Summer league nets thin crowd

Many of Bruin basketball’s megastars revel in the relaxed
atmosphere of off-season playBy Brent Boyd

Summer Bruin Senior Staff

It was crunch time. The next basket scored would determine the
victor. Knowing the importance of the possession, J.R. Henderson
accepted a pass down low, spun and hit a turnaround jump shot over
his defender to clinch the overtime victory.

But there was barely a cheer from the crowd. Vacant seats aren’t
apt to create too much noise.

That is the problem for the 1996 "Say No" Summer Basketball
League held every weekend at Cal State Los Angeles ­ the
relative anonymity of the league. It drew about 100 people on
Friday night, and even less on Saturday.

The anonymity of the players however, is one thing the league
need not worry about. Aside from Henderson, six other Bruins
participate in the league, however none play on the same team. Toby
Bailey is teammates with his brother and coached by his father.
Jelani McCoy is forced to share the ball with former Bruin omm’A
Givens on the Inland Empire team, while Kris Johnson must work
together with David Krause, the center for hated crosstown rival
USC.

Cameron Dollar, Charles O’Bannon and Brandon Lloyd will also
compete for the summer league championship throughout the
summer.

But the Bruins themselves may not be the most featured
attraction at what is one of the top two summer leagues in the
nation, according to league spokesman Harvey Neilman. Among the
others are Jacque Vaughn and Paul Pierce of probable preseason No.
1 Kansas, Cameron Murray and Dejuan Wheat of Louisville, as well as
Tremaine Fowlkes of Fresno State.

The Bruins in the league also get a chance to face up against
some of the brightest stars in the Pacific 10. Bailey will battle
against Arizona guard and sharpshooter Miles Simon on Friday at
7:30 p.m., while Henderson and Washington forward Mark Sanford will
try to stop Simon Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Other Pac-10 competitors
include Roderick Rhodes and Stais Boseman of USC, Ed Grey of
California, Washington State’s Dominic Ellison and Stanford’s Mark
Seaton.

"It helps competing against Pac-10 opponents because we gain the
knowledge of what they are like," Henderson said. "We get to work
on stuff in these games, whereas we don’t really get that chance in
the regular season. It is a time to experiment."

Experimenting unfortunately lends itself to not-so-intense
basketball. Empty gymnasiums can also contribute to a more relaxed
environment on the floor; the athletes don’t feel the pressure to
play at full intensity.

"It is definitely hard to get motivated, as you don’t have the
crowd behind you," said Henderson, used to playing in front of
12,000 people at Pauley Pavilion. "It takes three quarters just to
get into the game."

Playing with a hurt ankle, Henderson clearly was not at the top
of his game Friday night.

"I think his timing is totally off, he can play much better,"
his coach Ivory Manning said.

Adding to that was the opposing coach, Andre McCarter, "I
thought he probably should have been playing harder."

But this relaxed atmosphere is a main selling point for the
league. Well, not exactly a selling point, because the games are
free to attend, but a way to attract spectators. When attending
these games, it is not as if one is watching gods playing
basketball, like it often seems like when games are viewed in the
midst of a capacity crowd or on the television screen. Instead,
these players are approachable, and one can even go up and talk to
them at the conclusion of the game without maneuvering through a
maze of security.

* * *

The games are played according to NBA rules. There is a
24-second clock, illegal defense and a three-point line farther
away than college players are accustomed to.

The league features three games played on Fridays beginning at 6
p.m., with five games apiece on Saturdays and Sundays beginning at
11 a.m. The 20 teams compete in a nine-game regular season,
followed by a 16-team playoff, culminating in the championship game
on Aug. 4.

This week’s games feature Dollar, Bailey and Johnson, doing
battle in the the first three games Saturday. On Sunday, O’Bannon’s
team will go up against Big Time, featuring Vaughn, with Dollar
playing immediately afterwards, and McCoy playing at 6:30 p.m.

Don’t expect to see all of the players at every scheduled game.
Prior commitments forced Kris Johnson to miss Friday’s game,
Henderson to miss Saturday’s.

CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin

J.R. Henderson is one of seven Bruins participating in the "Say
No" Summer Basketball League at Cal State Los Angeles.