One is from the historic Scottish heartland of Arbroath, a formal Royal Burgh of Angus Council, sandwiched along the North Sea coastline between the great cities of Aberdeen and Dundee.  It was first made famous nearly 1,000 years ago, when King William the Lion founded an Abbey in the village.  It was later to become better known for the Declaration of Arbroath, where Scottish nobles signed a declaration of independence in the 14th century.

The other is from Russellville, Kentucky, a city (in name only) with a population of barely over 7,000.  A much newer city, first settled in 1790.  A local bank was robbed on September 20th 1868, and asides from that it is best known for the urban myth of ‘The Russellville Girl Ghost’, in honour of a girl who was struck by a bolt of lightning while cursing God from her bedroom window.

One grew up spending many days of his teenage years playing basketball at his local school, before moving to the US on an Educational Exchange, where he played basketball a little more, became as good at the sport as his American counterparts, and swiftly became a minor celebrity in his adopted town.  When he returned to Scotland, with his eyes opened wide to the contrast in the profile of basketball between his home country and America, he came home a little confused as to how he could carry on playing the game he loved to a decent level in Scotland.

The other excelled at the same sport, basketball, the whole way through his youth.  In his senior year at high school he joined the Amateur Athletic Union basketball programme, and spent his summer travelling around the country playing in a national league for boys, and was promptly scouted for a scholarship in Memphis, playing for the Austin Peay Governors in front of 10,000 people each time he took to the court.

One reluctantly took the trip to Glasgow a couple of years back to try out at an open trial for the Scottish Rocks professional basketball team.  He wasn’t much of a big city guy, since it was so far from his home.  He even had to ask directions to the trial to make sure he found his way there.  But it turned out it was a worthwhile trip, as his talent was duly noted, and he was asked to join a pre-season tour to Norway.  He now has two seasons under his belt, and is a Scottish international.

The other, after excelling on the NCAA circuit, wanted a new challenge.  He wasn’t signed up by the NBA, and a former team-mate told him about an opportunity in Glasgow to join a dynamic young squad, where he has now fulfilled his lifetime dream of playing professional basketball. 

And that is how two young men, Arbroath’s Gareth Murray and Russellville’s Maurice Hampton, came to be team-mates at the Scottish Rocks basketball team, possibly one of the most cosmopolitan sports teams in the country, boasting members from Scotland, England, the USA, Germany and Denmark. 

But although their backgrounds may be very different, their attitudes towards the game, and their teams, are somewhat more similar, In The Winning Zone learned when we met them at their training base in Paisley.  Both Murray and Hampton know they are part of an elite few that are lucky enough to play the sport professionally in the UK.  In fact, it is their main motivation to give their best every day, whether it be in the gym, on the court, or out working with the local community.

“I think we are privileged to do it every day,” says Murray, who stands at 6ft6in and speaks with more than a hint of American twang cutting through his North of Scotland brogue.  He nods to his team-mate Hampton.  “We were talking about this recently.  Some people have to get up every day and go to work.  Some people have a job in construction, lifting heavy things all day.  We on the other hand have to go lift some weights and then play some basketball.  That’s what motivates me every day.  It’s my job.  I’m glad I don’t have to go do a nine to five.”

Hampton agrees, chipping in: “Every morning when I get up, I think that in a couple of hours my dad [across the Atlantic and five hours behind his son’s time zone] is going to have to get up.  So I’ve gotta get up with him.  That’s what drives me, that’s what motivates me. 

“It is the same thing with my grandmother.  She worked long hours and got up every day, and took care of all her responsibilities.  And as Gareth said, I am thankful to be playing basketball.  Whether it is in Scotland or in the States, I am playing basketball, and that’s what I love to do, so I’ve gotta get up and go to work!  That’s a good thing.”

Hampton is a philosophical guy.  He thinks deeply and speaks proudly about his convictions, from honouring his family to thanking God every day for the opportunity he has been blessed with.  When asked what he thought the number one quality a basketballer needed, rather than saying ‘skill’ or ‘power’, he delved a little deeper than physical attributes.

