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Stalling or smiling, Hopkins' Chambers plays to win

By Star Tribune, 03/18/14, 6:36PM CDT

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Kamali Chambers stood in the middle of the Target Center court, hardly moving.

There Kamali Chambers stood, in the middle of the Target Center court, hardly moving. His team, Hopkins, and Shakopee were tied 41-41 in the semifinals of the Class 4A basketball state tournament Thursday and the Royals were stalling, hoping to draw Shakopee out of its zone defense.

The two teams stood facing each other, neither moving, for the last three minutes of regulation and nearly three full overtimes. And Chambers, Hopkins’ smiling, gregarious point guard, was at the center of it all.

“I’ve never played a game like that in my life,” he said. “I mean, I’ve played slow games before, but never that slow.”

Eventually Hopkins won on a last second, 60-foot shot by teammate Amir Coffey in the fourth overtime. But many fans have made up their minds that Hopkins was to blame for the stalling tactics and made their objections known.

Staff writer Jim Paulsen talked with Chambers about how he and his teammates dealt with the rhetoric hurled their way and a wild championship game loss to Lakeville North two nights later.

 

Q: Whose idea was it to stall?

A: In regulation, it was the players. Coach started drawing up a play on the white board, but we all decided that, if they didn’t come, we would hold onto the ball and call timeout at 20 seconds.

 

Q: It was strange watching that tactic once. But it was unheard of watching it three more times. How do you remember it?

A: It was very bizarre. I thought they’d eventually come out, but they just sort of stood there, not doing anything. It was definitely kind of weird.

 

Q: There were a lot of people who objected to that style and let you know about it. Do you feel they were unfair to your team?

A: A little bit. Then again, we always are looked at a little harder because of who we are, because we’re Hopkins. People don’t understand that at the time, we’re just trying to do what we can to win. People criticized us, but we didn’t let that affect us.

 

Q: What is it like to play for Hopkins?

A: Well, there is a lot of pressure. I’m not going to lie and say there isn’t. But the coaching staff does a great job of preparing us to get a lot of criticism. It’s not easy to play for Hopkins. There’s always somebody who wants to take your spot.

 

Q: You didn’t have a great shooting game against Shakopee. Against Lakeville North in the final, you scored 24 points. What happened?

A: I think I rushed some of my shots against Shakopee. And then when I missed, I got hesitant. The biggest thing I did [against Lakeville North] was that I played with confidence. I’m at my best when I’m smiling and having fun and playing without worry.

 

Q: Had to be tough to lose a game like that after you played so well.

A: It was. At the end, when their guy made the three-pointer and got fouled, I was still confident we would win. But we got a little tight.

 

Q: Have you replayed the last few seconds over and over in your head?

A: Coach [Ken] Novak taught me that when you lose, you remember a lot. I remember a lot of possessions we lost during the course of the game that could have changed the outcome. The game wasn’t lost in the last 30 seconds.

Jim Paulsen

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