AMHERST — The goals are simple: commit fewer fouls, draw more of them and make more free throws.
UMass sophomore big man Rashaan Holloway thinks all of those will happen during the 2016-17 season.
A year ago, Holloway was a bad free-throw shooter. He made just 39.7 percent from the line, giving opponents no deterrent against fouling him. Holloway’s stroke always looked promising, but the shots rarely fell in.
He said being out of shape contributed heavily to his woes as fatigue damaged his consistency.
“My problem last year was I was too tired to shoot free throws,” he said. “If I was running and I got fouled, I’d be upset because I knew I was too tired to make free throws.”
Holloway 2.0 has more stamina, less weight and according to him, a much more reliable stroke at the line.
“It’s way, way, way better. I know all I can do is prove it,” said Holloway, who not only expects to be tired less often, but is working on practicing more from the line when he is fatigued. “The first thing I do when I get to practice is work on free throws. When we take a break or we’re getting water, I’m shooting free throws.”
He was eager to prove it.
“I am getting fouled more. I’m putting myself in better positions to score,” he said. “I say go ahead and foul me.”
He struggled to stay out of foul trouble last year, committing a foul about every 4 minutes, 20 seconds. His trimmer physique has helped limit the whistles on him in practice and during the team’s first scrimmage.
“I’ve been doing really good not fouling,” he said. “I’m moving my feel better. I’m more athletic where I can go vertical and try to block it instead of fouling.”
UMass coach Derek Kellogg said more experience and less weight has made him less prone to tempting referees.
“His size and his youth were two things that hurt him last year,” Kellogg said. “He’as a year older and lost some weight so those things might balance out a tad.”
SCRIMMAGE II — The Minutemen will play their second closed scrimmage of the season Saturday, when they host Albany at the practice facility.
Kellogg said this one will more closely resemble the regular season.
“We’re going to run it a lot more like a real game,” he said. “We’re going to get here a lot earlier and go through a lot more of our stuff so were comfortable to start with.”
His lineup combinations and substitution patterns will start to mimic moves he’s likely to make Nov. 11 against UMass-Lowell (4 p.m. Mullins Center) in the season opener.
“I took a laid-back approach last week. and tried to play everybody equal time,” Kellogg said. “This week I’m going to be all over my guys from the jump. We’re going play hard and compete and go at these guys for 40 minutes in a fun basketball style. I’m going to be less liberal with the subbing.”
Kellogg wanted to see a higher level of competitiveness from his team as it started slowly in last week’s scrimmage against Carleton.
“That’ll be a good test to see if our guys meet them at the door and we go at it a little bit,” Kellogg said.
Albany was 24-9 last year but lost its top three scorers from a team that fell in the first round of the CBI Tournament.
STARTING LINEUP UNDETERMINED — Kellogg said he’s still debating who’ll be on the floor when the Minutemen tip off against UMass-Lowell.
“I’ve been trying to come up with a starting lineup with my staff. Everyone has a different opinion about how we should go about it. Ultimately I’ll make the last decision,” Kellogg said. “There’s a lot of tinkering going on.”
NEW RULES — After last year’s freedom of movement rule and shot clock changes led to more offense, the NCAA is placing continued emphasis on creating a smoother offensive game.
The new rules will hinder teams inclined to be play physical defense on the perimeter and in the paint. The Minutemen had Bryan Kersey, the Atlantic 10’s director off officiating, make a presentation to the team.
Kellogg said it’ll be an adjustment.
“I like to play up-tempo and get up under somebody’s shirt and play somewhat physical,” he said. “They’re telling us to back off on that a little bit. … They physicality of what you’re allowed to do defensively is a huge emphasis this year.”
VISITORS — Kellogg said former UMass coach Bruiser Flint, who is taking the year off this season after being fired at Drexel, will visit practice Friday.
Former Minuteman star Marcus Camby tweeted that he plans to be at UMass’ opener vs. Lowell.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage