Insider Report: Spencer Johnson

First off, it has been a disappointing couple of weeks as we have let some games slide and it has been difficult and frustrating to work through. More than anything though I am proud of our guys and how we have stayed together and worked through it all. Every team, organization, business and person goes through adversity, and what really counts is how you respond to that adversity and grow from it. I don’t ever remember a time in my life where I lost 4 games in a row, so this is new territory for all of us. Looking forward to getting back on the winning track!
In practice we have been really focused on getting back to our fundamentals: defense and rebounding. Those two aspects of the game are what made us so successful at the beginning of the year and we lost sight of that for a little bit. Our drills in practice have been focused heavily on team shell defense in the half court making sure our rotations are crisp, full court transition defense, and taking pride in getting stops.

Offensively we have been working on our pace in the halfcourt. When we run through our plays at half speed, anyone in the country can guard us and it is not very effective (hence the pacific, santa clara, and san francisco losses). When we sprint through our plays and go full-speed, we are very hard to guard (wins vs. Oregon, San Diego State). We have been working on our cuts off the ball, making a play for a teammate by driving and kicking, and coming to two feet in the lane to keep the ball safe. It honestly has been a breath of fresh air and I feel like we have gotten back to being ourselves. It feels like we have our mojo back.
We have two games this week, both on the road and we’re ready to get back on the winning track. Can’t wait. Go Cougs!

-Spencer Johnson