- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption, page 11:
Josh Gray
Josh Gray should wake up sick every game day.
The Putnam Science Academy big man said Saturday morning wasn’t a good one for him and that he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to even play, he felt so under the weather.
“But then I took my vitamins,” Gray said, “and started to feel better and as I got my sweat going, I just felt like I did Wednesday night.”
Wednesday night (Jan. 8), Gray played his best game of the season … to that point. He finished PSA’s win with 21 points and 12 rebounds. So once he got going Saturday, and felt like he did the game prior? Gray was “on another level,” said coach Tom Espinosa. “He was unbelievable. He was the best player on the floor by far.”
That’s the kind of praise you get when you go for 16 points and a team season-high 20 rebounds and play with energy and intensity throughout that game.
Gray’s play really changed just prior to the holiday break when he had back-to-back games with 10 points and seven rebounds. Then he came back with these last two. Putting all those numbers together, Gray is averaging 14.3 points and 11.5 rebounds, not to mention 2.5 blocks, in the last four games. In the first 13 games, he was good, not great, averaging 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds. Those were generally quiet numbers. Now, everyone can hear him.
“A lot of people doubted me because this is Putnam and there’s a lot of talent here,” he said. “Everybody has to play a certain role and I could’ve just played my role and played four-minute stretches and average five (points) and five (rebounds). But that’s not the type of person I am.
“I decided to persevere and work hard over the break and now I’m showing people who I really am. This is what I do. I’m seizing my opportunity.”
The transformation hasn’t go unnoticed.
“To me, he’s been like a new player (since the break),” Espinosa said. “I know it’s only been two games, but even in practice…he’s more focused, he’s working much harder. He can be pretty scary.”
Said teammate Marty Silvera: “He’s definitely improving on his game. You can tell he’s working hard and trying to learn more. He’s maturing, focused, you can tell he’s trying to win a national championship, and move on to the next level.”
And Hassan Diarra added: “He’s playing harder than before. He understands his role on this team and how to be great in that role.”
A position switch has helped as well. Gray was viewed early at PSA as strictly a center. At 7 feet tall and 240 pounds, that makes sense. But Gray is incredibly nimble on his feet, and Espinosa has said that Gray is one of the most athletic big men he’s ever coached. And with real good depth at the center position, Espinosa and his coaches decided to move Gray to power forward spot, which allows him more freedoms.
“He’s just really accepted that role,” Espinosa said. “The 4-man kind of gives him a little more freedom, and that’s great for Josh. He can just run around and play as hard as he can.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
..