Ostler finally gets
some home gamesThe former Hawaii post and
Europe pro plays for the Knicks'
summer league team in Utah
Troy Ostler's far-flung basketball career heads back home this week.
The former Hawaii forward is on the New York Knicks summer league team, which begins play in the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City tomorrow. It will be among the few times Ostler, a native of West Valley City, Utah, has played in his home state since he transferred to UH from Salt Lake Community College in 1999.
"I'm really excited," Ostler said before a Knicks game in the Reebok Pro Summer League in Boston last week. "There's a lot of people down there who haven't seen me play for a long time. So it'll be exciting to show them how I've transformed into the player I am now."
Ostler is among three former Rainbow Warriors scheduled to play in the Rocky Mountain Revue. Predrag Savovic is playing with the Denver Nuggets for the second straight summer. Carl English is on the Indiana Pacers' summer roster and will play with the Indiana/Philadelphia combined team in the league, which began Friday and runs through Saturday.
Indiana/Philadelphia opens against Denver today. New York finished play in the Pro Summer League in Boston on Friday and makes its Rocky Mountain Revue debut tomorrow against Denver.
Ostler, Savovic and English played together on UH's Western Athletic Conference tournament championship team in 2001.
"I'm looking forward to it," Ostler said of meeting up with Savovic and English. "It's going to be a good time, seeing those guys and playing with them."
English signed a free-agent contract with the Pacers on Friday, while Savovic's contract with the Nuggets expired July 1 and he is hoping to convince the team to re-sign him. Ostler is trying to work his way back to the U.S. after playing in a professional league in Latvia the past two years.
"We've won with them here and the NBA sees potential in them, so they'll all get their shot now," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
The Rocky Mountain Revue gives Ostler's family a chance to watch him play in person for the first time since he finished his UH career.
"We're really excited," said Connie Ostler, Troy's mother. "We haven't seen him play for two years, so it's going to be fun.
"He did bring a tape home, but it's not in English, so you don't understand anything they're saying."
Ostler averaged 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds over 27 games with Skonto Riga last season and was named to the all-league team. His play earned him an invitation to a mini-camp with the Knicks. His performance at the camp then led to a spot on the team's summer league roster.
Most of the NBA summer league players are rookies looking to cut their teeth at the professional level and free agents hunting for a spot with a team.
"It's a great experience," Ostler said. "This is my first time doing all of this, so it's fun. Any opportunity I get in there to play I'm just trying to do my best."
So far Ostler has had limited playing time with the Knicks, who are grooming draftees Michael Sweetney and Maciej Lampe during the summer. In four games, Ostler has scored seven points in 30 minutes.
Ostler has gained 20 pounds since his UH playing days, and is listed on the Knicks' summer roster at 6-foot-10, 225 pounds. He has moved from power forward to take advantage of his shooting range.
"My game's more consistent and I've improved my outside shooting a lot more because they're having me play the small forward position a lot more," Ostler said. "My overall game has improved, but I'm just more consistent now."
The changes in his game aren't the only new factors in Ostler's life. His wife, Siana, is due to give birth in September.
"He's just matured," Connie Ostler said. "With his traveling, playing and being overseas and playing in Hawaii, he's so much more experienced (and) that's made him mature more.
"I think the most discouraging thing for him is having to go away from his wife. Other than that he always sounds pretty upbeat and happy."
Whether or not his summer league play results in an NBA roster spot, Ostler said the experience has brightened his outlook on his basketball career.
"Sometimes it gets discouraging because you don't think you're getting anywhere, but you have to keep your head up and keep playing hard and something will turn up, just like it did for me this year," Ostler said.
"If I have to go back (to Europe) next year I have to keep doing what I'm doing and try to get back here again."