The great Stephon Marbury once said, "You can't make a great point guard. It's someone who wants to make everyone better, is willing to sacrifice, wanting only to score when he has to and making the passes when needed."
For the men's basketball team, with all the talent that is present on the low blocks and the wings for the Blue Jays, perhaps there has been no position more important than point guard this season. With both a devastating loss and a huge win this week, it has become crystal clear that as the season draws to a close and postseason play looms, success in the future may hinge on what Head Coach Bill Nelson calls "my coach on the floor."
After sophomore point guard and potential starter Scott Weisenfeld went down in the preseason with a torn ACL, the job was left to classmate Colin Kamm. With limited playing time seen last season, Kamm became the player whose job it was to feed senior scorers Dan Nawrocki, Matt Griffin and TJ Valerio. It has been a role that, after some struggles, he has grown into, and his coach couldn't be prouder.
"Colin has been a pleasant surprise," Nelson said. "We weren't sure what we'd get from him, but he has been very steady. Our other players have confidence in him."
This past week, it was apparent how important Kamm's role on the team is. In a tough 70-68 loss to seventh-place McDaniel, Kamm had three turnovers to just one assist. While the stats aren't very impressive, the blame shouldn't be on just the point guard.
The Green Terror showed up at Goldfarb displaying emotion and energy that was simply not matched by a lackadaisical Blue Jay team. Perhaps seeing McDaniel's record prompted an easygoing attitude, but for whatever reason, Hopkins simply didn't have their energy at a suitable level for the game.
"We were flat against McDaniel," Nelson said. "We let them make three separate big runs, and, although we didn't let them score in the final few minutes, the 11-point deficit we faced was too much."
On Saturday, however, the Blue Jays came with an intensity and aggressiveness appropriate for a game that pitted two teams tied for first place against one another. An Ursinus team that traveled to Baltimore got more than they could handle, and left with a 74-68 loss. The Blue Jays haven't had all cylinders working like they did on Saturday all season, and with just two games left in the regular season, it is the perfect time to get their offense and defense working together.
Nawrocki had 16 points and 12 rebounds while breaking the all-time record in the Centennial Conference for rebounds. Griffin had 17 points and three rebounds, and Valerio led the way with 20 points, catching fire in the second half to allow the Blue Jays to pull away.
It was Kamm, however, who impressed. The point guard only had one point, shooting 0-3 from the field, but this Blue Jay team doesn't depend on his scoring. With three rebounds, three assists, two steals and only one turnover, Kamm gave the Blue Jays exactly what they needed in a big victory.
With Nawrocki, Griffin and Valerio on board to provide scoring, Kamm needs only to control the ball, run the offense smoothly, and get the seniors their shots. In each big win (at Ursinus, at F&M and home against Ursinus) Kamm has protected the basketball and found ways to improve his team's offense.
Kamm looked his best on Saturday, knowing exactly when to push the ball, when to slow it down and how to efficiently distribute the basketball. This is what Nelson wants from him, and what he expects from himself.
"His role isn't to score points for us," Nelson said. "He has done a good job of controlling the offense, and a great job of keeping a comfortable tempo. We don't feel as coaches the need to call timeouts too often, because both he and [freshman guard] Pat O'Connell do a good job of keeping things running smoothly."
There was a period of adjustment for Kamm, however.
"I played 40 minutes all of last year," Kamm said. I came in with no experience, with the expectation that I could take a leadership role when we have three senior leaders starting alongside me. It was difficult, but our early success was really important in getting my teammates to have confidence in me. In turn, their trust in me gives me the belief that I can run this offense."
Perhaps putting it best is the senior Nawrocki, always looking on the lighter side of things.
"I think the easiest way to put it is that this has been like his Bar Mitzvah year," Nawrocki said. "He has grown into a more mature, polished, defined player. Not only a player, though, a young man, both on and off the court. He is so smooth out there with the ball--we all call him Suave."
The Blue Jays play next at Gettysburg on Wednesday before returning home to battle Franklin & Marshall on senior night on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
