mtgrizrule
Well-known member
Unfortunately for GRIZ Basketball fans, this season is over. The off season begins as soon as the last game is over. With that said, here are what I feel each returning player should work on in the off season. In honor of Jordan Gregory, who will win the most dedicated player to the off season, the Jordan Gregory Award?
Martin Breunig- I have no doubt he will spend countless hours improving his game. He is a known gym rat already. I feel he has a chance to get an NBA look. To improve that, and the GRIZ team, he needs to become a better ball handler (any future NBA hopes are at SF/3), extend his game consistently out to 24 feet with ball handling and being able to hit an NBA 3 point shot consistently. In addition, more consistency from the FT line. He is average at the line now, but has the touch to get over 80%. Defensively, a little better defensive footwork, and more discipline when defending the paint. Most his fouls were in the paint from over committing himself too soon. Finally, add a little strength. His strength is great for the Big Sky Conference, but it needs to be at the level of Power 5 conference SF/PF's.
Fabijan Krslovic- He already reminds me of EWU's Jois at the same stage of their careers. Like Jois, he needs to improve his ball handling, and add a perimeter game out to 18 to 20 feet. Right now, his offense is all inside the paint. He needs to get more consistency at the FT line as well, 70% to 75% would be a realistic off season goal. Work on his vertical leap. He already rebounds well with position. Imagine what he could do with improvement in his vertical leap!
Conditioning to run 30 plus minutes per game.
Bryden Boehning- I can honestly say, I have never observed him play a live game, so I don't know his strengths or weaknesses. So here is what I hope we see from him to start the offseason. He is the team's only potential true center. He could most help himself and the team by becoming a consistent rebounder, and shot blocker. The lack of a true paint defender really hurt this year's team. Offensively, become an efficient post scorer with a variety of moves and a 10 to 12 foot jumper. Like Krslovic, conditioning to run the court for 30 minutes per game, just in case he is needed to do so.
Gavin Dejong- Like Boehning, I have never observed him play a live game and don't know much about his game. What I do hear is that he is athletic and can jump out of the gym. He could be our most athletic forward. He is only 6'6", so he will likely be a combo 3/SF and 4/PF, depending on the kind of line up Travis wants. My hope is he just focuses on his overall game to gain the skills needed to play inside and outside. I hear he has a great nose for the ball already. He will likely be expected to bang in the paint as well, so weight room work to gain some strength. I feel 215 to 225 lbs would be perfect for him.
Jack Lopez- He is hard to gauge. His role will be determined how much his fellow post players develop in the off season. To me, his game and build is that of a true SF/3 or even big SG/2. He looked pretty comfortable shooting 3's this season. I feel he needs a lot of perimeter shooting reps, improved ball handling, passing, and strength. Similar to DeJong, work on a little of everything.
Jermaine Edmonds Jr- The obvious is improved academics. We don't know where or how he fell short academically. I hope it is a matter of him just learning to multi task and making academics a priority. The little we saw of him this season was encouraging on the court. He is a rare Big Sky Conference player capable of all conference performances at 1/PG, 2/SG, and 3/SF. By process of elimination and who we are adding to the roster, I feel he should prepare to be primarily a SF/3, and offensively be a point forward. Without a doubt, he is the most versatile player the GRIZ have. He has no single weakness offensively. Defensively, he has the physical make up to be a true shut down defender. I feel he just needs to work on knowing the playbook and his assignments. Defense is where he struggled the most when he did play. Offensively, no matter what his position will be, I want to see a player capable of breaking down a defense every trip down the court, creating for teammates, and/or drawing fouls. With that will come a commitment to being a 75% FT shooter. I wonder if he knows how truly great he can become as a player? Off season dedication can allow him to reach a very high potential ceiling he has.
Brandon Gfeller- He is another player that strikes me as a gym rat. His outside shot is too pure to not be a gym rat. He is a rare player that his best asset may at times be his worse enemy too. By that, I mean his 3 pt shot is so good, he has not had the need to improve rest of his offensive game. He just needs to find a mind set that he can be the man on offense. Meaning be prepared to shoot and launch early and often. I am confident this kid is at worse a 40% 3 pt shooter. It is a matter of him doing it every game. With that said, he needs something to fall back on when his perimeter game is struggling. He already has the size and build to score in the paint. The problem is, he does not have the ball handling skills to get to the paint consistently. I cannot emphasize enough the importance ball handling is for him this off season. He could be damn near unstoppable if he becomes a good to great ball handler. Defensively, he is solid there already. Improved conditioning to run 30 plus minutes per game would be beneficial for him too.
