Phillips has been 'The Man' for Gulf basketball
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Dec. 19, 2002.
NEW PORT RICHEY - His feet left at about the free-throw line.
They landed soon after.
Joe Phillips, at 5-foot-10, does not perform Dr. J-type dunks.
The Gulf boys basketball point guard was not even aiming that way. Would have been too close.
The third quarter neared expiration, and Phillips wanted to increase Gulf's lead with a three-quarter-court heave.
The entire crowd inhaled as if Phillips were a few feet from the basket.
Everyone knew.
Whenever a ball leaves Phillips' hands, it has a chance. A great one.
Front of the rim. Exhale.
He was a bit off Tuesday night, scoring 24 in the Bucs' 60-53 win against Pasco.
Against St. Cloud two games earlier, Phillips set a career high with 44 points (the school record is 59, set by Jerry Dodd in 1969). Gulf lost.
Disappointment.
``It's good individually to score 44, but I'd rather have the `W,' '' the quiet leader said.
Like Tuesday.
``That's the man,'' Pasco coach Poncho Broner said. ``He's been the man for them the last four years. That's nothing new.
``He's improved each year. He's gotten better and better. When he first started - shoot, shoot, shoot. Now he'll take it to the hole. He's good.''
He's Amazing
They used to laugh.
The little toddler thinks he can play basketball?
``I remember his freshman year,'' said Nate Goad, a Gulf graduate now a sophomore on the Florida College basketball team. ``He walked on the floor; he was about 5-foot. Everyone just laughed at him.
``As soon as they saw him play, everyone shut up.''
Phillips shuts up teams in many ways.
His outside shot never is blocked. He fakes his head toward the basket, steps back and launches over players sometimes 6 inches taller.
If his man cheats toward the shot, Phillips drives. Maybe a crossover. A stop and go?
He has them all.
And last year he shot 90 percent from the free-throw line.
``I like to get some contact,'' he said with a mischievous smile as if he knows he cannot be stopped.
The scoring average drooped to 31.3 a game after the Pasco victory. A sore ankle and back limited his effectiveness.
He has not really been healthy all season. Not even when he scored 44.
Gulf trailed by 23 with six minutes left to St. Cloud.
The Bucs lost, 73-71.
The magician almost brought them back with six 3-pointers and 23 points in the eight-minute fourth quarter. He finished with 12 3-pointers. All are school records
``When I go out there, I always say that it is on my shoulders,'' Phillips said. ``I always say that because that is just the way I am. If I don't have a good night, I am going to be all depressed because I take it to the heart. So I just try to play my hardest every night. Whatever I come out with, hopefully a W, whatever I come out with, I'll take.''
`He's The Show'
Gulf coach Steve Feldman went into the season hoping for about 20 points a game from his senior leader, an increase of about seven.
``He's kind of far, far exceeded that so far,'' Feldman said with a grin. ``And he's doing it against any kind of defense you can throw at him.''
Usually, teams choose the box- and-one, which is a zone with one free man to chase a specific player.
The only real way to stop Phillips is to let him get his points.
In Gulf's three losses, he averaged 38 points. He averaged 26 in its four wins.
The school record for points is 32.3 a game, also by Dodd.
``If Joe's up there challenging that record, we're probably not winning many games,'' Feldman said.
Phillips could if he wanted to.
If he were 6 inches taller, he would resemble Jason Williams, only under control.
And he could play for any college in the country.
``He always had a lot of talent, but he was a little more timid,'' Goad said. ``Now he's just coming into his own and he's the show and he's doing awesome.''
He is the most exciting player in the county.
Even from 65 feet away.
``He's the little mouse that roars,'' Feldman said.
Then leaves everyone breathless.
