ed as easily as I did last year. When I got tired, sometimes I would just take the easy route, and I feel like I haven't been doing that this year. "I feel I can get out in transition more than I did, and get some easy buckets.'' The loss of point guard Josh Gasser has accel-
erated the learning curve for some of the younger players. That not only applies to guards George Marshall and Traevon Jackson, but also Kamin- sky and freshman Sam Dekker. "Obviously, it's tough losing Josh because he's a great competitor and leader,'' Kaminsky said. "We all have to step up and bring the energy that Josh would have brought if he was playing.'' To this end, Gard believes that Kaminsky is ready for more minutes and exposure. "He's got some experience now,'' he said, "and now it's time for him to take another step. Not a lot of freshmen get the playing time that he did. Hopefully he has learned from it and improved himself.
"By the looks of it, he has.'' Kaminsky has been going to school on the se- nior frontline of Jared Berggren, Ryan Evans and Mike Bruesewitz, who's still rehabbing from a leg laceration. But he should be back sooner than later.
"They offer a wide spectrum of things,'' Kamin- sky said.
Whether it's Berggren on the block, Evans at the mid-post or Bruesewitz on the floor. "I've learned different things from all of them,'' said Kaminsky. In practice situations, Berggren has turned Ka- minsky into a better player because "if I let down for one second, he takes advantage of me, so I've tried to learn as much as I can from him'' he said. There's no substitute for experience, either. "It makes the transition to the second year a little easier,'' Gard said. That's where Kaminsky can gain the most, so to speak. "We've obviously had some injuries and set- backs,'' said Kaminsky, reflecting on a turbulent October. "But we're going to try and do what we can to help this team be successful.''
41
DAVID STLUKA
