Spent the night at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am (with a few other talented scribes and a surprisingly large crowd at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy) watching some of the incoming UConn freshmen and a number of other basketball stars past, present and future.
– For starters, PG Shabazz Napier looked rather comfortable playing alongside PG Kemba Walker with the Doc Hurley All-Stars Wednesday night.
But the freshman from Boston isn’t quite sure if he’ll play behind or next to Walker when the UConn season begins.
“Whatever he needs, whatever the coaches need me to do,” Napier said as Walker playfully peered over his shoulder. “My role isn’t set in stone. They tell me I’m going to contribute a lot. They tell me they’re going to throw me into the fire. But I’m here to do whatever is needed.”
Walker certainly looked like he’d been working on his game, and most around him say he’s already the team’s established leader.
“I didn’t know him last year but through the eyes and actions of other people, I can see he’s more determined than ever,” Napier said. “He mentions it to me all the time. The 18-15 season? he hates it.”
– PF/C Ater Majok did plenty of good and bad things in the first game of Wednesday’s double header with the Club Palace (nee Springfield) Slamm.
“I’m a little bit more mature now after playing half a season,” Majok said. “I know what I’m up against. I just have to calm down and just play my game, do what I do: score the ball, rebound and block shots.”
– Majok also provided a little insight into SF Roscoe Smith’s first days on the UConn campus. The Oak Hill product arrived in Storrs on Sunday.
“The freshmen that are coming in have a great mentality,” Majok said. “Roscoe Smith came in and he didn’t sleep. He came straight to the gym.
“He played with us and then at night he was shooting my himself,” Majok continued. “I walked into the gym and he was shooting at 1 o’clock at night. … That’s the start of something good.”
– PF Tyler Olander, playing for the Doc Hurley All-Stars, got a nice welcome to the league. The incoming UConn freshman took an elbow and had to leave the floor briefly with a bloody lip.
The E.O. Smith product has made the transition to life across the road at UConn. He’s on campus (rooming with Napier) with the rest of UConn’s incoming freshmen (save the late-arriving Germans).
Olander says he already has an idea of what he needs to do in order to contribute to the Huskies.
“I need to be more patient. I’m not going to be able to do everything that I could in high school because I’m not bigger than everybody now,” Olander said. “I need to spend a lot of time in the weight room getting bigger.”
Olander, who says he isn’t likely to redshirt, doesn’t really have a position yet. Is he a power forward? Well, sort of.
“Like a three-four, but more like a step out four,” Olander said. “I’ll guard their four but when I’m in there we’ll go four out, one in (on offense). I’ll be on the perimeter doing my thing.”
– Former UConn guard Jamaal Trice played in the opening game for the Deron Freeman All-Stars (which coincidentally feature guard/forward Deron Freeman on the roster).
Trice said after that he received his official release from UConn on Wednesday and that he’d be heading home to Los Angeles on Thursday.
It’s not clear where Trice may be transferring to at this point, though he has interest in UC-Irvine, Iowa State, Georgia State and UNC-Wilmington.
– The surprise of the night for yours truly came when a familiar face was spotted playing for the Slamm.
Terrell Taylor, the former Bridgeport Central/Creighton/University of Bridgeport guard, was playing his first game in the league this season.
The hero of Creighton’s 2002 NCAA Tournament upset of Florida and one-time MTV reality show star, Taylor is trying to give his basketball career new life.
Taylor said he hopes to play in the NBDL or perhaps overseas in the upcoming season. He spent last year with the Delaware Destroyers of the Eastern Basketball Association.
Taylor, whose highs and lows were chronicled by Chris Elsberry in the Post recently, believes he still has game.
“I’ve got wiser so I think I’m better now,” Taylor said. “And I’m still athletic.”
– Some final totals:
Club Palace Slamm 87, Freeman 75
Majok 16 points. Taylor 9 points. Trice 10 points.
Doc Hurley 106, Cambyland 96
Walker 31 points. Alex Oriakhi 23 points. Napier 15 points. Olander 5 points.
- Neill
