arenas623

SoCalHoops High School News

Gil Arenas Just Doesn't Get Any Respect--(June 24, 1998)

You know, it's just downright frustrating when you're a really great player, but have to play for a low profile team in a low-profile program. We're just getting so. . . well, we're so. . .miffed. Yeah, that's it, we're miffed. When we think of all the good publicity that a great player like Gil could get if he just played for a really high-profile team. . . like, well, like how about Sylmar. Yeah, now there's a really high profile program. Well, apparently we weren't the only ones who were just steamed about the fact that Grant High doesn't play in "high profile" events and gets no press coverage during the off-season, because the Times has now apparently assigned Grant and Gil Arenas their own personal Times beat reporter, whose job it is to follow Gil around in order to insure that he gets a suitably high enough profile.

In fact, just a few days after printing the Valley sports report about the dreaded "transfer rumors" , the Times put out yet another article on Gil, this one written by John Ortega which had the following headline: "Arenas Lights Up L.A. Watts Games Basketball: He scores 29 points but J.W. North defeats Grant in first round, 57-44. "

We at SoCalHoops also want to insure that Gil continues to receive enough exposure during the off-season, so we're going to reprint the Times' article here as well because a link to it will be outdated in about a day or two, and because, of course, we're providing commentary and thus this falls within the doctrine of Fair Use. Here's John Ortega's article.

Arenas Lights Up L.A. Watts Games Basketball: He scores 29 points but J.W. North defeats Grant in first round, 57-44.
By John Ortega
Times Staff Writer

"Who's number 13?
What's his name?
What city is Grant High in?
Those were some of the questions members of the Norwalk High boys' basketball team asked Saturday as they watched Grant guard Gilbert Arenas score 29 points during the Lancers' 57-44 loss to J.W. North in a first-round game of the L.A. Watts Summer Games at Franklin High. "

[Of course, if Gil had been receiving enough high-profile off-season publicity and coverage from the media, the members of the Norwalk High boys' basketball team wouldn't need to be asking those questions, now would they?]

Norwalk suffered a 57-point drubbing to Fremont in the previous game, but many of the team's players seemed to forget about that loss as they marveled at Arenas' offensive repertoire. Whether he was swishing a three-pointer, throwing down a right-handed dunk, tipping in a missed shot or sinking a free throw, Arenas scored in a variety of ways in the game that was played with 20-minute halves and a running clock.

[And because not enough lip-service has been paid to the "transfer rumors", the Times again fueled the speculation]:

Rumors have persisted for months that Arenas is going to transfer from Grant to Valley Pac-8 Conference rival Sylmar for his senior season, but the 6-foot-3, All-City Section 4-A Division guard has denied them.

[Once again, a "transfer rumor" denial. Thank goodness. But the article did tell us how Gil performed in the Watts Games]:

He made nine of 16 shots, four of eight three-point attempts and seven of nine free throws against J.W. North, which advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs in March. Arenas' three-pointer tied the score, 15-15, with 8:46 left in the first half, but the Huskies outscored the Lancers, 15-6, to end the half and take a 30-21 lead at intermission. J.W. North extended its lead to 43-30 with 10 1/2 minutes left in the game, but Arenas scored eight consecutive points to cut Grant's deficit to 43-38 with eight minutes left. J.W. North countered with a 9-0 run to take a 52-38 lead with 3:35 remaining.

[Even Howie Levine, Grant's coach, who is, we guess, responsible for the fact that Grant and Arenas don't receive enough off-season publicity, got quoted]:

"I think we did some good things out there," Grant Coach Howie Levine said. "We made a nice run at them in the second half, but they are a traditionally tough team in this tournament. They hit the boards hard and they get a lot of second shots."

J.W. North scored 10 points after rebounding its own misses and could have had another four if not for missed free throws. Lionel Dixon scored 17 points for the Huskies and eight other players scored for J.W. North. Only five players scored for Grant, which got seven points from Krishna Evans, five from Daniel Tarr, two from Ryan Logan and one from Justin Buttikofer. Levine, who will begin his 13th season at Grant this winter, didn't seem overly concerned with his team's unbalanced scoring. He realizes it is June and the start of the regular season is more than five months away. He's also trying to give Rashad Winston and Logan as much time at point guard this summer so Arenas can move to the wing permanently.

And what about the rumors regarding Arenas? "As I said before, as far as I know he's going to be playing with us," Levine said. "Unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume that he's going to be with us."

Boy, talk about effective off-season high profile publicity. There were 85 teams entered in the Watts Summer Games and they all played this weekend. But the only article contained in the LA Times was about Gil Arenas and Grant, and the team lost in the first round.

But that's what you get when you play for a low-profile team in a low-profile program.