“I feel the number one trait is that you either have it in your heart, or you don’t.  That’s my thing.  You’ve got to have the heart to do it, because it is a lot of hard work.  There are days where you don’t feel like going to the gym, or you don’t feel like listening to your coach.  But you have to be determined.  It has to be inside you.”

Maurice is equally thoughtful when quizzed about team-play.  Basketball is a sport known for great individuals – Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Bird, O’Neill, Bryant – and often they are remembered more for their individuality than their team, perhaps with the exception of the Chicago Bulls side that Jordan won countless accolades with.  But Hampton knows that isn’t the case when it comes to actually winning matches.

“I feel that it comes with roles.  Everyone confides in their role and they know what theirs and everyone else’s is, and once they buy into that, their individual performance contributes to good teamwork.  So you identify your role and hold up your end of it, and make a strong team.”

Murray, who sits quietly in awe while his (slightly) shorter buddy (only 6ft2in) postulates, refers to another well-known American team to clarify the point he has just heard. 

“Take the US All Stars team at the Olympics, they were simply picking names.  All Stars.  Then they got beat by Argentina.  Only then did they decide they would pick an actual team, because teamwork is fundamental.

“You can’t just have five scorers on the park.  It doesn’t make you a great player just because you score all the time.  You have to look for other things.  If you are a scorer maybe you need to look for rebounds and shoot threes [three pointers] as well.  To be part of the starting five you need to have a role to make up the team.”

Their team, the Rocks, are having an up and down season.  They have an almost 50/50 record when it comes to wins versus losses.  However in general the Rocks have been a very successful team over the years, winning the play-offs in 2003, and being beaten finalists twice since, in 2006 and 2007.  This has also been a year of transition for the team, bringing in Sterling Davis, a stalwart of the British Basketball League, as their new player coach, having only signed him as a player one season earlier.

So how have the guys found being coached by a team-mate?

“Well , it’s different,” explained Murray.  “Because we’ve already been with him on the court for a year, we see him as a different person – it’s kind of weird, how it worked out.   We feel like more of a team though, we stick together.  Sterling tells us ‘all we’ve got is ourselves’.  So Maurice makes me work harder, I’ll make him work harder. It’s the same for everyone on the team.”

Hampton also sees the benefits of playing alongside his coach. 

“It brings a lot more out of you as an individual.  Because he is still a player, he understands where we are coming from.  It also helps us to understand from a coach’s standpoint.  So we have to work even harder and push one another.  We know for a fact that he is working just as hard, or even harder, than we are, because he has to think about things off the court as well. 

“Normally a coach can do nothing,” Hampton continued between slugs of Lucozade Sport.  “He can’t make a pass or make a shot.  But fortunately we are in a position where our coach can make some shots and pass the ball.  And at the same time he can point us in the right direction for the game. It’s a good thing.”

Ultimately, however, whether it is players or coaches, individuals or teams, each one of the Rocks to a man has one over-riding priority.  Winning.  They are professional players being paid to get results, and that is their sole focus.  Murray, although relatively inexperienced as a pro, is fully aware of these expectations.

“In professional sport, winning is everything, because that’s what gets you your next job.  That’s what earns you your money.” 

It may sound a tad mercenary, but it is true.  These men do feel privileged to be in their jobs, but at the same, basketball isn’t just a game to them.  It is their life and their livelihood.  So, with winning being measured in such high stakes, what would be an accurate measure of their success when they finish their careers?  Is it trophies on the mantelpiece, money in the bank, or memories in their mind?

“How good do I want to be?” is the question that Hampton asks in response to the prompt.  He then answers it himself.

“I’m a firm believer that in sport, what is for you is for you and what is for the next person is for the next person.  Now, if you are putting in the time and the work, it will show.  And when you are doing that, you have to ask yourself if you are working hard enough to reach your full potential.  And if you can say yes, then you will do it.  But if you know there were days that you hadn’t worked hard enough, then you will look back and regret it. 

“If you want to be the best, you have to work for it.”

RO
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