Notes:
- The energy and execution as a whole was better than it was on Monday. Guys were being more assertive with their communication and willingness to fly around defensively. There were a handful of plays with multiple guys jumping out of bounds and diving on the floor.
- Mitch Ballock has had a summer full of fundamentally sound plays and that was on display for three sequences in particular on Tuesday morning. On the first, a defender ran him off the 3-point line, so he drove into the teeth of the defense, set his feet in the paint, and dropped a dime to Christian Bishop for an easy two points. On the second, he drove baseline and flipped a no-look shovel pass inside to Kelvin Jones. On the third, he used a shot fake to get a defender of his feet, dribble side-stepped to the corner, then hit Ty-Shon Alexander in the shooting pocket with a skip pass for an open three ball on the wing.
- Shereef Mitchell continues to stand out in these summer sessions, much like Khyri Thomas did for the trip to Italy prior to his freshman season. Mitchell had a no-look handoff to Christian Bishop after driving into the lane in transition and later pulled off a slick up and under reverse layup to score against a bigger defender. That probably isn’t much of a distinction considering every player on the floor is bigger than the Omaha native. His play of the day came late in the 5-on-5 session when he beat the “Canadian Red Bull” himself, Jahenns Manigat, to the floor for a loose ball, flipped a two-handed over-the-head pass to Damien Jefferson, who hit Alexander with an extra pass in the corner for an open three. Speed bumps are surely coming for Mitchell, but for now he’s making the most of the head start to his college career.
Q&A with a Bluejay: Sophomore point guard Marcus Zegarowski
Q: How are you feeling at this stage of your rehab/recovery?
A: I feel really good. Working with Jeremy, our new strength guy, he’s doing a great job fixing what I need to work on with my core and my hip. I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. I’ve actually been running a little bit outside this past week, and I’m doing more on the court stuff — layups, jumping on my shots now, so I’m getting there. Today is actually the three-month mark since surgery. With a hip labrum that’s kind of a big deal. Once you hit the three-month mark that’s when you can start to do some stuff on the court … it’s kind of a big jump.
Q: With as much as you played through last year, how tough is it to be shut down for an extended period of time like this?
A: It’s definitely hard, especially since it’s the second summer in a row where I’ve been sidelined. This summer is a lot different, though. Last summer I couldn’t do anything from June through the beginning of September. I wasn’t even able to lift or anything. This year I’m able to do a lot of stuff in the weight room. It’s definitely hard because I want to be out there with my teammates to try to build that chemistry with the new guys, but the coaches are just telling me to stay patient. They don’t need me now, they need me in September, October, November.
I just want to be healthy. Obviously I played through a lot last year with my hand, my hip, my abdominal muscles. I was in pain, I’ll be honest. There were definitely some hard days where I wouldn’t even want to go, but I feel like I grew from that. I feel like I’m mentally stronger and I feel like I can play through anything now. I’m the guy who will play for the team no matter what, no matter how my body feels.
Q: Due to the injuries, your relationship with it is obviously a little different compared to the rest of the guys, but what are your initial thoughts about the new strength and conditioning program that’s been implemented this summer?
A: It was good for us. Jeremy is definitely more intelligent than a lot of guys. He knows the body really well. He played basketball and he went through some injuries, so he’s been in our position — he’s been in my position being hurt and trying to get back from injuries. He knows a lot. In the weight room every workout is designed for how our bodies operate. My workouts aren’t the same as anybody else’s, because I have my own problems with my body and somebody else has a different problem with their body. He has each workout individualized for each player. I’m doing stuff with my hip a lot and doing stuff to help strengthen my whole body, my core. I think I’m building right now even though I’ve been sidelined. I feel really good with my improvement. I’m getting stronger in there, I’m getting a lot stronger. It’s not only the lifting stuff either. We do a lot of corrective stuff, a lot of stretching, a lot of rolling out to make our bodies feel good for the next day. That was something we didn’t really have in the past. Now I feel like we’ll recover faster and we’ll be able to go longer during the season.
Q: What do you think about the group you have back this season?
A: We have a chance to do something special this year. We have a lot of new guys that can contribute, and we have a lot of seasoned guys that got a lot of experience this past season — a few of our better players were sophomores and juniors. Now we can really use those tough losses last year and use that experience. I played around 28 minutes per game, so I can use that. I’ll be more familiar with those situations come next year. I also think we’ll be a lot healthier and our bodies will feel a lot better.
We played a lot together and we played a lot of pick-up this offseason, so I feel like we’re closer — I think that will be a big deal going forward. Our mindset is in the right place right now. Getting these 10 practices for Australia will put us ahead, because we won’t have to teach the younger guys the simple things in September, we can do it now. That will definitely speed up the process for the whole team. We’ll be more ready in October than we were last year.
Q: How much more assertive are you with your “voice” and with being a guy who can do as much teaching as listening?
A: I’ve always been a guy who will try to look out for somebody else, whether that’s on the court or off the court. I always try to make sure they are in a good position to be successful. Last year I was in their shoes thinking, “man, this is a big jump,” especially coming off of no summer. It’s hard when you feel like there are a million things coming at you and you feel like you are going to mess up. I just want to be that person that helps them realize that they are going to mess up, it’s going to happen, but just stay cool about it. Everyone knows Mac. He’s not going to get on you as long as you listen. As long as you use your ears and eyes, and as long as you try to be a sponge you’ll be ok. That’s what I’m trying to get across [to the new guys], because I had guys who were in my position last year that really helped me out. I really, really appreciate that and I always let them know that I’m thankful. There would be times I would go into a situation and Kaleb would give me a quick comment to help me not mess things up and slow down the practice. It just helps out a lot when someone is in your ear and looking out for you.
I just want to be that guy, especially as the point guard, and as a guy who can’t play right now. I have to contribute somehow. Mac is always telling me that I have to be more of a leader, be more vocal, and just speak my piece on everything. That’s one thing I’m going to do when I get back is be more assertive. I already told some of the guys and the coaches that I’m going to get on guys. It’s not going to be how I say, it’s going to be what I say, and if I’m wrong tell me and we can talk it out. At the end of the day we’re on the same team and we’re trying to accomplish the same thing.
Q: What are you looking forward to most about the trip to Australia?
A: I’m just looking forward to going across the world and being with the people that I basically live with. We are always with each other on campus, so it’s good to get everybody together off campus where we can enjoy ourselves and take care of business at the same time. I don’t know if I’ll be playing or not, obviously, but I look forward to seeing the guys play and trying to help them in any way possible. I’ll speak my piece and if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’ll try to speak my piece off the court and I’ll definitely get a lot of work in down there with Jeremy. He’ll be going down with us, so I’ll definitely make jumps while we’re down there. I’m looking forward to it. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the team does. It’ll be good for us to see where we’re at. I want guys to make mistakes and take risks. That way we can watch the film and get better from it.