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This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on March 3, 2003.
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Not your Law of averages

6-foot-7 'shooter' leading another MHS charge

Bob Gay/The Dominion Post

BY JUSTIN JACKSON

The Dominion Post

When Morgantown High's Kameron Law spots up behind the 3-point line, it is not a ploy, nor is it some type of publicity stunt.

The fact is, the 6-foot-7 junior power forward can flat-out shoot.

"Shooting the ball from the outside was probably the part of my game that I worked on the most in the offseason," said Law after a recent game. "In today's game, you have to be an all-around player, no matter how big you are. Even if you're tall, you still have to be able to shoot the ball and handle the ball."

On a team that is ranked No. 4 in the state and owners of an 18-3 record after Saturday's 67-57 victory over No. 5 Parkersburg South, Law is second with 23 3-point baskets made. MHS will finish its regular season tonight when the Mohigans travel to No. 3 Martinsburg.

Law, who leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game, is correct in his thinking that today's tall players have a changing role in the game of basketball. The NBA, and it didn't take long for major Division I colleges to catch on either, has rosters full of European giants that feel more comfortable shooting it from 24-feet out rather than posting up.

This state was set on its ear last season with Martinsburg High's Kevin Pittsnogle and Cabell Midland's Mark Patton.

Patton, who went on to lead Cabell Midland to a Class AAA state title and earn state Player of the Year honors, was 6-foot-9.

Pittsnogle was 6-foot-10 and is the second leading scorer this year at WVU.

While both players were listed as a center, both electrified crowds with their 3-point shooting ability. In fact, Pittsnogle is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range at WVU this season, making 45-of-90.

"Both of those players kind of opened the doors in this state," Law said. "They both came out and made believers out of people that tall players can shoot from the outside."

It wasn't always that way.

"Heck, probably just 10 years ago, if you had a kid that was 6-foot-7 or taller, you stuck him on the inside and taught him power moves," MHS coach Tom Yester said. "You never had somebody that tall shoot from the outside. You just never heard of such a thing back then."

Back then, if a center shot a 3-pointer, you could bet he got an earful from the coach. Today, Yester admits to yelling at Law about his 3-point shooting.

"I yell at him to take more of them," Yester said. "Kameron really has a good stroke from the outside, but sometimes he still is a little hesitant to take them. We need him to be strong on the inside for us, but we also need him to shoot more 3s for us."

Law being hesitant may come from the fact that he didn't always have the green light to shoot 3-pointers.

"In middle school, I maybe shot a 3-pointer at the end of a game or something like that," Law said. "I was never really told to develop my outside game until I got to high school. I'm still working on developing my game from the outside."

Apparently size does matter when it comes to shooting 3-pointers. The Mohigans leading 3-pointer, Tyler Benson, who has 48 of them, is 6-foot-4.

"The game is definitely changing," Yester said. "Unless you have a really big guy like Shaquille O'Neal that can just power over everybody, you are going to see more big guys learning to shoot from the outside."

And there's not to many Shaq's out there.

"No there's not," Yester said. "That's why players like Kameron must learn all facets of the game. Not only do they have to be able to shoot the ball from outside, but they also must be able to handle the ball like a guard."

It doesn't stop there for today's big men.

"Somebody still has to rebound," Yester said. "The big guys can shoot from the outside, but that doesn't mean they stand out there the whole game. They still have to defend in the post, maybe defend on the perimeter and they still have to rebound."

Name: Kameron Law

Height: 6-foot-7

Weight: 190

Position: Power forward

Special attribute: Usually 6-foot-7 players are put in the middle, but not Law, who is second on an 18-3 team with 23 3-pointers.