The RoundHouse | 1/13/2024 10:55:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Quincy Acy, during his rookie season with the Toronto Raptors in 2012-13, took advice on NBA life from veteran teammate Aaron Gray.
 
"That's my guy," Acy said. "Having great guys to pour into you. It's a collective. It's by committee."
 
It is Acy's turn to take on younger players and guide them. One of his projects as assistant coach for Wichita State is 6-foot-11 junior Quincy Ballard. Acy, who played seven NBA seasons and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors at Baylor, works with the Shocker big men.

Ballard's progress is evident in many areas, and he credits Acy with challenging him, patiently instructing, and giving him confidence. Acy took the time to observe and talk with Ballard. He talks regularly with Regina Ballard, Quincy's mother.
 
"From the first time I've seen him, he's been a big factor in my improvement," Ballard said. "Being that he's a former NBA player, that really helps me a lot. I can learn from that. I can sit down and talk to him any day."
 
Wichita State (8-7, 0-2 American Athletic Conference) plays No. 13 Memphis (14-2, 3-0) at noon Sunday (ESPN2) at Koch Arena.
 
Through conversation and observation, Acy figured out that Ballard is a visual learner. To help Ballard get to the right spot, he taped a rectangle on the floor near the rim and put a "Q" in it – The Q Box.
 
"Now he's able to visualize what I'm talking about," said Acy, who played at Baylor while Shocker coach Paul Mills worked as an assistant coach. "They call it the dunker spot. A lot of times when you drop it off, a lot of time you get dunks. It's easy to conceptualize when you see it."
 
A back injury limited Ballard, from Syracuse, N.Y., to 10 games last season. With health, better conditioning and growing confidence, his performance is improving. He started all 15 games this season and averages 7.5 points and 6.4 rebounds, up from 2.1 and 2.1 last season. He blocks 10.1 percent of the two-pointers attempted, according to kenpom.com, to rank No. 19 nationally.
 
"Last year, I didn't really play a lot, so I couldn't really build the confidence I needed," Ballard said. "This year, I've had more consistency, especially going to the gym by myself. I'm more mobile and I'm more of a factor when it comes to offense and defense."
 
The blocked shots, dunks and rebounds provided Acy a good starting point. He's pleased to use Ballard's shooting touch with a growing variety of post moves. Ballard isn't someone to run an offense through, but he can score given the ball in the right situations.
 
Ballard is shooting 69.6 percent from the field. His accuracy at the foul line is up to 69.6 percent (48 of 69) after he made 7 of 14 last season.
 
"I was a guy that wasn't very skilled playing," Acy said. "It took coaches who actually took the time, cared, challenged me to grow. It's easy to put a guy in a box and say, 'He can just block shots and rebounds.' If you take the time to see what they're capable of, see how they want to grow, see how they're wired to learn then I think you can get a lot more out of guys. I think that's the case with Q."
 
One of Ballard's most important jobs is setting screens for the guards to get the Shocker offense in motion. The Shockers have 17 types of screens and it's Ballard's job to recognize which type of screen will free up the guards, create an advantage and create good scoring opportunities.
 
 

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— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) December 3, 2023

 
 
Screening for an excellent shooter such as Colby Rogers against defenders who want to stay tight to dissuade a jumper is different than screening for Xavier Bell, who wants to drive.
 
"It is the big's job to get the advantage and it's the guard's job to keep the advantage," Mills said. "A lot of that you've got to credit to Quincy and his basketball I.Q. in the moment."
 
Ballard, especially since WSU's exhibition trip to Greece in early August, is doing a better job recognizing who he is screening for and how to stress the defense. One of those 17 types of screens is called a back-pocket collision, a description that points the screener to the place on the defender to target and emphasizes that the screen is aggressive.
 
"He does a better job of what we call back-pocket collisions," Mills said. "If you look at his ability to put pressure on the rim, it's pretty good. What you see is that he's gotten better at it."
 
Acy will continue to encourage and challenge Ballard. Coaches, Acy knows from his six stops with NBA teams, give or limit confidence.
 
"He takes it seriously and whenever he sees that you are invested in him, I think he receives it a little bit more," Acy said. "I challenge him to grow. Challenge his footwork. Challenge his touch."
 
Acy will do that with the advice he got from his veterans – Gray and Jamaal Magloire, another former NBA player – and keep that big-man committee thriving.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.