College basketball players work just about every day on shooting, dribbling, rebounding, passing, defense — the fundamentals of the game. But what about intensity? Is it something they can practice and develop?
Yes, says Stanford head coach Jerod Haase, an extremely intense player when he was at Cal and Kansas. And he’d like one of his best players, sophomore forward Oscar da Silva, to play with more consistent fervor. To practice intensity.
“He’s developing (his intensity), and he understands how important it is,” Haase said. “It’s like how you would work on improving your shot or your dribbling or your knowledge of the game. It’s something that has to be addressed. If I need to yell and scream at him a little bit more, I can do it.
