| "We had a very frank discussion," Pivec recalled. "Actually, it was probably more of a monologue than a dialogue. I had to remind him how he got here." The message was simple: Be aggressive. Even if the touches aren't there, stay aggressive. What Holman heard hardly qualified as news. His Minnesota coaches had been conveying the same message since the center had arrived from Minneapolis Technical College. Still, those 15 minutes may have changed Holman's season. The next day, the junior sparked a 70-67 upset of Michigan State, scoring 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a tomahawk dunk that answered a go-ahead three-pointer from the Spartans with less than a minute to play. Previously, a couple of spine-tingling dunks and an emphatic block from Holman had galvanized the Williams Arena crowd more than any other plays by any other players. "Jerry really gave us a lift," Gophers coach Dan Monson said as his team prepared to face Michigan tonight. "I felt we had one of our more aggressive games, and it began when Jerry went in." It is energy and the ability to make emphatic, crowd-pleasing plays that Holman promised to bring from junior college. To wit: Just 13 games into his Division I career, he has his own chant (a chorus of "Jer-ry, Jer-ry," a la "The Jerry Springer Show," breaks out after a big dunk or block) and his own T-shirts (they read "Jerry's Kids" on the front with Holman's No. 40 on the back). It is also an element that had been missing -- and not surprisingly, in the midst of the Gophers' slump. Before Saturday, Holman had gone three games without a block. Since opening the season with three double-figure scoring outings, he had averaged 6.6 points per game. In his start, at Texas Tech, he had more fouls (five) than points (two). Like many Gophers, he struggled to find a place in the offense. Like many Gophers, he got frustrated. "I think it was a lack of focus, not knowing what I need to do when I get out there a lot," Holman said. "When I took a step out of myself, I found myself just not working hard, not playing to my ability -- not boxing out, not going to the boards hard enough, not taking good jump shots, not helping the team out. That's a lack of focus." The coaching staff took a shot at coaxing Holman out of the funk, but it took an old voice bearing the same message to penetrate the player's psyche. After eyeing Pivec, Holman didn't hesitate to make a beeline for him after last Friday's practice.
Pivec didn't hesitate much, either. "His frustration about not getting touches -- I said, 'Jerry, give me a break,' " Pivec said. " 'Your teammates do what they do. Jerry has to go get the ball.' I said, 'Demand the ball. And don't pout if you don't get it -- demand it again.' " Said Holman: "He just told me to relax, go out there and play. He said, 'You haven't been yourself, and I've seen that the last couple of games. You just need to relax and go out there and play basketball and do what I need to do.' That's what I did." Minnesota just needs the doing to occur more consistently. An energetic Holman off the bench adds a new dimension, just as a flat Holman can leave a gaping hole. "Jerry has probably the most ability to make a big play," Monson said. "And for that, he probably has the most ability to lift the team up." At the end of the Texas Tech debacle, Holman languished on the bench, staring off into no particular direction. At the end against Michigan State, Holman was primal screaming his way through a potential turning point for his team. Days later, he still enjoyed the feeling, even as some choice words still echoed in his ears. "You learn from your mistakes," Holman said. "That's all I have to say about that. You learn from your mistakes." Brian Hamilton can be reached at bchamilton@pioneerpress.com.
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