Jackson’s defensive rebounding

[Pudge]

I mean, they play almost exclusively a 23 zone and Andre left after 4 years with a shot that looks like a 5th-grader. I'm sure he has his solid qualities as a coach, but there's gotta be some questions on his ability to coach kids up at this point.

OK ...

Fruscio is coaching at the elite Private school in Albany & greater area. The classes are small. I'm not sure how many per class (it is all boys - girls academy is across the street); my kids went there PreK thru the first few grades. Frankly, it is the higher income levels and immigrant family kids. Talented hoop kids get recruited to the local Catholic HS - Christian Brothers. Fruscio probably doesn't have many scholarships. Jackson, in my view, must also be an outstanding student; btw, his younger brother also went there and played alongside him. I think they played zone because of the small class size and limited top hoop talent.

IMHO ... Jackson should have learned offense in summer leagues and camps; and all the local universities have top teams to play against. Like Hartford. Home (City Rocks website) Jim Hart, a Albany attorney runs the City Rocks, and the talent that has come through there is impressive. I think kids develop more in AAU and outside HS today.

My ODD take: this kinda reminds me or Rashamel Jones. He dominated HS because he was physically superior at the younger ages. At UCONN, he had a key role early and as our talent base blossomed, he didn't have the same offensive role. I don't think this is Jackson because my perception is the kid is a worker. But he needs specific skill instruction ...

 

[mauconnfan]

He could be s great defender with some better thinking and staying on his feet but for now anyone saying he’s terrific is not watching close. Gets beat back door and off the dribble way too often. He’s a drifter on D looking to make plays off the ball in anticipation rather than staying home. Has work to do but all the tools.

 

[UconnU]

He could be s great defender with some better thinking and staying on his feet but for now anyone saying he’s terrific is not watching close. Gets beat back door and off the dribble way too often. He’s a drifter on D looking to make plays off the ball in anticipation rather than staying home. Has work to do but all the tools.

You’re being a little too critical of his defense. He’s a very very good defender. Tough to get a shot off against him.

 

[Northbound]

I am from Albany.

The local AAU program - The City Rocks - is one of the very best regionally. So good ... that you will find kids from Syracuse and west + NYC/Westchester traveling to be on that team. Andre Jackson also played for Brian Fruscio who is one of the finest HS basketball coaches regionally at Albany Academy - Fruscio is from a deep family tradition of hoop.

I read through this thread quickly. IF you took out the phrase "defensive rebounding", I think 96% of you did not address one of his top attributes: defensive mindset, fundamentals and enthusiasm of that aspect of the game. He is a great defender and has the capacity to defend 1-5. His box out mechanics are excellent; thus, his rebounding on that end follows. He has the athleticism and the want-to and the toughness. He is most like Rodman here.

On offense, I would whisper in his ear daily: go Strong and dunk. Or just get near the hoop and learn to use the backboard. You can see he has the correct mind to shape his body to get the shot.

Before you knock Albany on shooters - Jimmer Fredette, Joe Girard, Kevin Huerter. There are great fundamental teaching on shooting. Huerter's Dad - for instance. I think the lack of development of AJ offense is because everything was so easy for him playing that he dominated defenders just with quicks. Passing? He needs to tone down the creativity about 30%. A good pass for a score; no one gives points for the really incredible looks.

Fruscio had nothing to do with the great albany shooters - Fredette, Girard (Glens Falls) and Huerter (Shen). The guys who are serious about it go to Dags Basketball.

Fruscio capitalized on recruiting kids this into academy. AJ should have been going to Amsterdam HS. Fruscio may have helped his exposure but he didn’t help his shot. He is very well though of in Albany

City Rocks pulls a lot of kids Isiah Stewart, Tobias Harris, etc, etc.

 

[Pudge]

Fruscio had nothing to do with the great albany shooters - Fredette, Girard (Glens Falls) and Huerter (Shen). The guys who are serious about it go to Dags Basketball.

Fruscio capitalized on recruiting kids this into academy. AJ should have been going to Amsterdam HS. Fruscio may have helped his exposure but he didn’t help his shot. He is very well though of in Albany

City Rocks pulls a lot of kids Isiah Stewart, Tobias Harris, etc, etc.

Dags Basketball really gets you into the weeds of local lore - that kid played in the Suburban Council (I can't tell the uniform); but that's an outstanding resume. The point is that there are LOTS of guys who are great shooters in the region and AJ just did not get shooting form skilled. I NEVER said Fruscio was involved with the others.

