Friday, June 13, 2008 11:11 PM CDT
Same old Oh Henry is league MVP in Russia
By BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bneilsen@jg-tc.com
CHICAGO -- By 11:30 a.m., Henry Domercant returned a phone call.
And if you think he had just gotten up, you don’t know the leading scorer in Eastern Illinois basketball history too well.
“I still like working out in the morning,” Domercant said.
Not all that much has changed for “Oh Henry.”
That’s unless you consider being named the Most Valuable of the ULEB Cup while playing for a Russian team a bit different than being the 2002 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the year as an Eastern Illinois junior.
Working out at the facility of well-known NBA trainer Tim Grover, Domercant is home from the summer after an MVP regular season in which he led 725 others ULEB Cup participants averaging 22 points per game.
“My team and organization showed a lot of confidence in me,” Domercant said. “I felt I was the first option. They really put me in position late in the game to score. I was in a good rhythm most of the season.”
In the ULEB Cup regular season, Domercant finished third in 3-pointers made and eighth in accuracy. He shot .926 from the free-throw line while his 5.6 free throws per game led all players.
Plus, he ranked fourth with 2.56 steals per game.
So the 6-foot-4 guard is the same player, only different.
“My strength is still how I shoot the basketball but as I get older I’m becoming more well rounded,” said the player who finished second in the nation in scoring as both an Eastern junior averaging 26.4 points and senior scoring 27.9 points per game. “I think I have improved my defense but my strength is still my offense. I consider myself not just a shooter but a scorer.”
The question is what do others think of Domercant, who has now played five seasons overseas usually after trying to make impressions in NBA summer leagues or tryout camps.
“I always think about the NBA but ultimately if I don’t get offered I take the bird in hand and go back,” Domercant said referring to foreign leagues. “I don’t want to risk going to an NBA team and getting cut and then not having anything. I am man with responsibilities now.”
Domercant is now married to his college girlfriend and also provides help for his mother back home.
He might not be making NBA millions but he is making good money playing basketball and has learned to adjust to life out of the U.S. at least most of the time.
So a return to Russia is not out of the question. But a drawback was once getting into the playoffs in his league this year he had to accept less playing time because of a rule requiring at least two Russian players to be on the court for each team at all times.
His Dynamo Moscow team finished third in those playoffs of a season where things were not always rosy.
“We underachieved this year,” Domercant said. “Our coach got fired. We had a little bit of behind the scenes adversities.”
Still, Domercant had a good year individually, one that may give him bargaining power as he again looks for the best deal whether it means to stay with Dynamo Moscow or go to the European Leagues.
So far his pro career has been on one-year contracts in Turkey, Greece and Russia.
He and his wife are not likely to just go anywhere on the globe.
“I’ve been pretty spoiled playing in some of the largest cities - Athens, Istanbul and Moscow,” Domercant said. “Other smaller cities don’t have as many of the American restaurants and have as many off-the-court things to do. I’m getting very accustomed to the European way of life. But there is always the time you miss home. You hit a wall. It’s usually in February. It helps to come home for Christmas. But some places like a Muslim country, they don’t celebrate Christmas.”
Who knows, maybe after the NBA draft later this month some team will not have what it wants, has taken notice of Domercant’s ULEB Cup accomplishments and will give him a call. While mainly playing the shooting guard spot because that is where he is needed, Domercant also has played some point guard so could offer those ball-handling skills as well.
One way or the other, Domercant figures he has more basketball left in him.
How many years?
“Oh, man, if I could play in the NBA I’d play until the wheels fall off,” he said, “but in Europe I’d say realistically five. That would put me at 10 years.”
He turns 28 in December. Domercant calls these the prime years of basketball although maybe ones requiring a little more caution and wisdom.
“Yeah, you have to do a little more to keep in shape,” he said. “You have to make sure you say your prayers so you don’t get hurt. I’m not going around trying to dunk everything in practice anymore.”
But as he left Grover’s gym during a workout this week seeing Miami Heat star Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade rehabbing from injury as well as the New York Knicks’ Quintin Richardson, Domercant still seemed to have that constant basketball drive Eastern folks remember when Oh Henry had his own shooting practices before morning classes and looked for pick-up games during the off-season.
With maybe one change: “I wanted to play this afternoon,” Domercant said, “but my wife scheduled me a dentist appointment.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
