An Adrian Oliver update

Based on a couple of tweets from AO, he will be visiting with the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons this week.

Adrian Oliver at the Portsmouth Invitational

The only WAC player participating in the Portsmouth Invitational, Adrian Oliver, put up these numbers in his opening game: 21 minutes, 4-7 shooting (0-1 on trey attempts) for eight points, three assists, two steals, one rebound and one block.

A 'hometown' feature on Justin and Adrian

Shooting Stars: Oliver, Graham aim to net WAC title for SJ State
Ron Agostini
Modesto Bee
March 9, 2011

Guess the odds of two basketball players raised a few minutes apart in the Central Valley manning the same backcourt of an NCAA Division I program.

A billion-to-1? Trillion-to-1? More like pick-any-number-to-1.

Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham, the twin longshots at San Jose State, can't believe it themselves. Somehow and someway, the basketball universe funneled them onto the same campus close to home, and it worked...

Go here for the remainder.

SF Chronicle features AO

Adrian Oliver thinks, therefore he scores
Steve Kroner, Chronicle Staff Writer
December 10, 2010

Meet Adrian Oliver, the thinking man's scorer.

The San Jose State guard is averaging 24.9 points per game this season. He has 12 career games of at least 30 points.

Oliver comes from a basketball family; he has two cousins who played college basketball, and his uncle, Allen Oliver, coached him at Modesto Christian High.

Given that background, it's easy to understand how well Adrian Oliver understands the game.

"People would say I have a high basketball IQ," Oliver said, "and I ... just tried to further nurture that by looking up to players like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan - not because they're gifted with the game physically, but the way they go about watching film, the minor details.

"I'm big on attention to detail..."

Go here for the remainder.

The latest AOL

A.O.L. - Home Again & A Call To Action
Spartan Athletics
12/10/2010

Spartans, it's time.

The school that is less than twenty minutes away from us is making the short drive over to play in our house, Friday night (December 10) at 7:00 p.m. You should absolutely positively know that I am talking about Santa Clara.

We all know what playing Santa Clara means to our school, and, more importantly, to our alumni. I expect to see and feel each and every one of you there ready to engage in the battle with us.

We are off to a good start and have to continue flourishing in this early season. Your participation from the stands is vital for our success being that we finally get to play at home for these next two games (Santa Clara and Eastern Washington on December 12).

It all starts on Friday. I want this game to be a momentous occasion with crowd energy. I promise you that we will give back the same effort that you all put in for us. This season has the potential to be one of the most special seasons in San Jose State basketball history and I sense that a lot of people around the city of San Jose can sense that.

Instead of running away from that thought, I want to embrace it with open arms and take the challenge personally and deliver. This is what I tell my teammates - have high expectations rather than have none at all.

The time is now Spartans! And, the special thing about it is we all can experience it together!

Get your pre-game workout, or your pre-game meal, whatever it may be and meet us at The Event Center rocking your blue & gold with your vocal chords fresh and ready to yell. Let's get to it Spartans!

You already know, AOL signing out...

Mark Emmons on Adrian Oliver

San Jose State basketball: Adrian Oliver can deliver stats, but can he produce wins?
Mark Emmons
Mercury News
12/08/2010

There has never been a doubt about his scoring ability, his penchant for taking over games or his will to have the ball in hand as the clock winds down.

But when Adrian Oliver returned to San Jose State for his senior season, he knew there was a lingering question on the minds of NBA scouts:

Can he win?

Go here for the remainder.

Somehow we missed this AO feature

This escaped our attention earlier -- so to make amends:

SJSU’s Adrian Oliver looks to a bright 2011 basketball season while staying focused on family
Joseph Akeley
Spartan Daily
November 16, 2010

When Adrian Oliver was told in 2007 that his grandparents were ill, he knew he had to transfer from the University of Washington to a Bay Area school to support them.

“Up in Seattle, I was like ‘I don’t care about basketball anymore. I just want to be with my family. That’s the only thing that matters,’” the SJSU basketball star said.

Oliver said his grandparents were instrumental in raising him after his father left the family when he was 7 years old.

“My mom would have to work nights, and I would have to go to my grandparents house and they would take care of me at night,” he said. “My grandma is like my second mom, and my grandfather is my father. I don’t call him grandpa, I call him Dad. They mean everything to me...”

