Penney from hoops heaven
Sunday Star - Times;
The skinny kid with the hot shot from Westlake Boys' High School has
certainly done good. Marc Hinton catches up with the
young man who could be
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`It was 3 or 4am and I was sound asleep in bed. I was just, like, buzzing. I
couldn't sleep all night. Initially, I was disappointed I could't
be there, but then to hear the guys and know it worked out anyway. Then I was
able to think 'OK, that's awesome'. We're in a position right where we want to
be. I'm really excited. We've got a lot of young guys and should have a very
talented team.'
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`It's such an honour representing your country,
just being part of this great team. You're always underdogs too and that's a
great thing. That's what you want to do - get the opportunity to accomplish the
extraordinary. It's something we have every time we go on the court because
every time we play it seems like it's on. We've got talent coming in with the
ethic the sky's the limit.'
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KIRK PENNEY doesn't miss much. The open shot for a start. Take a glance at
his hoops resume and you have a kid who's 21 going on, er,
31. He has played in American college basketball's final four, made
all-Conference in the Big 10 in his junior season and, oh yeah, he's been to
the Olympics and is soon to add the world champs. He's a young hardwood warrior
already with his fair share of scalps.
But last September he missed the biggest moment in his country's basketballing history. He had to return to school at
Penney would have been a key player in the three-game series in
But American college regulations do rather tend to be set in stone and they
certainly don't take into account the chance for a young man to partake in
history with his country. So back he trudged to
Now, here he is rejoining the trail with his fellow men in black, and able
to reflect on that moment when he found out that - yes! - his
mates had done him proud. Toppled the Aussies for the first
time in, oh, about a million years.
Says Penney of when he heard the Australians had been toppled: "It was
3 or 4am and I was sound asleep in bed. (Tall Blacks official) Andy Bennett
called me up and they were all yahooing, the cellphone
got passed round everyone in the team. I was just, like, buzzing. I couldn't
sleep all night.
"I was following the series and I knew it was 1-1. I was anxious to
hear the final result. How much I would have loved to be part of it, but it was
just great the guys were able go through that experience and beat
You wonder then, as we talk now ahead of this week's five-match series
against
"Initially I was disappointed I couldn't be there, but then to hear the
guys and know it worked out anyway. Then I was able to think, OK, that's
awesome."
Penney has come a long way in the three years since he left the
In Penney's first season the Badgers, as they're known, went all the way to
the final four of college hoops - one of THE big events on the American sports
scene - where they lost to eventual champions
And Penney's junior season certainly turned plenty of heads. He was picked
all-Conference (that is, in the All Star five in one of the game's toughest
leagues) which immediately lifted him to a plateau among the sport's truly
elite.
This year, you'd figure, the sky's the limit. Even a young man as
level-headed and humble as Penney clearly can't help but get excited.
Factor in he'll be heading in to his collegiate swansong on the back of a
world championship campaign and that his
"We're in a position right where we want to be," he says.
"I'm really excited. We've got a lot of young guys and should have a very
talented team."
Regardless of how the team performs it will be a special year for Penney.
They always are for a senior in his last year of eligibility.
"You go through your freshman stage, when you're still adjusting, then
you get up there and you're supporting the young guys. You certainly have a
little more leeway with the coaches as a senior yet they expect a lot more from
you. That's what you want, because you want to improve and they'll push you.
It's exciting being one of the older guys."
And Penney confirms that
"How fortunate I've been (going to college) in
Penney has it all to shoot for beyond next month's world championships. If
he builds on his outstanding junior year some are even suggesting the 1.95m
player has a chance to follow his Tall Black team-mate Sean Marks into the NBA.
Penney, though, comfortably brushes aside any suggestions of pressure on him
to convince the NBA scouts he has what it takes to play in the big league.
"This year is very important for me. Your senior year in college can do
wonders for you if you want it to. It's a matter of self- belief, staying
humble and trying to do all you can. But you can only do so much. If I play as
hard as I possibly can and it works out then great. But if it doesn't work out
at least I tried my best.
"You can't let it consume you. You've just got to play your game, enjoy
your senior year and what comes with it comes. I can't be thinking about the
next level. I've got to enjoy the present."
And, yes, he's hardly even giving any thought to the upcoming season given
what's ahead of him in the black singlet. There's the five tests against
Excited? You betcha.
"It's such an honour representing your
country, doing the haka, just being part of this
great team. You're always underdogs too and that's a great thing. That's what
you want to do - get the opportunity to accomplish the extraordinary. It's
something we have every time we go on the court, because every time we play it
seems like it's on."
And it's not lost on Penney, as involved as he is,
that these Tall Blacks continue to achieve the remarkable, solidifying their
reputation as the sport's global overachievers. The recent test win against
"That was phenomenal," says Penney. "They played with them
every game and in the last really took it to them. That's pretty impressive.
They're the best team in
Penney also confirms he's continuing to work hard at his own game. He went
to the States three years ago a fair perimeter shooter, weak defender and with
not much else in his arsenal.
Now, he's a useful defender, deadly from outside, capable of taking it to
the hole and with a pretty mean post-up game to boot. Any more well-rounded and
he'd be a circle.
"Last year I must have scored about 40% of my points in the post.
You're always trying to complete your game, working on everything. It's not a
matter of trying to hide weaknesses, but working on them till
you improve. And keep working on your fortes and strengths so you keep
improving."
And there is no better place for a young basketballer
with the right work ethic to improve than
"It's something they really do push," says Penney. "Even if
you are a less talented team it doesn't mean you can't win. It's something
that's been impressed on us and it's the truth. And now we've got talent coming
in with the work ethic the sky's the limit."
And Penney also confirmed that Bennett, who started in his role as an assistant
coach alongside his former team-mate, has committed to staying one more season
with the Badgers, despite several tempting overtures to take up head coaching
positions elsewhere.
"He wants to stay and wants to see me out which I'm very thankful for.
Obviously he's a lot of the reason I'm over there. He's like a brother to
me."
And, maybe, Penney can follow in Bennett's footsteps and make it into the
NBA. He's certainly going the right way about achieving it.
