Looking inside - or not
Not that this is any great revelation, but it's going to be a long year if the Utes cannot figure out a way to defend the perimeter and get the ball inside to center Luke Nevill.
The Utes have allowed opponents to hit nearly 50 percent from three-point range over the last seven games, and continue to look woefully inadequate in feeding Nevill in the post. Coach Ray Giacoletti finally gave voice to the concern after a 59-58 loss to Albany on Thursday night, after weeks of my asking him in various situations whether he felt his players should be doing a better job of it.
"We have to be able to do a better job entering the ball to the post when he's open," he said, unsolicited this time. "We don't do a good job, and he has to take another step off the post" and then winds up with the ball - maybe - in a poor position to do anything good with it.
Strange as it seems, I've thought all season that the 7-foot-1 sophomore should be averaging even more than his 18 points or so per game. But watching the guards try to get him the ball has grown to maddening proportions. Against Albany, the Utes went more than three minutes before Nevill so much as touched the ball, and they frequently endure long stretches without getting the ball to their best offensive weapon.
Guard Johnnie Bryant is probably the worst offender, especially considering that he's a junior and returning starter who should do better than stand there staring at the offense as if it's a calculus problem. He seems far too willing to linger around the perimeter while the defense adjusts and then hoist up three-pointers.
Forward Shaun Green is the only player on the team who seems comfortable zipping a quick entry pass to Nevill before defenders have time to shift or double-team him. In fact, it's almost like watching a volleyball setter, so deft and quick is Green in tossing the ball inside.
But the Utes are in serious need of others who can do as good a job.
It's too bad, too, because Nevill is good enough that he could probably get 30 a night if he just had the ball more often in positions to be more effective with it.
— Michael Lewis
The Utes have allowed opponents to hit nearly 50 percent from three-point range over the last seven games, and continue to look woefully inadequate in feeding Nevill in the post. Coach Ray Giacoletti finally gave voice to the concern after a 59-58 loss to Albany on Thursday night, after weeks of my asking him in various situations whether he felt his players should be doing a better job of it.
"We have to be able to do a better job entering the ball to the post when he's open," he said, unsolicited this time. "We don't do a good job, and he has to take another step off the post" and then winds up with the ball - maybe - in a poor position to do anything good with it.
Strange as it seems, I've thought all season that the 7-foot-1 sophomore should be averaging even more than his 18 points or so per game. But watching the guards try to get him the ball has grown to maddening proportions. Against Albany, the Utes went more than three minutes before Nevill so much as touched the ball, and they frequently endure long stretches without getting the ball to their best offensive weapon.
Guard Johnnie Bryant is probably the worst offender, especially considering that he's a junior and returning starter who should do better than stand there staring at the offense as if it's a calculus problem. He seems far too willing to linger around the perimeter while the defense adjusts and then hoist up three-pointers.
Forward Shaun Green is the only player on the team who seems comfortable zipping a quick entry pass to Nevill before defenders have time to shift or double-team him. In fact, it's almost like watching a volleyball setter, so deft and quick is Green in tossing the ball inside.
But the Utes are in serious need of others who can do as good a job.
It's too bad, too, because Nevill is good enough that he could probably get 30 a night if he just had the ball more often in positions to be more effective with it.
— Michael Lewis