Go here for the remainder.

More press for AO

Here's the folks at Rush The Court lauding Adrian Oliver as a 2010-2011 Impact Player:

Adrian Oliver - Sr, G – San Jose State. If you happen to be standing next to Adrian Oiver right now, do us a favor and point in the direction of any basketball goal, no matter how far away from one you are. Adrian Oliver is in range. As in green-light shooting range. Of that goal. He’s the second leading scorer (22.5 PPG) returning to college this season (Lipscomb’s Adnan Hodzic got him by 0.2 PPG) and fourth overall from last year. And here’s what impresses us more than that: even with such long-range accuracy (40.8% from three point range in 2009-10), the guy still shot a pretty darn admirable 43.7% from the field last year. Pair that with lights-out accuracy from the free throw line (88.7% last year, ranking him 32nd nationally), and you can see why opponents have trouble defending him. You can’t leave him open from deep, and you can’t get physical with him and send him to the line. To say that the Spartans rely on Oliver is an understatement; his usage rate (the number of possessions a player utilizes while on the floor ­ that’s right, we’re going tempo-free on you!) registered at a whopping 59.8%, landing him 10th nationally. Even when shooting a standstill jumper, Oliver has a natural backwards drift and a big leg kick on his shot, which makes his fade-away even more deadly. That’s his favorite move, by far ­ whether it’s off a drive, a crossover, coming off a screen, or standing still with a man in front of him, Oliver loves to bait his defender with that one last forward jab step, and the next thing you know he’s falling away from you with all kinds of room to get that shot away. It’s gorgeous. You will not likely see a prettier fade-away in the game this season. And if you’re in the WAC, see it you shall, because not only can Oliver create his own shot just fine, but consider this: of the top six scorers from last season’s SJSU squad, only one besides Oliver is returning. That means more touches (and a climbing usage rate, of course). That means more chances to see that fade-away. That means that, barring something unfortunate and/or unforseen, the WAC Player of the Year race is over.

and

From the folks at the Searching for Billy Edelin site:

Adrian Oliver (Senior; San Jose State)- Washington University is famous for producing NBA ready guards (think Nate Robinson/Brandon Roy). Try preaching that to Adrian Oliver. The 6’4’’ shooting guard left Washington six games into his sophomore campaign, transferred to San Jose State, and never looked back. Oliver is coming off a stellar junior year in which he finished fourth in the nation in scoring (22.5PPG) shooting 40% from three. His range is endless, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a sweeter fadeaway jumper in the collegiate ranks.
Here are a few minutes of AO highlights.

AO selected WAC pre-season POY

The Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook, really the Bible of hoops magazines (although it's more like a book), has forecast Adrian Oliver as the WAC Player of the Year. Congrats to AO.

A few minutes with Adrian Oliver

We recently reached out to Adrian Oliver in order to flesh out some of his summer posts and tweets (go here) and to learn more about how he got to where he is and what he was involved with this summer to maintain and add to his basketball excellence.

Q: Can you describe in detail (what it specifically consisted of) a typical workout day for you this summer, say when you were in San Jose?

AQ - Well that is hard to explain, reasoning being that i was not in San Jose too much this summer. I would travel to different places to workout with different trainers who have built reputations on working out some of the best in the sport. I wanted to work with the best and be challenged to my limit. After the year I had last year, I know that I now have a bulls-eye on my back and players are going to come at me every night. So in order to prepare for that, I wanted to manage my summer to the point that where everything I did was going to be harder than the actual games during the season. Typically, my home base as far as working out was in Berkeley, California. That is where I was at when I was in the Bay Area.


Q: This may be too similar to the question above but what did you do this summer to improve your ballhandling, quickness and speed and strength as you mentioned you were working on in an earlier post at the San Jose State athletics site?