Second. Do you know how expensive Albany Academy is? He may recruit kids; but there ain't that many. IF ... I wanted the dominant regional team, CBA can bring in 3-5 in every class; there's no way Fruscio gives out many scholarships. My presumption is Jackson's parents saw what an enormous opportunity Jackson got at Academy; and he also is a great diligent student. That school does not want black marks on academics; they care what Harvard, Columbia, Princeton think and not what the hoop teams doing. Given the above: there is no damn way I would send my kid Andre Jackson (and then his brother) to Amsterdam as it probably is not ranked amongst the top 40 academic systems in greater Albany.

City Rocks website. They have an incredible number of teams. Boys and Girls. And NOW, they are in every upstate city with different teams - Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany. At all different ages. It is a conglomerate.

 

[Pudge]

You’re being a little too critical of his defense. He’s a very very good defender. Tough to get a shot off against him.

I disagree also with mauconnfan.

First time since the beginning of the Boneyard. I think the number of overplaying mistakes by AJ is more than made up by his huge number of touches on passes, his impact on help defense on teammates assignments and he is always leverage correct when the ball goes up to box out. Despite great jumping athleticism, I feel he does not try to block most all balls; rather, he is working to get the rebound - first with the block out. He works on the perimeter too: gets low enough to be a pest.

 

[Northbound]

Dags Basketball really gets you into the weeds of local lore - that kid played in the Suburban Council (I can't tell the uniform); but that's an outstanding resume. The point is that there are LOTS of guys who are great shooters in the region and AJ just did not get shooting form skilled. I NEVER said Fruscio was involved with the others.

Second. Do you know how expensive Albany Academy is? He may recruit kids; but there ain't that many. IF ... I wanted the dominant regional team, CBA can bring in 3-5 in every class; there's no way Fruscio gives out many scholarships. My presumption is Jackson's parents saw what an enormous opportunity Jackson got at Academy; and he also is a great diligent student. That school does not want black marks on academics; they care what Harvard, Columbia, Princeton think and not what the hoop teams doing. Given the above: there is no damn way I would send my kid Andre Jackson (and then his brother) to Amsterdam as it probably is not ranked amongst the top 40 academic systems in greater Albany.

City Rocks website. They have an incredible number of teams. Boys and Girls. And NOW, they are in every upstate city with different teams - Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany. At all different ages. It is a conglomerate.

I know a lot about the cost of academy and its rep.

Who is comparing Amsterdam academically to Academy, nobody. IIf you want to get a good education go prep to deerfield, kent, etc. Academy tries to be a prep but it isnt. One of the reason my neighbor pulled his kids out - way too much Albany not a broader perspective.

Edit - i work with lot of section 2 schools athletic departmentd

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Fruscio capitalized on recruiting kids this into academy. AJ should have been going to Amsterdam HS. Fruscio may have helped his exposure but he didn’t help his shot. He is very well though of in Albany

Why in the world should he have gone to Amsterdam? Granted, I haven't been plugged into Section 2 in years but have they been relevant since Todd Cetnar played there? And it's a terrible school to boot.

 

[Pudge]

I know a lot about the cost of academy and its rep.

Who is comparing Amsterdam academically to Academy, nobody. IIf you want to get a good education go prep to deerfield, kent, etc. Academy tries to be a prep but it isnt. One of the reason my neighbor pulled his kids out - way too much Albany not a broader perspective.

Edit - i work with lot of section 2 schools athletic departmentd

You said he should have gone to Amsterdam High School. No parent would choose that if they had choice. And sure I went to Canterbury from Colonie ... so I understand this discussion. I doubt many kids from his background chooses NE prep over the ride to Albany Academy with his brother. (my EDIT - we are not talking post-grad hoop)

Then. I know the Academy. It is what I said at first. Lots of entitled upper class kids from the broader area - read suburbs; and the immigrant children of the area's doctors, professors, tech. Therefore, your description is correct.

 

[mauconnfan]

You’re being a little too critical of his defense. He’s a very very good defender. Tough to get a shot off against him.

Agree to disagree with you and Pudge on this. Of course he does make a couple plays but that’s because he floats too much and hence the many burns back door, more than anyone else. I will say down the stretch against the Johnnies he stayed home on his guy a couple times and on his feet making big things plays. But he gets beat a lot as he overplays. Sorry he can be really good, he’s not for now.

