Air Force Academy – Air Force forward Jacob Burtschi is earning a reputation for being a “flopper,” but coach Jeff Bzdelik cautions to not confuse a flop with an art.
Burtschi has made a valuable contribution to Air Force’s 14-2 start this season as the team’s workhorse inside. One valuable part of his game is being able to draw offensive fouls.
“Very few players in the country have the talent he has to draw charges,” Bzdelik said of his 6-foot-6 junior forward. “He anticipates really well defensively. I know opposing coaches are always complaining to officials that he’s flopping. He’s not. He’s taking charges. That’s a talent that opposing coaches covet.”
Taking a charge is only part of Burtschi’s value. He leads the team in rebounding (98), assists (45) and steals (38) and is second in free-throw attempts (45). In Air Force’s first Mountain West Conference loss, Wednesday at Wyoming, the Cowboys built an overwhelming 41-18 advantage in rebounding, evidence of how critical his role is on a team that is usually outmanned inside.
“They dominated us on the boards totally,” Burtschi said. “It takes everyone to block out, and that’s something we didn’t do.”
Burtschi played much of the game in foul trouble and finished with only four rebounds.
“I’m not a package to handle with care,” Burtschi said. “I’ll sacrifice my body and do whatever I can to help out.”
The Falcons return to conference play at home Saturday at 2 p.m. against TCU.
Bzdelik expects his team to pick up the pace and Burtschi to make better use of his talents underneath the basket than they did against Wyoming.
“It takes intelligence, it takes courage, it takes effort to take hits and he does that extremely well,” Bzdelik said. “Jacob’s a very versatile player. He fills up the statistics sheet. We have a lot of MVP kind of players on our team in terms of fitting into a system. He has a great basketball IQ. I think that’s the biggest asset he has. He combines that with an ability to shoot, an ability to drive, an ability to pass.”
Burtschi has been right in the middle of Air Force’s surge to basketball prominence the past three seasons. He was a freshman on the 2003-04 team that won the Mountain West Conference championship, set a school record with 22 victories and went to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, he was one of four players to start all 30 games. Air Force is 54-21 in his career.
There are reasons Burtschi has a high basketball IQ. He played for his father, A.D. Burtschi, at Putnam City High School, 45 minutes away from his home in Chickasha, Okla.
“I’ve had a basketball hoop around me my whole life,” Burtschi said. “I’ve always wanted to play for my dad. He’s the main reason why I’m the player I am today. I had to be up at 6 in the morning just to get to class. This Air Force thing is easy for me.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
