Gulf scoring machine a mixed blessing

This article appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on Jan. 24, 2003.

By JAMAL THALJI

NEW PORT RICHEY -- The good news is Gulf point guard Joe Phillips is averaging a county-leading 25.6 points per game.

The bad news is Joe Phillips is averaging 25.6 points per game.

Or is it?

Gulf has one of the county's most exciting playmakers and prolific scorers, one producing numbers far beyond what he or coach Steve Feldman expected.

"I knew he was a legitimate scorer," the coach said. "Did I think he would take his scoring up this year? Yes. Did I think he would almost double his average from last year? No."

Therein lies the problem. Phillips scores more because his team needs him to.

"It's a mixed blessing," the coach said. "Because we need Joe to score and he takes it on himself to score, but sometimes that makes us a little more one-dimensional when he is scoring in big numbers."

But what numbers they are.

With seven of 10 players and four of five starters gone from last season's district champions, Phillips has 512 points for the young 12-8 Bucs. Second-leading scorer Justin Sconiers has 223. The two are the only Bucs averaging in double figures.

Phillips also leads the Bucs in assists (88), steals (66) and 3-point shots (75). He now has 1,300 career points, second in Gulf history behind Jerry Dodd's 1,531 in 1967-70.

This season, Phillips has seven games of 32 points or more. He scored a season-high 44 once and 39 twice.

"I dreamed it would be like this for my senior year," he said.

The Bucs are becoming more balanced, Feldman said, but there have been times when the team has stood around watching Phillips go to work. Gulf is 4-3 in the games in which Phillips scored 32 or more points.

"The $50 question is how many of those games did we win? The answer is we're just one over .500 that way," Feldman said. "The jury's out on how effective that is or not."

Take Tuesday's 66-44 loss to Mitchell. The coach held Phillips out of the first quarter for disciplinary reasons. Without him, Gulf led 11-8. When Phillips came in at the start of the second, the Mustangs perked up while the Bucs went flat.

"It was funny when they saw him check in at the scorer's table," Feldman said. "Their energy level went up. It was like, "Here comes the ringer and now we've got to play this guy,' and we almost took a step back in that we were like, "Here comes the shining knight on the horse to rescue us.' "

Which begs another question: If Phillips is drawing so much defensive attention this season, how is he still scoring?

"I don't know; I just let the game come to me," Phillips said. "I just go out there and let everything happen."

As a freshman starter, the 5-foot-1 Phillips was best-known for his deep 3-point bombs. As he grew taller and more confident, his game grew as well. Last season in leading Gulf to a school-best 23-7 record and its first district title, Phillips honed his defense and leadership.

As a 5-10 senior, Phillips has added to his scoring repertoire. Despite his slight build, he's unafraid to take it inside, which has put him on the line to sink 96 of 119 free throws.

In the end, Feldman said, Phillips' positives far outweigh any negatives from having a player dominate a team statistically.

"If that kid were 6-2 right now," Feldman said, "he would have a lot of D-1 guys tripping over themselves."