Utes won't miss Tavita's lack of offense

Thursday’s announcement that junior guard Jace Tavita is leaving the Utah basketball program shouldn’t have much impact on the Ute program.
Tavita was a good guy, well-liked by his teammates (he was selected as a captain this year), a good team player, one of Utah’s better defensive players and had one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios on the team.
However, he couldn’t get the ball in the basket during games.
In practice, Tavita was a decent shooter, but when it came to games, he struggled. As a freshman, he played in 25 games, but only tried six shots, making one. Last year, when he started in 19 of 30 games, he made 16 of 55 shots (29.1 percent) and 6 of 33 from 3-point range. This year, Tavita had hit 1 of 10 field goals and was 0 for 3 from 3-point range.
That means in two-plus seasons in 60 games, Tavita was 25.3 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from 3-point range. He was also just 8 for 20 from the free throw line during his three years. Because of Tavita’s lack of offense, opponents would be able to lay off him and the Utes were essentially playing 4 on 5.
The Utes will miss Tavita for his leadership, defense and ball-handling. But on the whole, the team’s ability to win games shouldn’t change much with Tavita gone.
For Tavita’s sake, I hope he finds a program where he can regain his confidence as a shooter and contribute to that team’s success.