Maybe Gach should be the PG? When healthy, he’s able to push the ball up the floor and get some easy buckets. Jones does not do that. Jones tends to slow the game down, play very controlled, and set up the half-court offense. As a result the Utes get few easy baskets with Jones running the point.
In addition, the Utes run the lob plays very badly. Jones can’t throw a good lob pass right now. Given their size, the Utes should get a couple of easy baskets off lobs every game, but they don’t. Maybe Gach can use his length to throw lobs?
IMO when the Utes get a defensive rebound Gach should come and get the ball, not Jones. Let Gach push the ball up the floor. If there’s nothing there, then let Jones take over the half-court offense.
Jones did better when the scouting was not drilled into him. I suspect Gach also does better when the scouting is not drilled into him as well. That said, I do think Jones was rushed into the lineup with the thought that Gach could do well as a 2. Next year with Plummer and Martinez at the 2 we need Gach back at the 1. I think Gach should start and Jones backup. Jones day will come and he will be an awesome backup. His minutes should be enough to force teams to get prepared for both styles.
Agree with Chuck, I like Gach/Plummer starting, Jones backing up Gach. Of course that could all change next year with the addition of Martinez and Larsson.
I don’t see any proof that the team is better off with Gach playing point. Yes, he himself has been better, but we barely beat a slumping Colorado at home. Gach is more often than not a turnover machine, not the kind of player you want running the point.
What proof do you have that Jones doesn’t push the ball up the court? After missed shots, if/when he gets the ball in a timely manner he absolutely pushes the ball up the court.
Also, there is no proof that Jones can’t throw lobs, that just hasn’t been part of the game plan.
The idea that Gach is somehow more comfortable as a point guard is a little ridiculous. I mean, Jones has been starting all year, and Gach played great at the beginning of the season at the 2. One game of him starting at point guard and scoring well doesn’t mean for one second that he can’t/shouldn’t play the 2 guard position.
If the incoming guys are as good as advertised Someone that is a really good player is not going to be getting many (if any) minutes. Jones, Gach, Plummer, Brenchley, Martinez, Larsson. All of those guys play the 1, 2 or both. Brenchley is clearly the least valuable of the bunch ATM, but he was supposedly the best shooter on the team in practice earlier in the year, so if that’s the case, he is valuable. We CANNOT play that many guards meaningful minutes, it just isn’t possible.
I’m not sure who of Gach, Brenchley, and Plummer will leave, but one of them most certainly will. Plummer is without question better than Brenchley atm, but Brenchley is a freshman, and is allegedly a very good shooter, so he could add the same spark for a longer period of time if he sticks around. Not sure which of those two I would prefer. I definitely hope Gach stays put. I think if he bulks up a bit he would have no problem providing meaningful minutes at the 3. He is long enough to defend just about any wing player in CBB.
If Brenchley leaves, and Larsson redshirts that gives us Jones, Martinez, plummer, and Gach. In this scenario I see the starters being Jones, Gach, Lohner, Allen, and Carlson. A few minutes into the game Martinez comes in for Lohner, and Gach slides over to the 3. A few minutes after that Plummer comes in for Gach. A few minutes after that Gach and Lohner come in for Martinez and Jones.
You can see that even with 5 quality perimeter players someone is going to get the short end of the playing time stick. I think we could make a rotation involving Jones, Gach, Plummer, Martinez, Lohner, Carlson, Allen, Battin, and Thioune work… but it would be tricky. In order for this to work out Gach would have to be a bit of a swiss army knife, playing 3 different positions.
There is one true PG on the team next season, and he isn’t going to be coming off the bench. There are 6 SGs, and some mixture of them will get time at point.
The call for Gach to start at point is taking 1 data point under consideration. Gach has played plenty of minutes at point this season and last season, and most of those minutes were not pretty.
I do think this team is well suited for an up tempo offense, and it’s completely possible to push tempo with Jones and Gach on the floor at the same time.
exactly, and lets not pretend that Gach hasn’t played perfectly fine while at the 2 during certain stretches (that were significantly longer than the one game he has started at the 1 recently). Jones will start. He’s the only player on the team that seems able to keep his head on straight when things get hairy.
I absolutely like Jones and agree he is a true PG. He can be awesome but as a Fr still not be the best guard on the team. But from the other teams perspective, Gach is our most difficult guard to defend. From my perspective, I see more turnovers from both as the degree of difficulty in play increases. Gach has a unique ability to force changes on to the opposing defense more than the other guards. I would take advantage of that but there is other ways beyond starting him at PG to do that, I agree. Next years additions will likely force changes to the guard line. I hope we are lucky enough that all of the guards have a hard time getting much over 20 minutes a game. Game planing against different styles, all good in a single position, is not easy.
No way Larsson redshirts–he is too good. Jones, Gach, Martinez, Larsson will be top guards. Jantunen will continue to start at 4—if Lohner is better than him by mid-season Utes will be really good. Allen is too small to play the 4, Larsson might be able to back him up at 3.
Coaches will have trouble keeping everyone happy with playing time.
Then there is the issue with Carlson being bigger & better so no minutes for Thione & Van K.
And with Plummer being the only senior do they recruit more than 1 for next recruiting class–or figure someone will leave?
You implied that Gach would be a better lob thrower than Jones because of his height. His sorry attempts at lob passes cost us the game. Gach is very obviously not the answer at point guard. You stated that Gach plays better when Jones doesn’t play, clearly that was also false.
I said MAYBE Gach would throw better lobs. I wasn’t sure. We learned yesterday he is as bad at it as Jones.
I stand by my assertion that Gach plays better when Jones is not in the game. I am not the only one who has noticed it. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that point. Until someone crunches a bunch of numbers, we won’t know who is correct.