Banks keeps focus: C's guard shrugs off LeBron hype

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Banks keeps focus: C's guard shrugs off LeBron hype

by Mark Murphy
Tuesday, July 15, 2003








First touch, and Marcus Banks found himself facing a very famous person.



      Somebody's Got
      To Say It
      The Herald's fearless news coverage consistently gives readers the story
behind the story.
      Get Home Delivery
      Access Columnists
      Subscribe to eEdition


The 6-foot-2 Celtics rookie, the ball in his hands near the top of the circle,
had to be encouraged that he had caught 6-8 LeBron James somewhat flat-footed.

Banks dribbled, crossed the ball over and hit the lane while James was looking
at the open hole to his left.

One step past Carlos Boozer, and Banks was at the rim, laying it in for the
first hoop of the Celtics' 87-84 win over Cleveland last night, not to mention
the first strike in a 10-point, 4-for-14 evening that included four assists
and four steals.

James? Cleveland's big-time rookie, admittedly putting his `C' game on the
floor during the opening night of the Reebok Pro Summer League, eventually
gained speed in a 25-point, 11-for-21 glide across the Clark Athletic Center
court at UMass-Boston. He also had nine rebounds and five assists.

But that didn't matter much to Banks, a confident kid who played as billed -
with a lot of speed and little regard for the obstacles in the way.

Sure, James was great.

``LeBron, he's a regular guy,'' Banks said with a slight shrug. ``But that's
not what I'm thinking about. Basketball is something I do every day,
regardless of who I'm playing against.

``I'm a basketball player. You have to find a way to win, no matter who you're
going up against. Whatever happens, you just have to play like a man. Like I
said, I play every day. I've seen it all.''

It certainly seemed that way last night. The Celtics, with assistant John
Carroll running the team while head coach Jim O'Brien took the game in with
his family, attacked the Cavaliers - not simply James - with the same
defensive looks they would throw at any other guy named James.

``Just play defense,'' said JR Bremer. ``We have defensive principles we use
against everyone.

``He was good - real good. But he was the No. 1 pick, so he has to be good.
I've heard all about him. We're from the same area (Cleveland), and he's a
real big name down there.''

Put to the test last night, however, James showed some of the same weaknesses
as any other rookie - particularly in the defensive end.

If Banks' ability to drive the ball at his opponent was any indication, then
James does indeed have some work to do.

``The strategy was to make him turn his back to the ball,'' said Banks. ``If I
started getting him to do that, then my job was done.''

Though James simply showed an indication of things to come last night at
UMass-Boston, the power in his game became apparent enough down the stretch.

There were the passes that were too sharp and creative for his teammates to
handle. There was the poster-perfect dunk after losing Bremer on the baseline,
and flying over rookie Kendrick Perkins to slam the ball with crowd-pleasing
power.

That, however, only made Banks get up even tighter on his bigger opponent.

And from the moment he first looked up, a very basic thought occurred to the
Celtics rookie.

``I'm a basketball player, and he puts on his pants the same way as me,'' said
Banks.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of pick_upBH.gif]