Silvera pg 5 11-27-19
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It had been a long time since Marty Silvera was The Man. Since some time in early 2018, probably.
That was when he was lighting up opposing defenses as a junior on Doherty High School’s basketball team in Worcester, averaging close to 25 points, nine assists, and three steals a game.
He then took his game to Putnam Science Academy for his senior season, hoping to attract more colleges and scholarship opportunities. Things did not go as he expected.
“Coming from Doherty to here, it was a totally different zone,” said Silvera, now in his postgrad year at PSA. “At Doherty, I got the ball every time. Everything was going through me.
“Then I came here, I didn’t even touch the court the first 12 games. It was messing with my head, I won’t lie.”
Silvera found a little bit of a rhythm before the season ended, but “it was iffy if I was coming back or not because (the coaches didn’t know if they could believe in me. They told me that if I did come back, I had to be focused, no more doing dumb stuff, it was going to be basketball and books. And since then, that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Finally, in the team’s eighth game of this season last Friday, the 6-foot, 2-inch point guard got that old feeling back.
Playing in front a large contingent of college coaches and NBA scouts and executives at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College, he finished with 24 points, four rebounds, five assists, and four steals in a 77-69 win. He also drilled a dagger 3-pointer inside the final minute that iced the game.
“I feel the moment for sure,” he said. “I airballed two before that and I was like ‘Hell no, this isn’t happening, this can’t be me.’ I’m just being in the moment and thinking about that shot going in. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
Silvera followed up that performance with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists the next night as the second-ranked Mustangs rallied for a thrilling 91-88 come-from-behind win over fourth-ranked Scotland Campus.
“I definitely trust him and I have a lot of confidence in him,” said teammate Hassan Diarra, Silvera’s closest friend on the team. “He can do a lot of things. The coaches believe in him that he could go out there and do it like that in every game.”
Said PSA coach Tom Espinosa: “I knew he had it in him, but he had to commit to himself. He didn’t do that last year. So I knew he could do these kinds of things if he committed, and he’s done that, from the summer and through the fall. He’s been really good. I give him a lot of credit. He’s really worked for this second chance.”
One of the most visible signs of that work and commitment is Silvera’s body. He spent the offseason dedicated to reshaping it, dropping 25 pounds.
“This summer, I was just working out and playing basketball, working out and playing basketball,” he said. “That’s it.”
Silvera has garnered plenty of college attention, and with a long season ahead, figures to gain more. He’s got about a half-dozen scholarship offers, mostly from mid-major Division I programs.
“I’m going to keep going with this and I’m very appreciative of (the coaches) giving me a second opportunity to show my talents and my leadership,” Silvera said. “They gave me the shot this year to be one of the main men, and I just want to take it and take all my other blessings. I’m trying to listen to the people who want me to do well and want to see me succeed and go far.
“And hopefully, we get a championship this year.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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