Runnin’ Utes head coach Jim Boylen constantly talks about ways his team can grow. Having a Green thumb at his disposal can’t hurt.
A big part of that growing process has been what Boylen has asked star forward Shaun Green to do. Green came to Utah after winning the 2004-2005 Gatorade Player of the Year award at Olympus High. He won that award primarily for what he could do offensively, particularly from behind the 3-point line. When Boylen came to Utah, he asked Green to be the same kind of impact player on the defensive side of the floor. Wednesday night, Green came full circle.
“You know, Shaun Green is why I wanted to come back to college basketball,” Boylen said. “He sacrificed for the team for a month. He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. You know, pure heart, play the right way, defend. All the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. It all came back to him (tonight).”
Through the first four games of the season, Green had amassed seven points total. It’s no surprise, considering Green’s responsibility of shutting down the opposing team’s best player. Wednesday night, Green got the best of both worlds.
Green provided the bulk of the scoring during Utah’s 20-2 run as he hit four of five 3-point attempts during a five-minute span, helping turn the Utes’ 12-point deficit into a six-point halftime lead. Green also helped slow down Arturas Valeika and shut down Tyler Billings as the two Wildcat leading scorers were held to 19 points combined.
“He’s sacrificed so much of his scoring game to get other guys open shots,” Utah center Luke Nevill said. “He’s playing hard every single game. Picking up their best player and to see him go off like he did tonight with seven 3s or whatever he had is great.”
Although Green’s offensive outburst contributed to Utah’s blowout win, it was the defensive end that started and maintained the run.
Few times in the past two years has it been appropriate to describe Utah’s defense as swarming. The second part of the first half on Wednesday was one of those times.
“Defense has got to be our foundation,” said Boylen after the win over Weber State. “That starts everything. It starts the running game. It picks us up when we get stops. This team has always got picked up when they score. I want to see us get picked up when we get stops and take pride in that. I thought we did a little bit of that.”
Utah will try to take its next step toward improving against UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon.
Although the Anteaters have found their fair share of struggles, they are another team that will try to give the Utes fits with their quickness and outside shooting. On the same note, UCI is another early Ute opponent without a player taller than 6-foot-8. This means the Utes will get another chance to work on running their offense through Nevill in the post.