Dom Amore: Sophomore Andre Jackson embracing the challenge, responsibility of being ‘that guy’ for post-pandemic UConn men

[drayenob]

Dom Amore: Sophomore Andre Jackson embracing the challenge, responsibility of being ‘that guy’ for post-pandemic UConn men

“To be honest, I feel like I didn’t do enough last year,” Jackson said, in an interview with The Courant last week. “I didn’t do enough to win games that we should’ve won down the stretch. That feeling has fueled me since the day our season ended, since the day we lost the Big East championship, since the day we left the hotel at March Madness.”

“I wake up around 7 or 8, go to gym,” Jackson said. “Eat, shoot, probably get 300, 400, 500 makes in, then study hall. Then go back and shoot, more of a live, full speed shooting drill, get another 300 makes up. I try to get as close to 1,000 makes a day as I can, just developing that touch, developing that feel for the basketball. I always have the basketball in my hand, even if I’m not in the gym. I always have it around me. Like Pistol Pete [Maravich] said, the ball has to be an extension of your hand.”

 

[Hoophound]

Dom Amore: Sophomore Andre Jackson embracing the challenge, responsibility of being ‘that guy’ for post-pandemic UConn men

“To be honest, I feel like I didn’t do enough last year,” Jackson said, in an interview with The Courant last week. “I didn’t do enough to win games that we should’ve won down the stretch. That feeling has fueled me since the day our season ended, since the day we lost the Big East championship, since the day we left the hotel at March Madness.”

“I wake up around 7 or 8, go to gym,” Jackson said. “Eat, shoot, probably get 300, 400, 500 makes in, then study hall. Then go back and shoot, more of a live, full speed shooting drill, get another 300 makes up. I try to get as close to 1,000 makes a day as I can, just developing that touch, developing that feel for the basketball. I always have the basketball in my hand, even if I’m not in the gym. I always have it around me. Like Pistol Pete [Maravich] said, the ball has to be an extension of your hand.”

If the form has been corrected, this is good news.

 

[dennismenace]

Highly motivated. Keep it going AJ.

 

[mauconnfan]

The Pistol Pete analogy is a beautiful thing for a kid who knows what it will take to be the impact he expects to be. If this kid finds a way to make shots watch out.

 

[CL82]

This is a great read. Andre is either a world class BS’er or he truly gets it. He’s working hard on his skills and on his relationship with the rest of the team. Love that Diggins is as already “his guy.”

 

[Chin Diesel]

Very nice read. As @Hoophound said, hopefully there is emphasis on form as well as function. Even having bad form he can get his numbers up a bit.

OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUDS ALERT!!!!- I did get a chuckle over the "wake up around 7 or 8" comment like that is somehow impressive or indicative of someone who is putting in the extra hours to get better. Nah. That's normal wake up time, even accounting for being a college student and potentially working until late at night. Even now I know athletes at my kid's HS who are in the gym doing conditioning at 5 am to get in a full work out before school starts.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I do think it's important for AJ and the team to realize he can be "the guy" without having to be the leading scorer. He can impact the game all over the court and only end up with 10-12 points. Great if he can score more, but it's important for him to realize his impact leading the team goes well beyond just being the leading scorer.

 

[Hoophound]

Very nice read. As @Hoophound said, hopefully there is emphasis on form as well as function. Even having bad form he can get his numbers up a bit.

OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUDS ALERT!!!!- I did get a chuckle over the "wake up around 7 or 8" comment like that is somehow impressive or indicative of someone who is putting in the extra hours to get better. Nah. That's normal wake up time, even accounting for being a college student and potentially working until late at night. Even now I know athletes at my kid's HS who are in the gym doing conditioning at 5 am to get in a full work out before school starts.

I don’t care when he wakes up because he probably stays up very late most days. These guys need sleep to grow. I always feel it is counterproductive for kids to bust their butts in the weight room, get out on the court to shoot and play pickup and then stay up until 1am, only to get up at 5am and head to the gym. They need at least 7-8 hours sleep to make all of that physical work payoff as much as possible. No way these dudes are going to bed by 10pm. The best solution is later classes and workouts so they can sleep.

 

[Umami Zen]

Very nice read. As @Hoophound said, hopefully there is emphasis on form as well as function. Even having bad form he can get his numbers up a bit.

OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUDS ALERT!!!!- I did get a chuckle over the "wake up around 7 or 8" comment like that is somehow impressive or indicative of someone who is putting in the extra hours to get better. Nah. That's normal wake up time, even accounting for being a college student and potentially working until late at night. Even now I know athletes at my kid's HS who are in the gym doing conditioning at 5 am to get in a full work out before school starts.

The Pistol Pete analogy is a beautiful thing for a kid who knows what it will take to be the impact he expects to be. If this kid finds a way to make shots watch out.

Remember reading about AJ's fascination with Pistol Pete when we were recruiting him .. Give AJ any part of Pistol's shooting form and I'll be happy.

Sweat equity in the gym will go a long way for him with his athleticism.. This is the summer to get the reps in. Self-motivated with some nudges from Sool..