 

[UConnSwag11]

He is a terrific passer and vision. He didn’t execute on Sunday. Most of it is because he tries to be too quick. Just needs to learn ball control and patience.

He’s easily the best passer in the team though. Probably the only one on the team where passing is a real strength.

Agreed. we need to surround him with scorers. I’ve said all season he sees the play develop before our teammates do. He tries to get the ball to them just a bit too early and by sometimes leading them with the pass. He does have to clean it up though especially being our second PG

 

[husky429]

Agree to disagree with you and Pudge on this. Of course he does make a couple plays but that’s because he floats too much and hence the many burns back door, more than anyone else. I will say down the stretch against the Johnnies he stayed home on his guy a couple times and on his feet making big things plays. But he gets beat a lot as he overplays. Sorry he can be really good, he’s not for now.

Pretty much every defensive metric has him as the best defender on our team. The eye test only gets you so far.

 

[Stinger92860]

He is a great defender and has the capacity to defend 1-5.

I don’t agree with this. He can be a great defender but not when he is consistently beaten off the dribble and his man takes it to the basket. Many of his defensive fouls are in this scenario.

 

[mauconnfan]

Pretty much every defensive metric has him as the best defender on our team. The eye test only gets you so far.

It’s not the eye test sorry, it’s the truth. Wish I had time it would be simple. Defensive “metrics” also had Gaff as one of the top 10 Big East defenders as well so I know my eye test is more solid than the metrics. At least according to me lol.

Listen I like the kid a Ton and there’s so much there. But the improvement on guarding people and making good decisions when not slowing down on the break will make him really good even if he can’t shoot the ball.

 

[husky429]

It’s not the eye test sorry, it’s the truth. Wish I had time it would be simple. Defensive “metrics” also had Gaff as one of the top 10 Big East defenders as well so I know my eye test is more solid than the metrics. At least according to me lol.

Listen I like the kid a Ton and there’s so much there. But the improvement on guarding people and making good decisions when not slowing down on the break will make him really good even if he can’t shoot the ball.

Gaffney just doesn't have a big enough sample size for that to really be relevant.

You may say it's the "truth," but it IS your eye test. There's really no denying that. That's just a stupid thing to say. Plenty of people here disagree with you, the most objective measures of defensive ability we have disagree with you... but somehow your eye test (which somehow isn't an eye test) is the only accurate take?

That's absolutely nonsensical gibberish.

 

[Umami Zen]

AJ is disruptive on defense. .Deflections/tipped passes/loose balls/defensive boards/occasional blocks.. Frequently leading to initiating the offense heading down court where his vision and passing come in.

Would be a different dynamic on offense if his teammates ever rewarded him for his defensive efforts by throwing him an occasional back door pass/lob pass when running the base line if the initial shots weren't there.. Similar to rewarding a Big for blocking a shot-running the floor- and receiving a pass for a layup/dunk.

There are sequences where the only opportunity for him to touch the ball is on a rebound/dribbling up court. Running a play for him(within his skill set) -occasionally- would certainly surprise the defense and force them to guard him and free up his teammates for one-on-one coverage. BTW-I am not saying setting up a three pointer/jump shot.

 

[methodology]

Not talked about enough. Another absurd 14 rebound performance on the defensive boards. The best defensive rebounding guard/wing to ever put on a UConn uniform?

Sticks doesn’t get talked about enough

Games of 10 boards+:

Freshman: 2
Sophomore: 6
Junior: 6
Senior: 8

And he played with the likes of Hasheem, Adrian, Oriakhi

 

[mauconnfan]

Gaffney just doesn't have a big enough sample size for that to really be relevant.

You may say it's the "truth," but it IS your eye test. There's really no denying that. That's just a stupid thing to say. Plenty of people here disagree with you, the most objective measures of defensive ability we have disagree with you... but somehow your eye test (which somehow isn't an eye test) is the only accurate take?

That's absolutely nonsensical gibberish.

It’s not and although there are plenty who agree with you promise there’s plenty who disagree. It’s ridiculous to watch and think you are totally right you’re not close. Maybe I’m too far to the negative but far from off base at all. So you always believe you’re the almighty on this one we aren’t close and the object measures you speak of are the jibbersish. He gets beat often period no denying that fact. Blind if thinking otherwise. Again ability is all there but consistency not there yet.

But continue hammering me I can handle it, and I know my eyes are still damn good!!

 

[Rico444]

It’s not and although there are plenty who agree with you promise there’s plenty who disagree. It’s ridiculous to watch and think you are totally right you’re not close. Maybe I’m too far to the negative but far from off base at all. So you always believe you’re the almighty on this one we aren’t close and the object measures you speak of are the jibbersish. He gets beat often period no denying that fact. Blind if thinking otherwise. Again ability is all there but consistency not there yet.

But continue hammering me I can handle it, and I know my eyes are still damn good!!

I think the issue with the eye test is you see him get beat back door sometimes, and it's frustrating, so that sticks out to you. So every time it happens those negative feelings immediately follow. There's no denying he does get beat sometimes, but there are many other times where his man either doesn't get the ball, or doesn't even attempt to go to the hoop because he's walled off, or even times where Andre is beat on the first step but recovers to contest or even block the shot. The bad plays exist, but in my opinion they're more than cancelled out by the good.

 

[yungdowork]

It seems to me that AJ getting beat back door is more of a symptom of the defense, not that he’s completely faultless. We’re constantly helping on defense, most notably hedging on screens. Every time this happens, someone (usually Tyrese or Andre) has to be prepared to help our big who is hedging, which means taking their eyes off their man. Smart offensive players are gonna time their cuts around this, and a couple times a game they’re gonna get open looks.

 

[mauconnfan]

I think the issue with the eye test is you see him get beat back door sometimes, and it's frustrating, so that sticks out to you. So every time it happens those negative feelings immediately follow. There's no denying he does get beat sometimes, but there are many other times where his man either doesn't get the ball, or doesn't even attempt to go to the hoop because he's walled off, or even times where Andre is beat on the first step but recovers to contest or even block the shot. The bad plays exist, but in my opinion they're more than cancelled out by the good.

Some of that no doubt I will give you that. But his back door beatings aren’t the only thing but it does stick. He does play good D occasionally as well but maybe evens up the bad? Sure but that doesn’t make him a very good or great defender as some believe. He’s not but I certainly hope he eventually is.

No one here’s an expert so who knows. But people who think my take is stupid and gibberish while theirs is the almighty piss me off.

Done, let’s beat The Hall.

 

[husky429]

Some of that no doubt I will give you that. But his back door beatings aren’t the only thing but it does stick. He does play good D occasionally as well but maybe evens up the bad? Sure but that doesn’t make him a very good or great defender as some believe. He’s not but I certainly hope he eventually is.

No one here’s an expert so who knows. But people who think my take is stupid and gibberish while theirs is the almighty piss me off.

Done, let’s beat The Hall.

How about our own coach? Does he count as an expert? He's praised Andre's defense a number of times.

The gibberish was you claiming that your eye test wasn't an eye test. Still is gibberish.

 

[mauconnfan]

How about our own coach? Does he count as an expert? He's praised Andre's defense a number of times.

The gibberish was you claiming that your eye test wasn't an eye test. Still is gibberish.

Ok know it all. I never say I’m 100 percent right but I do know when people get beat off the dribble in my eye sight and when their man scores after being torched back door again and again. So you thinking your mr coach of the year means zero to me. And calling me stupid and telling me my stuff is gibberish makes you an arrogant idiot. But thanks good to know those around us. If you just disagree I’m good but to act like everyone but you has no idea, well you are who you are! Well done

 

[husky429]

Ok know it all. I never say I’m 100 percent right but I do know when people get beat off the dribble in my eye sight and when their man scores after being torched back door again and again. So you thinking your mr coach of the year means zero to me. And calling me stupid and telling me my stuff is gibberish makes you an arrogant idiot. But thanks good to know those around us. If you just disagree I’m good but to act like everyone but you has no idea, well you are who you are! Well done

I don't coach any more. Haven't in two years. I'm not even sure if Andre is as good of a defender as I think. I do know our defensive system involves our wings pressuring the nall intensely and denying the pass to the win--which tends to lead to more backcuts.

still, I'm happy to hang my hat on understanding that the eye test is subjective. Sadly, you can't say the same. Or at least couldn't until you hedged your bet in this post.

Your opinion on Andre's defense isn't gibberish. Thinking an eye test isn't is an eye test is gibberish. And I would argue that makes you the arrogant idiot. Trying some backhanded weird insult of calling me "mr coach of the year" isn't arrogant, but it is a stupid insult.

Good effort though!