BULLISH ON ABRAMS
Eisenhower coach likens Abrams to former Bulls star Derrick Rose
As a sophomore last season, AJ Abrams had a strong varsity debut for Eisenhower, but he knew there was something major to work on.
His outside shot was not good enough to keep defenders honest and stop them from sagging off to prevent him from driving to the basket.
“I wasn’t really a shooter,” Abrams said. “I was scared to shoot the ball last year. This year, everyone is pushing me to shoot the ball more. I got in the gym over the offseason, worked on it a lot.
“It makes it easier to get to the basket when they have to respect my shot.”
While he is still most dangerous when he’s driving to the basket, Abrams’ shot is respectable now and that makes him even tougher to stop.
“His 3-point shooting still needs improvement but it’s gotten a lot better,” Eisenhower coach Neil Miguez said. “He’s super athletic. He’s 5-foot-10 and he can get up and dunk. He really gave us a boost last year, and then he trained hard all offseason to get better.”
Abrams is leading Eisenhower (9-13) in just about every statistical category. He’s averaging 21 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocked shot.
“Nine rebounds a game is pretty impressive for a 5-foot-10 guard and he gets one block a game too, which is ridiculous,” Miguez said. “He’s doing everything for us.
“Every team we play is face guarding him or doing a diamondand-one against him, and he’s still putting up these numbers.”
Abrams had a plan to get tougher going into his junior season so he could do some of the dirty work for the Cardinals.
“I was working out, lifting weights, getting my legs right,”