BYU basketball: Rating the Cougars NBA Jam style

Jamal Aytes

Aytes’ career has been marred by injury. He lost a lot of explosiveness that led him to be a highly sought after recruit out of high school. But instead of pounding the dirt, he evolved his game, and has become a reliable pinch big man for the Cougars.

Jamal put on more weight, and all of it muscle. He went from turn-over prone to careful and unselfish. He works on defense by getting his body low and using that power to keep taller bigs away from the paint. On offense, he works inside for the occasional post move, but his go-to is a baseline or five-foot shot with an incredibly soft touch. He also shoots a good percentage from the free throw line.

Jamal may not have his former burst, but if he continues to stay healthy and get minutes, both in games and in practice, he could get it back, and emerge as a backup big superior to the ones he’s battling against.