Stocking Up for Camp

The Rockets began to prepare for training camp by agreeing to (but not yet signing) contracts with Will Conroy and Garrett Temple. Both guards played well enough for the Rockets' summer league team to earn an extended look.

Will Conroy, an inner-city kid from Seattle, played college ball at the University of Washington and remains good friends with teammate Brandon Roy. He still holds the school record for career assists. Signed by the Lakers after going undrafted, he was released before the season began. Since then, he has played for two teams in Italy, three D-League teams, had ten-day contracts with the Clippers and Memphis and went through a training camp with the Bobcats. On paper the guy looks great, averaging 26.5 points, 8 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2 steals per game for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds last season. That sounds like all-star point guard numbers until you look a little deeper and see the 4.2 turnovers per game he commited, indicating poor decision-making skills. The other raps on Conroy are that he is only 6'2" tall, just an average outside shooter and though he plays strong one-on-one defense, his team defense is lacking. Playing with 9 teams in four years may have something to do with the latter issue. His best hope for making the cut with the Rockets is that he is a good passer, especially in transition, and the Rockets plan to run this year.

Garrett Temple played four years for LSU, but was bypassed in this year's draft. Apparently the Rockets' coaching staff saw something in him in the summer league that does not show up on the stat sheets. The numbers only show an abundance of turnovers and fouls in limited action. His college stats are not much more impressive. In his senior year, he scored 7 ppg on 36% shooting, with 4.5 rpg and 3.8 apg. If your glass is half-full, he is a well-rounded player. If you tend to pessimism, he can't do anything extremely well. What the stats don't show is that he is an outstanding defender, but that's not likely to be enough for him to make the final roster.

Of the two, Conroy is the one with a slim chance of making the team this year, but in reality, neither is likely to make it to the NBA Finals with the Rockets. Both are probably candidates for the Vipers of the NBADL. I hope they speak Spanish.

One interesting note about Temple: Thirty five years ago, his father, Collis Temple, Jr., was the first black player to take the court for LSU. The National Guard was on hand for games to prevent trouble from segregationists. Fortunately, Press Maravich (Pistol-Pete's dad) was the coach at the time and made sure that Collis was welcomed. In 2006, his son, Garrett Temple, made it to the Final Four with LSU as a starting guard in an all-black lineup. That speaks volumes about how far we have come in this country, thanks to brave pioneers like Collis Temple and Press Maravich. Anyone who believes that breaking that barrier didn't take courage was not alive in 1971 in Louisiana.