Coach K on Tre Jones: I want him to produce scores

Sophomore PG has become "a good layup maker"

Coach Mike Kryzewski said that sophomore point guard Tre Jones needs to take on more of a role in producing points this year. It doesn’t matter to him whether it’s by passing to a teammate or scoring himself.

“I want him to produce scores,” Coach K said. “Whether he’s passing it or doing it.”

Last year, Jones was reluctant to take on the scoring load.

“I think he overpassed at times,” Krzyzewski said. “He looked maybe at times too much to pass.”

K also wants Jones to drive to the basket more.

“He’s really become a really good layup maker,” Krzyzewski said, “which if you’re going to be a really good point guard, you’ve got to make layups.”

That may sound like a joke, but scoring layups amidst the trees in the lane can be a challenge.

“You’ve got to have balance and (master) different angles,” K said. “He’s worked really hard.”

Krzyzewski also thinks Jones will go to the line more than the two times per game he averaged last year.

“I think he’ll go more,” he said. “The other thing with that is at the end of ballgames, Zion (Williamson) and RJ (Barrett) had the ball. He’ll have the ball.”

“He’ll have the ball more (in general),” Krzyzewski added. “If we’re going to be real good, he’s got to be really good.”

Krzyzewski also said the team will push the ball more and take advantage of its depth by picking up earlier on defense and have high-paced games.