Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Corey Fisher didn’t set out to score 105 points last Saturday night.
It just happened.
“I was just feeling it,” Fisher said in a phone interview from Villanova. “My teammates got me the ball and it was just a good game.”
The rising senior point guard from The Bronx drained 23-of-28 3-pointers and scored 72 points in the second half in the Watson Classic in The Bronx. Fisher said his previous career high was the 71 points he once dropped in an IS8 game.
Fisher played with the Dyckman team in the Watson Classic and said he “didn’t know the guys” on his team.
Because the court was unusually small, Fisher figured it was better to fire away from long range than to try and drive the lane.
“They were in a zone,” Fisher said. “The court was kind of small. I knew coming in it would be hard for me to drive. I hit a couple jump shots early and then I took it from there.”
Jose Calderon is credited on the Internet with guarding Fisher, but Fisher has no idea who it was. He said Watson played zone, box-and-one, single-team and double-team defense on him.
Once he got it going, the crowd got into it.
“Dyckman is the best league in New York and every time you play there’s a big crowd on hand,” Fisher said. “When you play basketball you feed off your teammates, the crowd and the atmosphere around you. That kind of gets you going. If you got a little name in college basketball and you come back home to play people wanna see you. That kind of played a little bit into it.”
Villanova coach Jay Wright joked this week that he had to beg Fisher to shoot last season because he deferred too much to Scottie Reynolds.
Fisher said that was true to an extent but he doesn’t plan to become the man all of a sudden now that he’s dropped triple-digits in a game.
“Certain times I had an open shot but I feel that Scottie Reynolds was the leader of our team, the go-to guy, and sometimes coach would beg me to shoot,” Fisher said. “It’s not that I would defer, it’s just like when I played with Dante [Cunningham], we all played off Dante a little more.”
So, can Villanova fans expect Fisher, who averaged 13.3 points last season, to fill it up a little more next season?
“I’m gonna play the same way I’ve played for three years,” he said. “I think I kind of established myself as being one of the best point guards in the country. Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be that. I ain’t gonna change. I’m not gonna go out and try to score 105 every time. I’m just going to go out and try and make my teammates better.”
And after this season, Fisher will likely be headed to the NBA, a place that Reynolds wasn’t able to land even though he was a first-team All-America and the Big East Player of the Year.
“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “Before the NBA I’ve got to worry about my last year of college and making it my best, making sure my teammates are having a lot of fun.
“I’m just going out and playing hard.”
FREE THROWSJoel “Air Jamaica” Wright, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Brooklyn, committed to Duquesne. Wright had previously committed to both Fordham and Manhattan, but has now settled on Duquesne after a visit. “The coaching staff are great,” Wright said. “I felt like it was a family. I love those guys. The whole staff is awesome.”…Former Villanova and Duke player Taylor King will transfer to USC. King previously transferred to Villanova from Duke…Rutgers’ F Jonathan Mitchell put up 26 points and 16 rebounds to help the Eastern All-Stars to a 118-87 victory over Real Deal Bahamas Thursday. Dane Miller added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in helping the team to a 2-0 record….Rutgers will host 6-6 SG Malick Kone and 6-1 PG Jerome Seagears on Saturday. Both are 2011 and both are from DC Assault…Monmouth hosts Rutgers Dec. 18…Syracuse will host Iona Dec. 18 at the Carrier Dome
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Corey Fisher didn’t set out to score 105 points last Saturday night.
It just happened.
“I was just feeling it,” Fisher said in a phone interview from Villanova. “My teammates got me the ball and it was just a good game.”
The rising senior point guard from The Bronx drained 23-of-28 3-pointers and scored 72 points in the second half in the Watson Classic in The Bronx. Fisher said his previous career high was the 71 points he once dropped in an IS8 game.
Fisher played with the Dyckman team in the Watson Classic and said he “didn’t know the guys” on his team.
Because the court was unusually small, Fisher figured it was better to fire away from long range than to try and drive the lane.
“They were in a zone,” Fisher said. “The court was kind of small. I knew coming in it would be hard for me to drive. I hit a couple jump shots early and then I took it from there.”
Jose Calderon is credited on the Internet with guarding Fisher, but Fisher has no idea who it was. He said Watson played zone, box-and-one, single-team and double-team defense on him.
Once he got it going, the crowd got into it.
“Dyckman is the best league in New York and every time you play there’s a big crowd on hand,” Fisher said. “When you play basketball you feed off your teammates, the crowd and the atmosphere around you. That kind of gets you going. If you got a little name in college basketball and you come back home to play people wanna see you. That kind of played a little bit into it.”
Villanova coach Jay Wright joked this week that he had to beg Fisher to shoot last season because he deferred too much to Scottie Reynolds.
Fisher said that was true to an extent but he doesn’t plan to become the man all of a sudden now that he’s dropped triple-digits in a game.
“Certain times I had an open shot but I feel that Scottie Reynolds was the leader of our team, the go-to guy, and sometimes coach would beg me to shoot,” Fisher said. “It’s not that I would defer, it’s just like when I played with Dante [Cunningham], we all played off Dante a little more.”
So, can Villanova fans expect Fisher, who averaged 13.3 points last season, to fill it up a little more next season?
“I’m gonna play the same way I’ve played for three years,” he said. “I think I kind of established myself as being one of the best point guards in the country. Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be that. I ain’t gonna change. I’m not gonna go out and try to score 105 every time. I’m just going to go out and try and make my teammates better.”
And after this season, Fisher will likely be headed to the NBA, a place that Reynolds wasn’t able to land even though he was a first-team All-America and the Big East Player of the Year.
“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “Before the NBA I’ve got to worry about my last year of college and making it my best, making sure my teammates are having a lot of fun.
“I’m just going out and playing hard.”
FREE THROWS
Joel “Air Jamaica” Wright, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Brooklyn, committed to Duquesne. Wright had previously committed to both Fordham and Manhattan, but has now settled on Duquesne after a visit. “The coaching staff are great,” Wright said. “I felt like it was a family. I love those guys. The whole staff is awesome.”…Former Villanova and Duke player Taylor King will transfer to USC. King previously transferred to Villanova from Duke…Rutgers’ F Jonathan Mitchell put up 26 points and 16 rebounds to help the Eastern All-Stars to a 118-87 victory over Real Deal Bahamas Thursday. Dane Miller added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in helping the team to a 2-0 record….Rutgers will host 6-6 SG Malick Kone and 6-1 PG Jerome Seagears on Saturday. Both are 2011 and both are from DC Assault…Monmouth hosts Rutgers Dec. 18…Syracuse will host Iona Dec. 18 at the Carrier Dome
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
