By KathrynBender, Star-Bulletin
Anthony Carter goes up for a shot as Llewellyn Smalley
can do nothing but watch him.

---

Keep your guard up

Carter and Smalley are two of
the most talented players in the
NCAA Summer League

By Dave Reardon
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Basketball is never out of season, especially the way it is played by Anthony Carter and Llewellyn Smalley.

Twice this summer, local sports fans were treated to one of the best deals imaginable -- Carter vs. Smalley in the NCAA Summer League.

The admission at Kaimuki High's gym was free. And so were the players -- free from the pressures of intense in-season competition; free to create, free to dominate.

Last night they combined for 88 points as Smalley's Pineapple Moon team beat Carter's Honolulu Ford squad, 123-113, in the league's regular-season finale.

Dunks, alley oops, long 3-pointers, behind-the-back dribbles and passes, change-of-pace drives -- even some dogged defense. The two most talented college basketball players in Hawaii, both guards, matched up and let it loose.

Each time one made a spectacular play, it seemed the other would match him with one of his own.

Smalley scored 45 points. Carter had 33, along with six assists, two steals and two blocks. The first time they played, they each scored 35, with Pineapple Moon winning that one, too.

"A.C. could score 40 or even 50 any game he wants to in this league," Smalley said. "But he's working on his point-guard skills."

Carter and Smalley ran together on a team in the Aloha State Games earlier this summer, dominating the open division. They've become friends, and plan to lift weights together to prepare for their senior seasons.

If they don't meet in next Wednesday's playoff final, the next time these two play against each other in a real game could be in the NBA.

They are both seniors-to-be, but you won't see them play college ball against each other next winter. Carter plays for the University of Hawaii while Smalley plays for Hawaii Pacific University, and they are not on each other's schedules.

It's hard to tell which player is better. Even when pressed, neither will say they are better than the other.

"He's a pretty good player," Carter, a man of few words, said of Smalley. "He definitely has Division I ability."

Says Smalley, "As far as athleticism goes, I think we're about equal. But his first thing is the pass. Mine is the shot."

"A.C. might be a little bit quicker, but Llewellyn shoots it better," said Tony Sellitto, Smalley's coach at HPU.

Neither player has reached his peak and neither has taken a traditional route to where they are now -- the best players on their college teams and among the best in all of college basketball. Neither is a household name outside of Hawaii, but Carter is getting there and Smalley is known by the scouts.

Carter, from Atlanta, played only one year of high school ball before dropping out. He was discovered on a playground, got his equivalency diploma and played at Saddleback Community College in California before coming to Hawaii. Last year he was named the Western Athletic Conference's Pacific Division's Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American. He is one of 15 finalists for the 1997-98 Wooden Award, college basketball's highest individual honor.

"I haven't really thought much about (the Wooden Award nomination)," Carter said. "I've just been coming out here and playing around a little and working on my 3-point shot a lot during the day."

Smalley, from Louisiana, did not play high school basketball at all. He joined the Army after high school and ended up in Hawaii.

"Basically I'm out here (in the summer league) to have fun," Smalley said. "But playing against A.C. makes me play my best."

The NCAA Summer Basketball League holds the first round of its playoffs Saturday night at Kaimuki. Smalley's Pineapple Moon team meets Electricians Hawaii at 6:15. Carter's Honolulu Ford team meets Royal Guard Security at 7:45. The winning teams meet for the league championship at 7 p.m. next Wednesday.