#8 Tamar Slay
Player File
Tamar Ulysses Slay is a 6' 9" rookie
guard from Marshall, where he spent four years.
Birthday:
April 2, 1980
Birthplace:
Beckley, WV
High School:
Woodrow Wilson HS, Beckley, WV.
Drafted:
54th overall in the 2002 Draft, by NJ.
College Career Stats:
Games Played:
114 (started in 102)
Points PG:
15.7
PCT: .442
Free Throw PCT:
.749
Rebounds PG:
4.4
Assists PG:
2.2
Blocks PG:
0.46
Steals PG:
1.25
College Honors:
As a senior averaged 18.9 ppg and 5.4 rpg and was named All-Mid American
Conference honorable mention, named First Team NABC All-District. As a
sophmore, became 1st Marshall player since joining MAC in 1997 to be named
First Team All-MAC (he led the MAC in scoring with 19.9 ppg, and was 26th
in the nation), named Toyota Capital Classic team MVP as he scored 35
points against West Virginia.
Nicknames:
Officially, it's "Link" because of the speed at which he grew
in High School, and his resultant gangliness. Our readers have others:
"The Slayer"? "Bells"? Man, these are going to need
some work. Click
here to see the others and try to help us out, will you?
Known For: Sleeper, overlooked second round pick in 2002 out of Marshall had a great Summer League showing.
The Real Deal: Slay's up against a numbers game, pure and simple. If he shows more smarts and poise than some of the other young Nets, he could force a change in the roster. Not having a guarantee could work against him, unfortunately, but Byron Scott has all but committed to him. I already like him better than Brandon Armstrong.
Joe's Take: Admittedly, I had never heard of Slay before his name was called by Russ Granik at the draft. We received a great scouting report from Dave Weekley, who broadcast some of his games at Marshall. Seems that he can shoot, and isn't afraid to shoot, but can he do anything else, like defend? If he can show some game, and can swing between positions, and not be as dense as Stephen "Crazy Train" Jackson, the Nets just might have themselves a useful player. Byron Scott likes him, and has already said he'll stick with the team. Congrats, Tamar.
Champagne's Take: Word was good in the Summer League, and now word is good on Slay from training camp, and he's put up some decent numbers in the exhibition games. When he made a ton of turnovers one night, the vets took him under their wing and schooled him gently, something we haven't heard anybody doing for Brandon Armstrong. He must be well liked. Tamar could have come out for the NBA Draft as a sophmore, after he had a great season at Marshall, but he elected to stay two more years. As it would turn out, his second year in college was his best in scoring, and his team did not meet expectations when he was a junior and a senior. Thus he slipped to 54th in the 2002 draft and into the Nets' hands in the second round. But his points per game only slipped by 2 and 1 points off his sophmore high his last two years at Marshall, and his rebounding shot up and his assists stayed level. A great pick by Thorn? I'm more excited about his debut than any of the other new NJ Nets – I know their games already, but I don't know Slay's and I'm eager to see it.
Tamar Slay's' stats and bio: click here.
2002 - 2003 Nets Roster
Brandon Armstrong - G
Chris Childs - G
Jason Collins - C
Lucious Harris - G
Richard Jefferson - F
Anthony Johnson - G
Jason Kidd - PG
Kerry Kittles - G
Kenyon Martin - F
Dikembe Mutombo - C
Rodney Rogers - F
Brian Scalabrine - F
Tamar Slay - G
Aaron Williams - PF/C
Archive | Backlash | Bio | Calendar | Champagne's Blog | Diatribe | Game x Game | History | Home | Joe Netsfan's Blog | Media | Opponents | Players | Playoffs | Search | Specials
© 2002 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski
