"He's got some experience now,'' Gard said, "and now it's time for him to take an- other step. Not a lot of fresh- men get the playing time that he did. Hopefully he has learned from it and im- proved himself."
"It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. He had a really good summer and I think it helped that Coach (Bo) Ryan and the staff were around also.''
The NCAA relaxed some of its rules to allow coaches more out-of-season access to players. As a result, Hettenbach said, "They could see that progression (in Kaminsky) and keep tabs on the kids a little bit more than they were able to do in the past. "That really worked well for us as a staff. I think
that helped Frank, too. It just keeps you on task when the head guy (Ryan) is going to get a chance to see you once a week.'' Sizing up some of the changes, Kaminsky cit- ed improved foot speed and "just making myself ready physically for the demands of the Big Ten'' while preparing for an expanded role this season. "Defense was definitely a big focal point,'' he said, "and just being more aggressive on offense.'' In last Sunday's Red-White Scrimmage, he had 20 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. "He's very versatile,'' Gard said. "He can play inside or outside and he can put the ball on the floor a little. He passes it really well. There are a lot of things that he can definitely help us with. "We'd like to see him to continue to be more ag- gressive around the rim and play more physical- ly. In terms of his conditioning, and how he has changed his body, his stamina should be better.'' There has been a notable difference in Kamin- sky from that standpoint. "I'm playing harder,'' he said. "I don't get wind-
40 ยป VARSITY NOVEMBER 8, 2012
NEIL AMENT
