Maybe Growth of Plaisted Can Show Nevill the Way
Just saw the e-mail announcing that Brigham Young's Trent Plaisted is the Mountain West Conference player of the week, which reminded me of something that occurred to me over the weekend:
He is the best center in the league, hands down.
Frankly, I didn't think all that much of the 6-foot-11 junior the past couple of seasons, and viewed Utah's Luke Nevill as the player with the more promising upside -- especially when Nevill tended to dominate their head-to-head meetings.
But having watched Plaisted erupt against Jackson State last week before absolutely abusing No. 6 Louisville and No. 1 North Carolina in Las Vegas over the weekend -- 45 points, 29 rebounds and 20-for-36 shooting combined -- it's pretty clear that he has left Nevill behind in his development as a premier post player. He works hard, plays physically, defends well and runs the floor like a small forward. Did you see the way he caught a behind-the-back pass at full speed on the fast break against Louisville and turned it into a thunderous one-handed dunk?
Amazing.
Meanwhile, the 7-1 Nevill continues to lumber down the floor as if he's out of shape, searching for a way to handle physical opponents without letting foul trouble or his own frustration take him out of games.
Coach Jim Boylen has given him credit for creating opportunities for teammates like he did in the game against High Point at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament, but also said Nevill has "tried to do it by himself" at times, such as in the loss to Santa Clara last week.
"We had open people, we had people in spacing positions, he forced the ball to the rim and didn't make enough plays," Boylen said. "That's where he played poorly. ... But his biggest problem has been foul trouble, and he's letting physical play take him out of, mentally, what he needs to do."
While Plaisted averages 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds and shoots 60 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the free-throw line, Nevill is averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds (albeit with six blocks and four steals) while shooting 46 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from the line. He's actually playing two more minutes per game than Plaisted, too.
Of course, Nevill has been known to privately chafe at the comparisons to Plaisted, ever since he lost to his counterpart in voting for the league's freshman of the year away two years ago -- even though Plaisted had better credentials then, too.
So who knows?
Maybe another round of comparisons -- once again, not so favorable -- will help Nevill fire up for the rest of the season the way he fired up and so famously owned Plaisted in the league tournament after losing that freshman award to him.
He is the best center in the league, hands down.
Frankly, I didn't think all that much of the 6-foot-11 junior the past couple of seasons, and viewed Utah's Luke Nevill as the player with the more promising upside -- especially when Nevill tended to dominate their head-to-head meetings.
But having watched Plaisted erupt against Jackson State last week before absolutely abusing No. 6 Louisville and No. 1 North Carolina in Las Vegas over the weekend -- 45 points, 29 rebounds and 20-for-36 shooting combined -- it's pretty clear that he has left Nevill behind in his development as a premier post player. He works hard, plays physically, defends well and runs the floor like a small forward. Did you see the way he caught a behind-the-back pass at full speed on the fast break against Louisville and turned it into a thunderous one-handed dunk?
Amazing.
Meanwhile, the 7-1 Nevill continues to lumber down the floor as if he's out of shape, searching for a way to handle physical opponents without letting foul trouble or his own frustration take him out of games.
Coach Jim Boylen has given him credit for creating opportunities for teammates like he did in the game against High Point at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament, but also said Nevill has "tried to do it by himself" at times, such as in the loss to Santa Clara last week.
"We had open people, we had people in spacing positions, he forced the ball to the rim and didn't make enough plays," Boylen said. "That's where he played poorly. ... But his biggest problem has been foul trouble, and he's letting physical play take him out of, mentally, what he needs to do."
While Plaisted averages 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds and shoots 60 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the free-throw line, Nevill is averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds (albeit with six blocks and four steals) while shooting 46 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from the line. He's actually playing two more minutes per game than Plaisted, too.
Of course, Nevill has been known to privately chafe at the comparisons to Plaisted, ever since he lost to his counterpart in voting for the league's freshman of the year away two years ago -- even though Plaisted had better credentials then, too.
So who knows?
Maybe another round of comparisons -- once again, not so favorable -- will help Nevill fire up for the rest of the season the way he fired up and so famously owned Plaisted in the league tournament after losing that freshman award to him.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 4:37 PM |
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