I grew up during a golden era of post-play: I marveled at Akeem, Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Pat Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Moses Malone. You get the picture. I watched these guys to understand how to play the game down low. I wanted to know all the “moves” I could learn to help offset my lack of physical skills. Watching those legends helped me develop a love for the skills needed to play down low.
Last night, watching J’Wan Roberts go to work against WVU was one of the most entertaining nights of basketball I have seen in a long time. He had 22 points on 10 of 13 from the field. But it wasn’t how much he scored but how he did it.
Usually, J’Wan’s offensive game is focused on bullying defenders in the post. We have seen him get the ball and methodically back his man down deep in the post, then overpower him to the rim.
This is classic J’Wan Roberts backing his guy down and finishing with a jump hook.
His growth has been from his ability to add more explosive moves to beat his man. We have seen flashes of it throughout the season, but it all came together last night.
Having a well-rounded post-game requires you to use the defender’s position and movement against him. When J’Wan gets the ball on the right side, he loves to get to the middle for his left-handed jump hook. Defenders have been trying to stop him from getting there and have started playing him on the high side, giving up the baseline.
Last night, J’Wan took advantage of that position and attacked with his right hand.
As a defender, you feel you have done a decent job if you can get the post out of the blocks and extended to the wing. When J’Wan was forced outside, he faced up and put the ball on the floor, and got what he wanted.
He was also more aggressive and decisive out of the pick-and-roll. We all know the UH guards are a threat, but when you get the big men rolling to the basket, that opens the offense up even more.
It wouldn’t be any fun without a couple of rim rockers.
But the move that excited me the most was the Dream Shake. It was made famous by UH’s own Hakeem Olajuwon while with the Rockets, and J’Wan got the party started last night with a pretty good impersonation.
All of this amounted to a season-high in scoring for J’Wan, and it was a night to show off many of the skills he had learned and refined over the years. It also put the college basketball world on notice: With this type of play from UH’s big man, this team is dangerous at every position on the offensive end.
Pair J’Wan’s offensive skillset with an elite outside shooting team like Kelvin Sampson has assembled, and there is no limit to what this can achieve this year.
