College “Ball” is Right There for Kiwi Players

I grew up watching NBA in the 90’s and so my early age education of NBA and also Basketball was all about a “Big Man” Dominated League. When I really started watching NBA and College Basketball and understanding what was going on, the best players were mainly big men. A lot of younger guys wouldn’t have seen them play, but know who they are if you follow and love NBA Basketball. So after reading this Youtube them watch them and steal their moves to improve your game. So I watched Shaq and Alonzo Mourning come into the League and then David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo were all leading the NBA, but there was also Manute Bol, Rick Smits, Brad Daugherty, Mark Eaton, Shawn Bradley and so every night you saw a true “Big Man” on the court. The game back then was Centered around “Big Men” because being able to post up on the block and back a guy down wait for that double team dish it, or keep backing down till you get the foul. As a big man having post moves was the “Deal” the more power added with foot work and balance the better you were, having a mid-range jumper or being able find cutters to the rim giving the pass was a massive advantage to your “Big Man” play.

So the “Key” to winning in the 90’s was big men and that is where New Zealand players failed in those times because we just didnt have the size for players in New Zealand to even really attract College Scouts. The League is looking for “Big Men” so as a College program you recruit the NBA’s needs. Later on in the late 90’s I was watching the Final 4 and saw a guy named Kirk Penny Shooting Guard playing for Wisconsin and the only reason I watched was because Michael Finley was on the team. Through out the game Penny was hitting 3’s and then they said he was from NZ, I then found out another guy Mark Dickel was playing for UNLV and I think in his last year Led the NCAA in Assist playing Point Guard. So we had 2 Kiwis that I knew of playing College ball at one time, and that’s cool because you knew that they met the eye test for Scouts when it came to what they could provide for the Program, but they weren’t big men so making it wasn’t going to be easy. So for that time period in the late 90’s early 2000’s making College Basketball wasn’t really a thing at all here in NZ.

For me there was a period where things started to change and I think back now a days that NBA was going to take another turn and it ended up being in the direction towards what we have now on TV. College Basketball has always had a “Small Ball” system where sometimes you would have 3 Guards take the court and all of them would be under 6’5 and then you would have 2 “Big Men”. Then they started running teams where they would have 4 Guards and then maybe a PF who was 6’10-11 and run it like that which was a quickened up game where running the floor was the purpose. The UNLV Running Rebels did it 1989-91 I think and they won a National Championship under  Jerry Tarkanian and led by Larry Johnson. Duke University did it a couple of times when Christian Laettner was the “Big” on the court and he wasn’t that big at all, another time was Carlos Boozer and Elton Brand also held those roles as big men when they actually werent. I have watched the NBA Draft since 1996-97 and there was a bunch of players from 1996-2001 like  Kevin Garrnett, Rasheed Wallace, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antoine Walker, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Juwon Howard, Lamar Odom and all these guys were suppose to be playing that PF “Big Man” kind of a role but these guys were different. These guys were from 6’8-6’11 but they had skills that the NBA really didn’t see much and these guys were going to change the game. They could all shoot from mid-range to 3 pointers, they could all dribble, they could all run the floor and dribble, they could all pass the ball and create plays off the dribble, defend 3 different positions some times four, AS WELL AS play in the post with back to the basket or face up, they could score over both shoulders, they could rebound, defend and block. Now we have all these types of players coming through and by 2004-05 the traditional “Big Man” was fading away.

Over that time the rules are changed to favour the man with the ball, tight defence, hand checking things like that have gone and so now you can run around and once you get touched it’s a foul. So the Golden State Warriors and other players around the League have made it more that shooting high volume 3 point attemps is the key to winning, there is a lot that goes into that but just to save time GSW have made the NBA that way now. Now Kevin Durant who should really be a big man is now a boarder line Shooting Guard/Small Forward not a Power Forward/Center for a player that is 7ft. So the game is now shoot at all cost, find space and time take a shot, the game is so much faster that you dont worry about volume because your going to shoot till you find your touch, making sure that you can play in space and stretch the floor is always something you want to be able to do right now . The League has gotten to a place where Point Guards are a must and being a scoring Point Guard is what is wanted right now much like the “Big Man” fading out works in NZ’s favour.

We dont have the height and that’s ok that’s great for us because we cant fix height in NZ, you cant go out every morning and do a work out that makes you grow, so that worry has gone for us. In NZ we have so many players right now that fit into that 6’2-6’9 range of player and to me you all have a shot. Now Im not saying they are the only ones that can make it, Im saying that they fit the NBA height right now, if you think you can “I.T” your way into the League then cool. Boy’s if you want to make the next step into to College Ball work on your game, put in the 1000’s of shots, put in the hours on working on your “Handles”, work hard in the gym building your body, work on quickness, work on your defence, learn to play in and with space and work on your knowledge of the game of Basketball, be a student of the game. College Basketball and the NBA lives on Shooting which is making your shot, Lock Down Defence, have controlled “Handles” and high energy players, real hustle on the court and court spacing. Look at how many NBA players that are playing now that really only do one or two things but do them well. Tony Allen 6’4-6’5 a lock down defender doesn’t really shoot, Kyle Anderson 6’9 not really a great shooter, but dribbles well, long arms and can defend, DJ Augustin 6’0 was a terrible defender but shot the lights out cause he was quick and could create shots off the dribble. Ron Baker 6’4 not a shooter, not a play maker, ok defender but is all hustle and Patrick Beverly is the same and so are a lot of players out there. JJ Reddick is a terrible defender but can shoot all day and make his shot.

I dont know about you guys but if you are still saying to yourself while your reading making excuses that “Oh but they are in America, and we dont……Blah Blah Blah” then it’s not for you then.If you are readying this and saying “Hersch is right, I need to put in more hours in the gym, I need to put up more shots, I need to build my body” then you are the type of player that College Basketball is looking for and they want you to be apart of their program. Have your friends help you too, get them to rebound for you while you shoot, get them to watch how doing in class and if your playing to much X-Box or PS4 because they should want you to make it too. The opportunities are out there and High School Top 200 is going to help as much players as we can and will do our best to help you been seen and noticed so you can have a shot at a NCAA Basketball College Scholarship.  There are over a thousand Division 1, 2 and 3 Colleges out there that play Basketball and offer scholarships, Why shouldn’t one of those spots and scholarships be yours?