Beasts of Burden : One-Man Basketball Teams Harness Workhorses to Carry the Load

Kevin Franklin is no ball hog. Mild-mannered, he’d just rather be part of the Taft High basketball team. Just another player. Just one of the guys.

But he isn’t.

Most of the time, he is the team.

Like Michael Jordan, Franklin is compelled to carry the load for teammates who would have a difficult time winning without him. Franklin averages 31.6 points a game, more than three times that of Taft’s second-highest scorer, Vernon Middleton (10.3). No one else is in double figures.

In the Valley area this season, other one-man teams can be found at Chaminade, Calabasas, Oakwood and Oak Park. These players are forced to take control of the offense. If they’re on, their team usually wins; if they’re off, chalk up a loss.

“I have come to expect the role of scorer,” Franklin said. “It’s not frustrating. I’m used to playing against better competition and many of my teammates are not. As captain, I try to be leader and keep their heads up.”

He keeps their heads up best by putting the ball down deep into the basket. Brian Friefeld of Oak Park, who averages 24.8 points, is less comfortable with carrying the load.

“There’s a tremendous amount of expectations and pressure as soon as I step foot on the court,” Friefeld said. “I have to score, and I hate it. I don’t want to be known as a gunner. I want to be the complete player.”

In contrast, Chaminade’s Kevin Black, who averages more than 22 points and 10 rebounds, likes being the center of attention.

“It’s fun,” he said, “when you’re really on and controlling the game, when you’re having a big influence.”

Although these forces-of-one have carried their schools into the playoffs, not all has been glory and good times. They take losses personally, as though they’ve let the team down, and even winning often leaves them with the feeling that they could have been better team players.

“While I enjoy shooting the ball, I also don’t want my teammates to think I’m a ball hog,” Black said. “If a part of my game is off, I’ll try to pick up on another part. I have to. It’s a big responsibility, but it’s the price you pay for success.”

Friefeld, playing in his fourth varsity season, is the only returning starter from last season’s Oak Park team. In practice, his teammates loosen up and take their shots, but then in games they let Friefeld take charge. But his 18 points Wednesday couldn’t prolong Oak Park’s season. The Eagles lost a wild-card game to Bel-Air Prep, 58-47.

“They just look for me to do it,” Friefeld said. Ironically, Friefeld had a season-high 37 points in a loss to Carpinteria and a season-low nine in a win over St. Bonaventure, which he considers one of his best games because he also had seven assists and five steals.

“It’s so frustrating scoring 37 points and losing,” Friefeld said.

Friefeld thinks his teammates are too dependent on him. “I don’t want to say anything bad, because they are trying,” said Friefeld, a 5-9 guard who shoots mostly from long range.

While Friefeld is a designated gunner, Steve Ward of Calabasas and Mitchell Butler of Oakwood must rebound as well as shoot. But to be a one-man team, each has to play out of position, surrounded by two, sometimes three opponents. And each has to make sacrifices because he spreads his talents thin and cannot concentrate on developing specialized skills.

“I’m not going to have the skills I need when I go to college,” said Butler, a 6-4 1/2 swing man averaging nearly 28 points and 15 rebounds for a team in the Small Schools Division. “I would say right now I’m playing at a 3-A level, but I could be playing higher if I played somewhere else on a better team.

“I should be playing off-guard. I would rather play a position that fits--rather than one that helps the team out. The guys on the team have the heart and drive to play. They’re willing, but it’s just not there, the competitiveness and intensity.”

Butler’s dominance is even more remarkable because he’s a 16-year-old sophomore--the youngest player on the team. But he’s nonchalant about his role. “I should be able to handle it,” he said. “I’m used to it.”

Calabasas’ Ward still struggles to get used to it. As a junior, he averaged a Valley-leading 28 points at guard. This season, he has been averaging about 25 although frequently attracting two or more opponents.

“When I go to the key, it’s like a mine field,” he said. “Everybody plays a box-and-one against us. Every team in the league plays slowdown. When they play box-and-one, they’re basically telling you they’re trying to stop you.”

If opponents keyed on him last season, Ward would pass to center John Perlstein. This season, Perlstein is gone and his replacement, Demetrius Jones, has been injured much of the season, putting more pressure on Ward, especially on defense, where he has to play forward.

“On one end of the court, you’re guarding somebody 220 pounds and 6-6,” the 6-4 senior said. “On the other end of the court, you’re up against somebody 6-1, a lot quicker and faster. I’m not too thrilled about it, but it’s made me a better passer. Probably in the future it’ll help.”

When he’s not a one-man team.