Orange County Player of the Week : Smalley Is Really Getting the Hang of It These Days

Tony Smalley didn’t take to organized basketball right away.

During his freshman season at Servite High School--his first on a team--he spent most of the time on the bench.

But in the summer before his sophomore season, a few things helped changed his status on the team for good. To begin with, he began developing as a player. And there soon emerged an unexpected need for varsity players.

Seven members of the team left the program for a variety of reasons, leaving Coach Larry Walker with a considerable rebuilding job.

“I was what you would call a bench warmer my freshman year,” Smalley said. “Then during the summer, I started to come on, and after a few players left, I had worked my way up to starting.”

As a sophomore starter last season, Smalley earned second team All-Angelus League honors.

This season, he’s averaging 19 points per game.

“You could tell when he came into the program he didn’t have much organized ball experience,” Walker said. “But the more he plays, the better he gets. Right now, he’s one of the best juniors in the CIF.”

Smalley, The Times’ Player of the Week, scored 34 points Wednesday in an 81-77 win over Bishop Montgomery and 20 Friday in a 62-55 loss to Pius X.

“Tony’s starting to establish a reputation as a tough inside player,” Walker said. “Offensively he’s really starting to make his presense felt.”

Playing the inside game is all right with Smalley, but he prefers playing outside the key.

“During the summer I worked on my post play, and it’s really starting to come along but I like it outside, too,” he said.

Walker said: “Right now, I would rather have him outside, but we need him inside.

“Next year, if a few other players develop enough, we can put him out on a wing where he can really take advantage of his quickness.”

Besides improving his post play, Smalley also has increased his jump using his sister’s trampoline.

“I just put ankle weights on and started to hop up and down,” he said. “You’d be surprised how much it helped.”

This summer, Smalley says he wants to get stronger.

“He’s not what you would call weak,” Walker said. “But we’re going to work a lot on his upper body strength which will make him even better.”

Tony Smalley

Servite High School

Position: Forward.

Height, Class: 6-4, 180, Jr.

Last Week: 54 points in 2 games.

Season: averaging 19 points and 6 rebounds.