Tower Gets There, Gets the Job Done

From flattop to skateboard, he stands nearly 7 feet tall, making Chris Tower quite possibly the largest land surfer in the world.

Over rolling waves of concrete, Tower bobs and weaves, zigging and zagging across the Cal State Long Beach campus while low-flying pigeons scatter for safety.

It is said to be a more sensational sight than the Queen Mary.

“Long Beach is a big school,” Tower explains, “and the parking’s not that great. If I’m late for practice or late for class, I pull the skateboard out of my truck and go.

“It’s illegal,” he points out, “but when I’m late, I have to use it. The skateboard is the fastest mode of transportation there is.”

On or off the basketball court, that’s basically how Chris Tower approaches life. Whatever gets you there. If it means skateboarding through the halls of higher education or casting three-point bombs from places 6-11 centers aren’t supposed to tread, Tower is willing to give it a try.

Seth Greenberg, the Long Beach coach, calls Tower the most “unique” center in the Big West Conference, and Thursday night, Cal State Fullerton received a first-hand demonstration. Tower scored 11 points in the second half to help the 49ers pull away for a 72-58 triumph, but the methods employed by Tower were what had Titan heads spinning.

First a tip, then a follow. Long Beach leads, 38-32.

A quick step one way and a drive through the lane. Long Beach, 40-34.

A pivot in the key and a short jump shot that bounces once, bounces twice and falls through the hoop. Long Beach, 44-36.

A lob from Bryon Russell and a thundering dunk. Long Beach, 50-38.

And finally, with the Titans rocking back on their heels, barely hanging in with three minutes to play, Tower uncorks from long distance and the scoreboard ticks off three more points.

Long Beach, 70-54, and this game is officially over and out.

That last one left Tower scratching his head. “I’m surprised they left me open there,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite shots.”

It has been two years now and Big West teams still haven’t adjusted. They take one look at Tower--usually a scan that begins at his knees and continues up and up and up--and they stereotype.

Big skinny guy.

Huge heavy feet.

Take away the dunk and you take him out of the game.

Double-check the stat sheet. Tower was 2-for-3 from three-point range Thursday night and he’s better than 50% for the season (21-for-41). “He gives you a huge advantage if you want to use it,” Greenberg says, “and we’d be foolish if we didn’t.”

Tower doesn’t see it as any big deal, this seven-footer canning 20-footers.

“I have an advantage,” he says with a grin. “When I shoot a three-pointer, I shoot down at the basket.”

It’s a peculiar habit he developed during his gym rat days at Westminster High. His current 49er teammate, Eric Kutas, was also a teammate then and the two of them teed it up for many a one-on-one battle.

Kutas is barely 6 feet tall. He shoots outside because he has to.

Tower figured it was more fun that way. So he and Kutas waged these shootouts and after hours upon hours, he worked out the kinks.

His love for the long-range jump shot grew to the point where it caused him to jump colleges. He originally signed with the University of New Mexico, where Tower spent 1 1/2 unhappy seasons for Dave Bliss, whose expectations for Tower never really progressed beyond first impression.

“He didn’t recruit me,” Tower said of Bliss. “Gary Colson signed me and then he left before I could play a game for him. Bliss didn’t know who I was. I really didn’t fit in.

“Luc Longley was there at the time and they played a very slow offense. Pound the ball inside. I wanted to run and face the basket, but (Bliss) had me playing down low with my back to the basket.”

That is, whenever Tower played at all.

Seeking more minutes and more freedom when he received them, Tower opted for Long Beach. That had been his No. 2 choice initially, and it was close to home, and he remembered that it had a three-point stripe that its coach liked to use.

“He’d still call us from New Mexico,” Greenberg recalls. “He’d show up at my house in the summer and sit in the back yard and we’d cook burgers and talk.”

Hold the mayo, hold the scholarship. Midway through his sophomore season, Tower decided to transfer and after sitting out a redshirt year, he has been a key contributor to 31 Long Beach victories in 45 games, including this season’s 13-2 start.

Coincidentally or not, Long Beach has been at its worst when Tower has been at his worst. The 49ers lost at Pacific when Tower scored five points and went 2-for-11 from the field. Monday night, just hours after Long Beach was voted into the Top 25, Tower collapsed again, going 1-for-6 and scoring just three points in a 61-60 loss to UC Santa Barbara.

“Offensively, I was nonexistent,” Tower said. “I let the team down and it really bothered me. I felt I had to step it up tonight.”

So Tower stepped up and knocked down 24 points, as well as a bunch of Titans, and showed why Long Beach deserved that Top 25 ranking in the first place.

To stay there, Long Beach needs its center to be a Tower of power. Anything less and the ride becomes awfully rugged. And on this course, not even a skateboard can help.