Bell's back in school

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bell's back in school
By Steve Bulpett
Saturday, November 1, 2003

MEMPHIS - A year ago, Troy Bell was a big man on the Boston College campus. He
was on his way to becoming the Big East Player of the Year and the Eagles'
all-time leading scorer.

     Now he's a smaller fish in the NBA pond, fated to a year of learning the
ropes while other Grizzlies get the playing time and the spotlight.

     ``I'm just trying to soak it all in,'' said Bell, who came to Memphis in
a draft day deal with the Celtics - his opponent last night. ``There's a lot
to learn, and I'm young and basically just watching and learning.

     ``I came into this situation realistically. I knew that Jason Williams is
a very good player and Earl Watson's a really good player, and they have
experience on me. At the point guard position, that's really important. I'm
just trying to learn from those guys as well as the coach.''

     The coach is, of course, Hubie Brown, who assessed Bell's progress
yesterday.

     ``Troy has made major advances from the summer and through the exhibition
(season but), the competition at that position is very strong for us with
Williams and Watson,'' Brown said. ``I say this all the time, and that is that
the most difficult position to play in professional basketball today is the
point guard, because players coming out of college basically run teams that
play the passing game in most situations and they're not under the gun of the
24-second clock and then running continuity offenses. So it is a major, major
education for a point guard in that situation, because the ball has got to get
to the primary people in the first, second, third and fourth option when
they're open. In college you have 35 seconds; in the NBA you have 24, so the
guy has got to be seeing everything, adjusting to the defense that's being
played on him and make the right decisions.

     ``Now we like his athleticism, his ability to score, his ability to get
to the foul line because he'll take the ball to the basket. He's making major
progress, so we're very happy because we think that he's going to be a good
player. You never know when it happens, because who knows with injuries.''

     Bell, who did not play in the Grizzlies' 93-91 loss to the C's, just
knows he's in a big laboratory right now, and he likes the professor.

     ``I've never played for a coach that taught so much,'' he said. ``You
learn a lot playing with Hubie. And he makes it fun. Not only are you
learning, but he slides some jokes in there every now and then. Sometimes the
jokes are on me, being that I'm the rookie point guard and I make a few
mistakes sometimes. But it's a lot of fun.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx