Coach Sees Good Things in Redshirts
With new players poised to play such a prominent role for the Utes next season, many readers have wondered how the redshirts developed while practicing but not playing last season under coach Jim Boylen.
In a word, promisingly.
That's how Boylen feels about point guard Chris Hines, center Jason Washburn and forward Josh Sharp — although Sharp is due to leave on an LDS Church mission soon and isn't scheduled to return to the Utes until the 2011-12 season. But Hines and Washburn both could play major roles next season, and maybe even start.
The 6-foot-1 Hines is the more physically mature player, really built, who probably would have played last season had a lingering ankle injury that nearly required surgery not led to his redshirt (the Utes did not want to force him back into action, and perhaps make the injury worse). Boylen calls him a “guy that plays with force at both ends.”
“He's a bulldog defender that can guard you 94 feet,” Boylen said. “He's an off the dribble player who can play off the bounce — which we don't have a lot of that — and he's very competitive and is very physically tough. He has the leadership ability. He has a voice and he's not scared of anybody.”
The 6-11 Washburn clearly has skills and agility, especially for a guy his size. The big question will be his ability to gain some strength and weight — he's listed at only 210 pounds now, and clearly prone to getting pushed around inside by older players. “Big-time motor,” Boylen said. “Runner, very good hands. Needs to gain weight and put on strength and become more physical. He's not soft, he just needs to become more physical.”
Boylen credited Washburn with helping center Luke Nevill improve, giving him an opponent nearly his size to battle every day in practice. “Washburn every day was right in his mug,” he said. “Big, long, trying to block everything Luke did, and I thought it really made a difference for Luke.”
And even though Sharp won't be back for awhile, Boylen sees a lot of potential in him.
“He already came tough,” the coach said. “He's a wiry-type tough. He's a Cummard-type body with a Cummard-type wiry tough, if I could explain that thing. I also think he has a little Alex Jensen in him, meaning Alex Jensen maybe wasn't great at anything, but played winning basketball. That's what Sharp is. If you need him to rebound, he'll rebound. You need him to guard the best guy, he'll guard the best guy. You need him to take open threes, he does that. He does everything well but I've asked him to improve on his shooting and ball skills, so he can be a big wing in our program.”
In a word, promisingly.
That's how Boylen feels about point guard Chris Hines, center Jason Washburn and forward Josh Sharp — although Sharp is due to leave on an LDS Church mission soon and isn't scheduled to return to the Utes until the 2011-12 season. But Hines and Washburn both could play major roles next season, and maybe even start.
The 6-foot-1 Hines is the more physically mature player, really built, who probably would have played last season had a lingering ankle injury that nearly required surgery not led to his redshirt (the Utes did not want to force him back into action, and perhaps make the injury worse). Boylen calls him a “guy that plays with force at both ends.”
“He's a bulldog defender that can guard you 94 feet,” Boylen said. “He's an off the dribble player who can play off the bounce — which we don't have a lot of that — and he's very competitive and is very physically tough. He has the leadership ability. He has a voice and he's not scared of anybody.”
The 6-11 Washburn clearly has skills and agility, especially for a guy his size. The big question will be his ability to gain some strength and weight — he's listed at only 210 pounds now, and clearly prone to getting pushed around inside by older players. “Big-time motor,” Boylen said. “Runner, very good hands. Needs to gain weight and put on strength and become more physical. He's not soft, he just needs to become more physical.”
Boylen credited Washburn with helping center Luke Nevill improve, giving him an opponent nearly his size to battle every day in practice. “Washburn every day was right in his mug,” he said. “Big, long, trying to block everything Luke did, and I thought it really made a difference for Luke.”
And even though Sharp won't be back for awhile, Boylen sees a lot of potential in him.
“He already came tough,” the coach said. “He's a wiry-type tough. He's a Cummard-type body with a Cummard-type wiry tough, if I could explain that thing. I also think he has a little Alex Jensen in him, meaning Alex Jensen maybe wasn't great at anything, but played winning basketball. That's what Sharp is. If you need him to rebound, he'll rebound. You need him to guard the best guy, he'll guard the best guy. You need him to take open threes, he does that. He does everything well but I've asked him to improve on his shooting and ball skills, so he can be a big wing in our program.”
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 10:07 AM |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home