Swensday stuff

The Decision to Not be Average
Swen Nater

I sat the bench during games, all except for the last three games of my freshman year at Cypress College . We had a decent team and the starting center, the one I would substitute for, was a good player. The only way I would get into the game was if we were too far behind to catch up or too far ahead. Neither happened very often, as most of our games were close. So, practices had to do in lieu of games, at least for the time being. 

I found myself in a place where many young players are today; I thought I was pretty good and just needed a chance to prove it. Subconsciously I figured, if I got into a game, my shot would go in, rebounds would come my way, and my opponent would miss his shots. What I was doing, like many young players today, was counting on the game to come to me. 

One day after practice, Russ Sharples, a teammate that could jump out of the gym, said, “Swen. We’ve been talking. You need to learn how to jump with explosion. Right now, your half jumping and the result is, you almost get rebounds and you almost block shots. Let me show you how.” He demonstrated how to bend your knees to 90 degrees in a crouched position, and then launch into the air, with explosion, like a rocket ship. He had me try it a few times and it worked. Immediately, I added six inches to my vertical. At that point, I made the choice to be an explosive jumper.

In the following practices, I tried what Russ showed me and I was amazed at the result. I gave the starting center all he could handle. I blocked some of his shots and out-jumped him for rebounds. I was ready for my chance.

Orange Coast College was a highly-ranked team in the conference and they had a high-scoring center. It was a home game for us and we were up for the challenge. My starting center fouled out of the game midway through the second half. Coach Johnson came over to me and said, “Swen, get in the game.” I leaped off the bench and ran to the scoring table. I was so excited, I almost forgot to take my warm-ups off. I was nervous but not that nervous. I had been waiting for that moment and I was determined to deliver. I had one thought on my mind; that center on the other team was not going to get a shot off.

We were behind at the time. Orange Coast had the ball as play resumed. They passed the ball around and it eventually ended up in their center’s hands. I’m sure that was the plan. They thought they had an advantageous matchup. He was about at the freethrow line and began his upward motion to shoot a jump shot. I took one step toward him, bent my knees to 90 degrees, exploded up into the air, and blocked his shot so hard it ended up at half court. One of my teammates grabbed it and scored. Wow! That was pretty cool.

How happy do you think I was? Actually, I was not happy at all. My goal was, he was not going to score on me at all. I was ready for the next time he got the ball. This time, before he shot, he faked his shot, dribbled to his right, and pulled up for the jump shot. He thought he lost me but I came from the side and blocked my second shot. We scored again. I don’t think he scored on me that night. Also, I got a few rebounds when the ball was above the rim. Do you know how good that feels? Do you know what an adrenalin rush it is to be high above the rest of the players, with the ball, and looking down on them? We won the game and the players all congratulated me for helping.

When Russ Sharples told me, I was “almost” blocking shots and “almost” getting rebounds, I got the message. The message was, I was being outplayed by the others. I felt horrible and depressed, with a nauseating feeling in my gut. Suddenly, I became sick and tired of getting my behind kicked and losing. Russ, showing me how to jump with explosion, really helped, but it all came down to me making a decision. At that moment I made up my mind; I’m going to decide how things go from now on. I’m going to take control of my life. This is the way it’s going to be from now on. Nobody is going to beat me!

As I mentioned above, many young players today are in the position I was in at Cypress. They’re going to every practice, lifting weights, and even doing extra shooting. Some have parents that have rigged up weight equipment at home, in the garage, or take them to the gym for extra work on Sundays. In short, they’re doing everything that’s asked of them.

When you’re doing everything that’s asked of you, you’ll be average because the game will never come to you; you must go get the game and that takes a decision—a point in time when you are honest with yourself and tell yourself, “I’m sick and tired of not scoring when I want to, outrebounding the rest, or stopping a great scorer.” It’s when you tell Mr. Average to get in the backseat and you take the wheel.
Swen