College Basketball 2008-’09 /Bulls’ standout takes charge
UB’s Gamble rolls the dice
Forward switches to point guard
When Greg Gamble was a freshman, he sat in Reggie Witherspoon’s office and told the University at Buffalo coach that he wanted to play point guard, shooting guard and small forward.
“He probably laughed at me back then, me being a freshman coming in and saying something like that,” Gamble said.
Witherspoon remembers the conversation well and he did get a chuckle out of it.
“I said, ‘Yeah, OK,’ ” Witherspoon said. “At that time, we had [Calvin] Cage and Rod [Middleton] and my thinking was ‘Let’s get you to a point where you can play one of them really well at this level.’ He’s pretty much in a position to do it.”
Gamble, who played small forward his first three seasons at UB, is moving to point guard for his senior season. During the Bulls’ Canadian exhibition trip on Labor Day weekend, backup point guard John Boyer suffered an injury and couldn’t play. Witherspoon didn’t want to play Byron Mulkey too many minutes at the point and Rodney Pierce had already moved to shooting guard.
“Greg really wanted to do it,” Witherspoon said. “We needed another [point] so we gave him a shot and he played well.”
Gamble had been talking to assistant coach Turner Battle about making the shift since the end of last season.
“Turner brought it up in a meeting so we said, ‘Let’s see how he looks, let’s give him a shot,’ ” Witherspoon said. “He’s picked up on things pretty quickly.”
Gamble has played the point during pick-up games, but never in organized ball. But along with his perimeter defense, passing is one of Gamble’s strengths so it isn’t an unnatural position for him. He’s led the Bulls in assists the past two seasons and averaged 2.5 as a junior.
“It’s something I always naturally could do, but I was never hungry enough to play it,” Gamble said. “I really honed in on my skills over the summer and things opened up.”
Gamble was also considering his basketball future.
“The first thing I did was make up in my mind that this is what I wanted to do,” he said. “I’m 6-3 and I’m not going to play small forward if I go on [and play professionally] so I had to make up my mind that I wanted to play it.”
The most important lesson for Gamble about playing point guard is learning how to be more deliberate. At small forward, he was accustomed to seizing an opportunity as soon as it presented itself. But at the point, Gamble has many more responsibilities.
“All and all, this is something he’s excited about,” Witherspoon said. “Every day after practice he initiates conversation about the things he needs to do to get better. He really wants to do it, and it’s remarkable how quickly he picks up things.”
There figures to be plenty of pressure on Gamble. Opponents figure to focus on limiting his scoring chances and trying to pressure him, knowing the position is new. But few have played the position better at UB than Battle, who is teaching Gamble the nuances of the role.
“He has to get used to doing it for a long period of time,” Witherspoon said. “A guy who can play point is different than a guy who is a point guard. Greg is evolving into a point guard.”
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments