Young working on boards
In many ways, Florida junior center Patric Young is still developing. NBA scouts look at his physique — a chiseled 6-foot-9, 249 pounds — and think that he should dominate inside at the college level.
But in his second season as a starter, Young has learned not to be a bull in the china shop when battling for position with smaller players or driving in the lane. His fouls are down. His conditioning has improved. He’s staying on the floor longer.
Another area of improvement for Young this season is rebounding. Young posted his fifth double-double of the season on Saturday against Ole Miss (13 points, 12 rebounds). He had four double-doubles in 32 starts last season.
Young was asked Monday if he should be getting a double-double every night: “Is that a goal?” Young responded. “I’m a guy that’s going to go out there and give the best I can. If I get one, I get one. If I don’t, I don’t. As long as I can look back at the end of the game and say I gave it all I could.”
Florida coach Billy Donovan said following the Ole Miss game that Young chased the ball as well off the backboards as he has seen “in a long period of time.” Young is up to 6.8 rebounds per game, a modest improvement from the 6.4 per game he posted last season. In Florida’s rebounding scheme, Young’s block-out responsibilities often open things up for other guards and forwards to grab some boards.
Another factor that limits Young’s rebounding numbers is teammate Will Yeguete, whose rebounding instincts are uncanny. Yeguete averages 6.7 rebounds per game in 22 minutes off the bench. Translated to starter’s minutes (30 per game), Yeguete would average more than 8 rebounds per game.
“There’s certain guys that just have a knack and an ability to get their hands on balls, to read rebounding,” Donovan said of Yeguete. “He’s instinctively a very, very good rebounder because he can rebound out of his area.”
Kevin Brockway gave up on his dream of becoming a lefty starting pitcher for the New York Mets when he walked four straight batters, then hit one in a middle school game in Suffern, N.Y. Since graduating college in 1993, he’s worked as a sports writer at daily newspapers throughout the state of Florida, beginning with the Key West Citizen. He then moved on to the Northwest Florida Daily News and Naples Daily News before becoming the men’s basketball writer for The Gainesville Sun in 2003. Brockway has won multiple state and national writing awards during his 16-year career. Favorite pastimes include karaoke and watching baseball. Favorite college hoops team growing up was St. John’s.
[...] Young working on boards February 5, 2013 Gainesville No Comments Young working on boards [...]
by Young working on boards | Florida News Feed
Don’t think Young has to have a bull in the china shop mentality, cause with his size/build he seems to be a target for the officials anyway. Does seem with his size he should be able to command more presence under the boards, and ‘up’ his rebounding average. Been watching him his entire time here, and he’s a heck of a person/athlete but this is a very important area for him to learn before he moves to the next level. Maybe he needs to watch more film of how great rebounders react when there’s a shot from the outside. That’s THE critical criteria for being in the right place without getting whistled for going over someone’s back, or being out of position to get the rebound. This was meant to be a positive critique Patrick.., hope it helps. Go Gators.
by Ditch Gator