Is James Bouknight the new goto guy for Huskies?
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Who is UConn’s goto guy?
Tie ballgame, or down by a point or two, clock winding down to its final seconds on Sunday in a Charleston Classic battle against Miami (1 p.m., ESPN2), who does UConn get the ball to?
On Friday night, it was Alterique Gilbert. It didn’t work out. With UConn knotted in a 5656 tie with Xavier after Xavier’s Naji Marshall’s long 3pointer with 21 seconds left, Gilbert waited until about five seconds left to begin penetration. He drove the lane and had his shot swatted away viciously by Tyrique Jones. Christian Vital’s rebound and followup
10footer came after time had expired. Overtime.
At the end of the second overtime, with the Huskies trailing by a point after a pair of Jason Carter free throws with 10.1 ticks left, Gilbert drove the lane again. He lost control of the ball, Vital and Tyler Polley misfired on shots, and Xavier had a doubleovertime win.
Whether or not that’s how coach Dan Hurley drew it up, we’ll probably never really know. Afterwards, Hurley did defend Gilbert, the fourthyear point guard.
“End of regulation ... you’re generally looking to get the ball into the hands of your guard that has the best chance to get into the paint, get the defense into some type of a rotation, spray the ball somewhere or put something soft on the rim that we may be able to tip in,” Hurley noted. “Al is the best option that we have currently on this team, in terms of a guy that can beat somebody off the dribble and make a play in a situation like that.”
There’s no question that Gilbert, with a tight handle and low center of gravity, is the guy Hurley wants to have the ball in his hands late in games. But there’s almost no way Hurley can be happy with those lastsecond plays by Gilbert, who penetrated and distributed the ball well in the first half on Friday but reverted to old habits and had numerous drives to the hoop stuffed after halftime.
UConn has always had “goto guys.” Guys you could trust to hit the clutch shot late in games. Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier turned it into art forms. Prior to that, Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Ben Gordon, Caron Butler. Since then, Ryan Boatright, Jalen Adams.
But who’s the guy this year? Gilbert, never a great shooter to begin with, is struggling mightily. Vital is as tough as it gets and can get hot from deep, but has yet to really have a defining, clutch moment. Tyler Polley is the team’s best pure 3point shooter, but tends to disappear at times.
In fact, it was Polley who UConn went to near the end of the first overtime. With 12.2 seconds left and the Huskies down three, Brendan Adams inbounded to Polley, who frontrimmed a 3pointer. But the ball was rebounded by the player who might already be UConn’s new goto guy, just two games into his collegiate career. James Bouknight. The freshman grabbed the rebound, hit a floater while being fouled and calmly swished the free throw for a gametying, threepoint play. On to the second overtime.
The play wasn’t designed for Bouknight, but he came up big. Just like he did in the second overtime, when he grabbed another offensive rebound and converted a reverse layup to tie the game at 69. Or when he scored on a drive with 21 seconds left to put the Huskies up a point.
Bouknight finished with 19 points in 25 minutes. This on the heels of eight points and six boards in 11 minutes in his collegiate debut the night before. He is an uncommon talent, and he is just a freshman.
He might be UConn’s goto guy right now. And that can be a bit awkward when you’ve got fouryear guys like Gilbert and Vital. Can you really put the ball in the hands of a freshman for a gamewinning shot?
“That’s the challenge right now,” Hurley said. “Having guys that can create their own shot, make a big play. A lot of situational play, big spots in games, it’s a pitchback to a bigtime player who hits a 35foot three. You’ve got to recruit, develop and nurture those types of players. You’ve also got to have that type of talent to do it. (Bouknight) has that type of talent, (Akok) Akok’s got that type of talent.”
Asked if wanted the ball in his hands with the game on the line, Bouknight was deferential to his upperclassmen teammates.
“It’s not like that,” he said. “Whatever coach calls, that’s how it’s gonna be.”
Fair enough. But if the ball comes to him in that moment, is he ready for the challenge?
James Bouknight replied, quickly and confidently, “I’m ready.”