Antawn Jamison says guys respect Earl Boykins’ shot. I’m just not sure I buy it.
Take, for example, the game-clinching sequence in last night’s 104-102 Wizards win over Milwaukee. Boykins and Brendan Haywood played pick and roll against 7-footer Andrew Bogut and rookie Brandon Jennings — who, by the way, is listed at 169 pounds. He’s the size of soccer player, not a point guard, but I digress. First, Boykins uses the pick, then weaves his way into the lane, steps back at the elbow, and with Bogut closing out – but, apparently, not enough – Boykins lifts a jumper high over him to pull Washington to within one, 99-98.
There’s no way that shot wasn’t still fresh in Bogut’s mind when Boykins and Haywood did the exact same thing the next time down the floor. Of course, Bogut charged harder, and of course Haywood was wide open for a dunk that put the Wizards back in front.
Perhaps it’s not that players don’t respect Earl. They just can’t help themselves — Cleveland’s Mo Williams did the same thing, convinced he could turn into a post player but unsuccessfully backing down Boykins on the block.
“I think people respect Earl,” said Jamison. “He’s been doing it for a while. He’s not a guy that is 5-3, shouldn’t be getting shots up. The way he’s got to this level can amaze the fans, more than anything – ‘He’s a guy that’s my size in with the rest of those giants, and he’s making it look easy, so I guess I can go out there and get it done.’ I think as an opponent, you really respect what he’s capable of doing and this is not anything new. It kind of amazes me that it’s hard for this guy to keep stable in the league and to be on a team because he’s a veteran who knows how to play the game, and he can take over games at times.”
While Bogut appeared to be the immediate victim, Jennings was also put through the ringer by a guy he had faced three times last year in Italy when Boykins was with Virtus Bologna and Jennings was with Lottomatica Roma.
“[The experience] definitely helped because just like anyone, if you play against a guy three times, you know their tendencies,” said Boykins, who said he spoke with Jennings at length before the game and had given him advice last year when Jennings was struggling to adjust to being a pro — not that he let him off the hook on the court. “I sort of knew what he wanted to do, and tonight I was able to take advantage just because I’m more familiar with him than everyone else in the NBA.”
Boykins, in fact, is convinced he’s no different than any other NBA player, except for his height, which works in the exact opposite fashion that height does when it comes to the NBA Draft, explaining why Washington is Boykins ninth team in 11 years.
“Young players are coming in, and because of his height, he gets moved on,” said Gilbert Arenas. “That’s it.”
Lucky for Boykins, as busy and frenetic he can be on the court, he’s got the same potential for patience when he’s not playing.
“I never worry,” he said. “It’s not my personality. I guess I’m not an anxious person. I guess if the Wizards wouldn’t have called me, I had other teams that were interested, and I would’ve chose someone else.”
“I just want to be the best,” said Boykins. “That’s what drives me when I’m out on the court. I always believe that when you’re out on the court, you have to believe you’re the best, no matter who’s out there, and that’s what drives me. It’s weird that after ten years, you still have to prove yourself in this league, and I’m used to it, but I also take it as a challenge.”
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