Hasheem Thabit alipokuwa akisota waya na klabu ya vijana pale zanaki, dar. sasa nasikia anatamba ughaibuni, kwa mujibu wa habari hii nilotumiwa na jamaa. kwa kuwa inglishi mie mwenzeni hola, naomba mjisaidie wenyewe
Sinza freshman tallest ever at UConn
Hasheem Thabeet was being teased by UConn graduate assistant Justin Evanovich in the back hallways of Gampel Pavilion.
"You seen Jeff Adrien?" Evanovich asked, referring to UConn's lumbering soon-to-be sophomore.
"Yeah?" answered the Tanzanian, to whom English is still an unfamiliar language.
"Number 4. The guy scoring all of the lay-ups on you in practice," Evanovich said.
"...So?" Thabeet tossed back, suddenly realizing the point and shrugging off the verbal jab.
Thabeet coolly grabbed his Powerade and gulped it down, relaxing after one of the first pick-up games of his UConn career. As one of the last recruits in UConn's record-setting eight-man Class of 2006, Thabeet should be able to keep it cool. His one of UConn's most prized recruits. Talk about being the big man on campus. Literally. He's 7-foot-3.
When Thabeet steps on the hardwood this fall, he'll be the tallest man ever to play for the Huskies, who will return just four players and welcome a whopping nine to this season's roster. There will be no championship expectations looming over their heads, no questions as to who will be leaving for the NBA after the season. It will just be fast-paced, in-your-face basketball featuring one of the nation's best recruiting classes.
Here at Gampel Pavilion, in the shadows of Jim Calhoun's summer basketball camp, Thabeet and the other rookies have taken center stage by storm. Thabeet originally moved to Houston from the African nation of Tanzania before signing a letter of intent in early June to play at UConn. While Storrs may play host to one of the best college basketball programs in the country, it's a far cry from the hoops Thabeet used to play in his homeland: small pick-up games that he first began watching when he was 15.
Mesmerized by the windmill dunks some of the other players were able to pull off, Thabeet stood in awe on the sidelines before he was finally asked why he, 6-8 at the time, wasn't in the mix. Coaches gave him a ball, led him to the foul line and asked if he could make the shots. After sinking the first few, Thabeet turned and looked them in the eye.
"Yeah, I can do it," he recalls telling them.
From that point on, it was plug-and-run for Thabeet. After being told he might have a shot at playing in the United States, he turned to the internet to contact coaches. Having to pay for web access in Africa, it wasn't always easy to get through. He finally reached a couple in Division III before he was put in contact with Mark McClanahan and the varsity boys' basketball coaching staff at Cypress Community Christian School in Houston. There, Thabeet woLike many of Calhoun's biggest recruits -- Emeka Okafor and Hilton Armstrong come to mind -- Thabeet wasn't highly-regarded. When Andre LaFleur heard about him, he traveled to see Thabeet and even brought him up to Storrs for the Huskies' season-ender against Louisville on March 4. Because UConn was in the running, other schools realized that Thabeet must be something special. He went to look at other urban programs in Cincinnati and Louisville before deciding that rural UConn was the place to be.
"Houston is a big city," Thabeet said of his home away from home. "There's everything there. Here, I can just focus."
"I know I can play defense, but I'm trying to get the offensive side together," Thabeet said. "We'd like to learn each other...I've only been playing basketball four years and they've been playing basketball a long time, but right now, we are all starting together."
Thabeet is taking history, political science and math classes at UConn this summer with the rest of the team. The hope is that that the players will bond before the season begins. The rest of their time will be spent playing pick-up games or working out in the gym, something new to Thabeet.
Improving his English will also be one of his priorities. He's still getting used to the college atmosphere and must learn English quickly in order to master his academics. He's already mastered Swahili and French, so he's not worried about the most important language he has to learn: Jim Calhoun's.
"I will speak his language soon," Thabeet promises.
michuzi, kama haumind ningependa uwe unatupa link ukiwa unacopy articles. Nilikuwa nataka kusave hii information lakini sasa siwezi, halafu nilikuwa nataka kujua kama umepata kutoka website ya nje au ya tanzania kwa sababu kama ni ya nje nadhani headline ingesema 'tanzanian freshman......' otherwise hii exposure itapotea bila tanzania kujulikana. Before u know it, atashawishiwa kuchukua uraia huyu na sisi kubaki tunalia!
ReplyDeletekaka anony ni kweli usemayo, na samahani kwa kutoweka link ambayo ni hii hapa. natumai utafanya cha kufanyika.
ReplyDeletehttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/sioncampus/07/18/uconn.hasheem/
Naomba kusahihisha bwana michuzi, sina uhakika kama huyu kijna alipata kuchezea vijaan au la; ila picha hii mbona ni kama uwanja wa UDSM Outsiders - Barabara ya Sam Nujoma, nje ya eneo la chuo. (karibia na ile njia panda ya kwenda maeneo ya sinza kwa Remmy na Palestina)
ReplyDeleteJamaa kachezea Vijana. Walivyoenda Mombasa ndio alikuwa spotted akahamia kenys
ReplyDeleteKwa anony wa 6:55 am... sina uhakika kama ulikuwa unanijibu mimi. Kma ni hivyo swali langu ni ktk picha iliyopigwa hapo; uwanja unaonekama kama ni uwanja wa chuo wa nje br. ya Sam Nujoma.
ReplyDeletePamoja na kuwa alikuwa vijana inawezekana alikuwa anaenda kupasha Outsiders siku ambazo hamna scheduled Practice ya Vijana maana ni karibia na mitaa ya Sinza.
