A Quote by Joe Harris
I was fortunate in college to play as a freshman, but in the NBA, not a lot of rookies are coming in and making a significant impact right off the bat.
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I've learned a lot from the experiences that I went through in high school, through college and overseas, and just everything in life. That is what prepared me for coming into the NBA, being undersized, no recognition, not getting anything easy, and I have been fortunate to prosper in this league.
I was more into music, before I got into college. In high school, I used to play guitar and sing. I did a lot of that. But, when I graduated and went to college, I remember my freshman year and this girl from across the hall, who is one of my good friends to this day, had a brother who was in the school improv team. We went to go watch a show and it blew my face off.
Coming out of high school, I think it was good for me instead of going to college because college and the NBA are two different things. You can dominate on the college level, but the NBA is a whole different story. The dudes that do the best are the ones who work hard.
The NBA is a culture shock for college kids, and even more so for kids from another country. The NBA is a unique environment, so there is going to be transition for any young kid, but I think coming from another country and culture is even harder. It does take a special toughness and confidence to deal with that, especially since a lot of times you don't play a lot as a young player.
I think that a lot of people are like, 'Oh, he only - he got hurt in the college season, where they only played 40 games. How is he gonna play 82 games in the NBA season?' They don't really look at the fact that in college, you practice way harder than in the NBA.
Sure, he had a wife and fifty-four kids, but he looked like a college freshman. A yummy college freshman majoring in Oh-my-god-I-gotta-get-me-some-of-that.
I struck out with two men on base. I was so angry, so frustrated, I turned and without even thinking about it, snapped my bat over my thigh. The bat split right in half. Afterward, reporters asked me if it was the first time I'd ever broken a bat over my thigh. "I broke an aluminum bat over my knee in college," I said. (I was just kidding).
It honestly feels like high school or college all over again. You're comfortable; you see the game. You've seen a lot of ups and downs, a lot of good plays and bad plays. They're all in the back of your head. It's all just experience over the years. There are guys that play well as rookies, but it's hard.
College is so different from the NBA. You have three guys coming at you and trapping all over the place, and NBA is different. There's more space.
I think it's the hardest part for about 80 percent of the guys in the NBA. That's just the way it is in the NBA, unless you're a mega superstar. You're just going to play wherever you go. You try to find the right fit and the right team with the right system and the right coach at the right time.
There's a lot of bad habits a lot of guys have now in the NBA and in college, so there's only one way to get them started right and that's to go back to the roots.
My rookie year was so much easier, and it was so much shorter than most rookies due to the fact that I had KG. That changes everything. I was blessed to have the opportunity to play with KG - not only learn but play with KG. Not many people in the NBA are able to say that.
I've done a good job putting some meat on my bones since my freshman year of college. It's taken a lot of work. I was just under 200 pounds my freshman year; I was 6'8' and 198 pounds.
I had never dreamed about the NBA like some guys did. I was a non-scholarship player at an NAIA college. I played on the Boys and Girls Club team in my freshman and sophomore years of high school before I made the high school team. I was our backup center in college.
I think one thing I had going for me that a lot of rookies didn't is that we played 15, 16 games every year in college.
Jeff Bzdelik is one of the smartest, most knowledgeable, hardest working coaches I have ever worked with. His teams in the NBA and college have achieved beyond their talent levels. Recruits to Wake Forest will play for a coach who was successful in the NBA for a long time and will teach them what they need to know to make it to the NBA.
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