USC star Alijah Arenas talks life-threatening…
While Gilbert Arenas was placing out a basketball show, his son was placing on one.
It’s one thing of a household custom.
Displaying one silky transfer after another in only his fifth school recreation, USC freshman Alijah Arenas vaulted his group to a important victory over Indiana on Tuesday with a 29-point scoring binge.
Southern California guard Alijah Arenas celebrates a three-pointer over Indiana on Tuesday. AP
His father, a former three-time NBA All-Star, watched the sport from afar because he was recording his podcast at the time. Alijah gave him lots of fodder for a future episode.
“He’s actually the one who told me you’ll start to get in your groove around the fifth game and he kind of put the money on it,” Alijah told the California Post, “so I thank him for that.”
Alijah’s season debut didn’t come until late last month after he persevered through a collection of setbacks. There was a life-threatening Tesla CyberTruck accident last spring that left him hospitalized for six days. Over the summer season, a knee injury sidelined him at a time when he was placing in important development work.
Alijah’s season debut didn’t come until late last month after he persevered through a collection of setbacks. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
He’s rapidly rounded into kind since returning to follow, pushing through a collection of cold-shooting video games. His scoring complete against the Hoosiers allowed him to already match his father’s top efficiency his total freshman season at Arizona.
No breakthrough was needed for Alijah to really feel lucky given his circumstances.
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“Just being here and alive,” Alijah said when requested about his exhibiting holding additional significance. “Like, it makes that incredible whether I’m playing or not; it has nothing to do with playing, it’s just being alive.”
His big recreation began with a 3-pointer in the opening minutes before the 6-foot-6 guard acquired the bounce on a mid-range jumper. His favourite transfer got here when he used a hesitation crossover to get past one defender and a scoop layup to rating around another.
“I was really having fun way before I even scored a basket,” said Alijah, who wears a No. 0 jersey, just like the daddy identified as “Agent Zero.” “Like, I saw the guys shooting well, I saw everybody getting going, and then it led to my 3 getting open and got myself going too.”
“Just being here and alive,” Alijah said when requested about his exhibiting holding additional significance. AP
With the Trojans (17-6 general, 6-6 Big Ten) attempting to maintain on for a victory they badly needed to improve their NCAA event standing, Alijah rose to the second. His 19-point second half featured a leaning jumper in which he was fouled, a couple of 3-pointers and another dazzling transfer in which he break up two defenders at the 3-point line before driving for a hanging floater around a third defender.
“He can get his own shot whenever he wants,” USC coach Eric Musselman told reporters afterward of a participant averaging 11.8 factors per recreation. “He’s a great find-your-own-shot creator.”
Alijah’s output was all the more important contemplating that swingman Chad Baker-Mazara, the group’s second-leading scorer, went down with a proper knee injury early in the second half. Picking his spots to be aggressive, Alijah heeded the advice of coaches and teammates.
“Everybody,” Alijah said, “they were telling me, like, go at your pace, it’s your game, don’t let anybody speed you up, so just learn to play to my own pace and manipulate my defender by not letting them manipulate me into speeding up.”
Alijah anticipated his father breaking down recreation footage with him in another household custom. They love watching hoops together, Alijah continually viewing a December 2006 battle between his father and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. Bryant completed the sport with 45 factors. Gilbert Arenas acquired 60 – and a victory for the Washington Wizards.
“I remember that game inside and out,” Alijah said. “The way that they battled it out was amazing to me.”
Southern California guard Alijah Arenas (0) dribbles against Wisconsin guard John Blackwell during a January recreation. AP
When it comes to comparisons between father and son, Alijah said his 14-year-old brother, Aloni, more intently mirrors the household patriarch.
“I’d give that similarity to my brother – the athleticism, the strength, the speed is kind of what all my dad had,” Alijah said, “the deep raise [on the shot], that’s definitely what my little brother Aloni has.”
After rewatching footage of his breakout recreation with coaches, Alijah wasn’t patting himself on the back. There have been too many areas for enchancment. He said he might be more conscious off the ball defensively. Blow up screens with his shoulder. Get back into the paint and rebound.
His father’s advice? Be current on a journey that’s just getting began.
“Just, keep going,” Alijah said, repeating his father’s message. “You have more games ahead of you, stay disciplined, stay level-headed, be humble about it and just love what you’re doing because I’m going to go down, I’m going to go up.”
If his most current recreation is any indication, that trajectory is headed up, up, up.
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