AO - As I said previously, my home base was in Berkeley with trainer Ant Eggleton at Ant's Mind & Body. Working out with Ant was a really good experience because all of the workouts and techniques were all completely foreign to me. As you all know, I am a workout junkie, so I have pretty much seen it all when it comes down to working out. When it came to Ant's workouts, it was a completely different story. The way I built my speed and quickness and explosiveness was by building up key muscles in my hips, core, lower back and legs. Unique exercises that would isolate each one of these muscles and tear them down in order for them to build and maximize. Maybe one example I could give you guys would be that I would carry sand bags on my back while running up Strawberry Canyon above the Cal Football Stadium. This was crazy because the hill was so unbelievably steep that you had to stay strong and if you slipped or fell, it would basically be over for you. The canyon was one thing that I always looked forward to when I knew it was coming up.After I did my strength work, I would work with my ball handling coach, shooting coach and skills coach different days of the week. At the end of the week, I would usually finish it off with some yoga to increase my flexibility. Yoga is definitely something that I have come to love because just something as simple as stretching can be such a difference in my overall game. Sorry I can't give you guys my complete workouts this summer, but I have to keep some things a secret so my opponents won't find out -- haha.


Q: Can you also fill us in on what techniques, exercises, etc. you did when you were younger in order to become such a topnotch shooter?

AO - Man this one is simple. I simply just played the game. I learned to love the game at a very young age and from there just took off with it. Once I developed that love, it was easy for me to want to go out and practice all day to get better. The days that I did not want to go out and practice were the days that my Uncle Allen told me to get out there. He was such a vital key in the development of the player I am today. He was my first coach and one of my high school assistant coaches, so he was always around the game with me. He and I never had the intent of becoming a top notch shooter nor top notch in any one aspect. Our goal and still is to this day, is to be the most complete player I can be. To be able to do everything well, and do it well at a high level. So my shooting ability is just a God-given talent that has flourished with a lot of hard work. Since freshman year of high school, I've been trying to get up 700 to 1000 shots a day. The past two years, I have increased that number to 1000 to 1500 shots daily, either all at once or broken up throughout the day. I live by the quote, "Repetition is the father of learning." Especially with this sport.


Q: Once you complete your two remaining classes, what will you have your degree in?

AO - I will have my degree in Criminology. I don't necessarily want to go in that field because I want to be a college basketball coach after I am done playing basketball but I chose it because all the classes that I have taken have to do with understanding different kinds of people. Studying human behavior is something that intrigues me, so why not study something that I enjoy naturally. It has worked out perfect for me thus far.


Q: What is it about "Entourage" that makes it your favorite television show?

AO - Man, this might be one of the coolest questions that any media has ever asked me. Where do I begin with this show? I love everything about the show. I was a fan when it first came out a couple of years ago when it wasn't such a hit. My friend Spencer Hawes introduced me to it when i was Seattle and now I'm introducing people to it on a weekly basis. I think the reason that I like it so much because it is the life i want to live. Being Vince Chase and bringing your boys who have been with you from day one to Hollywood or wherever it is and just simply living the life. Giving the people close to me a better life or better said, a more secure life like the main character in this show is something that I want to do as well. Entourage is the best show ever created, hands down! One of my goals is to make it on the show if I ever get big enough to be on there. Man, now wouldn't that be cool ?


Q: How does your buddy Chuck Hayes do it? (it being standing just 6-foot-6 yet being recognized as one of the best NBA defenders and rebounders in the middle)

AO - I laughed when I read this because we were talking about this while I stayed with him in Vegas this summer, and he doesn't even know. He is just simply blessed and fell into a good situation where his special skill set is needed and he has shown the entire NBA he is capable of producing on that level. All it takes is one shot, and he took it and ran with it and now is living the dream. Having him at that level already really helps me because I have someone to talk to about everything that's going on with me because he has already been through it. This summer, I met a lot of players in the NBA and a lot of good people dealing with the league mostly through him and it motivated me 100% to keep working towards that dream.

We thank AO for taking the time to share his thoughts.

A little warmup to the coming basketball season

Here's a 3:13 clip on Adrian Oliver.

Here's a 1:39 clip on AO hosted by Vernon Glenn.

Here's a 4:21 clip with Mike Chisholm interviewing AO.

The Spartan Daily does San Jose State hoops

The Spartan Daily on SJSU hoops:

SJSU men's basketball: Oliver's accolades, home success, highlight season
Kyle Szymanski
Spartan Daily
3/10/10

It didn't take long for New Mexico State head coach Marvin Menzies to realize something was different about the Event Center when his team first visited SJSU this season.

"I have never heard the Event Center be so loud," Menzies said in a postgame news conference after his team was defeated 93-84 on Jan. 23.

