Ready for another update on the last two days at the Championship Center? I thought you might be.
Sunday morning was a fun one to watch as the officials were in the gym. That means it’s organized scrimmage day!
The team started the session with a transition offense drill focused on efficiency and making the right play instead of getting too cute or fancy and making a mistake with a numbers advantage.
They also worked on some of the details of their zone defense before splitting up into their usual Blue and Grey teams for the scrimmage.
If you’re at all curious how this setting looks, it’s basically a game without a crowd. Two 20-minute halves, opposing benches, opposing coaches, refs, and head coach Greg McDermott upstairs on the balcony breaking things down and coaching up players during dead ball situations.
Notable Observations
Martin Krampelj just can’t shake injuries (WBR/Click to Buy)
Junior forward Martin Krampelj got off to a fast start offensively, but his morning was cut short when he landed wrong on his right ankle. X-rays came back negative, so there was no broken bone. He went to get an MRI on Monday and returned in a walking boot, but no crutches. The results are expected back tomorrow. For now it’s been diagnosed as a sprained ankle, but it’s still a raw deal for a guy who, if not for bad luck would have no luck at all on the injury front.
Jacob Epperson (WBR/Click to Buy)
Freshman center Samson Froling was a hard man to stop. He’s not a go-up-and-get-it guy like Justin Patton or fellow Australian big man Jacob Epperson, but his low post skills are impressive nonetheless. He hit Krampelj with a series of them in the paint to get his first bucket, then knocked down a free throw line jumper over the veteran before giving Epperson a turn with a blow by from the top of the key for a layup. My “Bluejay Beat” partner, Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha World-Herald, was charting the shooting and rebounding stats during the scrimmage, and Froling finished with a team-best 22 points on 11-17 FG to go along with nine rebounds.
Freshman point guard Marcus Zegarowski had his imprint all over the scrimmage. Some of his highlights included a perfectly-timed lob in transition to Krampelj for an emphatic dunk. He also snuffed a fast break on the defensive end by taking a charge. Two of his more impressive assists came at the end of the half and then later in the second period when the teams switched up a bit. On the first one he had the ball as timed ticked away to end the first half, drove to the wing off a ball screen, drew the help defender, and flipped it back over his head to Ty-Shon Alexander for a wide open three from the top of the key at the buzzer. The other one came when he rebounded his own miss in traffic, ball-faked to the top of the key then delivered an underhand pass to Denzel Mahoney for a three on the left wing.
Sophomore forward Damien Jefferson was a presence on the glass and finished well at the rim off the dribble. Those will be the two major areas that the coaches will expect him to contribute this season. He finished the scrimmage with 12 points (6-11 FG) and eight rebounds.
Junior point guard Davion Mintz had an efficient shooting day. He went for 17 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-6 from the 3-point line. He made a really nice play defensively to read a dribble hand-off in transition, pick it off, and take it down for a one-handed dunk reminiscent of the one he broke off in front of a cleared out Pinnacle Bank Arena as a true freshman.
Davion Mintz (WBR/Click to Buy)