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Scott’s Diary
One of the best players to come out of Guelph, Scott Jaspers-Fayer is a dominant, skilled forward who has at times led the nation in field goal percentage over the last two years. He graciously volunteered to write us a journal of his life as a Caper. Thanks Scott and good luck! Congratulations on being named Captain.
Another Year
April 14, 2009
Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t written, it has been a busy semester. The rest of our regular season went very well; we were in the top 10 in the nation for the entire semester, and were one win away from being 1st place in our conference going into the playoffs. We finished with a record of 15-5, and we were close in every game except for our first conference loss. We had two losses at the buzzer, one meltdown where we were up 8 points with three minutes left in the game, and a double-overtime loss against St. FX in a game for first place where we were one free throw, with no time remaining, away from winning.
We felt very confident in our chances this year and, as I just explained, every single game that we lost, we were in a position to win, and if one small thing had have gone our way, the games would have been ours. We were to play the winner of the 3 vs. 6 game in the playoffs at the Metro Center in Halifax because we had a 1st round tournament bye. For those who don’t know what the Metro Centre is, it is where the Halifax Mooseheads play, who are the equivalent of the Guelph Storm. The Metro Centre holds about 9500 people when filled to capacity, and is an amazing place to play. After the 1st round play had finished, we were matched up with Dalhousie, who we had a 3-1 record against, and had posted two 30 point victories against at home a month earlier. We started the game well and found ourselves up early, but we got out of sync and away from getting the ball inside in the second quarter and played horrible defense. We found ourselves in a huge hole. We tried to come out hard in the 3rd quarter, but still couldn’t get anything going, and it looked to be a blowout as we found ourselves down 19. That is where decided that we had to just forget about the score, and go out and play our style of ball. We put on our pressure defense and instantly gained momentum. We climbed back in the game and early in the 4th quarter we took the lead on a steal and a fast break dunk. The game was leaning back in our favour, but when myself and Phil NKrumah, our AUS first team all star, got into foul trouble on some questionable calls and found ourselves out of the game for a bit. Coach put us back in early, but Phil picked up his 5th foul on a reach-in call on a rebound, and we were missing our go to player. We battled back and forth down the stretch and it was going to be a close finish. I scored to pull us within one with 0:18 seconds left. We needed a key defensive play to get the ball back or else we would be force to foul. We forced an over-and-back call on the inbounds play, and we had one chance to score. The next play we were supposed to run a high ball screen but the play got broken up and, on a dish pass to one of our players, the ball sailed out of bounds. With 11 seconds left, Dalhousie inbounded the ball and, we couldn’t get to them and fouled with 4 seconds left. Their player hit the free throws and we needed a 3. Our fastest player, Tremaine Fraser, got the inbounds pass from me and flew down the court and put in a lay up. I’m not sure what happened, but he forgot we were down 3 and thought we were down 2. This is something Shaker has always talked about. The lesson is that you must always know the time and score.
Overall, the season did not end the way we wanted, but there were several positives. Our entire team is back next year, and we should be in a strong position to push for an AUS and CIS championship. We were in the top 10 rankings for most of the year and for every loss, except our 1st loss, we were in a position to win the game, but something small went wrong that cost us the game.
On a personal note, I had a solid season as an individual. It wasn’t where I wanted to be but I had improved a lot from my second season. On the year I averaged 12 points a game, over seven rebounds and almost two blocks. I led the league in blocking and was sixth in the country. I was 19th in the league in scoring and ninth in rebounding. As well, I led the league in field goal percentage and finished fourth in the country in that category. I felt I made a push for an All Star bid this year, but hopefully I will get it next year, as well as an AUS and CIS championship. I was also awarded the CAPER award at this year’s athletic banquet for being a example of what a great Caper athlete should be, on and off the court.
