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A Bucks, Buckeyes gathering
Free-agent camp an Ohio State reunion
By BOBBI ROQUEMORE
[email protected]
Posted: June 23, 2006
St. Francis - Michael Redd, Scoonie Penn and members of Ohio State's 1999 Final Four team often gather at a gym in Columbus, Ohio, to reminisce about old times and keep their basketball skills sharp.
Redd, now the starting shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks, rarely disappears from the radar. Penn, the Buckeyes' point guard that year, has spent the last six years overseas, most recently playing for KK Cibona in Croatia.
One player from that Buckeyes bunch, Ken Johnson, has been a bit harder to locate.
But as he always seems to find an open player on the court, Penn found Johnson in, of all places, Milwaukee.
Penn and Johnson are among the 18 players on hand for the Bucks' free-agent camp at the Cousins Center. The three-day camp wraps up this morning.
It was purely a coincidence that Penn and Johnson were reunited at the camp, but it was a pleasant surprise for both of them.
"The majority of us that played together on the Final Four team, we all still live in the Columbus area near each other," Penn said. "We were all saying, 'Where's Ken Johnson?' Then I come here and I see Ken. Come to find out he lives 10 minutes from me."
Johnson relished the opportunity to share the court with his ex-teammate.
"I haven't seen Scoonie since last summer," said Johnson, now playing with KTF Magic Wings in South Korea. "It's a good chance for both of us, really.
"Scoonie's like a little leprechaun out here playing. I love him to death, though."
Penn and Johnson also got a kick out of showcasing their talent for the Bucks, the team with which Redd has developed into an all-star and franchise player. Redd signed a six-year deal last summer that exceeded $90 million and led the team's return to the playoffs this season.
Penn said he was proud of what Redd has accomplished with the Bucks and sensed his potential as early as their first meeting.
"Mike was coming in without a lot of hype, and other guys in the Columbus area, like Kenny Gregory, who went to Kansas, got more hype than him," said Penn, who had just transferred to Ohio State from Boston College. "I didn't know Mike, but I could see in his eyes. We worked on our game every day.
"I had to sit out that year and he and I would stay in the gym and play one-on-one and he'd do extra shooting. He was just a complete gym rat."
Penn and Redd were both drafted in the second round of the National Basketball Association draft in 2000, but Penn's 5-foot-10 height limited his chances of sticking in the league.
But if there was ever a time to get back in the NBA, now would be it. Like league most valuable player Steve Nash of Phoenix and Chauncey Billups of Detroit, quick guards who can penetrate and distribute the ball are en vogue.
"I feel good that it's kind of changing," Penn said. "Magic Johnson kind of messed the game up with the big point-guard situation and how the game was really halfcourt. Now, you have guys playing the 4 or 5 playing the perimeter. It's a more wide-open game, penetrate, then kick, guys getting open shots."
At 6-11, Johnson has plenty of size, which still remains a premium in the NBA.
It's at free-agent camps like this where he hopes to set himself up for the right opportunity to latch onto a team in search of help in the middle.
"Teams already know what everyone is capable of," Johnson said. "It's just a matter of going out there and being consistent."
A Bucks, Buckeyes gathering
Free-agent camp an Ohio State reunion
By BOBBI ROQUEMORE
[email protected]
Posted: June 23, 2006
St. Francis - Michael Redd, Scoonie Penn and members of Ohio State's 1999 Final Four team often gather at a gym in Columbus, Ohio, to reminisce about old times and keep their basketball skills sharp.
Redd, now the starting shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks, rarely disappears from the radar. Penn, the Buckeyes' point guard that year, has spent the last six years overseas, most recently playing for KK Cibona in Croatia.
One player from that Buckeyes bunch, Ken Johnson, has been a bit harder to locate.
But as he always seems to find an open player on the court, Penn found Johnson in, of all places, Milwaukee.
Penn and Johnson are among the 18 players on hand for the Bucks' free-agent camp at the Cousins Center. The three-day camp wraps up this morning.
It was purely a coincidence that Penn and Johnson were reunited at the camp, but it was a pleasant surprise for both of them.
"The majority of us that played together on the Final Four team, we all still live in the Columbus area near each other," Penn said. "We were all saying, 'Where's Ken Johnson?' Then I come here and I see Ken. Come to find out he lives 10 minutes from me."
Johnson relished the opportunity to share the court with his ex-teammate.
"I haven't seen Scoonie since last summer," said Johnson, now playing with KTF Magic Wings in South Korea. "It's a good chance for both of us, really.
"Scoonie's like a little leprechaun out here playing. I love him to death, though."
Penn and Johnson also got a kick out of showcasing their talent for the Bucks, the team with which Redd has developed into an all-star and franchise player. Redd signed a six-year deal last summer that exceeded $90 million and led the team's return to the playoffs this season.
Penn said he was proud of what Redd has accomplished with the Bucks and sensed his potential as early as their first meeting.
"Mike was coming in without a lot of hype, and other guys in the Columbus area, like Kenny Gregory, who went to Kansas, got more hype than him," said Penn, who had just transferred to Ohio State from Boston College. "I didn't know Mike, but I could see in his eyes. We worked on our game every day.
"I had to sit out that year and he and I would stay in the gym and play one-on-one and he'd do extra shooting. He was just a complete gym rat."
Penn and Redd were both drafted in the second round of the National Basketball Association draft in 2000, but Penn's 5-foot-10 height limited his chances of sticking in the league.
But if there was ever a time to get back in the NBA, now would be it. Like league most valuable player Steve Nash of Phoenix and Chauncey Billups of Detroit, quick guards who can penetrate and distribute the ball are en vogue.
"I feel good that it's kind of changing," Penn said. "Magic Johnson kind of messed the game up with the big point-guard situation and how the game was really halfcourt. Now, you have guys playing the 4 or 5 playing the perimeter. It's a more wide-open game, penetrate, then kick, guys getting open shots."
At 6-11, Johnson has plenty of size, which still remains a premium in the NBA.
It's at free-agent camps like this where he hopes to set himself up for the right opportunity to latch onto a team in search of help in the middle.
"Teams already know what everyone is capable of," Johnson said. "It's just a matter of going out there and being consistent."
