http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 00313.htmlJonas Jerebko – In the tight-knit community of NBA coaches, there are even tighter subcultures among assistant coaches or video coordinators or player development coaches. The development coaches that Hetzel, a 1999 graduate of Allen Park High and subsequently a Michigan State grad who got his start under Tom Izzo, talks to first rave about Jerebko’s feet. “When I talk to the people I know around the league, what they see is his foot speed,” Hetzel said. “They say he’s got ‘tennis feet’ – just quick, choppy feet. Jonas makes what we call those great hustle plays, but it doesn’t deal with heart as much as your reaction speed and the ground you can cover. The great thing about Jonas is he’s 6-11 and he’s got feet like a guard. It was that footwork that was part of what made Pistons strength coach Arnie Kander, in the battery of tests he administers to draft candidates during their predraft workouts, label Jerebko as “by far” the best athlete he tested of the 50-plus who came through The Palace practice facility last spring. Growing up in Sweden, Jerebko’s parents, Chris and Elaine, led him to play a number of sports – hockey, handball, soccer – and all of them contributed to his unique balance and superb foot speed. “He loves to show off kicking the ball around, like a Hacky Sack, volleying the ball to himself,” Hetzel said. “Arnie has him warm up with a football somedays before practice and he just looks at me, like, man, get me a soccer ball out here and I won’t look so stupid.”
Hetzel saw the potential in Jerebko when he first began working with him last summer and is now seeing some of the same things appearing in games that he glimpses in their tireless work before and after practices and the workouts Hetzel and the young players put in before every game. “Jonas’ (playing) time initially was because of injuries and it was the way he played – his hustle, his hard work and his effort, especially on the defensive end and his offensive rebounding. With any player in the NBA, with time, you start to figure out the pace at which you play. It took him a while to figure out how to do that, but the thing about Jonas is he’s 6-11 and he can shoot. That’s going to keep you on the floor. And now his athleticism, where he can put the ball on the floor for one or two dribbles with either hand. He’s got a natural right hook that I’m sure he’s worked on all his life. He’s just got to find a way to get to that hook. “As far as his potential, I don’t see a ceiling right now. He has gotten so much better since the beginning of the year. His mid-range jump shot has become consistent. He’s only going to get better. We did a lot of work in the summer when he first got here and he got a lot better in that first month. It’s been harder for him, with the minutes he plays, to put in real work during the season, as it is with any NBA player. But this summer will be a big one for him, just polishing up everything.”
Jerebko’s summer to-do list? “He’s got to have two moves in the post,” Hetzel said. “I want him to have a face-up game. The only time they throw him the ball is when he’s got a mismatch. With his size and ability to play the three/four, a lot of times, the way he runs the floor, he can get a mismatch. So I would like to see him immediately face up his man, use his jump shot as his weapon, and depending on how they play him, find his way to his hook. “I really believe that when you start out, you only need two moves. You need your move and then you need a counter. Once they know what you’re going to, then you need to go to something else. If you don’t have that, then pass it.” Hetzel sees in Jerebko an instinctive offensive rebounder that caused him to evoke Ben Wallace. “You just have to have an instinct to find the ball, watch the flight of the ball and go get it,” he said. “He has that instinct. He finds space, times his jumps right and if he can’t get the ball, he’ll tip it out. When the Pistons were really good, in their prime, the best back-tipper in the league was Ben Wallace. Jonas does a great job of that. And he also has become very good at following up and scoring. Any time you can put it right back in for two, it hurts (a defense) even more.”
