Utes Need Nevill to Play Bigger in the Post
So, could this be the next guy to work over center Luke Nevill?
The Utes hope not.
Santa Clara's John Bryant looks like a freakin' cabbage-patch doll in that photo, but the junior center also checks in at 6-foot-10 and 305 pounds -- presumably more than enough to shove Nevill out of the way when the Utes play host to the Broncos at the Huntsman Center on Monday night.
After all, Washington's Jon Brockman is only 6-7, and he absolutely obliterated Nevill in the Utes' 83-77 loss to the Huskies last night in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament in Seattle.
Brockman scored 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds -- his six offensive rebounds were three times as many as the two the Utes corralled -- despite giving up six inches and about 20 pounds, mostly because he was far stronger and more athletic than his counterpart.
"I knew I could reverse-pivot and fake at him and get him leaning one way and kind of use my strength to keep him off," Brockman said.
Nevill, for his part, said he knew Brockman would use spin moves on him, but that the All-Pac-10 forward "used the rim real well to protect him" and said Brockman benefited from the predictable home-court advantage with the referees to get Nevill in foul trouble. He also complained about how frustrating it is when "I can't get touches, and I can't get catches."
And that's a problem.
For starters, offense and "touches" were hardly the problem; Nevill got worked like a medieval slave on defense. And more to the point, though he's averaging 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, Nevill has yet to look this season like the player who spent an offseason getting bigger, stronger and tougher in his effort to satisfy new coach Jim Boylen.
Rather, he still is prone to getting both juked and manhandled in the post -- he perpetually looks as if he's begging the refs for help, and frequently seems disgusted or pouty when he's on the bench -- and continues his maddening inability to rebound outside his area (which seems to extend only about as far as his lap). Many of his points against the Huskies came when the defense abandoned him to help guard another player, leaving Nevill alone for an easy pass and uncontested shot.
In short, he's not dominating the way a player with his size and talent should.
Now, maybe that's asking too much of him, but I doubt Boylen thinks so. (Boylen did praise the Utes for playing good defense, which overall they did, holding the Huskies to 43 percent shooting on their home floor.)
For a player who dreams of reaching the NBA, Nevill certainly isn't proving to scouts -- some of whom were in attendance last night -- that he's a guy on whom a team could count for a workmanlike effort every night during a long season.
Instead he looks like a player that other teams can actually target with physical play, knowing that he doesn't respond well to it -- in part, in my opinion, because he's simply not strong enough (especially in his lower body) to hold off opponents willing to take it right at him.
The Utes need that to change, if they're going to improve as much as want.
The Utes hope not.
Santa Clara's John Bryant looks like a freakin' cabbage-patch doll in that photo, but the junior center also checks in at 6-foot-10 and 305 pounds -- presumably more than enough to shove Nevill out of the way when the Utes play host to the Broncos at the Huntsman Center on Monday night.
After all, Washington's Jon Brockman is only 6-7, and he absolutely obliterated Nevill in the Utes' 83-77 loss to the Huskies last night in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament in Seattle.
Brockman scored 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds -- his six offensive rebounds were three times as many as the two the Utes corralled -- despite giving up six inches and about 20 pounds, mostly because he was far stronger and more athletic than his counterpart.
"I knew I could reverse-pivot and fake at him and get him leaning one way and kind of use my strength to keep him off," Brockman said.
Nevill, for his part, said he knew Brockman would use spin moves on him, but that the All-Pac-10 forward "used the rim real well to protect him" and said Brockman benefited from the predictable home-court advantage with the referees to get Nevill in foul trouble. He also complained about how frustrating it is when "I can't get touches, and I can't get catches."
And that's a problem.
For starters, offense and "touches" were hardly the problem; Nevill got worked like a medieval slave on defense. And more to the point, though he's averaging 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, Nevill has yet to look this season like the player who spent an offseason getting bigger, stronger and tougher in his effort to satisfy new coach Jim Boylen.
Rather, he still is prone to getting both juked and manhandled in the post -- he perpetually looks as if he's begging the refs for help, and frequently seems disgusted or pouty when he's on the bench -- and continues his maddening inability to rebound outside his area (which seems to extend only about as far as his lap). Many of his points against the Huskies came when the defense abandoned him to help guard another player, leaving Nevill alone for an easy pass and uncontested shot.
In short, he's not dominating the way a player with his size and talent should.
Now, maybe that's asking too much of him, but I doubt Boylen thinks so. (Boylen did praise the Utes for playing good defense, which overall they did, holding the Huskies to 43 percent shooting on their home floor.)
For a player who dreams of reaching the NBA, Nevill certainly isn't proving to scouts -- some of whom were in attendance last night -- that he's a guy on whom a team could count for a workmanlike effort every night during a long season.
Instead he looks like a player that other teams can actually target with physical play, knowing that he doesn't respond well to it -- in part, in my opinion, because he's simply not strong enough (especially in his lower body) to hold off opponents willing to take it right at him.
The Utes need that to change, if they're going to improve as much as want.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 6:09 PM |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home