FAU Coach John Jakus met with the Media on Monday afternoon prior to the Owls road trip to Tulane on Wednesday. The Owls lead man spoke on upcoming matchup with the Green Wave, the potential return of a redshirt-freshman and some thoughts on what went wrong against UAB.
Tulane has had their fair share of struggles this season, however they have begun to put it together during conference play and they have been led by talented transfers in Rowan Brumbaugh and Kaleb Banks, also having solid supporting pieces in Asher Woods and Greg Glenn. Like any AAC opponent, they are going to bring their best effort for conference play and if recent history proves true again, the Owls and Green Wave will be in for quite a battle.
The Green Wave are going to bring experience to the table and they are going to have an ability to hurt FAU in a variety of ways if their offense is flowing at full force. For FAU Coach John Jakus, he believes it will be paramount for FAU to key in on Glenn as that is someone Tulane will look to run their offense through.
“Yeah, they got two high major transfers. One thing from Michigan, the other from Georgetown, both did the adjustment really well. And then I thought, out of conference, there was some learning for the two of them, but in conference, they both made a lead. And then I just saw Kaleb at 18 and Rowan at 14. Really good players. The other thing is, I just think they play off their big guy, Greg Glenn really well, and Greg, to me, five assists in League. The constant cutting and movement and Kaleb and Rowan’s willingness to play off the ball has been really special. So the system has benefited them both. But I think the center of that hub has been, Glenn,” Jakus said.
Outside of those 3, Tulane has a sharpshooter in Cam Williams who gives this offense great spacing and when him and Brumabugh combine on the perimeter is when the Green Wave offense is at its best. Jakus mentioned that Williams was a major focus of the scout from Isaiah Austin and with the struggles FAU has had on the perimeter at times this season it will be paramount for them to key in on him.
“Yeah, they’ve got it, our scout we got to know the difference, Isaiah is a good job today of explaining when they hit their trigger, or their five man, Glenn, and every everybody around them, you got to know who the shooter is, and then who the cutters are, who can create their shot off the bounce, who’s willing to take a mid range pull up, and then who just isn’t going to do that, they’re gonna take jump shots, and Cam specifically shooting 42.7 from the field, from three. So he’s hoping you gotta be on time for give up any threes for him. We’ve taken some steps forward as far as guarding the three point line, but at the end of the day, that’s still a big threat differentiator, and anybody makes a bunch of threes, especially when we know what’s coming from that guy. That’s something we’ve got to do to get up with so Cam’s on the scout, third leading scorer, and then we know for sure that no threes from him,” Jakus said.
Prior to the last matchup against UAB, Redshirt Freshman G Jakel Powell was seen warming up with the team in full force for the first time this season. Powell was a recruit of former FAU Coach Dusty May and has been sidelined with a leg injury this season after redshirting last season.
Powell will bring a shooting threat to this offense once he fully works his way back, which is still a bit away according to FAU Coach John Jakus who mentions he has been cleared medically to begin some activities but there is still some time before he works his way into game action.
“He is not fully cleared medically. He is fully cleared to begin activity. He’s at the point where he’s doing ones and twos and threes and then some scouting. It’s been a great step forward for him. I think we’ve got a timeline in flips, but that timeline right now wouldn’t be this week. And then every time we can put something that’s appropriate on his leg, that’s for the trainers and doctors aside, not me, but we use warm ups and post game you saw him come back out. And then we’re extending practice at this point about 15 minutes so he can get his reps as other guys shoot. So there’s a timeline just won’t be this week,” Jakus said.
After the game against UAB, Jakus mentioned that shot selection was something that the Owls needed to work on as they were unable to convert from the field over the final 4 minutes and the offense became stagnant. The Owls were shooting well at halftime, however in the second half they became inconsistent outside of Baba Miller and Tre Carroll which led Jakus to originally believe there may have been an issue in shot selection.
Following further evaluation, Jakus believes he overreacted on the spot and in today’s practice he was focusing on the positives including the Owls ability to comeback from down 12 and going forward they need to fall back on their ability to share the ball as when they do that the offense succeeds.
“I had a little overreaction to that if I’m being honest. There was this eight minute stretch where we went from down 12 to two, and I think about 230 to go their big fella Yax dribbled with the ball off his foot, and we had zero assists and three forced layups down the stretch, and the ball movement stopped. And it was frustrating, not just because the guys showed that they could do when they played the right way for that stretch, just because I love the kids and I don’t want to see him go through trouble but sometimes trouble is the best teacher. And so today was a much calmer approach and understanding that you’re going to have to share the basketball. And then the other thing that I just don’t necessarily know that is stood out is we’re in a two point game. There’s a loose ball. Three of our guys are around. Yax drops his hands down to pick the basketball up, and none of our three guys dove on the floor. If one of them would have hit the floor, I’m certain we would have got the ball. And we had two time outs left, we could have called it, drawn up a play. And so I think the 5050 ball was as painful as a lack of passing, but our kids took it to heart. They’re in a much better place, and we’re going to have to keep learning. I mean, UAB is one in four now, and in games decided by two possessions or less, and we are now two and three. And what you’re going to see from the American bunch, I think, is a bunch of teams constantly in two possession games. And if you leave it up to that, it’s going to be that way. And every once while, you get a hero three, like we got from Ken against Carolina. And man, those feel good, but those can’t lie to you. You have to play together, a hero every once in a while, but the greatest heroes are the one that play 5 together,” Jakus said.
A big part of the Owls success that they had against UAB despite the loss was their ability to rebound and they were able to dominate the glass despite sacrificing some size when inserting Carroll into the starting lineup over Matas. Carroll has been an invaluable piece for this FAU squad this season and since being inserted into the starting lineup he has elevated his game even further.
Carroll was able to hold his own on the glass against a solid UAB team, however his biggest contribution all season has been his offense, as he has consistently provided a spark when FAU has needed it. According to Jakus, Tre’s value has been evident in his ability to space out the offense against defenses because of his high basketball IQ.
“East Carolina went from man to switching zone constantly. Andy Kennedy is known for playing the three different defenses, 1-3, 123, and then man switching, and then we’re going to see a matchup zone against Tulane. So when you’re constantly switching between things, there’s a certain point where, unless you get lucky and there’s a dead ball, and you can see what Andy says to his players and tell you’ll know ahead of time it’s a man or zone. You’re gonna have to flow into offense, especially after misses, in a way where your five man can end up really being a strong trigger. So just like Greg Glenn, for them, like Tre, is that for us, the scoring is great, but I think the ability to flow in and out of offenses, when people are constantly changing defenses, his IQ offensively, has been a real step for him. And then, you know, he missed his four threes last night, but but everything else was really solid. He continues to care and try. You know, at this point he’s leading scorer, and then in the league, I think he’s 15 points a game, so he’s just gonna have to find the same balance as everybody else, when to pass, when to shoot, no hero ball. But when he’s doing it the right way, he’s been a pleasant surprise, and we’re thankful for him,” Jakus said.
Carroll and the Owls will look to bounce back and build on their loss to UAB in just a few days when the Owls head to New Orleans for a 7:30 PM road battle with Tulane which will air on ESPN+.