Daniel Nwosu- Again we saw very little of him to fairly judge him. All season, I wanted to see him look to score, and it just never happened. I am not sure why he was shy trying to score this season. Based on his shooting video, I feel he needs to find a quicker release. He needs to eliminate a low hitch he has when he gets the ball. He needs to find consistency catching and shooting straight up from this chest up, the ball should never go below his chest in his set up. Defensively, he looked to have quick hands and feet. We really did not get to see him handle the ball. So I hope he dedicates himself to a quicker shot and ball handling.
Riley Bradshaw- With the incoming new players, he and Dunn may be in jeopardy at losing some minutes. Then again, that is good sign for the team, and not a slight on Riley or Mario. I feel Riley has a natural feel for the team game. He just needs to continue building his confidence on offense, find more consistency from 3, improve his quickness off the dribble to create and draw fouls. Defensively, just a little quicker footwork. Overall, I liked the improvement from Riley during this season. He just needs to continue working at it. Conditioning and strength would be helpful for him and the team as well. If I were him, I'd be getting as much advise as possible from Jordan Gregory.
Mario Dunn- Mario is perplexing to get a read on him and his game. He is blessed with a huge vertical, quickness, and athleticism. He works his ass off and always plays hard. He has all the intangibles and physical abilities. He is capable of being a more consistent ball handler. He already has the skill set in place. He just needs to eliminate the occasional lazy dribble and pass, that he tends to do one or the other a few times per game. Defensively, he just needs to keep building on his God given ability. Offensively, he improved his perimeter shooting a lot as this season progressed. He just needs to improve his perimeter consistency. He looks solid shooting FT's, but needs to get his FT shooting to around 80%. Will Cherry improved these things, Mario can too. It is all up to Mario as to how much time he wants to spend on shooting. He already has quicks with the ball. Improved ball handling consistency will enhance his impact on the game. He has all the tools to be the man to make his teammates better. He just needs confidence to consistently take the ball to the hole. His assist numbers are already solid. He is capable of averaging no worse than 6 assists per game. Mario the play maker would be a great asset for the GRIZ next season. Most of that is just mental preparation, and not a lot of physical improvements.
We shall see who does what in the off season. The returners have a lot of potential to take GRIZ basketball to higher levels. The ? is, will they do it when they are away from the coaches? I know Breunig will. I feel the biggest keys are the development of Boehning, and any combination of Edmonds, Bradshaw, and Dunn. I hope every returning player fully utilizes the time Jordan Gregory has left on campus for advise on and off the court. Who will the 1st annual EGRIZ Jordan Gregory Award at this time next season? :thumb:
Martin Breunig- I have no doubt he will spend countless hours improving his game. He is a known gym rat already. I feel he has a chance to get an NBA look. To improve that, and the GRIZ team, he needs to become a better ball handler (any future NBA hopes are at SF/3), extend his game consistently out to 24 feet with ball handling and being able to hit an NBA 3 point shot consistently. In addition, more consistency from the FT line. He is average at the line now, but has the touch to get over 80%. Defensively, a little better defensive footwork, and more discipline when defending the paint. Most his fouls were in the paint from over committing himself too soon. Finally, add a little strength. His strength is great for the Big Sky Conference, but it needs to be at the level of Power 5 conference SF/PF's.
Fabijan Krslovic- He already reminds me of EWU's Jois at the same stage of their careers. Like Jois, he needs to improve his ball handling, and add a perimeter game out to 18 to 20 feet. Right now, his offense is all inside the paint. He needs to get more consistency at the FT line as well, 70% to 75% would be a realistic off season goal. Work on his vertical leap. He already rebounds well with position. Imagine what he could do with improvement in his vertical leap!
Conditioning to run 30 plus minutes per game.
Bryden Boehning- I can honestly say, I have never observed him play a live game, so I don't know his strengths or weaknesses. So here is what I hope we see from him to start the offseason. He is the team's only potential true center. He could most help himself and the team by becoming a consistent rebounder, and shot blocker. The lack of a true paint defender really hurt this year's team. Offensively, become an efficient post scorer with a variety of moves and a 10 to 12 foot jumper. Like Krslovic, conditioning to run the court for 30 minutes per game, just in case he is needed to do so.
Gavin Dejong- Like Boehning, I have never observed him play a live game and don't know much about his game. What I do hear is that he is athletic and can jump out of the gym. He could be our most athletic forward. He is only 6'6", so he will likely be a combo 3/SF and 4/PF, depending on the kind of line up Travis wants. My hope is he just focuses on his overall game to gain the skills needed to play inside and outside. I hear he has a great nose for the ball already. He will likely be expected to bang in the paint as well, so weight room work to gain some strength. I feel 215 to 225 lbs would be perfect for him.
