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Forward: SFEx: Foyle's game lies fallow as lockout festers
Saw this in the Warriors' news group. Adonal Foyle's a player I would take a
chance on.
Ray
In article , Allen Lazaroff says...
> San Francisco Examiner
> Aug. 6, 1998
>
> Foyle's game lies fallow as NBA lockout festers
> Jorge L. Ortiz
> OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
>
> Adonal Foyle is aching to play some hoops.
>
> After averaging less than 12 minutes a game as a
> Warriors rookie, the 6-foot-9 forward can't wait to
> run up and down a court, block some shots, try out
> some new offensive moves.
>
> But he can't. It's just too risky.
>
> When the NBA imposed a lockout on June 29, teams
> notified players their contracts could be voided if they
> incurred an injury playing in the summer. Foyle, who
> had been the only NBA player participating in the
> Bay Area Pro-Am Summer League, dropped out after
> two games for fear of jeopardizing his three-year,
> $4.25 million deal.
>
> "Since I got hurt last summer, I wasn't going to take
> any chances of getting hurt again," said Foyle, who
> broke a foot playing in the Jersey Shore League and
> missed most of training camp.
>
> Instead he has concentrated on individual workouts,
> hiring a personal trainer and a basketball instructor to
> help him with drills while he puts in two to three
> sweaty hours a day.
>
> That should help him avoid the weight gain that
> followed last summer's injury, but it's no substitute
> for the supervision and coaching the Warriors staff
> can provide. Or could. Right now the coaches can't
> even comment on the players, let alone contact them.
>
> "The moment you say Adonal Foyle, (I'm supposed to
> say), "I can't talk about him,' " said assistant coach
> Paul Westhead, who attended Foyle's pro-am games
> and worked frequently with him during the season.
> "It's almost like they're persona non grata. And
> they're pretty tough on it, too."
>
> The lockout may prove particularly damaging to
> young players like Foyle, who depend on summer
> workouts and coaching to improve their games. As a
> raw rookie out of small-time Colgate who had played
> only six years of organized basketball, Foyle often
> looked bewildered on the floor. His court savvy was
> nonexistent, his footwork a mess.
>
> Under Westhead's watchful eye, Foyle was supposed
> to improve in those areas during the offseason. Now
> he's trying to do it mostly on his own.
>
> "Without being able to see a player, without being
> able to monitor him even in a telephone conversation
> - "How's it going? How's this drill going?' - you have
> no idea," Westhead said. "I couldn't even speculate on
> that even if I was allowed to."
>
> Foyle does plan to attend Pete Newell's Big Man's
> Camp in Hawaii later this month, which he couldn't
> do last year because of the injury. But he longs for
> playing the game, learning the nuances taught only by
> hour after hour on the court.
>
> He had been joining pickup games at the St. Mary's
> College gym, but the level of competition and
> potential for injury convinced him that wasn't the way
> to go about polishing his game.
>
> "There's really nobody around who's good, that's the
> problem with pickup games," Foyle said. "There's
> nobody who's at the NBA level and has the kind of
> caliber that will challenge you. It's just a bunch of
> little people."
>
> Foyle has reached out to some bigger guys, like
> teammates Erick Dampier, Donyell Marshall, Todd
> Fuller and Jason Caffey, but none of them have been
> around. He even called Antawn Jamison, the
> Warriors' top pick in the June draft, but hasn't heard
> back from the North Carolina product.
>
> So Foyle's devoting his attention to the individual
> workouts and a class he's taking at Cal - "America
> and the Far Right in the 20th Century," a fittingly
> challenging subject for the intellectually curious
> native of Canouan in the Grenadines.
>
> That still leaves him plenty of time to monitor a labor
> dispute that shows no signs of getting resolved any
> time soon. Commissioner David Stern and players
> association head Billy Hunter are scheduled to resume
> negotiations on Thursday, but the sides appear far
> apart on the main point of contention, the structure of
> the salary cap.
>
> "The issues for me are very troubling," Foyle said.
> "The issues have the possibility of neither side
> wanting to give in. In a labor negotiation, that's
> always a bad sign, as baseball has demonstrated in the
> past.
>
> "We can't forget people can just walk away. I hope
> we don't think sports is so above everything and we
> remain sensitive to the needs of the fans."
>
> And for that matter, to the needs of the players,
> especially the young ones.
>
> NOTES: If training camp starts on time, the Warriors
> will open the exhibition season with two games
> against the Lakers in Hawaii. After those contests,
> scheduled for Oct. 14 and 16, they are due to play in
> Vancouver (Oct. 20) and at Los Angeles against the
> Clippers (Oct. 29). They also are hosting three
> exhibitions at their Oakland arena, Oct. 22, 24 and 27
> against the Blazers, Grizzlies and Suns, respectively.
>
> --
> You can access the full Examiner and Chronicle at their joint web site
> http://www.sfgate.com/ which contains a free Warriors conference within the
> sports conference, hosted by Ray Ratto.
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