NYPG Blue


 
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By Pat Cassidy

Page 2

When you listen to him talk, you have to keep reminding yourself that Marlon’s only 15. Even before the lights of the camera are flipped on, it’s obvious that Marlon’s playing on a different court than most kids his age. Just rapping about ball and other point guards, Stephon Marbury’s name comes up. Marlon says: "Steph’s a great player, but he’s selfish. He just cares about his own. It’s a great achievement to make it to the NBA, but I think that he should look out for the younger players. It’s his responsibility, you know, give back.”

With all that he’s been through the past year, his maturity is a godsend. Going into his freshman year, Marlon decided to transfer from the small private school he had been attending to the NYC basketball powerhouse Archbishop Molloy. But when Molloy’s opponents in New York’s Catholic League caught wind of the move, they found a provision in the New York State athletics rule book that prevented Marlon from playing his entire freshman year. Catholic League rules would have allowed him to play, but the league chose to defer to the State’s ruling.

Marlon was crushed. He would have been the only freshman other than Kenny Anderson to play Molloy Varsity ball as a freshman. Before the school year even began, he had already circled Molloy’s game against Omar Cook’s Christ the King squad as his coming out party. But when the time came, he had to sit and watch from the stands.

But Marlon took his pain and re-directed it into his personal workouts. For a solid year, he drilled by himself, adding touch to his already feathery J. He worked on his handle, making his crossover that much more lethal. He fashioned his body into a weapon, to the point where when he showed up at summer leagues and camps like the Eastern Inviational, he physically abused players his own age and several years older.

"That dude from New York is good," says Labron James, a top-3 sophomore from Akron, OH. "He's so fast, he can shoot and he's so strong. He's really good."


1 2 3 4 Marlon is crushed...