Jack Lopez- He is hard to gauge. His role will be determined how much his fellow post players develop in the off season. To me, his game and build is that of a true SF/3 or even big SG/2. He looked pretty comfortable shooting 3's this season. I feel he needs a lot of perimeter shooting reps, improved ball handling, passing, and strength. Similar to DeJong, work on a little of everything.
Jermaine Edmonds Jr- The obvious is improved academics. We don't know where or how he fell short academically. I hope it is a matter of him just learning to multi task and making academics a priority. The little we saw of him this season was encouraging on the court. He is a rare Big Sky Conference player capable of all conference performances at 1/PG, 2/SG, and 3/SF. By process of elimination and who we are adding to the roster, I feel he should prepare to be primarily a SF/3, and offensively be a point forward. Without a doubt, he is the most versatile player the GRIZ have. He has no single weakness offensively. Defensively, he has the physical make up to be a true shut down defender. I feel he just needs to work on knowing the playbook and his assignments. Defense is where he struggled the most when he did play. Offensively, no matter what his position will be, I want to see a player capable of breaking down a defense every trip down the court, creating for teammates, and/or drawing fouls. With that will come a commitment to being a 75% FT shooter. I wonder if he knows how truly great he can become as a player? Off season dedication can allow him to reach a very high potential ceiling he has.
Brandon Gfeller- He is another player that strikes me as a gym rat. His outside shot is too pure to not be a gym rat. He is a rare player that his best asset may at times be his worse enemy too. By that, I mean his 3 pt shot is so good, he has not had the need to improve rest of his offensive game. He just needs to find a mind set that he can be the man on offense. Meaning be prepared to shoot and launch early and often. I am confident this kid is at worse a 40% 3 pt shooter. It is a matter of him doing it every game. With that said, he needs something to fall back on when his perimeter game is struggling. He already has the size and build to score in the paint. The problem is, he does not have the ball handling skills to get to the paint consistently. I cannot emphasize enough the importance ball handling is for him this off season. He could be damn near unstoppable if he becomes a good to great ball handler. Defensively, he is solid there already. Improved conditioning to run 30 plus minutes per game would be beneficial for him too.
Daniel Nwosu- Again we saw very little of him to fairly judge him. All season, I wanted to see him look to score, and it just never happened. I am not sure why he was shy trying to score this season. Based on his shooting video, I feel he needs to find a quicker release. He needs to eliminate a low hitch he has when he gets the ball. He needs to find consistency catching and shooting straight up from this chest up, the ball should never go below his chest in his set up. Defensively, he looked to have quick hands and feet. We really did not get to see him handle the ball. So I hope he dedicates himself to a quicker shot and ball handling.
Riley Bradshaw- With the incoming new players, he and Dunn may be in jeopardy at losing some minutes. Then again, that is good sign for the team, and not a slight on Riley or Mario. I feel Riley has a natural feel for the team game. He just needs to continue building his confidence on offense, find more consistency from 3, improve his quickness off the dribble to create and draw fouls. Defensively, just a little quicker footwork. Overall, I liked the improvement from Riley during this season. He just needs to continue working at it. Conditioning and strength would be helpful for him and the team as well. If I were him, I'd be getting as much advise as possible from Jordan Gregory.
Mario Dunn- Mario is perplexing to get a read on him and his game. He is blessed with a huge vertical, quickness, and athleticism. He works his ass off and always plays hard. He has all the intangibles and physical abilities. He is capable of being a more consistent ball handler. He already has the skill set in place. He just needs to eliminate the occasional lazy dribble and pass, that he tends to do one or the other a few times per game. Defensively, he just needs to keep building on his God given ability. Offensively, he improved his perimeter shooting a lot as this season progressed. He just needs to improve his perimeter consistency. He looks solid shooting FT's, but needs to get his FT shooting to around 80%. Will Cherry improved these things, Mario can too. It is all up to Mario as to how much time he wants to spend on shooting. He already has quicks with the ball. Improved ball handling consistency will enhance his impact on the game. He has all the tools to be the man to make his teammates better. He just needs confidence to consistently take the ball to the hole. His assist numbers are already solid. He is capable of averaging no worse than 6 assists per game. Mario the play maker would be a great asset for the GRIZ next season. Most of that is just mental preparation, and not a lot of physical improvements.
We shall see who does what in the off season. The returners have a lot of potential to take GRIZ basketball to higher levels. The ? is, will they do it when they are away from the coaches? I know Breunig will. I feel the biggest keys are the development of Boehning, and any combination of Edmonds, Bradshaw, and Dunn. I hope every returning player fully utilizes the time Jordan Gregory has left on campus for advise on and off the court. Who will the 1st annual EGRIZ Jordan Gregory Award at this time next season? :thumb:
