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<< 1 2 3 >> -------------------- March 04, 2005 The jump.
Excerpt The following is an excerpt from the book The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High Stakes Business of High School Ball By Ian O'Connor. 
Published by Rodale; February 2005; $23.95US/$33.95CAN; 1-59486-107-2
Copyright C 2005 Ian O'ConnorThe Jump chronicles the rags-to-riches path of New York sensation Sebastian Telfair, perhaps the greatest point guard that the city famous for point guards has ever produced. Sebastian exemplifies the new face of basketball--young, talented, mediagenic teenagers who skip college on the way to NBA fortune and fame. - (Cover notes) ----------------------------------------------------- Chapter 12 continued Sebastian Telfair hadn't dropped the ball after his Louisville trip; he spent the last 2 weeks of January breaking records and getting even. But Telfair did open that stretch by shooting far too much in an overtime loss at Grady, scoring 11 of his 34 in the extra session and pissing off his teammates in the process. "This NBA thing is killing us," Nyan Boateng told me. "We understood on the (UCLA) trip that Sebastian had to play for the NBA scouts, but he's got to play team ball in these games in our backyard, when there's no scouts here. That's how we won the state championship last year after he fouled out -- by playing team ball." The following day, Boateng had to be talked out of quitting the team by his football coach, Shawn O'Connor, who'd had this conversation with his wide receiver many times before. Boateng always seemed to get more love from the football coaches in his life. He said he received two calls on his cell from Greg Toal, coach of national powerhouse Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey, asking if he'd be interested in transferring to a school that would give him greater exposure. Those calls would be an obvious breach of high school rules on recruiting. Toal denied making the calls. "We don't do business like that," he said. 'I never met the kid. I wouldn't even know what he looks like. Where is he, in the Bronx? Brooklyn? That would be a 5-hour commute. Somebody's having fun with this. It sounds like Fantasy Island." When told of Toal's remarks, Boateng said, "Really? He's bugging. I was with him at an awards dinner, and I know his son. He definitely called me twice. I guess he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it." At Lincoln, Morton usually didn't want to make a big deal out of Boateng's desire to be a central part of Lincoln's offense. But this time around, Morton was on Boateng's side. He said he ripped into Telfair for playing selfishly and focusing too much on the UCLA and Louisville games. In the get-even games with Cardozo and Sheepshead Bay high schools, Telfair returned to his playmaking roots to lead Lincoln to victory. It was a temporary adjustment. Aided by Morton's willingness to run up the score on hapless opponents, Telfair set a Lincoln single-game record with 61 points against the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, and then broke Kenny Anderson's New York career scoring record of 2,621 points by dropping 49 on Grand Street Campus, this while Morton put on a full-court press with the Railsplitters holding a 51-point lead. Telfair was rising on everybody's draft board. Two days before the Prime Time game, the Los Angeles Clippers' director of player personnel, Barry Hecker, and their New York-based scout, Evan Pickman, dropped by Lincoln's practice to watch their potential point guard of the future. Pickman was Telfair's biggest fan; Hecker was a skeptic who'd been won over at Pauley Pavilion. Telfair was aware of their presence. He acted like a playmaker possessed in the first half of practice, and when he fired a perfect one-handed bounce pass on the break to a streaking teammate, Hecker threw on his black parka and motioned to Pickman that it was time to go. "He's seen enough," Pickman said through a smile. The Clippers would see more in Trenton, where Telfair had put on some second-half show the year before against St. Anthony of Jersey City, ripping one of the nation's best teams, Jeff Hewitson recalled, "with a bone shooting out of his foot." Rick Pitino sent his assistant, Reggie Theus, to monitor the Lincoln-Southwest Atlanta Christian game. Louisville had lost its Plan B at the point, Oak Hill's Rajon Rondo, to Kentucky, so the Cardinals were hanging on the thinnest hope that Telfair would crap out and crash-land in college. But Theus told me he wouldn't ask the Lincoln star if he was planning on entering the NBA draft. "Why would I?" he said. "I don't want the kid to lie to me, and that's what he'd have to do." * * * * * * * * * * Sebastian Telfair hit Dwight Howard with a first-quarter blitz of hesitation drives and jump shots. "He's quicker than Isiah Thomas," Theus said as he watched behind the baseline. "Quicker than anyone in the NBA?" I asked. "As quick," Theus answered. "It's like he's in fast-forward. You can't teach hesitation like that, dipping your shoulder... Only the man upstairs can take credit for that." Telfair completed a 3-point play with 34.2 seconds left to give Lincoln a 20-15 lead. Early in the second quarter, Telfair threw a no-look pass to Antonio Pena for a basket, then hit him again with one of his Linda Blairs to put Lincoln up by 8 and to leave the fans and the NBA executives buzzing in expectation of more. "No way I'd put Jameer Nelson ahead of Telfair; Jameer doesn't have quickness like that," said John Nash, the Portland GM. "I have Telfair way ahead of him. Sebastian's already better than Damon Stoudamire." "I just saw Jameer Nelson," Randy Pfund, the Miami GM, told another executive, "and he's the best point guard in college and he can't hold a candle to this kid. Sebastian runs the pick and roll better than most point guards in the NBA." Telfair's quickness and verve would leave Howard appearing dizzy, at least until the Southwest Atlanta Christian center threw him down on a wild and vain left-handed attempt with 2:30 left in the first half. Only 20 seconds later, Telfair struck back with a hanging layup to punctuate a crossover so nasty it caused his defender to fall. With 5.5 seconds left and the entire place expecting Telfair to shoot, the Lincoln point guard used another brilliant hesitation drive to draw the defense and kick out the ball to reserve Jamel Jackson, who drained a 3-pointer to send the Prime Time crowd into a tizzy. "Watching Sebastian in this game," said Jeff Lenchiner, CEO of InsideHoops.com, "was like watching a character in a video game. He just hit a thrust button and launched himself into warp speed." Just like in Los Angeles, Telfair needed only one half to dazzle the entire NBA with his explosiveness, creativity, and vision. A year after watching from the front row while his friend, LeBron, dropped 52 on Westchester High, Telfair was planting his flag in the Trenton soil, encouraging the sneaker guys in attendance to drool just as much as the scouts. "He's the people's player at this tournament," said Nike's George Raveling. "He was sitting in the stands before the game, and the whole section was filled with people trying to get his autograph or to just see what he looks like." "He has all that drama about him that makes him special," said Reebok's Chris Rivers. "We want him. We can't get any closer on him without living on Coney Island.... But it's a business decision, and Nike gets who they want 95 percent of the time. Copyright © 2005 Ian O'Connor -------------------- Reprinted from: The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High Stakes Business of High School Ball by Ian O'Connor C 2005 Ian O'Connor. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735 or visit their website at www.rodalestore.com Author Ian O'Connor is a sports columnist for USA Today and the Journal News of New York. He has won numerous national writing honors, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. O'Connor lives in New Jersey with his wife, Tracey, and son, Kyle. Previous: The dirt on Tim Duncan Back to articles Back to top © 2001-2005 H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m, All rights reserved Terms of service Privacy policy Contact |
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