Duncan Bio and Interview

...When Tim’s mother passed, Cheryl and her husband Ricky Lowery, who had been the starting point guard for Capital University, moved back to St. Croix to be with the rest of the Duncans. Ricky took the court with Tim and began teaching him the skills of the game. At about six feet, Tim was tall for his age, and Ricky guessed that he’d grow another four or five inches. With this estimate in mind, Ricky taught Tim the nuances of the perimeter game. Tim discovered a passion for the sport, and before long he was a complete player—able to dribble, pass, finish off the break and shoot from the outside, especially the pull-up jumper off the glass.

The next fall, as a 14-year-old freshman, Tim tried out for and made St. Dunstan Episcopal High School’s varsity team. Initially, his approach to the game was pretty nonchalant—just a way to have fun and get over the loss of his mom—but that quickly changed. Over the next three seasons, Tim grew nine inches and began dominating the entire Caribbean. The perimeter skills Ricky taught him, combined with his new tall frame, made Tim an unstoppable threat...

What do you think are your best physical and mental weapons on the basketball court?

Duncan: Physically, it’s just being healthy. I’ve only been through one knee surgery in my career, and knock on wood, it’s the last one. Being healthy enough so that you can give it your all, I consider that a huge blessing. Mentally, the experience I have really helps me out. I am going into my 10th season, and I have been in and experienced every situation possible. Experience is definitely underrated, and being able to bring it to the table is definitely an advantage.

You are known as a very skilled player. What kinds of things do you do in the off-season to hone your basketball skills, like footwork and shooting?

Duncan: I work a lot on my shot, but it’s hard to work on footwork. The experience from games— going through a whole season where your body and feet endure many different situations—is where you can pick things up. I just try to get in the best shape I can strength-wise and do a lot of running in the summer to build a good base for the season. I worked really hard last summer to improve my shot. Those things have been my biggest focus over the summers. But I usually take about a month off after the season for recovery purposes, then I get back in the weight room and start things slowly. I stay off the court for another two to three weeks after that, then I work on-court drills back in slowly as well.

Lomers Attends Newell Big Man Camp in Hawai`i

As he showed in Baylor’s postseason run last year, 7-footer Josh Lomers can be a productive post player in the right situations.

And now that he’s added a few moves, Lomers might get even more chances during his senior season. The senior from Boerne, Texas, went to the 33rd annual Pete Newell Big Man Camp earlier this month in Honolulu, Hawai`i.

“It’s mostly just learning new moves and trying to perfect them,” said Lomers, who averaged 3.4 points and 1.9 rebounds overall last year. “It’s all about repetitions. If you do it enough, it becomes second nature rather than having to think about it. It was good to kind of focus down on the post moves.”

Considered the world’s premier “big man” basketball camp, the Newell Camp’s impressive alumni list includes Shaquille O’Neal, Akeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, Rasheed Wallace, Shawn Kemp and Shawn Marion. The Texas Longhorns’ Dexter Pittman parlayed a trip to last year’s camp into being named the Big 12’s Most Improved Player last season.

Alton Lister, another alum who spent 16 years in the NBA, was one of the coaches for this year’s camp along with coaching veteran Pete Gaudet and Golden State Warriors strength and conditioning coach John Murray.

Lister demanded consistency, making sure that they did it the right way.

“He was on everybody to do it right, do it right, do it right, all the way to the end,” Lomers said. “A lot of times you go places, and they’re like, ‘Do it right,’ and then they kind of slack and don’t care anymore. By the end of the camp, they’re kind of like, ‘Just do it.’ But he was do it right every time, and I think that was good for me to get that kind of consistency that he demanded.”