The win over the Aggies capped off arguably one of the most exciting times in the history of SJSU basketball.

SJSU finished the season with a record of 14-16 and 6-10 in the Western Athletic Conference...

Go here for the remainder.

Yet another Adrian Oliver feature

It seems the basketball world is finally discovering Adrian Oliver:

Q&A with San Jose State star Adrian Oliver
Diamond Leung
ESPN
February 17, 2010

San Jose State is home to Adrian Oliver, the nation’s sixth-leading scorer who garnered the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s national player of the week honor last month.

That Oliver would reach those heights seemed unlikely as of two seasons ago when he abruptly transferred from Washington. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior guard showed signs of stardom last year, but was bothered by foot and knee injuries.

This year, Oliver has burned defenses for 22.5 points per game to lead the WAC in scoring and has the Spartans (12-12) in position to record their first winning season since 1994.

DL: Last month you scored a career-high 39 points against Louisiana Tech. What does being in the zone feel like?

AO: It’s really hard to explain. It’s something you start feeling. The rim gets really big, and no one on the court can really guard you. You try to make the most of it. It’s kind of special.

I don’t like how it shows at our gym; it shows players points. People know you’re one point away (from 40). I’d much rather have the win...

Go here for the remainder.

A feature on Adrian Oliver

What Spartans ask, get from Oliver: more
Vittorio Tafur
San Francisco Chronicle
February 17, 2010

Adrian Oliver dribbles as the shot clock winds down Saturday night, one defender on him and one lurking nearby. He looks for options, but there aren't any - it's hard to imagine any of his San Jose State teammates got a mention in Utah State's scouting report.

He beats his man, elevates quickly over the other defender and puts up a soft shot that rims out, just as the collision of bodies inside sends him sprawling hard to the floor. He lingers for a minute, picks himself up and heads to the free-throw line.

It is a love pat considering what Oliver's getting on the other end of the court. San Jose State is so small that the 6-foot-4 guard has to defend 6-7 power forward Tai Wesley, whose main offensive move is slamming his shoulder into Oliver.

"I have never minded the rough stuff," Oliver said. "It's fun to me to get pushed and then push back..."

Go here for the remainder.

AO receives a vote for POY

AO has one vote:

Adrian Oliver
Aggieville: USU Sports
Salt Lake Tribune
1-29-2010

At this point of the season, in the opinion of the Aggieville blog, Oliver is the WAC player of the year, if the season were to end today...

Go here for the remainder.

Adrian Oliver double-dips

Junior Adrian Oliver earned a two-fer this week:

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 24. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 23 this season. As the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week, Oliver was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

BIG NUMBERS IN BIG GAMES

Oliver, a 6-4 junior from Modesto, Calif., had a career-high 39 points in an 87-76 win over Louisiana Tech last Thursday that ended the Bulldogs' 10-game winning streak. He followed that up with 22 points in a 93-84 win against New Mexico State on Saturday. In both games, he played 38 minutes and had five assists. For the week, Oliver shot 54.3 percent from the field (19-for-35) and was 19-for-20 from the free-throw line. He also averaged three rebounds and two steals in the two San Jose State wins. Oliver now has four straight 20-plus point efforts and the Spartans boast their best conference record (4-3) since 1999.

and

San Jose State University's Adrian Oliver has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 18-24.

Oliver, a junior guard from Modesto, Calif. (Modesto Christian HS), led San Jose State to a 2-0 record last week with home wins over Louisiana Tech (87-76) and New Mexico State (93-84). With the two wins, SJSU improves to 4-3 in WAC play for the first time since 1999.

GAME-BY-GAME EXCELLENCE

Against Louisiana Tech, Oliver scored a career-high 39 points with five assists, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Oliver connected on 12-of-19 shots from the field against the Bulldogs, including a 3-of-5 clip from long range and a 12-of-12 mark from the free throw line.

Oliver then tallied 22 points with five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals in the victory over New Mexico State. The performance marked his fourth-straight 20-plus point game as San Jose State registered its highest point total against a Division I opponent since 1996.

THE SUMMARY

On the week, Oliver averaged 30.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the field, 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point range and was 19-of-20 from the free throw line.

