Orange County Player of the Week : He’s Improved by Leaps and Rebounds

Hey, Georgeson. You’re 6-5. Why the heck can’t you rebound?

Mark, you’re 6-5 and you can’t even dunk .

You only weigh 220? You have to be at least 230 for college, you know. Did you hear what Georgeson did last night? Tried to score for the other team. Thank God he missed again.

Mark Georgeson of Marina High School often reminisces about his frustrating start in basketball. He can still hear the voices from his freshman season.

Especially, he said, when he’s in a slump and needs consoling. And nothing works better for him than thinking how far he has come in three years.

Georgeson, The Times’ Player of the Week, was voted most valuable player in the Fountain Valley Tournament Friday after leading his team to an 84-57 victory over St. Anthony in the championship game. Georgeson had 18 points and 18 rebounds.

He is averaging 19 points in six games this season.

Georgeson, however, wasn’t always a star.

“People were always putting me down as a freshman,” said Georgeson, a 6-foot 10-inch senior. “They called me a dork and said, ‘Hey, if you’re so tall, why can’t you play?’ I’d say, ‘Man, I’m only 15 years old.’ ”

Georgeson had never played a game of basketball until his freshman year. He hadn’t even considered going out for the team. But height is hard to hide--particularly from basketball coaches.

“We knew Mark had never played an organized game before,” said Steve Popovich, Marina basketball coach. “But he was 6-6 or so and had enough raw skills to show great potential. We started him (as a freshman) on the sophomore team. He was real rough at first, though.”

In his first game, Georgeson jumped for a rebound off an opponent’s free throw. He got it and tried to shoot. Fortunately, he missed. He was aiming at the wrong basket.

“Word got around pretty quick on that,” Georgeson said. “It was pretty embarrassing.”

Even so, Georgeson’s desire for the game--and improvement in it--grew quickly.

He spent many hours after practice with Popovich, who taught him five basic moves that would improve his play at center. He jumped rope, bicycled and played neighborhood pick-up games to improve his game.

The work paid off. Georgeson was named MVP for the sophomore team.

“Since then, I just got a little bit more hungry each year,” Georgeson said. “And smarter, too. I think if you just out-hustle, out-fake and out-think your opponent, you can be better than him even if he has more natural talent.”

Georgeson said he had two goals for this season. One is for Marina to go undefeated. The other--to secure a college scholarship--already has been accomplished. Georgeson will attend the University of Arizona next fall.

“It was like yesterday (that) I was a freshman,” Georgeson said. “It’s gone so quick. But with four more years of college, I’m think I’m only going to get better.”