For the following year I have to look at a few things to improve. I found that instead of trying to improve at everything, if you choose a few things to get better at, you see much more success. If you choose your weaknesses, and make them your strengths, you can improve by leaps and bounds over a summer. This summer I have picked the following things to improve on: overall strength and explosiveness, lateral quickness, and perimeter shooting. The explosiveness and quickness go hand in hand, and require proper training and technique to improve. This summer should be a good one, and every year I have improved more and more and hope to do the same. For those involved with Shake True Hoops, I’m sure most of you or even all of you have felt you haven’t achieved all you want as a basketball player, and in order to get there you must improve. So remember this quote: “Teams are made during the year, but players are made during the offseason.” So for those who really want to get better, you must work twice as hard when you’re not playing for your team and you will see results.
Scott Jaspers-Fayer # 45
End of Semester
Posted December 3, 2008
It’s been a busy semester, and it’s finally coming to a close. 4 exams are all that lies between me and a flight back home. Sorry I have taken a little time off from this as school got busy for a little bit.
The semester has come to a close, and it has been a very inconsistent one. The last time I wrote we had just won the St FX tip off tournament. After this we played at the UNB Eric Garland tournament, where we finished 2nd. I was awarded a second team all star as well, had my best game of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds against Lee Academy, a prep school from Maine.
After this, things started getting a little shaky from me as I had some illnesses and injuries throughout the rest of pre-season and into the regular season. Our first two regular season games we won at home against UPEI. We then lost to Dalhousie, a top-10 team by about 10 points, and went on to beat Acadia the next day. The next weekend we lost a nail biter against Saint Mary’s by 1 point at the buzzer. We followed that up with our final game which we just played with a 10 point win against University of New Brunswick.
Out team, as well as myself individually, has had problems with consistency, which is the biggest problem we all need to fix. I felt I didn’t play well against Saint Mary’s so I just gave it my all against UNB and the results were good. I had 16 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals, and was awarded CAPER athlete of the week.
Now that our games are done, we are sitting at 4-2 and in second place in the conference, as well as we have been in the top 15 in the country throughout the year and are close to breaking into the top 10.
Once we got back from the road trip, our team met and discussed the next month. We don’t practice once games are done, so really I’m off from now until January 1st, but I’m expected to get in better shape and improve in my month off. One of the things that we discussed in the meeting, was that we were supposed to do items of imagery of 5 plays we did well this semester, and 5 plays where we did something completely wrong. The point of this is to point out the positives while looking at where I messed up, so I can improve. I thought it would be good to show you all what I did.
5 Good:
1. To start the UNB game, I got 2 consecutive steals, followed by a block in 3 straight possessions. This was probably the best stretch of defence I had played so far this season.
2. Down the stretch against St. FX at the tip off tournament, I went hard to the bucket twice straight and scored consecutively in the post with less than 3 minutes remaining to help clinch the game.
3. Against UPEI, I consecutively spun twice to my right hand to drop in a jump hook. Those of you who know me know I am left handed, and working on my right hand has been something I’ve worked on very hard since I’ve arrived here at CBU.
4. After a bad first half against Acadia, with playing against zone for a long period of time, I managed to break out in the 3rd and scored almost 10 points straight. This shows my ability to figure out defences.
5. Hitting a 3 near the end of the shot clock against Dalhousie in a huge 3rd quarter run.
5 Bad:
1. I missed the second free throw when we were up 1 against Saint Mary’s after hitting the first with 42 seconds remaining, it could have been the difference. Hitting free throws, especially in high pressure situations is vital to the success of me and my team.
2. In the final seconds of the Saint Mary’s game, I was able to deflect the first shot attempt, but then relaxed when I should have kept going after the ball as it ended up in a SMU players hand and he put it in at the buzzer.
3. Not hustling back after a team turnover against Lee Academy, so the man that I was supposed to be guarding got a put back dunk.
4. This is not just one situation, but bad fouls. I have had times where I have reached instead of moving my feet, which has gotten me in foul trouble, and forced me off the floor.