AO is the WAC POW

Per the announcement by Jason Erickson, the WAC Director of Media Relations, SJSU's Adrian Oliver is the WAC Player of the Week:

San Jose State's Adrian Oliver has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-20. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Oliver.

Oliver, a junior guard from Modesto, CA helped the Spartans to a 69-58 win at UC Irvine. Oliver became just the second player in SJSU history to score 30 or more points in back-to-back games as he scored 31 points in the win at UC Irvine.

Oliver had one of his best shooting nights of the season, making 10-of-19 shots from the field, including a season-high 3-of-6 from beyond the arc as SJSU became the first team this season to beat the Anteaters at home. Oliver also connected on 8-of-10 attempts at the free throw line. He tallied eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in the win.

Other nominees:

* Boise State junior forward Daequon Montreal
* Fresno State sophomore guard Mike Ladd
* Louisiana Tech senior forward/center Magnum Rolle
* Nevada sophomore forward Luke Babbitt
* New Mexico State junior guard Jahmar Young
* Utah State junior forward Tai Wesley

Washington wins 80-70

The term 'Husky - Spartan' makes more descriptive sense than 'Spartan - Husky' (not to be confused with Ferlin Husky) and it was the Washington Huskies who finished first tonight in Seattle 80-70. It's probably easier to just simply say that San Jose State got Pondexter-ed. The UW senior -- first name Quincy -- paced his squad with a double-double (30 and 14) and proved un-containable in the second half.

UW advanced a 37-31 halftime lead to 45-37 via eight quick points by Pondexter, forcing a SJSU timeout. He ended up scoring Washington's first 14 points opening the second half. That lead was generally maintained, if not expanded, throughout the second half via Husky offensive boardwork and missed Spartan free throws.

Adrian Oliver topped SJSU with a well-earned 32 points, courtesy 17 free throw attempts.

Early on, the game went back and forth with neither team able to establish superiority. However, C.J. Webster garnered two fouls in the initial three minutes of the game and Kyle Thomas took his place.

Soon, the Emerald City became Foul City. Four Spartans were eventually saddled with trios of fouls by halftime: Webster, Thomas, Justin Graham and Chris Jones. Webster fouled out with 9:07 left in the game, Graham in the last minute.

At the first timeout, San Jose State led 11-8 after making all five field goal attempts. It was then 13-all with the Spartans having three turnovers.

The Huskies led 17-15 with 10:21 remaining.

As noted, the score at the half was 37-31 pro Washington. There were eight ties and four lead changes -- SJSU led by three points twice. After the inital 20 minutes, it was Adrian Oliver leading the way among both teams with 13 points. The Spartans shot 44% (11-25) to 35% for UW. The Huskies worked the boards better at 24-17, with 11 of those coming offensively. San Jose State committed 12 turnovers.

More tomorrow.

On Sunday, San Jose State plays on the road again, matching up with UC Riverside. KSJS (90.5 FM, San Jose) originates San Jose State University basketball broadcasts with Mike Chisholm calling the play-by-play. Air time is 1:30 p.m. for the UC Riverside contest.

Chris Murray's All-WAC team and POY

My All-WAC first team and player of the year
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
10/6/2009

The WAC sent out its preseason polls to the media, asking each member to rank the teams 1-9 in addition to picking a player of the year, newcomer of the year and All-WAC first team. We will count down the WAC teams from worst to first starting tomorrow, but I wanted to post my All-WAC selections here.

Go here for the remainder. Adrian Oliver receives a second team placement.

More from Chris Murray -- AO gets some love

Oliver? Flemings? Fields? Who's WAC's top shooting guard?
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
10/6/2009

The starting shooting guards in the WAC come in all forms. There are the water-bug types (Jonathan Gibson, Brandon Fields, Steffan Johnson). There are the savvy scorers (Adrian Oliver, Roderick Flemings). There are the defensive aces (Tyler Newbold, Jamel Guyton). But who is the best shooting guard in the league?

Ranking the WAC shooting guards

1. Adrian Oliver, San Jose State, 17.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.2 apg: Oliver was never fully healthy last season and he still ran roughshod through most of the WAC. With all his ailments healed, he is one of the favorites to lead the WAC in scoring. He can score in a variety of ways and does a good job of getting to the free-throw line...

Go here for the remainder.