He Makes Them Pay for Idleness : Pepperdine Practice Becomes Vanderputten’s War Zone

Wonder how much Gavin Vanderputten wants to play? Ask Derek Noether, Pepperdine’s starting center. He’ll count the bruises and give you the latest update.

Vanderputten, a 6-foot-11 freshman from Perth, Australia, who averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds while leading Trabuco Hills High to the Southern Section Division II-A title last season, is averaging less than six minutes a game with the Waves.

Watching and waiting are not on his list of fun things to do, so, every afternoon he gets up for his version of Game Day.

“I take it all out in practice,” he said. “The fewer minutes I play, the more I beat up on Derek. The last couple of games, I haven’t played much at all, so Derek’s really noticed it.”

Noether’s not the only one.

“He’s really been hammerin’ on Noether,” Wave Coach Tom Asbury said with a measure of glee. Nothing makes a coach’s day like an intense practice.

“Gavin’s playing much better than he’s ever played. I’ve put together a scout team with (former Wave star whose rights were just traded to the Lakers) Doug Christie. Gavin’s on it, too, and lots of times our scout team is better than whoever it is we’re preparing for.”

When Vanderputten’s not leaning on Noether, he’s pressing the weights.

“It’s the same in the weight room,” he said. “The less I play, the more I lift.”

It’s beginning to show. Vanderputten is an inch taller and 12 pounds heavier than he was last season at Trabuco Hills.

“He’s a lot stronger, noticeably stronger,” Asbury said. “He’s the one guy in the program who has gotten bigger and stronger during the season.”

Vanderputten is certainly big enough, apparently strong enough and playing better than ever. So why isn’t he playing more?

Noether, a consistent, stabilizing force for the Waves, is the main reason. The 6-8 junior is averaging 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and shooting 57% from the floor. Sophomore LeRoi O’Brien, a reserve, is another reason. He recently has played “through the roof,” as Vanderputten puts it.

Another factor has been Asbury’s reluctance to substitute much as the Waves have streaked to a 19-5 record and a 10-2 West Coast Conference mark.

“For some reason, I just don’t go very deep into the bench with this team,” he said. “We’re just a handful of points from being undefeated and that has something to do with it.

“You look at the amount of minutes Gavin has played and I’m sure we’re both disappointed. Should we have redshirted him? Yes. But that was Nov. 1 and we can’t change it.

“I’ll tell you what I really like about him, though. He’s not walking around here hanging his head and pouting. He’s just got a super attitude.”

Noether’s beginning to think he might prefer pouting.

Vanderputten says “of course, I’m unhappy,” but in the same breath insists he made the right decision when he chose Pepperdine over about 30 other Division I schools that recruited him.

“The whole recruiting experience was really scary,” he said, “especially when your family is 17,000 miles away. There’s absolutely no way to prepare for all the torment, and that’s what it is. You’re tormented by coaches pretty much 24 hours a day. It was really hard.

“But making the decision to come to America and play at Trabuco Hills and then picking Pepperdine, I don’t regret any of it. I still believe they were the best things to do. Overall, things have worked out well here.

“I thought I’d be playing more than I am, but Derek’s just playing really, really well. He’s picked up his game a lot lately and, well, isn’t this all part of being a freshman?”

So, for the moment, patience and perspective--a couple of his least favorite words--have become Vanderputten’s motto.

“I don’t think anyone realized that Noether would improve as much as he has this year,” Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf said. “Gavin’s weakness is his lack of strength and Noether is really strong. But Gavin has tremendous athletic ability for a guy his size and he’s getting stronger every day, so his day will come.”

In the meantime, Vanderputten struggles with the few minutes of playing time he gets. Trying desperately to make a big impression, he’s averaging less than two points and two rebounds and, worst of all, shooting 41% from the floor.

“I’m trying to do too much,” he said. “I’m not letting the game to come to me. But I know I’m only going to be in there a couple of minutes and it’s like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to make the best of this.’

“Last year, I knew I was going to play about 38 minutes and I’d just relax and let it happen in the flow of the game. It’s also hard to sit on the bench for 14 minutes and hit your shots. It takes awhile to get warm and by the time I’m warm, I’m usually back on the bench again.”

It’s a new experience--this reserve gig--and Vanderputten hasn’t found a comfortable niche. It’s the mind game that he’s losing.

“The mentality of a guy coming off the bench has to be different,” Wulf said. “With your starters, you roll with it a little because you know what you’ll get in the long run. Your tolerance for mistakes is a lot less for reserves.

“And Gavin’s never been a sub before.”

He doesn’t intend to be one for long, either.

Vanderputten plans to stay indoors for much of his fifth consecutive winter--he goes home to Perth in July and August so he hasn’t experienced much of the summer season in more than two years.

“I’m hitting the weight room real hard,” he said. “I don’t get to see my parents over Christmas or any of the holidays, so it’s an important time to catch up with the family, but I’m going to work really hard on the weights.

“I’m working on ballhandling and the coaches here have been working with me on getting my shot off quicker and that’s coming along quite nicely. I’m not playing much, but I believe I’m getting better. My time will come.”

Asbury is convinced.

“Gavin’s going to be a terrific player,” Asbury said. “He’s going to be one of the best, if not the best, big kid in our conference. He’s going to be a factor next year and a force as a junior and a senior.”

The fans in Firestone Fieldhouse might still harbor some doubts about that, but Vanderputten is confident he can be a leading player again.

“I want to be the go-to player like I was the last year in high school,” he said. “If something needs to be done, I want to be involved. That’s the hardest thing about coming from a big-time high school program where if it was a close game, it was up to you, to coming here and feeling so helpless and hopeless on the bench.”

There have been a few fleeting moments when he’s felt part of the game. After Noether got into early foul trouble during a game at Boise State, Vanderputten played nine minutes, scored five points and grabbed four rebounds. Start and play 36 minutes and that averages out to a nice little 20-point, 16-rebound performance.

“I came in and was playing some big minutes and I was doing all right,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Yeah, this is it. This isn’t that tough.’ At the moment, it’s just a lack of confidence. I think that’s the only thing that really sets me apart from pretty much anybody.”