St. John’s high-scorer refines game
Everyone who plays high school basketball has a favorite player in the NBA.
But how many of those prep hoopsters pick professionals who aren’t stars, or at least not yet? How many specifically seek out role players because they see their own games resembled most in them? And, then, who meticulously breaks down those players’ footwork so they can emulate it later in the gym?
Brandin Podziemski does all of the above.
When Podziemski watches a game live, he’s looking for the small details and intricacies he can add to his own craft next time on the floor. He watches Miami Heat rookie and former Whitnall standout Tyler Herro closely and models his game most after Detroit Pistons guard Luke Kennard, a fellow sweetshooting lefty. It’s why the junior guard at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy is what his coach calls “as big a student of the game as I’ve seen at this level.”
“As a coach, it’s funny because you have to be on point with what you tell him,” Lancers head coach Duane Mlachnik said. “He studies the game and if you’re trying to feed him a line of garbage, he’s gonna understand what you’re doing.”
It comes as no surprise that Podziemski has taken his game to the next level this year.
Already one of the best shooters in the area as a sophomore averaging 22.5 points per game in his first year at the academy, the 6-foot-5 Podziemski has expanded his abilities in nearly every way on the floor.
The results have been evident. Podziemski is second in southeastern Wisconsin in scoring at 26.9 points per game, and is averaging 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists to boot. He’s shooting 49.6% from the field, a fact made more impressive when considering over 40% of his attempts are three-pointers.
Podziemski established himself as one of the state’s top marksmen last year, burying 92 triples, good for fifth in
Wisconsin, at a 44.9% clip.
He was starting to pick up NCAA Division I recruiting steam and wanted to expand his game beyond being only a perimeter threat.
“When you go to college, you have to be more than just labeled as one thing,” Podziemski said. “I look at Tyler Herro. He does more than shoot, but everybody thought he was just a knockdown shooter when he went to Kentucky. Now he’s in the NBA doing everything. I want to be more than just a shooter.”
Podziemski focused on his ball handling, getting to the rim and creating for teammates. It helped that his AAU team, Wisconsin RAP, put him up top with the ball in his hands much of the time.
He also studied the way players like
Herro came off of screens and how to attack various pick-and-roll looks from the defense.
“He’s a kid that studies it,” Mlachnik said .”He likes to study players he watches. He’s a student of basketball, so when you’re coaching him on these little adjustments, it makes sense to him.”
It has all been working.
“He’s been shooting lights out on the perimeter,” Mlachnik said. “He’s added to his game a mid-range game. He’s getting to the rim really well. He’s got a floater. He’s becoming very hard to defend.”
The only thing knocking down Podziemski’s numbers this season was a slight blip early in the season.
He was admittedly unsure of how to handle a larger role on the ball offensively on a team that lost four of its top six scorers from last year, and started trying to overcompensate. Podziemski scored 20 points as St. John’s went 2-2 but shot just 35.9% from the field and 22.2% (8 of 36) from three.
“He was rushing everything,” Mlachnik said. “He wasn’t getting his feet set. He was relying more on the three-point shot at that point. In just those first four games this year, he probably shot more air balls than I’ve seen him shooting, total, ever in practice.”
Podziemski and assistant coach DJ Mlachnik, whose school record for threes in a season the former crushed by nearly 30 last season, added a few new wrinkles to workouts. The junior very quickly found himself in a groove like never before.
Podziemski has averaged just a tick below 30 points over his past 12 games, including a stretch of 31, 38 and 38 points over three straight games recently on 60.6% shooting overall (and 15 of 29 from three).
“Now, I feel like I’m more into my groove and feel good shooting the ball,” Podziemski said.
With 975 career points, Podziemski could surpass 1,000 career points Saturday. It would be just his 41st career game, a remarkably fast clip to reach that milestone.
Said Mlachnik, “He’s been a contributor from his first day at St. John’s.”