Jackson Emery: Jimmer, team struggles and what's next


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PROVO — During his time in Provo, Jackson Emery won over Cougar fans with his competitive spirit, work ethic and willingness to sacrifice his body on the court. As a defensive specialist, Emery finished his career with 54 more steals than the next closest BYU basketball player and was named the 2010-11 MWC Defensive Player of the Year.

By his senior season, Emery had also become a major offensive contributor and along with Jimmer Fredette formed arguably the most dynamic backcourt in BYU basketball history. After his senior year, Emery surprised many when he decided to not a pursue a professional basketball career. KSL.com caught up with Emery and asked for his insights on a variety of topics.

Dylan Cannon: If an NBA team called you up, right now, do you think you could still play at that level?

Jackson Emery: (Laughs). Umm, right now? No. I mean if they gave me six months to train and really get back into shape and really build up my endurance, I think I would be fine. But, if they called me right now, I’d probably have a hard time. (Laughs).

Jackson Emery from BYU (top) and Evan Washington of Air Force battle 
for the loose ball as BYU and Air Force play Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 in 
Provo. BYU won 76-66. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News) (Submission 
date: 01/08/2011)
Jackson Emery from BYU (top) and Evan Washington of Air Force battle for the loose ball as BYU and Air Force play Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 in Provo. BYU won 76-66. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News) (Submission date: 01/08/2011) (Photo: Desert News)

DC: How do you fuel your competitive spirit that you displayed in your years as a college basketball player?

JE: You know, I still have that spirit. I know that I ended my career prematurely. I know that I still had and have a lot of ability to play ball and perform at a high level. That competitiveness is still there. It’ll probably still be there for a while because until you’ve actually experienced defeat, or you tried it and it didn’t work out or whatever the case may be, you’re always going to have those "what if?" scenarios in your mind. So, it’s definitely still present and will be there for a while.

DC: Are you at peace with your decision not to continue your basketball career?

JE: Yeah, I think I definitely am. I think I made the right decision for my family and my career, for sure. But, as I mentioned, there’s always going to be that "what if?" factor. But that’s true with everything; that’s there when you play a game and you pass up a shot that you should have taken. You say, "what if I had taken that shot? We could have won that game, maybe make the Elite 8, etc." Overall, I’m definitely at peace but there is always that side of me that says "what if I did keep playing? How would I perform? What opportunities would I have?" I could have failed, I could have just played mediocre, or maybe I could have done extremely well and been really successful overseas or maybe even have had a chance to come back and play here in the U.S.

DC: Have you thought about getting back into the game in some capacity such as being a coach or in the booth?

JE: Great question. Yes and no. I’ve definitely thought about it and said "oh, that would be cool." But I haven’t seriously thought about really pursuing it and looking into it. I think it’s one of those things where you just kind of stay interested in the game, but it’s got to be the right time, it’s got to be the right position, it’s got to be the right place. It might come and it might not come. You know, I’m definitely happy with where I’m at, right now. I’m happy to be a spectator and viewer of the game for now.

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose congratulates Jackson Emery of BYU at 
right and Jimmer Fredette of BYU at center of photo following the win 
over UTEP. Brigham Young University vs the University of Texas at El 
Paso in NCAA basketball played in Provo, Utah, Thursday, Dec. 23, 
2010. (Ravell Call, Deseret News) (Submission date: 12/23/2010)
BYU Head Coach Dave Rose congratulates Jackson Emery of BYU at right and Jimmer Fredette of BYU at center of photo following the win over UTEP. Brigham Young University vs the University of Texas at El Paso in NCAA basketball played in Provo, Utah, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010. (Ravell Call, Deseret News) (Submission date: 12/23/2010) (Photo: Desert News)

DC: Has Coach Rose reached out to you to come back to the Y. in some capacity?

JE: He has not, no.

DC: How often do you talk to Jimmer?

JE: I text him probably weekly. I’ll text him after a game, like the other night when he had a great game against the Bulls. I texted him and just said, "hey, man, good game. Good to see you get some minutes." We’ll just shoot a few texts back and forth and other times, it may be the weekend, and I’ll just say, "I wonder what Jimmer’s up to." So, I’ll just text him and we’ll go back and forth, talking about basketball and other things. So, it’s probably a weekly occurrence that I’ll send him off a text to see how he’s doing and congratulate him if he had a good game.

DC: Why do you think he has not become a star in the NBA?

JE: You know, I think first off, I don’t know if Jimmer will ever be a star. It’s a different type of game. These players are extremely talented and athletic. These guys are just a little different breed than Jimmer. I think that’s one reason. I don’t know if Jimmer will ever be a star or have that capability. Another reason is he just has never really been given an opportunity. He has never gotten consistent minutes over a long period of time to get comfortable with the game and understand how to play and where he fits in and all of that. I don’t think he’s necessarily gotten that, yet. I think for the past three months, he’s gotten that more. But, the previous years he never got that consistency he was hoping for. So, I think that’s the second reason. And the third thing is, I think that obviously it’s the situation. I don’t think he’s been in a great situation, at all, from a team perspective or from an organizational perspective. It’s just not a good fit or where he needs to be to excel.

DC: Switching gears to talk about this year’s BYU squad, what do you think is at the root of this team’s defensive struggles?

