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The class: Post Moves 101. The instructor: Jakob Poeltl.
On his first shot attempt of Monday's game against San Diego State, Poeltl rotated to the basket to his left. Aztec forward Angelo Chol, sensing the shot coming, leapt up for the block. Only Poeltl hadn't left his feet: He slipped to Chol's right and rolled up underneath to lay the ball off the glass and in.
The grace of Poeltl's footwork made the bucket look easier than it probably was. While the 7-footer has always been physically mature for his age, what has Larry Krystkowiak excited is seeing Poeltl's mental progress soar early in his sophomore season.
"It's been a concerted effort with him slowing down and relying on some power moves," Krystkowiak said. "A couple simple moves: a jump hook, a counter. A couple of great moves where he got guys lifted. He's not afraid to be fouled now."
Every time Poeltl stands out for Utah serves as a reminder that he could've been in the NBA this season. Every team he and Krystkowiak talked to in the offseason said he would've been taken in the first round of last spring's draft.
For Poeltl, the decision to return was based out of a desire to develop, to show he could be the focal point of a team and play a consistent, mature game. With 41 points and 23 rebounds in his first two games, he's delivering.
"I'll take every challenge that's [going to come] at me," he said Monday, looking pleased after Utah's 81-76 win over San Diego State. "So far the season's going pretty good."
Coming back to school was a saving grace for Utah, which would have otherwise had to play without a true center — or scramble to recruit one before the start of the season.
But then-freshman Poeltl needed to take a step up. While he was the team's leading rebounder and a valuable inside scorer, he lacked consistency: Only five times was he able to score in double digits back-to-back, and he only had double-digit rebounds in consecutive games once.
For every promising game, like an 18-point, 8-rebound effort against Cal, there was a 2-point game at Oregon State that followed. He also didn't play well against a handful of older bigs, including Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski and UCLA's Tony Parker. Those efforts gnawed at him, he said.
The underlying issues, in Krystkowiak's opinion, were confidence and physicality. Unwilling to go to the foul line (where he shot 44 percent), Poeltl would go for the fast bucket rather than the measured approach of a veteran.
Poeltl worked on building up his body: "I was in the weight room basically all summer," he said after an early practice. He lifted when he was at Nike Camp in California. He lifted when he was playing with the Austrian national team in Europe.
By the end of the summer, the once scrawny center had brought his weight up to 250. He could bench press 185 pounds for 10 repetitions, which doesn't sound like much until you consider how hard it is to bench press with a 7-foot-3 wingspan. That would have been better than all but four power forwards or centers at the NBA Draft Combine this past spring.
Krystkowiak also encouraged him to slow down, develop a "go-to" move and not be afraid to draw fouls. Since the season began, Poeltl is 14-of-20 from the field, and has been to the free throw line 21 times. He has only made 13 of his foul shots, but it represents progress.
With a double-double night against San Diego State's long front court, Poeltl is building faith that he's taking the next step the Utes envisioned.
"The combination of slowing down and being more of a power player — he's gained 30 pounds — he's a load in there," Krystkowiak said. "We like teams to have to determine whether or not they're going to double and how they're going to deal with him."
In turn, Utah is trying to use Poeltl the right way as well.
In retrospect, Krystkowiak decided that last season's team hadn't made enough of an effort to feed the post with Poeltl in the middle. He promised the sophomore would play a more central role in his offense: So far Poeltl is the second-leading scorer and he's been assisted on half of his baskets. His teammates are actively seeking him out: There might not be a better example than when Kyle Kuzma darted a pass to the paint for Poeltl at the end of a shot clock against the Aztecs, and he laid it in before the buzzer.
There's also the careful consideration of his role as a defensive stopper: With little depth behind Poeltl, the Utes have worked on keeping him in the game. Rather than contest every shot, he'll sometimes stand in the post and box out instead. When he does contest, he's careful to keep his arms fully vertical, and even use backward momentum to make sure would-be scorers come to him.
A lot of things are coming to Poeltl now: confidence, patience, power and maturity. Coaches have lauded him this preseason for being more of a vocal leader, stepping up into a bigger role and helping coach newcomers. In certain ways, he's filling the shoes of a senior — appropriate when most consider this to be his final season at Utah.
Most of all, he's enjoying it. One of the main reasons Poeltl returned to Salt Lake City was the relationships with his teammates. He thought with the core Utah returned, it could improve on its Sweet 16 finish from last year.
There's a long way to go until Utah can test that theory. But so far, Poeltl is feeling a strong bond with his teammates, he said Monday. Instead of coming off the bench as a new pick for an NBA team, he's stepping to the forefront for a college team he truly seems to love.
"We have this team chemistry where we all care about each other," he said, pausing to pick his words. "We all know that we've got to be locked in to win those games. It's not about who's doing what, it's about us as a team executing the game. … That's what we've really developed in the last couple weeks, and it's going good."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Poeltl's fast start
• The sophomore center is averaging 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds through first two contests
• Against SUU and SDSU, Poeltl had back-to-back double-doubles for the first time his career
• He was only called for four fouls in first two games, averaging 32.5 minutes —
No. 16 Utah vs. Texas Tech
At San Juan, Puerto Rico
Thursday, 6 p.m.
TV • ESPN2