Retin Obasohan Shines in 2016 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
4/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama men's basketball senior guard Retin Obasohan was down on himself after struggling in his first game of the 2016 Portsmouth Invitational, scoring two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field. Then he received a pair of phone calls, including one from head coach Avery Johnson, that would change everything.
Obasohan received coach Johnson's call shortly after his first game was finished. Technically, it was a text from Alabama's first year head coach that simply said "call me." That's what Obasohan did and he was surprised with what came next.
"He got on me pretty good," Obasohan said with a chuckle. "Coach told me he didn't want me to put any more pressure on myself. He mentioned that he wanted to me to play just the same exact way I played for him during the season. Don't try to do anything special and try to play under control. That really helped me re-focus. As a player in one of these showcase tournaments, it's easy to get caught up trying to prove something to the agents and scouts. You see it happen all the time. Players can try and do things they've been told doesn't work or isn't part of their game. Then when it doesn't work, you start playing frustrated and that's never a good thing."
Moments after a good conversation with Johnson, Obasohan received another phone call and this one was from his father in Belgium, who watched him play via a webcast of the game.
"After I got off the phone with coach Johnson, my dad called and the first thing he told me he loved me and was proud of me regardless of what happens," Obasohan said. "He told me to keep things in perspective and that these games weren't going to determine my future as a player. He said to go out there and have some fun, so that's what I tried to do from that point on."
That's exactly what Obasohan did. Over his final two games at the tournament, the 6-2, 210-pound guard led his team in scoring (22 and 26 points, respectively) and averaged 24.0 points and 5.0 assists a game while shooting an impressive 14-of-24 (.583) from the field and 7-of-10 (.700) from beyond the arc.
As a result, Obasohan was named one of 11 players in the entire 64-man field - and the only player from his team - to earn a spot on the 2016 PIT All-Tournament team.
For the three-game tournament, Obasohan led the his team, the Portsmouth Partnership, with 16.7 points per game, while also collecting 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per contest. He shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field and 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the arc.
In addition to leading his team in points and threes made (7), Obasohan ranked among the tournament leaders in a variety of categories including three-point field goal percentage (7th), scoring average (8th), assists per game (9th), steals per game (14th) and field goal percentage (25th).
Afterwards, Obasohan reflected on his first taste of professional basketball.
"The entire experience was tremendous," Obasohan said. "It was great to even be invited and a part of it considering only the top seniors in the country were invited. It was a huge honor to be a part of that. It's a very well-run tournament and it was a lot of fun. You have to adapt very quickly and just go out there and play. It's all off of instinct. I really enjoyed it and it was an overall great experience."
Now Obasohan will turn his focus on getting his body and mind right for upcoming NBA workouts while also focusing on choosing an agent to represent him - a demand that has increased since his performance at the Portsmouth Invitational.
"I want to have an agent picked by this weekend and have that taken care of," Obasohan said. "That way I can turn all of my focus to my workouts and conditioning. I am hoping to get an invite to the NBA Combine in Chicago (May 11-15). I think I opened some eyes with my play in Portsmouth, but haven't gotten an invitation yet. After that, I am hoping to be able to work out for some NBA teams and then hope to hear my name called at the NBA Draft on June 23."
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
