Note: Brooks DeBisschop and Chris Bowling will play their final home games on Saturday versus Montana State at 4 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 28, 2020) – Little by little, Northern Arizona's
Brooks DeBisschop improved each season.
Now more than 100 games into his collegiate career, the senior center has produced at a level of efficiency the Lumberjacks haven't seen from on of their big men for a few years, and doing so with a vastly increased role in terms of both minutes on the floor and opportunities with the team's offense.
Shooting 63.8 percent from two-point range through most of the Big Sky schedule, the 6-foot-9 DeBisschop ranks among the top five of the conference while also among the top 25 in percentage of his team's possessions used.
"We are one of the few teams that can throw it into the post and you have to guard us outside too," Lumberjacks interim head coach
Shane Burcar said. "If we throw it into him, our first look is to score the ball. Right now some teams, they're going to have to make a decision to double team him or not."
DeBisschop's role has expanded significantly in his senior year with Burcar leading the program. Averaging nearly five more minutes per game than he did last season, DeBisschop's 9.0 field goal attempts per game ranks second on the Lumberjacks, well ahead of last year's 4.8 shots per game.
"Last year, a lot of my scoring was just off of dumpdowns from guards and just finishing garbage plays and things like that," DeBisschop said. "So this year trying to create a little more for myself was something me and Coach Burcar talked about. Just having a big that can score makes a big difference, in this conference especially."
DeBisschop's shooting percentages are effectively the same as they were during his junior season, as the higher workload has not come at the cost of efficiency.
Still shooting 60% from two-point range across the entire season, DeBisschop has also hit six threes on 22 attempts. Additionally, both his defensive and offensive rebounding percentages are at or better than they were a season ago, as is his career-best assist rate and steal percentage on the other end of the floor.
Surrounded by host of shooters on the outside, DeBisschop's increased presence as a scoring threat in the paint also led to a boost for others. Northern Arizona's 37.1 percent from the three-point line ranks second in the Big Sky and inside the top 25 in the nation. With
Luke Avdalovic hitting nearly 50 percent from outside, as well as
Cameron Satterwhite at nearly 40 percent, the Lumberjacks' inside-out game has DeBisschop second on the team in total assists.
"I think the ability to let me catch the ball at the free-throw line, the elbow or high post is a big asset for us just because of all our guards and shooters," DeBisschop said. "We are the best shooting team in the conference. Guys can cut off each other and move while I have the defensive five out away from the rim."
STEPS FORWARD
Playing a little more sporadically as a freshman in the 2016-17 season, DeBisschop averaged 13.4 minutes per game behind seniors Ako Kaluna and Jordyn Martin. While his minutes jumped to 27.6 per game as a sophomore, DeBisschop still shot just 39.3 percent from the field and held a 44.2 effective field-goal percentage.
The true leap forward came in DeBisschop's junior year, with a strong opening and close to Northern Arizona's nonconference schedule. Opening the season with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting in a victory against Jacksonville, DeBisschop then finished with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in a loss at Utah, a team that sent out three different 7-footers during the game.
"I think he's grown tremendously," said Lumberjacks assistant coach
Gaellan Bewernick, the only member of Northern Arizona's staff to see DeBisschop's past three seasons. "I think it's his confidence more than anything. You have always seen that he had the tools, but I think early on as a sophomore and even sometimes as a junior, you would kind of see he didn't really believe in his left hand as much as he does now."
DeBisschop's improvement has come under the guidance of a few different coaches. This year, it has been
Tyler Ojanen working with the senior after each practice on his footwork and touch around the rim. DeBisschop credited former assistant Matt Dunn with helping him learn the physicality of the college game his first two years before Wes Pifer took over the group a year ago.
While he credited time on the court and knowledge of the game as keys to his improvement over the years, DeBisschop also noted one obvious factor in the difference between his ability at 18 years old to what he is now as a 21-year-old.
"Definitely strength is a big part of it. As a freshman, I came in about 210, was about 220 as a sophomore. Now I am around 240, so definitely being stronger helps," DeBisschop said. "It's just physical maturity, getting in the weight room and eating right helps, but some time is also helpful there too."
As an underclassman, DeBisschop was tasked with playing against Montana's Jamar Akoh and Weber State's Zach Braxton, each listed at 250 pounds themselves and among the Big Sky's best bigs.
"You are like 'Wow, these guys are way stronger than me'. That was something to focus on and I feel like it is paying off now," DeBisschop said. "Guys that are younger in this conference now I can kind of manhandle a little bit."
On the other end of the spectrum, DeBisschop's presence in a conference with few other elite forwards stands out in what has become a guard-centric league.
"The game is getting smaller and the Big Sky has always been a conference, since I have been here, that plays small-ball fours," said DeBisschop, including Northern Arizona's own
Bernie Andre. "(Sayeed) Pridgett is arguably the best guy in the conference and he is playing a lot of 4, (Bodie) Hume for Northern Colorado is a guard, and he plays the 4. It's a lot of smaller 4s and a lot of it is trying to create mismatches. If you have a big slow 4, then those small quick guys can abuse him and if that guy can't score in the post, then it creates a mismatch."
Montana's Pridgett is listed at 6-foot-5 and Hume at 6-foot-6, a common theme for the Big Sky. Last season all five members of the Big Sky's First-Team were guards, with another nine of the 14 second, third or honorable mention players also listed as guards. Just one center, Sacramento State's Joshua Patton, earned any kind of all-conference honor in 2018-19. In 2017-18, 14 of 20 all-conference players were guards with again just one center, Braxton, earning an honor.
ALL AROUND EFFORT
"Not just speaking on his offensive ability, it's just him in person," Bewernick said. "He's just trying to do whatever he can help us in any way he can. Defensively, offensively, off the court when he's not playing."
Bewernick singled out DeBisschop's performance this season against Weber State as an example of the senior's dedication to doing anything for the program in his final year. With a sprained ankle showing bruising up his leg, DeBisschop scored 18 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field, one of his best performances in his career.
With his gradual increase in playing time, DeBisschop slowly became one of the elder statesmen inside the paint of the Big Sky alongside Patton and Eastern Washington's Mason Peatling.
"Some of the other guys graduate and it's the next crop of guys. All the four-year guys in the conference, we know each other pretty well as this point we played against each other so many times," DeBisschop said. "I think there's a certain level of respect that just comes with knowing you've played, and all these guys are playing 100-plus games in the Big Sky, and have a lot of experience."
With his experience came the confidence to speak up to Burcar, a trait Northern Arizona's head coach had enjoyed this season.
"I think the biggest impact that he's made is how serious he is to leave a legacy here at the school," Burcar said. "I love his confidence in the game. He'll say 'Coach, run this' and it's for him or it'll be for a teammate, but I love it when he wants to play for him. Southern Utah was a prime example, he said call this play and it was to him, and he had a big basket for us."