 

[Mr. French]

Any kid with his athleticism that respects The Pistol I am DOWN with.

He’s got that passing flare too (no one’s flare is Pistolesque but you get it).

 

[Incursio007]

He's a perimeter game away from being our next lottery pick.

 

[aburks41]

Very nice read. As @Hoophound said, hopefully there is emphasis on form as well as function. Even having bad form he can get his numbers up a bit.

OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUDS ALERT!!!!- I did get a chuckle over the "wake up around 7 or 8" comment like that is somehow impressive or indicative of someone who is putting in the extra hours to get better. Nah. That's normal wake up time, even accounting for being a college student and potentially working until late at night. Even now I know athletes at my kid's HS who are in the gym doing conditioning at 5 am to get in a full work out before school starts.

Well in high school you're literally in school from 730-230 and then have practice after, so the only time you have is before school starts...

In college he has all day except for a couple 50 minute classes and then an hour or whatever of homework. He doesn't need to get up at 5am to get the reps in when he has 10 other hours of his day to spend in the gym

 

[Stinger92860]

Very nice read. As @Hoophound said, hopefully there is emphasis on form as well as function. Even having bad form he can get his numbers up a bit.

OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUDS ALERT!!!!- I did get a chuckle over the "wake up around 7 or 8" comment like that is somehow impressive or indicative of someone who is putting in the extra hours to get better. Nah. That's normal wake up time, even accounting for being a college student and potentially working until late at night. Even now I know athletes at my kid's HS who are in the gym doing conditioning at 5 am to get in a full work out before school starts.

I did not read that as boasting. I think he was just matter of factly describing his day. While that may or may not be normal wake up time for a college student during the summer, having a goal of 1000 makes a day is not typical.

 

[Vancat]

Would love to see him explode this year!

 

[ctchamps]

I don’t care when he wakes up because he probably stays up very late most days. These guys need sleep to grow. I always feel it is counterproductive for kids to bust their butts in the weight room, get out on the court to shoot and play pickup and then stay up until 1am, only to get up at 5am and head to the gym. They need at least 7-8 hours sleep to make all of that physical work payoff as much as possible. No way these dudes are going to bed by 10pm. The best solution is later classes and workouts so they can sleep.

Several studies support a later wake up time for teenagers and young adults based on their circadian clock. Unfortunately this need goes against the work demands of older adults whose circadian clock has changed to be more productive at an earlier schedule.

AJ’s 8 o’clock workout schedule is probably healthier for him than if he woke up at 5 AM.

 

[Son of Robert]

I do think it's important for AJ and the team to realize he can be "the guy" without having to be the leading scorer. He can impact the game all over the court and only end up with 10-12 points. Great if he can score more, but it's important for him to realize his impact leading the team goes well beyond just being the leading scorer.

Absolutely on point @Chin Diesel , this is the truth of the matter. The big upside to Andre is his potential for having a complete game; the IQ, court vision, passing, open floor, ball handling, driving, ability to guard a bigger opposing point right through the 4 spot, aggressiveness, leadership, rebounding, all these things that make for quality minutes on the floor.

Sounds like he is working hard on his shooting, I hope the rest of the team follows his example.

 

[Hoophound]

I really hate the early high school schedule. It is terrible for growing kids. Little kids are up watching tv at 6am half the time and high school kids want to vomit at that time of day. My daughter woke up a little late today and I drove her to school. She fell asleep in the car on the way there.

 

[DayDayTFS]

Y’all are trippin. Instead of being happy he’s working hard we have ANOTHER thread over run by OT non sense about god damn sleep schedules.... it’s the SAME people every topic, every time. If you think I’m talking to you then you are an offender. Maybe find a friend or three...

 

[Watchdog]

I don’t care when he wakes up because he probably stays up very late most days. These guys need sleep to grow. I always feel it is counterproductive for kids to bust their butts in the weight room, get out on the court to shoot and play pickup and then stay up until 1am, only to get up at 5am and head to the gym. They need at least 7-8 hours sleep to make all of that physical work payoff as much as possible. No way these dudes are going to bed by 10pm. The best solution is later classes and workouts so they can sleep.

The one thing AJ and I almost have in common.
At least he's up at 7 or 8. For me 8 o'clock classes were on my schedule but I wasn't often there. I used to copy notes from a friend's notebook and had to laugh one day when he stopped writing half way through a sentence and the pen looked like he'd scrawled off the page while falling asleep.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Dom Amore: Sophomore Andre Jackson embracing the challenge, responsibility of being ‘that guy’ for post-pandemic UConn men

“To be honest, I feel like I didn’t do enough last year,” Jackson said, in an interview with The Courant last week. “I didn’t do enough to win games that we should’ve won down the stretch. That feeling has fueled me since the day our season ended, since the day we lost the Big East championship, since the day we left the hotel at March Madness.”

“I wake up around 7 or 8, go to gym,” Jackson said. “Eat, shoot, probably get 300, 400, 500 makes in, then study hall. Then go back and shoot, more of a live, full speed shooting drill, get another 300 makes up. I try to get as close to 1,000 makes a day as I can, just developing that touch, developing that feel for the basketball. I always have the basketball in my hand, even if I’m not in the gym. I always have it around me. Like Pistol Pete [Maravich] said, the ball has to be an extension of your hand.”

I love this. So nice to see him embracing that role. Knowing he's the guy. I'm not sure Bouknight really did, even if he was. So now the question on those makes, how many misses are there to get those makes? Let's get that number down.

Andre as a 35% 3pt shooter transforms this team.

 

[Watchdog]

Would love to see him explode this year!

Like this gentleman in "The Meaning of Life"?
Have to watch to the end:

 

[Fatroony5]

“Definitely, I think the fact he didn’t go out and try to get someone out of the portal is a good thing. We had enough players. We had the talent. We had the guys to go out and be a really good team. I use that as a daily motivation, thinking that if he is banking his career on me, then I have to live up to that standard.”

That quote speaks volumes, I’d bet other players feel the same. Confidence in young athletes is key, no better way to build confidence then the coaches showing they fully trust in their own players.

 

[Psolo12]

I love this. So nice to see him embracing that role. Knowing he's the guy. I'm not sure Bouknight really did, even if he was. So now the question on those makes, how many misses are there to get those makes? Let's get that number down.

Andre as a 35% 3pt shooter transforms this team.

Bouknight knew he was the guy and worked his absolute butt off the summer before this year to get better. No need to take a shot at Bouk here, just appreciate AJ working hard to become a better Husky.

 

[MDHuskFan]

“Definitely, I think the fact he didn’t go out and try to get someone out of the portal is a good thing. We had enough players. We had the talent. We had the guys to go out and be a really good team. I use that as a daily motivation, thinking that if he is banking his career on me, then I have to live up to that standard.”

That quote speaks volumes, I’d bet other players feel the same. Confidence in young athletes is key, no better way to build confidence then the coaches showing they fully trust in their own players.

This. I think it’s really a reflection too as to why we didn’t lose anyone with a significant role on the team to the portal, unlike other schools. Dan has a real special connection with this team. In turn, they seem to really want to perform for him.

 

[the Q]

I love this. So nice to see him embracing that role. Knowing he's the guy. I'm not sure Bouknight really did, even if he was. So now the question on those makes, how many misses are there to get those makes? Let's get that number down.

Andre as a 35% 3pt shooter transforms this team.

And sends him to the NBA…

not that we’d be complaining

 

[husky429]

Andre as a 35% 3pt shooter transforms this team.

Try 30%. He doesn't even need to be that good at shooting to change the dynamic. His defender literally didn't need to guard anything but lobs and putbacks last year... give this kid a 1-2 dribble drive to the rim, and a 3 point shot off the catch, and we have a winner.

A 6'7 point-forward that can lead the break, rebound, defend, and jump out of the gym is a game-changer. Allows Cole to play off-ball and hit 3s for us. Park Hawkins and Polley in the corners, and then you have a HUGE area in the paint to let Sanogo operate.

Spacing is everything. We can always use more.

 

[Umami Zen]

AJ being 100% healthy and clearly motivated to be one of the leaders on this team as a soph.--With other mature players on team like IW/AS/RJ/TM .. Points to a great summer for skill development and SnC.

He is a smart kid with a great BB IQ and work ethic. I am not as worried about him figuring out his stroke as others seem to be. You can point to his percentages last year while playing in a support role and playing hurt most of the year

He can score in different ways and trust me..No one knows more than him that the improvement of his perimeter shooting will be a key component to his value at the next level. Sounds like he's putting in the time needed to get it done.

Already forgotten about last year. Let's turn the page. Dan Hurley has.

Anyone who has played BB at any level knows that the more you see the ball go in the hoop.. The greater your confidence and self-belief becomes. I'm betting on AJ to break out this year.

 

[navery12]

I love this. So nice to see him embracing that role. Knowing he's the guy. I'm not sure Bouknight really did, even if he was. So now the question on those makes, how many misses are there to get those makes? Let's get that number down.

Andre as a 35% 3pt shooter transforms this team.

Let's get him to 20 or 25% first from 3. I'm not even sure it's an exaggeration to say Andre Jackson shooting 35+% from 3 would be the best player in the Big East and one of the better players in the country

 

[uconngb]

Y’all are trippin. Instead of being happy he’s working hard we have ANOTHER thread over run by OT non sense about god damn sleep schedules.... it’s the SAME people every topic, every time. If you think I’m talking to you then you are an offender. Maybe find a friend or three...

Y’all are trippin. Instead of being happy he’s working hard we have ANOTHER thread over run by OT non sense about god damn sleep schedules.... it’s the SAME people every topic, every time. If you think I’m talking to you then you are an offender. Maybe find a friend or three...

How anyone could read that article and come away with anything even slightly negative is mind boggling

 

[Huskybass]

Andre can impact the game in so many ways. It sounds like he is putting in the work to really improve his shot, and if he can improve his handle a little bit as well he will be a vastly different player as a sophomore. Next year should be an exciting season despite the loss of Bouk. Lots of talent and a nice blend of experience and incoming freshmen.