5. Similarly, my focus on put-backs needs to improve. I have missed too many simple put-backs and have to finish better. I have managed to get a ton of offensive rebounds I need to finish plays.
The point of this exercise was not to make me feel bad or good, just to see what I’m doing well, and that I can improve. All of these bad things can easily be fixed with hard work, more focus, and more reps. This is similar to Shake True Hoops, as Shake always tries to find positives in everything, as well as ways to improve. In order for me to reach new levels, I have to master my strengths, and improve my weaknesses.
That’s all for now, I’m going to take a bit of a break for the next week or so to rest my injuries, and as I focus on school. I’ll get in another blog post after I get home on December 18th.
Scott Jaspers-Fayer # 45
First Pre-season Games
Posted October 20, 2008
Hey everyone,
Since I last wrote we have had 2 solid weeks of practice and had our first two games. We participated in the 2008 Pizza Delight Nike St. Francis Xavier tournament. Our first game was on Friday against University of New Brunswick. We started quite slowly as we were trying too hard to try and get certain shots in our offense, but quickly settled in and pulled away early. We were able to pull out a 79-44 win and advance to the finals against the home team St. FX X-Men.
Playing against X at X is always one of my favourite games to play. The atmosphere is unbelievable and having the entire crowd rooting against you is energizing. This year’s St. FX team is a very high scoring team, averaging over 100 points a game in their first 5 games. They jumped out to an early lead, but we were able to chip away, and led most of the game. The game was very close at the end, we could have sealed the deal a lot earlier, but our team went 36% from the foul line, which we now plan to shoot 100 free throws a day for the rest of the season. I was able to get some tough buckets near the end when we went to a 4-out-1-in offense. We were able to hold on and pull out a 75-72 win against them in their own gym. This is a great accomplishment as it was only our 2nd game and their 6th. As well, we were able to hold them to 72 points, 30 below their average. Our starting point guard, Tremaine Fraser was named MVP of the tournament with an outstanding 21 point first half against X, while I was named tournament all-star.
The next few weeks we are playing pre-season games. This following weekend we are at University of New Brunswick for a 3 game tournament, which includes a rematch again X on Friday night. As well, the week after that we face off against Nova Scotia All-stars, a team that is made up of players that finished playing university within the last few years. This team includes two of my former teammates and captains, which is very exciting that I will get to face up against them.
I haven’t received any questions yet, and I encourage anyone who has any to feel free to ask me. But I think I’ll answer some questions that I typically get from people.
How did I ever hear about CBU? With CBU being 2500 kilometres away on the tip of east coast, it’s easy to wonder how they would hear about me. There are various recruitment programs in Ontario that put out names of players that they think teams would be interested in. Once coach saw this, he called the house once evening and the recruitment process started. Soon after that his father, also the recruiter for CBU came to watch me play a D10 game, and gave me a recruitment package with everything I would need to know about CBU.
The most common question I get, is why go to CBU? CBU is a small school, really far away. But I still am glad of the decision I made to come here. Firstly, I love the smallness of the school. I average about 10 students in my upper level classes, which is great for student-prof interaction. As well, we only have 5 teams, which mean’s the team has lots of funding, and lots of gym time to use to better my game. The chemistry program here is very strong, and will help me for getting into my BEd. But the real reason I like it here is the people. The pace of life is just different. People will walk up to you that you’ve never met, and they talk to you like they’ve known you your entire life. For instance, last week in the grocery store I had numerous people just come up and start talking to me, asking me how my season is going, how school is, and how life is in general. I just never got that feeling back home, everyone seems to always be on the go, and doing what they have to do, but people here always seem to make the effort to say hi. It’s something I truly enjoy and will enjoy while I remain here at CBU.
That’s all for now, hope to hear from some of you who check up on this every few weeks.
