Jacob Epperson looking to get back to form after sitting out most of last season.
The Bluejays hit the court for day 2 of practices before their August 1-13 trip to Australia. Here are notes and a Q&A with Damien Jefferson from Tuesday’s session.
Notes:
- Sophomore center Jacob Epperson received a positive evaluation from his doctor on Monday and has been cleared to ramp up his recovery from offseason knee surgery. Epperson jogged on the underwater treadmill on Tuesday for the first time since surgery and he expects to start jumping again in 2-3 weeks.
- Sophomore forward Christian Bishop tinkered with shooting right handed after the season, but has switched back to southpaw because he feels more comfortable with his footwork. His only attempt in 5-on-5 on Tuesday looked good as he buried a catch and shoot three from the right wing during a scrimmage.
- Senior guard Davion Mintz was assertive on the defensive end both with his activity and his communication, but his highlight of the day came on a transition break when he went to the top of the square to catch a lob from Ty-Shon Alexander and throw down a one-handed dunk over his defender.
- Speaking of Ty-Shon, the junior guard looked like the best player on the floor for most of the afternoon. Along with the lob to Mintz he also went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, finished a breakaway dunk after picking off a swing pass, and dropped a dime to Mitch Ballock on flip back to the wing off of a ball screen.
Q&A with a Bluejay: Junior forward Damien Jefferson
Damien Jefferson is looking forward to the season (Spomer / WBR)
Q: With the injury late last year where are you physically and how close do you feel to being back to normal?
A: I’m almost there. I feel like I’m 85%. I’m still going through rehab and things like that, but I feel confident working out with Jeremy and Ben every day, so I feel like I’m almost there. I just have to stay the course and not get frustrated. In the beginning it was frustrating because I didn’t really know what happened. I kept watching the game over and over, but I’m where I need to be mentally now.
Q: What do you think of the new strength and conditioning workouts you guys have been going through this offseason?
A: I’m feeling good and I’m sure the rest of the guys would tell you the same thing. Last year everybody was banged up. I’m not going to blame it on the strength and conditioning that we were doing, but everybody was banged up and our bodies were just worn out. Jeremy makes sure that we do everything that we are supposed to be doing. He sat us down and told us one by one what his goal was for us and what are goals should be for him to get us better and to trust him. That’s what we’ve been doing. We came out here and trusted him with everything. He seems like he knows what he’s talking about, so we just have to take it one day at a time. I feel like everything we are doing in the weight room and on the court is perfect for our sport.
Q: With the year of playing experience under your belt at this level how do you feel going into this year and being able to build off some of the positive strides you made last season?
A: I’m feeling good. I know that I can possibly be one of the best defenders and rebounders on this team, and I feel like I’m in a great position to be. I know that every night I’m not going to come out here and score 30 points, but I just want to be the best at what I set out to be. I want to be a star in my role. And I know what I can do. I’m feeling confident about coming in next season and showing the coaches and the fans what I can really do for a whole season if everything goes right.
Q: How much confidence does it give you to see the familiarity that a lot of the players with each other and this system considering how much growth you have experienced together at this level?
A: We are feeling really confident. Me and the older players like Davion, Jordan, Mitch, Ty-Shon we all feel confident. We were all confused our freshman year, but the best thing we did was ask questions. This is now my fourth year in college and I’ve seen a lot of great basketball players. We all had to accept that role as listeners first, because you’re not going to come in and know everything right away. One thing about our freshmen now is they ask a lot of questions. Even when we are breaking down into small groups they ask great questions, because they don’t want to do anything that they are not comfortable doing, and coming into college there is a lot you’re not comfortable with. Us three-year guys and four-year guys, and even some of the two-year guys like Marcus and Christian, I feel like they can talk to any of us about what the coaches want and don’t want. That helps them a lot.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the trip to Australia?
A: Basketball first and taking care of business. But when we’re not on the court I just want to have fun with my guys. Not everybody on this team has been out of the country, so we just want to have fun and enjoy everything. For me I’m just going to stay out of the water, so that’s my only thing. I had a bad experience with a stingray in the Cayman Islands, so I’m hoping to stay out of the water. Hopefully Coach Mac doesn’t pressure me to going into the water.
Q: Wait, what was your bad experience with a stingray?
A: We were just going at it. I immediately got out of the water because the stingray was going to win that fight, so I knew better than that. I’m a pool guy. If my feet can touch the floor I’m fine with that.