Sept. 27, 2010
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After he hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the end of a recent pickup game inside the UCF Practice Facility, senior guard Jeff Jordan (Chicago, Ill.) was greeted at half court with a chest bump from a teammate. If you did not expect that kind of enthusiasm to be exhibited during UCF's pickup games, think again.
The Knights say that their pickup games this fall have been spirited and competitive. And as a result, players are showing improvement prior to the start of the 2010-11 season, which will serve as new head coach Donnie Jones' first in Orlando.
"I have seen a lot of guys getting better," freshman guard Jarvis Davis (Columbia, S.C.) said. "Guys are getting so much better because of the competition."
According to UCF players, the pickup games have been filled with back-and-forth banter between the Knights. Davis thinks that the talking adds to the games.
"The way we talk, it motivates everyone to play harder. If the gym was dead and no one was talking, we would just come in and play and be done with it. We are going hard at each other every day. When you go hard, you can do nothing but get better. We are doing it the right way."
Davis has been impressed by the defensive intensity during the pickup games.
"That is where you earn your playing time," Davis said. "Everyone can score. That is what you work on when you go into the gym. But a lot of guys don't work on defense."
If Jones has his way, the same traits that the Knights are exhibiting during the pickup games will be on display once the season begins in November.