Dream Big and Always Believe: Antonio Graves torching French Pro League

________________________________

By:  Dan Barto, Director of Player Development at The IMG Basketball Academy and PTC

Sitting in the office one afternoon in the spring of 2004, the phone rang with the typical family member/AAU coach lines.  "I have this player who wants to be a pro and we hear you guys are the best.  That is where NBA players come to train, right?"  Always intrigued and knowing the number was an Ohio area code (I attended Miami Univerisity of Ohio) I followed along. 

Openly the family member said, "He doesn't play a ton right now but the kid is hungry and works harder than anyone.  We believe in him because he believes in himself so much."

This caught my attention because those words mean that a player usually has the ability to overcome adversity.  My follow-up was what is his name? 

"Antonio Graves, he plays at the University of Pittsburgh," the voice replied.

Now I am more entertained because being raised in Pittsburgh, I am a diehard Panther fan and the kid averaged less than 10 points per game and was an undersized small forward.  The persistent family member pushed for dates and costs of our training and made it happen.

When Antonio arrived he was a nervous wreck.  Demanding perfection and creating a scene when frustrated he annoyed many of his training group members.  For two weeks he never stopped working.  He went hard and fought through every mistake.  Standing on the sidelines for long periods of time just waiting to get into a pick up game with NBA stars, you could see the impatience and anger.  During many small stints in the run he would force plays and gamble.  Looking off NBA all-stars and 1st team All-Americans and then arguing back.

This was Antonio.  He believed that he belonged, he never saw resumes only opportunity.  He returned to Pittsburgh hungry and driven but the Pittsburgh backcourt was deep and minutes where going to be shared. Considering he was the Team Defensive Player of the year on one of the best defensive college teams in the nation and watching his relentless attempts to shutdown the pros I knew that he had certain tools to carryover to the next level.  However as a rising junior, not starting, the NBA was going to be a near impossible. 

During his junior year, Antonio took a step backwards.  Success in summer pickup games versus pros doesn't translate to the coach handing the ball to one.  Pittsburgh was again on top of the Big East and Antonio's emotion and desire many times turned to forced plays and counter productive play.  His minutes and statistics dropped.  We talked all the time and he always referred to having a chance to prove himself.

During the summer of 2006 he trained and emailed for drills and ideas.  His desire was to learn how to score better.  When in Pittsburgh I would stop by to show him one or two things.  He would tell me about how him and Sam (Young) where putting in work.  Ball handling, full court one on one, change of direction moves and hours of long range shooting.  Lots of college kids say these things but the staff and managers agreed that he was obsessed.

In the fall of 2006, we had this exchange,

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:16:32 +0000

            The reality is that you have gotten to a point now where things are good. 
            you put in the work and the rewards are showing. My question is what are 
            you doing to stay prepared. I have talked to you on and off throughout 
            your career about reaching this level. With more success comes more 
            problems. People are going to be gunning for you everyday and people on 
            your own team are going to be rooting against you. 1st team all conference 
            is the goal. Nothing less. What are you doing extra to separate yourself 
            and prepare for opportunities? What are you doing to separate yourself 
             from other big time players in the big east? Now is not the time to be 
            worrying about shot attempts and minutes now is the time to be getting 
            sharper, eating right every second of every day. Stretching extra. 
            WATCHING EXTRA FILM. WATCHING PRO GAMES TO SEE THE BEST.

            When I set out to help change someone for the better I get it done. 
            Timing is everything. Thanksgiving break and a couple good games. You are 
            preparing now for January -march. All that hard work in the off-season got 
            you prepared for early practice and these first few games, now start 
            preparing for the months that everyone else will physically and mentally 
            fold under.

            I advised five college players this summer. You, DJ Strawberry, Ekene 
            Ibekwe, Nate Peavy, Jim Baron, and Will Daniels. Everyone is off to a 
            great start, not because of me but because of the mindset. THE MINDSET 
            CHANGES NOW. THE GAME CHANGES NOW. 

            Be good, and be prepared
     
            Your Friend,

            Dan

He responded,

         The good news is that I have been in the gym extra and definitely stretching
         extra. Honestly, I can say that this is the most consistent I've been with
         working out extra and keeping up with my drills and its showing. I just
         want to stay humble and keep being consistent. You don’t know how much I
         appreciate your help and just hearing from you, whether it’s good or bad
   ,     I appreciate it. I need you to keep checking on me too, but if I
        don’t respond in due time just text me or call. My brother always ask about
        you too because you know he's on my tale more than ever.

Senior year was big.  More minutes were open with the graduation of key guards and Antonio's confidence was high after another summer of work.  According to him, "I was killing in the fall run."  He was right.  He earned minutes and people saw a change in his game.  The risk and reward mindset was paying off.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07038/759972-87.stm

Knowing the entrance process for getting into any type of professional basketball, I knew 9.2 points per game and 5 rebounds were not very good numbers for a combo guard.  No passport and very little love from basketball agents, Antonio grew frustrated.  Flying around where different people lead him, this part of the process is about exposure and placement.  No Portsmouth, no Orlando. The only thing to do is free agent camps and hope your agent find you a low level starter job.

For those who do not know the low level starter jobs have you playing for around $1500/month in a non English speaking country with teammates who play for fun not dreams.  It’s a long way from 15 and under AAU teams let alone Major DI basketball.

After a summer of struggle, Antonio sent me this email.
            Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:27:54 -0400

Basically I couldn't get a decent overseas job so I decided to come back to Pitt and finish off these 9 credits        and then I don't know what after that. Hopefully something will come up in December...I know my numbers weren't great but can you honestly say that there's that many ball players out there better than me?...anyways I hope all is well with you

After finishing up in December, Antonio had also logged 13 games with the local Pittsburgh Explosion of the CBA.  It took 13 games for him to realize the answer to his question.  The CBA gave him his first look and Pau-Orthez of the French Pro League gave him his next look. 

Here is what Antonio had to say about how things are going,

Subject: RE:
 Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 22:04:37 -0500
 
 
Hey DAN! mann.. It’s good to hear from you. I thought you forgot about me.. haha.. but yeah.. im doing great! I tore up the cba and now im killing France. I got player of the month of February, I lead the league in scoring and i just made the cover of some French sports magazine. pretty cool, they love me and the other teams fear me...lol but it only makes me more hungry. I try to watch as many Laker games as I can b/c I now want to posses the same will and determination that Kobe has. My drive is getting stronger and stronger. It is inspiring to finally see the hard work, blood, sweat and tears finally start paying off. So I thank God and Im still working hard. I do my drills before practice sometimes but mostly on the off days. And if nobody else believes in me, I know I do. The summer I had when I first went to IMG and I competed with those guys.. man.. That same spirit lives in me and I am so thankful for the experience and I am thankful to be where I am today. I know all that i have ever needed since i picked up a basketball was a chance to show what I can do. And seeing things come to pass I know if I continue to prepare I will meet another great opportunity and be ready to cease it. 
If I don’t answer leave a message and I will call you back. And don’t forget that there is a 6 hr difference.
 Hope All is well!
 
~Peace~
 Antonio

www.eurobasket.com/fra/fra.asp

Could he be rookie of the year in the NBA this year?  No.  Could we see Antonio Graves name on an NBA uniform down the road?  He will probably have many more hurdles to climb but I am not going to tell him to settle.  A dream is a dream and along with dreams comes understanding what it takes and how long the road maybe.  Most importantly Antonio's is a story about how constant hard work, self discipline, self confidence and searching for opportunity allow the stars to line up.

Being a basketball trainer is about honesty and trust and process.  The formula for success does not change.