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Posted on Sun, Feb. 01, 2004
Hard work pays off for Freije
By JOE POSNANSKI
Columnist - Joe Posnanski
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Everything I believe about what has gone wrong in basketball was happening right in front of me. There was a kid shooting around before the Vanderbilt basketball practice. He was not a Vanderbilt player. He was probably there to help out with a scrimmage or something. He was 6 feet 3 or so and looked to be in great shape. He probably dominates intramural games.
Anyway, he jacked up a few three-pointers. Some went in. Most did not. He jogged after the ball half-heartedly. He practiced a couple of turnaround jumpers, but quickly got bored with all that. So of course, he started dunking the ball. He dunked with two hands. He missed a three-pointer. He dunked with his right hand. He missed a turnaround jumper. He tried a 360-dunk and almost knocked himself to the ground.
Hey, I'm not saying this guy could have been the next Jon Sundvold or Trajan Langdon or Sidney Moncrief or whatever. I'm just saying he was goofing off. This is the problem. Seems like everybody's goofing off. It's no secret: Basketball isn't very good right now. The NBA is mostly like watching a mugging in the park (20 years ago, the NBA shot 49 percent from the field — I'm talking the whole league — and now there's not even one team shooting 49 percent). Much of college basketball is stale and hard to watch, even outside of Columbia. American basketball teams, once chillingly dominant, now sputter and cough when playing against the world.
What the heck happened?
Maybe we can learn something from the story of Vanderbilt star Matt Freije, who played at Shawnee Mission West.
MARK HUMPHREY/The Associated Press
Vanderbilt forward Matt Freije (left), who attended Shawnee Mission West, celebrated with teammates Scott Hundley (center) and Russell Lakey in the final seconds of their 66-60 victory Saturday against Kentucky.
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Matt Freije (pronounced FREE-jee) is one of the best college basketball players in America. He does not have much hype. He has a lot of game. He's 6 feet 9, and he can shoot the three. He scores almost 19 a game. He can play with his back to the basket or he can put the ball on the floor. He makes free throws, he's a solid rebounder, he's a pure scorer, he finishes plays, he almost never turns over the basketball, and Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings says Freije's a good passer even if the numbers (14 assists in 18 games) don't necessarily show it.
Freije was chosen the Southeastern Conference preseason player of the year.
Four years ago, when Freije played high school basketball in Overland Park, he was not even recruited by Kansas.
So, how did he get here? How did Freije make himself into an All-American?
“He worked,â€