Michigan State University Athletics
A Shooter's Mentality
1/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2001
All that can be heard in the wee hours of the morning in a playground outside Westerville, Ohio is the repeating swish of a basketball entering and then exiting a net cleanly. A shooter's days are spent in the same repetition. Constantly analyzing, the exact arc, the flick of the wrist, but then again a natural shooter really doesn't think about any of it. It's instinctive. He just lets it go. So is the case of Spartan forward Adam Wolfe. A true outside threat with a post player's size, Wolfe has become driven by the "shot".
"Some days when I miss, I can blow it off and shoot another shot," explained Wolfe. "But then there are those days, where if I am not making shots, I start to loose confidence. But you have to keep shooting."
Thinking back he saw it first in his high school days at Westerville South, where he knew that he would have to account for the majority of the team's offense. It was a duty that Wolfe was more than willing to accept and he knew from then on that he would never be intimidated to take a shot, any shot.
"I do have a shooter's mentality and it goes back to the days of high school, when I was the scorer and was relied upon to score in order for us to win," said Wolfe. "And it's the same here, I just want to do anything to help us win."
Wolfe's desire to win was quickly accepted by the MSU coaching staff. But Wolfe knew that he would have to wait his turn to display the crafty shots and his offensive arsenal as he redshirted during the Spartans' 1999-2000 championship season.
"Last year's season made me feel like I had aged thirty years, especially because it is so much longer than a high school season. It felt like three seasons in one," grimaced Wolfe. "Sometimes it was very difficult just to sit back and watch, but the players still made you feel apart of everything. The practices became my games. It was all that I was going to get and I felt that was how I was going to help the team."
Wolfe's "practice" season didn't feel any shorter having to defend long-range sharpshooter and All-American Morris Peterson. Wolfe had the task of trying to stop the Big Ten Player of the Year in practice, to create a challenge for Peterson to get a shot off. But Wolfe found Peterson to be more of a "defensive minded" player.
"I always had to guard Morris and have him guard me last year. And by the end of the year, I thought that I was the worst passer because I could never get good passes off," recalled Wolfe. "But then this year came and I started playing with other guys and I realized that it was his defense that was the problem. That's a real credit to him because he was such a well-rounded player, although he did have a habit of fouling in practice. But he helped me tremendously.
However the least of Wolfe's worries has been Peterson's tendencies to foul in practice. Wolfe has been plagued with migraine headaches since the age of nine. There is no clue to why the severe headaches come, but Wolfe remains upbeat that the headaches are just like any tough shot, they can be overcome.
"I haven't had any in the past four or five months, but it had affected a lot in the beginning of the season. It completely knocks me out and makes me unable to function as a basketball player," explained Wolfe. " But I have begun to adjust. At times when the migraines were bad, I just wasn't able to practice. But the coaches were so understanding and still let me play when I could. I just hope they know how much I appreciate them believing in me and trying to help."
Unlike those shooters that spend their off-season intensely anticipating the next, Wolfe has other options in mind. He promises to spend time improving his game, but wants to develop other areas of his life.
"I have so many interests and have spent so much time with just this one thing that I really haven't had a chance to do other things," said Wolfe. "I would love to travel, maybe open my own restaurant in the next couple years. It would be an Italian place since I just love Italian food. I, myself, am not a gourmet chef by any means, but it's not Spaghettios anymore. I have moved up to sauces from jars and the George Foreman grill."
While he might not be serving up gourmet meals yet, he certainly can make the mood intimate, shooting the lights out.