..by the way, nimeifuma habari hii toka The Express:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theexpress.com/express%20369/sports/sports2.htm#9
habari hiyo nayo inasema kuwa Thabit alipata chezea Outsiders.. so inawezekana nilikuwa sahihi nilipootea uwanja au sio waungwana.
Unajua niliipata habari hii mara ya 1 kaatika jarida la sports illustrated na kama mpenzi wa michezo (ikiwemo kikapu) na kama Mtanzania nilifurahi sana. Maana kwa mtu kupata nafasi kuchezea University of Connecticut (UCONN) ni bahati iliyoje. Na ninafurahi kuona mtanzania mwenzangu kafika hapa. Namuombea aende mbali zaidi katika fanii hii.
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Kwa ambao pengine sio wapenzi sana wa kikapu au hamfuatilii ligi ya vyuo marekani (NCAA) ni kwamba ligi hii huwa ina upinzani sana tofauti na SHIMIVUTA yetu na huwa inakuwa team zao zinafanya kama usajili wa vilabu vile. Ukiwa uko fit wanakulipia masomo yako ili uchezee timu yao.
Na kila mwaka kabla ya kuanza msimu mpya, vilabu vya ligi kuu ya kikapu Marekani (NBA) huwa zinafanya usajili wa wachezaji wapya; zaidi ya asilimia 90 wakitokea vyuoni. (Kuna baadhi ya wachache kama LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, n.k. waliotokea sekondari 1 kwa 1 na wengine waliosajiliwa toka ligi za nje kama Yao Ming wa China na Dirk Nowitzki wa Ujerumani).
Sasa UCONN ni moja ya vyuo vya juu sana katika ligi ya NCAA na ni mabingwa wa '99 na 2004. Na washazalisha vipaji kadhaa vya NBA kama Ray Allen wa Seattle Sonics, Emeka Okafor wa Charlotte Bobcats, Charlie Villanueva wa Milwaukee Bucks, n.k.)
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Huwezi jua.. Mola akipenda yaweza kuwa njia ya Thabit kuingia NBA!
urefu tu tayari unamuweka kwenye position ya kufanikiwa.....futi 7 nba wanahesabika. Akijitahidi sasa kutengeneza kiwango, na hata charisma fulani sky is the limit. Awe tu careful na kuma za kizungu, maana zile zikiona unaelekea kuwa milionea.....WE WANT PRENUP!
ReplyDeletehivi kuwapo bongo tu ni tayari kusota waya wajameni???!!! tujivunie kwetu jamani pamoja na yote yaliyokuwapo.
ReplyDeleteni hasheem thabeet na sio hasheem thabit!
ReplyDeleteduh jamani hii NCAA watu nadhani wanaisikia tu, mimi naishi Houston na anilikuwa naenda kwenye game za Hasheeem japokuwa alikuwa hana imani na waTZ wenzake anaona labda tutamuingiza mjini ila mimi ningependa kuwajulisha waTZ wenzangu ambao ukienda kwenye blogu za watu wengine unakuta wanamponda huyu kijana, kila mwaka NBA inachukua watu/wachezaji 60, na kuna wachezaji zaidi ya 500 wanaojaribu kuingia kwenye NBA kila mwaka, Hasheem hajacheza game ya college hata 1 lakini yupo ranked no 10 next year kwenye draft, hebu niambieni kuna watu wangapi wamezaliwa wanacheza kikapu majina yao hayapo, also kuna watu walikuwa wanasema ni kwa sababu ya urefu, hilo mimi sikubaliani nalo kabisa, nimesikia kuna waTZ wanacheza kikapu marekani ama professional basketball Europe ila sijawahi kuwaona espn, ila hasheem nili muona espn kwenye interview, nimemuona hasheem kwenye cover la sports illustrated, kwa hiyo dogo anakicheza kikapu, michuzi habari hiyo iweke kwenye magazeti ya kwenu huko, so mimi naamini dogo future yake na ya taifa letu haziko pabaya! michuzi wasiliana nami nikuunganishe na dogo akupe habari ukauze magazeti huo TZ! MUNGU MBARIKI HASHEEM, MUNGU IBARIKI AFRICA, MUNGU IBARIKI TANZANIA!
ReplyDeleteMdogo wangu Peter unaweza kuwa umepatia kuwa ukweli huu ni uwanja wa chuo. Kwani hao vidume wengi ni wa UDSM outsiders akiwemo Albert Kasigara-Zimwi(Mwenye Bluu). Nilipokuwa bongo 2003 nakumbuka Hashim alikuwa anatrain na UDSM Insiders(Outsider ndogo) chini ya kocha wao Henry Mwinuka-Kidume. Sisi sote tumefurahishwa saana na mafanikio ya huyu dogo. Mie naamini atafika mbali sana kwani, the kid has got "character" na hilo ni muhimu saana kwa mafanikio yake. Binafsi namuomba asiwape watu ahadi yoyote kuhusu lile afanyalo, ili kila afanyalo lilete mshangao na msisimko mkubwa kwa sisi wapenzi wa basketball Tanzania. Mwisho, ikiwa mwenyezi mungu atakujaalia uende NBA soon, fikiria kupiga na Boston Celtics ;) na Paul Piece-The Truth, that guy has got character. Kila la kheri katika kupeperusha bendera yetu, mungu akujaalie kheri!
ReplyDeleteMUNGU IBARIKI TANZANIA!
Hashim kama unasoma hizi blog jua kuna watanzania wenzio wanaokutakia kila la kheri. Ndugu yangu hii imetoka ikirudi imelowa wewe ndugu umeula, na ninakutakia kila la kheri katika NBA maana kila mtu anakuzungumzia wewe hapa Indianapolis.
ReplyDeleteThe Number one fan of yours. me.