Utah basketball: Coach wants point guard Glen Dean to be more aggressive

Glen Dean broke down his man off the dribble Monday, freeing himself in the lane for a 10-foot jumper that swished through the net.

On the next possession of practice, Utah's junior point guard went around a pick and roll and hit a 3-pointer.

The whole sequence illustrates Dean's ability to score. If you are a Utes fan, though, you would've needed to be at practice to see it because in one exhibition and a regular-season opener, Dean has been passive to a fault.

That's led to a quick meeting between Dean and coach Larry Krystokowiak. In short, Dean has been instructed to be more aggressive.

"At the beginning of practice, the point guards were all battling, so they were trying to outdo each other and there wasn't much point guard play going on out there," Krystkowiak said. "So I sat them all down and told them the guy who will start is the guy who will run the team the best. So, Glen has taken that a little too literally, because he hasn't shot the ball. I've had another talk with him, and now he's trying to find a middle ground."

In the exhibition win over Simon Fraser, Dean took just two shots. He was a little more aggressive in Friday's win over Willamette, but not by much. Dean and Krystkowiak both know Dean can score. Most importantly, he can create looks with his ballhandling, strength and quickness.

At Eastern Washington, Dean averaged 13.3 points per game as a sophomore, routinely taking important shots. Krystkowiak is working with Dean to better balance running the team and looking for his own offense.

"I'm definitely going to be more aggressive," Dean said. "I think with not playing last season that I need to get the feel back and get back into the flow. It's a process, and I know that it will come."

Back in the saddle

After missing the season-opener with a hip injury, senior Jarred DuBois returned to practice Monday, showing no ill effects. The starting shooting guard missed a week of practice with pain in the hip. He left early to attend class.

A win, but …

Krystkowiak said the large margin of victory over Willamette is misleading because his team missed multiple defensive rotations and assignments.

Monday's practice was dedicated in large part to being in the right places at the right times, defensively.

"I thought that Willamette received a lot of good open looks that they just didn't put in," Krystkowiak said. "That's something we need to clean up going forward."

tjones@sltrib.com

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