Coach Sees Nothing Easy About AFA
The Air Force Falcons are generally regarded as having dropped off this season, having lost senior guard Tim Anderson from last year, and they're off to a rough start in the Mountain West Conference season.
But coach Jim Boylen hardly sees an easy task ahead for his Utes at Clune Arena on Wednesday night.
"Their style is so hard to play against," he said. "They are playing more man-to-man defense now maybe than they were last year. Last year, it was all zone. They have bigs who can shoot it. They're shooting 42 percent from the three, which is always a concern for us. You know it will be a meat-grinder, low-scoring game, so every bucket, every basket, every free throw, every turnover is worth almost double, because there's just not that many possessions in these games."
"We expect a dogfight," he added.
That three-point shooting indeed might be the Utes' biggest concern.
Though the Utes have improved in many areas, defending the arc has remained a challenge. They rank last in the Mountain West Conference by allowing 36.4 percent shooting out there (they would still be last, even if you discounted Southwest Baptist hitting a ridiculous 16 of 32 in the season-opener), while the Falcons lead the league by hitting 41.8 percent. Senior forwards Matt Holland and Andrew Henke lead the league by shooting 48.6 and 45.2 percent, respectively.
Forward Shaun Green is Utah's top three-point threat, hitting 39.6 percent, but Boylen said he hopes his Utes can push the pace against the slow-it-down Falcons.
"We want to run," he said. "I haven't made any bones about it, we want to run, we want to be a running team. So we're going to try to get our opportunities in early offense, push the ball and then execute in the halfcourt. We try to push the ball more and more."
But coach Jim Boylen hardly sees an easy task ahead for his Utes at Clune Arena on Wednesday night.
"Their style is so hard to play against," he said. "They are playing more man-to-man defense now maybe than they were last year. Last year, it was all zone. They have bigs who can shoot it. They're shooting 42 percent from the three, which is always a concern for us. You know it will be a meat-grinder, low-scoring game, so every bucket, every basket, every free throw, every turnover is worth almost double, because there's just not that many possessions in these games."
"We expect a dogfight," he added.
That three-point shooting indeed might be the Utes' biggest concern.
Though the Utes have improved in many areas, defending the arc has remained a challenge. They rank last in the Mountain West Conference by allowing 36.4 percent shooting out there (they would still be last, even if you discounted Southwest Baptist hitting a ridiculous 16 of 32 in the season-opener), while the Falcons lead the league by hitting 41.8 percent. Senior forwards Matt Holland and Andrew Henke lead the league by shooting 48.6 and 45.2 percent, respectively.
Forward Shaun Green is Utah's top three-point threat, hitting 39.6 percent, but Boylen said he hopes his Utes can push the pace against the slow-it-down Falcons.
"We want to run," he said. "I haven't made any bones about it, we want to run, we want to be a running team. So we're going to try to get our opportunities in early offense, push the ball and then execute in the halfcourt. We try to push the ball more and more."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 6:49 AM |
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