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Mathiang, Onuaku detail summer improvement

Cardiotonic

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Already two of the tallest players on this season's University of Louisville's basketball team, Mangok Mathiang and Chinanu Onuaku insisted Wednesday they grew in different ways over the summer during international play.

Onuaku won a gold medal with the United States' FIBA U19 World Championship team, while Mathiang led the World University Games in rebounding representing Australia.

"It was a bunch of smart pros I played against, and I was able to pick up some things from them," said Mathiang, a Cardinals team captain, speaking back in U of L's Yum! Center practice facility.
In the international game, Mathiang noticed more spacing and said piling up stats came easier to him. He racked up five double-doubles in eight games, averaging 13.5 points and 10.3 rebounds. Compare that to the 2.6 points and 4.7 rebounds he compiled last season in a Cardinals uniform.

"The game is kind of fast and slow at the time time," Mathiang also noted, because while teams moved quickly in transition, there were few fast breaks. "It's something called the Euro foul. As soon as they see you doing a fast break, they'll foul you real hard and put their hand up."
The big man said players could also grab the ball straight off the rim, "amazing for me because I got all the rebounds."

Onuaku walked in Wednesday wearing his medal. It comes off now these days, though it didn't for at least a week after Team USA rolled to a 79-71 win July 5 over Croatia. Onuaku tallied six points, eight rebounds and a team-high four blocks.

"Just to go out and make the team, for me, was a big accomplishment for me," Onuaku said. "...It shows people that I'm serious."
To land a roster spot on a team coached by Arizona's Sean Miller, and that included top recruits as well as players from UCLA and Georgetown, Onuaku said he channeled former teammate Montrezl Harrell.

"I just tried to take what Trezl did and just don't take a play off," he said. "...It's real difficult because you don't want to mess up, do something stupid or get a crazy foul."

Through it, Onuaku, who experienced foul trouble often as a freshman, added, "You know what you need to do to stay on the court, and you know how to do it."

Jonathan Lintner
 
Said it before but I'm hoping that these international games provide a solid spring board for both guys going into the college season.
 
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