AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Merv Lopes and Pete Newell spoke at yesterday's press conference for this year's Big Man Camp.

72 headed for
Big Man Camp

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

After last year's disappointing turnout, where nearly a dozen players canceled at the last minute, Pete Newell's enthusiasm for his Big Man Camp had waned a little. But the Hall of Fame coach got an early 87th birthday present when a record number of NBA and college players committed to this year's 25th annual event.

"We had to cut off entries," Newell said during a press conference yesterday at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. "We like to have a personal relationship with the players. It's about teaching and it's hard to do when you have too many under one basket.

"The greatest pride that you have in coaching is just seeing a kid get better. When I started this 26 years ago -- missed one year with the strike -- it was to try to help one player improve his skills."

The focus hasn't changed, but the interest has, with 30 pros and 42 collegians signed up. Among those scheduled to attend next week's camp on the Kamehameha Schools campus are seven 2002 draft picks, including No. 3 Mike Dunleavy Jr. (Golden State) and No. 5 Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Denver), perennial attendee Antawn Jamison (Golden State) and college players Haim Shimonovich of Hawaii and Cal's Amit Tamir.

Newell, who has coached NCAA and Olympic championship teams, said the game of basketball is still simple. It's the players and the way the game is played that have changed.

"The problem is the current flex style of offense doesn't rely on a center," he said. "Consider that, from 1959 to 1980 there were 21 MVPs in the NBA and 20 of those were centers, seven of them Hall of Famers.

"Now we have one center that qualifies for the MVP or the Hall of Fame in the last 10 years, Shaquille (O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers). The center of today is more of a screener, not the focus of scoring."

Newell points to this year's NBA Draft, which had quite a foreign flavor to it. His camp will have two foreign players in Tskitishvili (Republic of Georgia) and Nene Hilario (Brazil), the No. 7 pick by the New York Knicks, who was traded to Denver on draft day.

"In Europe and other foreign leagues, they don't develop the center position," said Newell. "What we try to teach them is how to play with their backs to the basket and the foot skills they need.

"I defy anyone to tell me a center who comes from foreign basketball, to this point, and has proved themselves to even coming close to our better centers."

Another difference in the players of today is the money. Newell, who prides himself as an educator, bemoans the system that allows college players to leave school early and allows high schoolers to be drafted.

"Money was never a factor when I was coaching in college," said Newell, a former coach at San Francisco, Michigan State and Cal. "There weren't the agents like now or even the pressure to sign these big contracts. In our day, a three-year contract was considered long. Now you have multi-year, multi-million-dollar ones."

Money may be a factor in Newell moving his camp back to Southern California after nine years in Hawaii.

"The cost has risen so much to travel here," he said. "And then you add the hotel and food. It's not a problem for the pros, but the college players have to pay their own way. And it's getting harder for them with all the NCAA regulations.

"I love it here, it's my second home, and I'm very encouraged by the turnout this year. But I can't say whether we'll be back or not. We'll wait and see."

The cost for a college player to attend is $1,050, with hotel and food bringing the bill to about $2,500. An NBA player pays $2,600 for the camp. Most teams pay for their players, but Jelani McCoy (Lakers) and Scott Padgett (Utah) are paying their own way this year.

Back for perhaps his last stint as camp coach is Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe, a camp alumnus. His duties as GM may preclude his involvement.

Also on the staff are Detroit coach Rick Carlisle and former Rainbow guard Jarinn Akana, the player development/Asia scout for the Nuggets.

Denver, Washington and Golden State have the most players in camp with four each. Three Michigan State players are also participating.

The camp runs Monday through Friday at Kekuhaupi'o Gym. The morning session for the pros runs from 8:30-11:30, with the college session from 1-4 p.m. The camp is open to the public and there is no admission charge.