By Brian Bohl
ORLANDO, Fla.- As the starters began to congregate at midcourt, Loren Stokes remained on the bench. He kept his blue pullover over his 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame as the summer league game began here last week.
In making his first foray into professional basketball, Stokes needed to adjust to a higher quality of play and a different role than he experienced as a four-year starter for the Pride. As a standout guard, the Buffalo native started 94 of 95 games the past three seasons, leading the University to three consecutive NIT appearances.
Stokes, who was not drafted by an NBA team last month, concluded his collegiate ledger by earning Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year honors. But he was just another accomplished NCAA standout on the Orlando Magic’s exhibition squad in the Pepsi Pro Summer League that ran last week.
There was a time when Stokes was usually the best player on the floor, evidenced by his team-best 20.3 points per game average as a senior. After getting signed by the Magic, he was no longer the offense’s primary option in the six-team league that featured a slew of top prospects and former high-round draft picks.
Stokes was placed behind former first round pick J.J. Redick and Kevin Kruger on Orlando’s depth chart. He didn’t even get off the bench at the RDV Sportsplex during the opener of the five-game schedule, a byproduct of bloated 15-player rosters that are designed to give undrafted free agents a chance to compete with the likes of well-known players like the Nets’ Marcus Williams and the Bobcats’ Adam Morrison.
After recording that DNP-Coach’s decision, the 23-year-old saw action in the remaining four games but struggled after being asked to be a pure point guard. His two points in 29:57 of total game time led to a .5 ppg. average, while his turnovers (four) exceeded his assist total (three).
“It’s a little different. Everything’s moving a lot faster,” Stokes said about his professional debut. “There are a lot of guys on the team, so [they’re] trying to get everybody to play.”
During the week, the Magic announced they completed a sign-and-trade with Seattle for Rashard Lewis and re-signed Dwight Howard. With Redick expected to get an even larger role next season, Stokes will have a difficult time cracking the 12-man NBA roster. But the Pride’s second all-time leading scorer said the experience was still valuable, and that he would consider playing in Europe or in the NBA’s developmental league as a means to improve.
“I was anxious,” Stokes said. “Not everybody gets a chance to do this. It was just a good feeling for me.”
Tom Pecora coached Stokes during his entire time with the Pride, watching him emerge from being a raw-but-talented prospect at St. Thomas More in Connecticut to become the University’s best professional basketball prospect since Speedy Claxton. Pecora even compared his pupil to an accomplished NBA guard.
“The thing that Loren needs to work on is proving that he can play the point and run an offense at the next level,” Pecora said. “Some scouts have looked at him and compared him to Jason Terry, so they do see his potential.”
Terry owns a career 15.9 points per game average over the past nine seasons for the Hawks and Mavericks. Stokes first must convince a NBA team he can play a valuable reserve role before he approaches that level. To get there, he must show he can be a true point guard after succeeding as a point-and-shooting guard hybrid for the Pride.
Stokes’ signature move in college was his ability to get the ball near the foul line before driving hard to the basket. His fierce runs would often lead to baskets, fouls or a chance to find an open teammate on the perimeter after the defense collapsed near the basket. With the Magic, he still attempted an occasional drive, but he said he focused more on getting his teammates involved.
“It’s the same position; I’m playing point guard here,” he said. “It’s just remembering all the plays and making sure everybody’s in the right position.”
In this salary cap age, players with guaranteed contracts possess more leverage when it comes to filling roster spots. Redick made over $1.86 million last season, while the Lewis and Howard deals totaled nearly $200 million. With so much money invested, undrafted free agents like Stokes face an uphill battle to break into the league, though Ben Wallace became an All-Star after no one called his name on draft night.
“Being drafted isn’t the most important thing,” Pecora said. “The most important thing is that you want to stick. If you get a chance to get invited to a camp as a free agent, then find the right situation, and go in and find a way to stick.”
Notes: The Magic finished 3-2, tied with the Pacers and Nets for the top mark in the summer league… In a bit of irony, Stokes and former George Mason guard Tony Skinn were teammates after being rivals in college. Skinn was suspended one game late in the 2005-06 season after punching Stokes in the groin during a CAA semifinal contest. The Pride eventually won the game, though the Patriots captured the NCAA Tournament bid that ended in an unlikely Final Four appearance.
The punch generated national media attention at the time, but things appeared calm during the week after the two players talked about the incident. “You got to talk to your teammates,” Stokes said. “He just said that it was a spur-of-the-moment thing [and] he was frustrated. I don’t want to elaborate on that. It’s in the past.”
After four years with the Pride, Loren Stokes strutted his stuff in Orlando