an effective player off the bench. He can score anytime. He can play the one, he can play the two. ... He was terrific."
Center Luke Nevill was pretty good, too, although pretty soft and off-balance in the first half. (Frankly, it drives me nuts that he never seems able to post up with even one foot in the paint, and he has a maddening tendency to spin and awkwardly fling up shots without squaring his shoulders, in the hope that he can draw a foul.)
The coaches "talked to him" at halftime -- which is probably code for screamed him senseless, since Nevill later vaguedly mentioned "trying to prove them wrong" -- and he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds (though he was only 6-for-10 from the free-throw line).
However hard he might have been on Nevill on the bench or in the locker room, Boylen wound up complimenting Nevill for contributing to more plays than his one assist would suggest.
"To me, he had five to seven to 10 of what I call 'hockey assists,'" Boylen said. "Where it came from him, he created the situation, and then it goes to somebody and then somebody else. So to me, that assist total for him is wrong, the way he creates for us."
Among the other tidbits from the game worth mentioning:
-- Forward Kim Tillie was fantastic for the Utes, going 4-for-4 from the field as well as the line to finish with 12 points, two rebounds and two steals while helping keep High Point's Arizona Reid from taking over the game.
-- Attendance at tip-off, by official and exact media count, was 131. That just barely outstripped the crowd that greeted the Utes at any of their games last season at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
-- And after mentioning how High Point's Cruz Daniels might have a chance to slow Nevill, he came up a bust. Daniels sat out the last 12:46 of the first half in foul trouble, did not score until the Panthers trailed by 23 with 3:40 remaining, and finished with four points, five rebounds and a block in 25 minutes. Ugh.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 9:40 PM |
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