FIRST MONTH OF PRACTICE
Posted October 6, 2008
Hey everyone,
Firstly let me apologize for me taking a while to start writing my blog. It has been a busy year thus far, and I have been trying to get ahead in my school work early before season starts, and my blog sort of got put on the back burner for a few weeks as well as a few technical difficulties with my computer power cord.
So this is my first blog post, and there will be many more to come. I will commit to writing a new blog at least once a month, but I will try to write more often, if my work load allows it. For those who don’t know me, my name is Scott Jaspers-Fayer, I’m about 6’6 and weigh in around 240 pounds. I graduated from GCVI in 2006, and am entering my 3rd year at Cape Breton University, which is located in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
I am currently working towards my honours degree in chemistry. It is a very busy year this year as I am in 5 classes, each which has a 3 hour lab as well, which means I am in class 27.5 hours a week, on top of playing basketball. Last year I earned academic all Canadian status which means I had an average of over 80% for the year, which I consider a great accomplishment.
So I’m assuming everyone who reads this is wondering what my life is like as a basketball player our here on the east coast. For the most part, basketball is my life. This year, we have a busy practice schedule, with 7 am practices 3 times a week, as well as 5 other practices throughout the week in addition to the 7 am practices. At the beginning of the year it was very difficult to get used to this new schedule, as I have never had morning practices in university.
I also work at our caper Monday night camps, where we teach young basketball players how to play the game. I have brought a lot of techniques that Shake used to do with me and I try to pass on some of the lessons I’ve learned to them. As well, I like to volunteer in the community, usually with younger children.
In my spare time, I usually work on school work, watch movies, go out for supper, or hang out with my team. I currently live with 3 of my teammates Mark, Al, and Justin, but the rest are around on a daily basis. However, whenever I’m not doing one of the above pastimes, you can find me in the gym, working on my game. I have participated in Shake True Hoops since I was 13, and still believe in what I’ve learned from it. I will and always will believe those who work harder then the rest, will always come out on top. I not only apply this to basketball, but to school as well.
This year is a big year for me for basketball. My first year I did not play much, but in my second year I started at center, but was not a main contributor. This is my first chance to really be a consistent and significant contributor to our team. I also have to lead, as much of my team is not as experienced as I am.
This is one of the most exciting times of the year for my team. There are no games being played right now, so everyone is just working full out trying to get better individually and as a group as we prepare for the long season ahead. Practice is absolutely full of energy because there is so much anticipation for when we get to play our first games. Our first game is at the St. Francis Xavier tournament against university of New Brunswick on October 17.
I think that’s all I’m going to write for now, but you can check out my team’s website @ www.gocapersgo.ca, it’s a pretty good site, with team photos, and all kinds of action shots in the gallery and articles on CBU athletics. For those who would actually be interested in watching my games, they show all my home games on webcast now; I believe you can access them through the website I just posted. If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to ask, just post a comment under my blog, or you can email me @ scottinthecape@hotmail.com, and I will answer them in my next blog.
Thanks for reading and I’ll write back soon!
Scott Jaspers-Fayer # 45
I’m certain one of the reasons for Scott’s high field goal percentage over the years is the hook shot he developped as a teenager. The ability to deliver withboth his right or his left from mid range and in our no doubt great contributors among others for Scott’s success. I know that as an instructor at the Shelldale camp, he gave some valuable insights into the execution of the various hooks in his repertoire. Here’s to hoping he’ll return as an instructor somewhere in the future.
[...] Scott’s Diary [...]
Scott, we appreciate you taking the time to write us a few words. This type of thing gives the kids of STH some insights into the inner workings of varsity level basketball. It is also gratifying that you mentioned your academic achievements as these are probably going to prove invaluable to the quality of your future life. I have been trying to emphasize the importance of education and keeping good marks to the kids for years now, but there is no substitute for a great example. That example of good work ethic in not only basketball but in school and life as well is certainly evident in you. Congratulations and good luck for the upcoming season. Looking forward to your next posting.
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