GUNNER NELSEN NO, NOT THE BAD ROCK STAR, BUT CANYON'S SHOOTING STAR.Byline: Kevin Flavin flavin: see coenzyme. flavin Any of a class of organic compounds, pale yellow biological pigments that fluoresce green. They occur in compounds essential to life as coenzymes in metabolism. Staff Writer As Canyon's leading scorer the past two seasons, Matt Nelsen's name has become all but synonymous with synonymous with adjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as any mention of the school's basketball team. The 6-foot-3 senior is one of the most well-known sharpshooters in the Foothill League this season and realizes this fact has garnered him extra attention from opposing teams. But instead of spending too much time worrying about it, he has grown to relish the opportunity to excel anyway. ``I guess it's kind of a challenge,'' he said. ``I just try to play my game.'' So far, Nelsen has been successful at doing just that. Few teams have found a way to stop him with any sort of consistency and he has helped Canyon equal last year's Foothill League win total after just two games. Nelsen, averaging over 21 points per game, is again Canyon's leading scorer and took the bulk of the offensive responsibility while center Brian Waite was out with an ankle injury. ``Except for a couple games, my opportunities are right where I want them to be,'' Nelsen said. ``I just have to be confident with my shot.'' As teams key on him, Nelsen has found new ways to get his points. Almost exclusively an outside shooter in the past, he has started to drive to the basket more this season. The result has been an increase in Nelsen's trips to the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. , where he has been exceptional. ``I'm a pretty good free-throw shooter,'' Nelsen said, ``so it's going to help if I can go to the line.'' Canyon coach Chad Chad (chăd, chäd), Fr. Tchad, officially Republic of Chad, republic (2005 est. pop. 9,826,000), 495,752 sq mi (1,284,000 sq km), N central Africa. Phillips likes what he is seeing from his star guard. ``He's taking it to the hole a lot,'' he said after Nelsen scored 101 points in four games at the Mt. Carmel tournament in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , a tourney tourney: see tournament. record. ``That's what he needs to do.'' With the scoring surge at Mt. Carmel, Nelsen helped Canyon reach the consolation championship and snap out of a slump of five losses in six games. The tournament provided an opportunity for Nelsen to find his shooting range. He was held to seven points the previous week in a loss to Campbell Hall Campbell Hall can refer to:
``Even if I'm not shooting the ball well,'' Nelsen said, ``I'm not going to stop shooting.'' He demonstrated that shooter's mentality men·tal·i·ty n. The sum of a person's intellectual capabilities or endowment. Tuesday in Canyon's win over Hart, when he made only three of his 13 shots from the field but finished with 21 points. ``(Coach Phillips) expects me to shoot,'' he said. ``He expects me to knock down my shots.'' Though Nelsen has assumed the role of leading scorer for the Cowboys cowboys, in American history. 1 Tory marauders, adherents to the British cause in the American Revolution, who fought in the contested area of Westchester co., N.Y. , he doesn't feel any added pressure to put points on the board. ``We have three pure scorers on our team,'' he said. ``If I'm not scoring, someone else will pick it up.'' Nelsen's biggest challenge this season has been adjusting to Phillips' new system, which allows for more creativity on offense. He likes that he and Jeremy Haggerty now can create shots off the dribble but said the mental adjustment was difficult. ``We were so used to the way (former coach Dave) Humphreys did things,'' Nelsen said. ``Humphreys wouldn't let people create off the dribble.'' In the new system, Nelsen reached a season high of 34 points against Lancaster - falling short of the career-high 40 he scored last year against Faith Academy. But that isn't the number about which Nelsen is most concerned: He wants to play college basketball College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History
``I can do it if I work at it,'' he said. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Nelsen has his basketball goals set on a Foothill League championship and a playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. run for the Cowboys, their first in the past five years. The team proved it could compete early in the year, starting 5-1, and Nelsen is confident the Cowboys will be in the title hunt at the end of the season. ``I think we're right there,'' he said. ``If we play the way we can, I don't think there's anybody that can play with us.'' NELSEN FILE Name: Matt Nelsen Sport: Boys' basketball Team: Canyon Position: Guard Age: 17 Quote: ``I think we're more confident this year. We know that we have the ability to win league, we've just got to put it all together.'' - Matt Nelsen CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Canyon's Matt Nelsen has shrugged off opposing teams' efforts to contain him, averaging better than 21 points per game. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News Box: Nelsen File (see text) |
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