Brigham Young Cougars \Nate Auston, Eric Mika and Tyler Haws 
celebrate a dunk during NCAA action in Provo Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. 
(Submission date: 02/06/2014)
Brigham Young Cougars \Nate Auston, Eric Mika and Tyler Haws celebrate a dunk during NCAA action in Provo Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. (Submission date: 02/06/2014) (Photo: Desert News)

JE: Great question. You know, I think there’s just a lot of inexperience for the guys on the defensive side of things. I think you have some foul-plagued big men. You have some young big men such as Mika. I think you have a lot of offensive-oriented minds in Tyler (Haws) and Matt (Carlino); that’s just how they think. I think a lot of it is chemistry on the defensive side. I think these guys are as good as it gets in the entire nation on the offensive side; when those guys are clicking on every cylinder on offense, they are hard to stop. They can shoot threes, they can go in the post, they can go big, they can go small — there’s a variety of different lineups they can use. But, on the defensive side, I haven’t ever really seen that time where they clicked for an entire game and I think the biggest reason is just the (lack of) chemistry on that side. You definitely get glimpses of it at times, but you haven’t seen them put together a game where they can play defense for 40 minutes. I definitely think they have the ability; it’s more of the mental and effort aspect that is lacking.

DC: Is there anybody on the team that you think could turn into a great defender?

JE: I think Skyler (Halford) has the motivation and the effort. I think he tries extremely hard. My worry with him is that he is super small; he’s really thin, really skinny. So, it’s hard for him to guard bigger guards, it’s hard for him to do some things because of his physical size. But I do feel like he gives a ton of effort and he does a great job in a lot of areas in terms of getting after the ball and boxing out guys. So, I definitely like the possibility of him being a great defender.

The other guy is Kyle Collinsworth. He’s a really smart defender, he’s long, he’s athletic. He has the ability to guard point guards and he can also guard the four. He’s got a lot of different characteristics that can make him turn into a great defender. I remember times in my senior season, when he was a freshman, where he was given opportunities to defend great players and I thought he did a terrific job. So, probably out of everyone Kyle has the biggest opportunity to become a great defender.

DC: Do you think he (Collinsworth) or any other of the current players could someday play in the NBA?

JE: I think there’s a couple of guys that could. I look at the roster and probably the three that come to mind that have the potential are Tyler (Haws), Kyle (Collinsworth) and Eric (Mika). I think Eric’s skills are several years away. I think he needs to fine-tune his game with his post moves and being able to develop a short jump shot. I do think Eric has the athleticism (to play in the NBA).

BYU's Kyle Collinsworth dribbles past Saint Mary's Kerry Carter during 
a mens basketball game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, 
Feb. 1, 2014. BYU won 84-71. (Submission date: 02/02/2014)
BYU's Kyle Collinsworth dribbles past Saint Mary's Kerry Carter during a mens basketball game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014. BYU won 84-71. (Submission date: 02/02/2014) (Photo: Desert News)

I also feel that Kyle has an array of skills that you can’t teach 6-6 guys. He has great handles, he sees the floor really well, he finishes well at the rim and he passes the ball extremely well. But he has to develop a jump shot. He’s got to learn how to shoot and become more of an offensive threat or at the next level his size won’t really affect guys too much.

I think Tyler is as good of an offensive player as we’ve seen in the country. He’s a great shooter, he’s very smart, and he’s almost automatic when he has an open shot. But I think Tyler’s got to learn to play better defense. Take Jimmer, for example. Jimmer hasn’t been a great defender in the NBA. He’s definitely gotten better, but that’s definitely a concern that his coaches have expressed. I think Tyler is kind of at that level — he needs to learn how to play defense because night in and night out, he’s going to be defending two-guards whether that be Dwayne Wade or Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant or whoever it may be. So, he’s got to understand that he’s got to pick up defense. And I think he’s got to play a little deeper. I think he needs to show that he can shoot the long ball and that he’s comfortable shooting 3-pointers. He also needs to show that he can play with the ball in his hands and he doesn’t need to come off screens all the time — that he can dribble and create for himself and create for his teammates. So, I think there’s definitely NBA talent on this team, it’s just a matter of whether they fine-tune a couple of things and they get into the gym. I think if they do those things, a few of these guys can play in the NBA one day.

DC: How do you think the rest of the season will play out?

Brigham Young Cougars guard Jimmer Fredette (32) and Brigham 
Young Cougars guard Jackson Emery (4) in Provo, Utah, Saturday, 
March 5, 2011. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News) (Submission date: 
03/05/2011)
Brigham Young Cougars guard Jimmer Fredette (32) and Brigham Young Cougars guard Jackson Emery (4) in Provo, Utah, Saturday, March 5, 2011. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News) (Submission date: 03/05/2011) (Photo: Desert News)

JE: That’s the biggest question mark. I think they’ve hit a groove where they are playing really well right now. But we’ve seen this a few times this season where they’re playing really well and then just fall apart one game and fall apart the next game, so it’s going to be interesting to see. I think the games against Gonzaga and at St. Mary’s will be great tests. I’m thinking the guys have hit a good grove and they’ve learned a bit and we’ll see what comes in the next few weeks.

DC: Finally, at the Y., you were famous for your hustle and throwing your body around with reckless abandon. How is your body holding up? Any lingering injuries and ailments?

JE: (Laughs). You know, there’s little things. When I fell on my elbow my sophomore year, there’s still some scar tissue in that elbow that is a little tender at times. Or when I sprained my toe against the U., either my junior or senior year, I think it’s got a little tendonitis where it's not 100 percent. So, there’s just little ailments, but for the most part I feel great. I’m not getting beat up everyday, I’m not aggravating any injuries, so I feel pretty good overall. Dylan Cannon is a KSL.com contributor. He can be reached at his email address, dylancannon86@gmail.com, or at his Twitter account @DylanCannon11.

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