Kori Ellis
10-21-2004, 12:30 AM
Desire in any language: Spur without baggage
Web Posted: 10/21/2004 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA102104.1C.COLbuckharvey.ac9f4e5.html
Romain Sato arrived in the United States in 1999 with only a small gym bag. Unable to speak English then, he didn't want to risk checking luggage and then having to ask where to find it.
"I knew how to say 'good morning,'" he said this week, smiling. "I didn't think that would go too far."
But even the small bag was unnecessary. Everything Sato needed from his home in the Central African Republic was already inside him.
The Spurs see that now.
Romain Guessagba-Sato-Lebel may never be an NBA regular. He might not play a minute this season, or in any other.
But as his college coach says, Sato will be hard to cut. He will work and he will listen and he will never take for granted even a new pair of sneakers.
"These guys," said Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, "are a joy to coach."
Sato arrived with his gym bag in Dayton, Ohio, to be an exchange student, not a basketball player. He'd played the game in the Central African Republic, but not intensely. There they practiced about once a week.
So he came to follow his mother's dream, that he earn a college degree, and that is what he worked toward at an Ohio high school. He slept an average of four hours a night that first year, staying awake to learn a new language.
He had a few linguistic tools already. Sato spoke five languages when he came to the United States, from French to Sango to Yakoma to Swahili to Gkadiri.
For those who wonder: Sato says Gkadiri is identical to Kpagua.
His guardians in Ohio, both white, treated them as if he were their son. And as they helped him — sticking English words on various objects in the house as everyday lessons — Sato came to see them the same way. He still calls them "my parents."
Sato played a year and a half of prep basketball in Dayton, and college scouts began to notice. It was hard not to. Sato stands about 6-foot-3 and he has an NBA vertical leap, but it's his wingspan that turns him into something different.
An average person's wingspan is usually equal to his height. The wingspan of an athlete is often about two inches longer, and about four inches is considered exceptional.
Tim Duncan, for example, is about a plus-four or -five. That's why he plays like a 7-footer, no matter if he's listed at 6-foot-11.
Sato? He's about a plus-seven or -eight.
But Sato spread his arms around more than rebounds. Xavier, his college choice, found that out the first day. He shot jumpers then, and Thad Matta, the school's head coach who was an assistant then, rebounded for him.
"I probably rebounded the ball for him 100 times," Matta said. "He said 100 thank yous. I finally said, 'One will do at the end.'"
Sato replied, "Thank you, coach."
Sato didn't change. He once thanked the athletic director's parents for watching a practice. And along the way Sato graduated in four years. How many scholarship athletes fluent in English have done the same?
"Because you come from Africa, you always want to be better," Sato explained. "We want to work hard. Back there, we have to work hard for anything we get. You've got to be warrior. That's why we work hard. We're hungry."
Sato was a 2,000-point scorer at Xavier, but he never led his teams in scoring any of his four years. He was more consumed with rebounding and defense, drawing everyone from the opposing point guard to the power forward.
Texas saw this package up close. Last March, in the NCAA tournament, Sato's 27 points upset the Longhorns.
Sato had 11 rebounds in his next and final college game, against No. 1-seed Duke. But his 2-of-10 shooting stopped him from seeing San Antonio last spring in the Final Four. Xavier lost by only three points.
The Spurs work on his shooting now. They have taken apart his stroke, moving an elbow here, a leg there, and they say other prospects often object to this.
They scored in college, after all. Why change?
Sato instead listens without complaint, knowing he will struggle while he learns something new. He did in his debut in the SBC Center on Tuesday, shooting only 1 of 7.
Gregg Popovich ignored those numbers afterward. He chose to praise Sato as "a high-character, high-work effort sort of guy."
Hard to cut?
In any language.
Web Posted: 10/21/2004 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA102104.1C.COLbuckharvey.ac9f4e5.html
Romain Sato arrived in the United States in 1999 with only a small gym bag. Unable to speak English then, he didn't want to risk checking luggage and then having to ask where to find it.
"I knew how to say 'good morning,'" he said this week, smiling. "I didn't think that would go too far."
But even the small bag was unnecessary. Everything Sato needed from his home in the Central African Republic was already inside him.
The Spurs see that now.
Romain Guessagba-Sato-Lebel may never be an NBA regular. He might not play a minute this season, or in any other.
But as his college coach says, Sato will be hard to cut. He will work and he will listen and he will never take for granted even a new pair of sneakers.
"These guys," said Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, "are a joy to coach."
Sato arrived with his gym bag in Dayton, Ohio, to be an exchange student, not a basketball player. He'd played the game in the Central African Republic, but not intensely. There they practiced about once a week.
So he came to follow his mother's dream, that he earn a college degree, and that is what he worked toward at an Ohio high school. He slept an average of four hours a night that first year, staying awake to learn a new language.
He had a few linguistic tools already. Sato spoke five languages when he came to the United States, from French to Sango to Yakoma to Swahili to Gkadiri.
For those who wonder: Sato says Gkadiri is identical to Kpagua.
His guardians in Ohio, both white, treated them as if he were their son. And as they helped him — sticking English words on various objects in the house as everyday lessons — Sato came to see them the same way. He still calls them "my parents."
Sato played a year and a half of prep basketball in Dayton, and college scouts began to notice. It was hard not to. Sato stands about 6-foot-3 and he has an NBA vertical leap, but it's his wingspan that turns him into something different.
An average person's wingspan is usually equal to his height. The wingspan of an athlete is often about two inches longer, and about four inches is considered exceptional.
Tim Duncan, for example, is about a plus-four or -five. That's why he plays like a 7-footer, no matter if he's listed at 6-foot-11.
Sato? He's about a plus-seven or -eight.
But Sato spread his arms around more than rebounds. Xavier, his college choice, found that out the first day. He shot jumpers then, and Thad Matta, the school's head coach who was an assistant then, rebounded for him.
"I probably rebounded the ball for him 100 times," Matta said. "He said 100 thank yous. I finally said, 'One will do at the end.'"
Sato replied, "Thank you, coach."
Sato didn't change. He once thanked the athletic director's parents for watching a practice. And along the way Sato graduated in four years. How many scholarship athletes fluent in English have done the same?
"Because you come from Africa, you always want to be better," Sato explained. "We want to work hard. Back there, we have to work hard for anything we get. You've got to be warrior. That's why we work hard. We're hungry."
Sato was a 2,000-point scorer at Xavier, but he never led his teams in scoring any of his four years. He was more consumed with rebounding and defense, drawing everyone from the opposing point guard to the power forward.
Texas saw this package up close. Last March, in the NCAA tournament, Sato's 27 points upset the Longhorns.
Sato had 11 rebounds in his next and final college game, against No. 1-seed Duke. But his 2-of-10 shooting stopped him from seeing San Antonio last spring in the Final Four. Xavier lost by only three points.
The Spurs work on his shooting now. They have taken apart his stroke, moving an elbow here, a leg there, and they say other prospects often object to this.
They scored in college, after all. Why change?
Sato instead listens without complaint, knowing he will struggle while he learns something new. He did in his debut in the SBC Center on Tuesday, shooting only 1 of 7.
Gregg Popovich ignored those numbers afterward. He chose to praise Sato as "a high-character, high-work effort sort of guy."
Hard to cut?
In any language.