Tomasz Gielo has found himself in a completely new role in the 2013-14 campaign after being in the post much of last season. Due to the departure of Tavares Speaks and the return of Antwan Burrus, coach Layer decided the best usage of Gielo’s talent would be to move him towards the perimeter. Gielo has responded well and has been much more useful at small forward than he would be in a five man rotation down low.
“Coach Layer told me at the end of last season that he would definitely try to play me more at small forward this year. So I spent a while working out when I was back in Poland with my national team.” Gielo told us in an interview after the Greensboro game, “I’ve been working on it a lot, working on my shot, making sure I get my handles right, just the little things.”
So far his work has paid off, Gielo has been just what the Flames need. He is the only Flame to have started every contest thus far and is averaging almost 27 minutes a game. He is shooting 44% from the field to give him an average of 8 points a game along with 4 rebounds. Gielo has also, remarkably, not missed a single free throw in 2013 (13/13).
One area Tomasz revealed to us he needed some work is his handle. “You can get away with lazy dribbles (at power forward), but at the small forward you play against shorter guys, and having the height advantage is also a disadvantage when you’re talking about dribbling.” Most of the small forwards in the Big South range from 6’2″-6’5″ but Gielo towers at 6’9″. Gielo went on to tell us that he is much more confident in his handling coming into this season.
Gielo was key in the Flames BSC tournament run last year
After 3 straight Ws Tomasz is very optimistic in the team’s chances as long as they continue to play as a team. “I think we’ve started looking for each other more on the court,” He said. “We played more like a group of individuals, now we are more committed to defense.”
Looking ahead, Gielo believes the Flames are in for another conference run. “I think once conference play starts we should be really good. I think we can fight for a high bid in the conference tournament and eventually win the conference tournament.”
For now, we’ll see if Gielo and the Flames will be able to keep up their winning ways and finally notch their first away win this weekend at Austin Peay.
