Off The Glass

What's not in the story: More quotes from Ramon Sessions

Myrtle Beach native Ramon Sessions was gracious enough to talk extensively with me about all kinds of things this week. Check out what didn't make the story in Wednesday's edition of The Sun News:

On the NBA lockout: "We've got a players union that's very good at what they do, so players, we just continue to work out and are hoping for the best. We're still expecting the season to start on time, so hopefully they'll get together and get a deal done."

On the situation of being a starter part-time: "In my four years, it's kind of been like that most of my career. I would start like half of the season and then sometimes I wouldn't start. It's similar to the situation that I had in Milwaukee. I started and was averaging like 17 [points] and eight [assists]. Then this last season we got BD, a great veteran guy. It is what it was. I just came out and still played as hard as I could and you know, being a backup, I still put up pretty decent numbers."

On playing for young teams with bad records throughout his career so far: "It's tough. All the teams I've been on in my career have been rebuilding, which is not a bad thing, it's just a lot of young teams. Now I feel like I'm at a point in my career where I'm ready to get more wins under my belt, no matter if that's in Cleveland or wherever. It's tough. Anytime you lose 26 in a row and the next year only win 18 games it's tough. But it pays off in the end so when I do get those wins it's going to feel that much better. It's just going to show that all that hard work we did the past two years pay off at the end of the day."

On the fans in Cleveland, who has been through much in a calendar year: "They were great. You know, the Cavs fans - this is my third team in four years and the Cavs fans are by far probably some of the best fans I've seen around in the NBA. We were getting 17, 18 thousand every night. And we lost 26 in a row. They were always great. They stuck it out with us and hopefully next year we can give them a better show."

On playing through his hernia injury: "It's one of those things where one morning you'll wake up and don't notice it and one morning you'll wake up and can't move. I just treated it at the end of the season, I wanted to finish it out because I take pride playing those games. I didn't want to get the surgery done just because we was losing. I just wanted to keep playing and I got it done April 16, I believe."

What parts of his game he's working on: "I'm trying to work on that 3-point shot a little more, that's not a strong part of my game, but it's something I feel like I can work on a lot. Ball handle ... you know everything. Nobody's perfect, but there's definitely areas I can work on. But I feel like where my game is now I can be a starting point guard in the NBA."

Sessions talks Ridnour, Williams, Davis: What he learned from them

Myrtle Beach native Ramon Sessions has played for three teams in four years in his NBA career. And he's been in between starter and backup roles.

Through it all, veterans have helped shape his game at the point guard position.

Luke Ridnour. Mo Williams. Baron Davis.

So what has he learned from each? In his own words:

Ridnour in Milwaukee

"With Ridnour I learned - you know he wasn't a guy with the most athletic ability but he's one of those guys who can handle the ball, knows how to run a team. He just had great sportsmanship. He was a guy you could watch every day to come out, work hard and do his job."

Baron Davis, most recently in Cleveland

"With BD, I learned a lot about the game. His knowledge of the game is incredible. He's a guy that's been to the top and then to the bottom when it comes to wins and losses. He's just a guy I've watched day in and day out. He knows the game well and taught me a lot about a lot of different little things [like] how to change speeds on the court. He's real helpful. I still talk to him to this day [during the offseason], he's becoming a real good friend of mine."

And of course, Mo, Ramon's good friend (in both Milwaukee and Cleveland)

"And Mo, I can't say enough about what Mo did for me. My first year in Milwaukee I was Mo's rookie. So he was the point guard there, I learned a lot from him. Just cherish every moment. I got back with him in Cleveland and I just kept learning from him. He's a guy I probably look up to the most in the NBA. He's a guy that kind of brought me in and a guys that ... I was hanging out with him a few weeks back. He came to visit me in Atlanta for a weekend. He's a guy that I'm real close to and he's just known to be a professional."

They all have helped him, he said.

"All those guys were big for me in my career."

Myrtle Beach's Galloway says he hasn't quite hung up the high tops

Myrtle Beach alum and overseas pro veteran Trello Galloway hasn't retired. Rather, he just took a year off.

"Yeah, it's hard to walk away, man. That passion," he said. "I'll be honest, it was great to be able to take the year off, being able to travel and watch [friend and Cavaliers guard] Ramon [Sessions], hang out with [friend] Akeem [Hemingway]. We just traveled to games together, be together as a unit. It was great."

However, that passion still burns and he doesn't want to stay on the sidelines.

"It was tough. [It was] due to a couple injuries. It happens and that's probably part of the business ... dealing with injuries and being able to bounce back from it. You've got to be self-motivated to get yourself back," Galloway said. "There's been a lot going on. Actually I did get back later in the year, but they've got a lot of turmoil over in the Dubai, Egypt area, so it kind of prohibited me from doing some of the things I wanted to do. I'm starting to feel a little decent. I'm back in shape a little bit. It's a work in progress."

And the veteran who has most recently played primarily in the Middle East said progress is a key, considering the NBA players who might head east as the lockout carries on.

"I think it's going to be extremely hard. I think overseas teams are using it to their advantage. It's going to make it real tough," Galloway said. "We just have to be persistent and precise about where we want to go because in the market they're going to take the higher jobs. So we've got to know and be willing that these are going to be the jobs for now. But the Catch 22 is are the owners overseas willing to take these guys and deal with them leaving in a month or so? That's going to be the hard part and what they're going to have to come to grips with. Are they going to break up a team halfway through the season because they are going to have to go back to the NBA?"

If so, there will be plenty of quality players - perhaps Galloway - waiting for that call.

Sessions, other Myrtle Beach alums talk about Alumni Game

The Myrtle Beach-Socastee Men's Alumni Game didn't exactly go the way the Seahawks had hoped.

At least the ending score didn't.

However, organizer and Seahawks captain and alum Akeem Hemingway was really pleased with every aspect of the event.

"I really didn't expect it to be that big. I really didn't," Hemingway said. "I was really surprised about [the turnout], the way they came out to support it. It's for the people so we're going to keep doing it."

The competition level was high, and perhaps that shouldn't have been surprising considering it's Socastee and Myrtle Beach.

"It's Myrtle Beach and Socastee. That you can't deny. It's a rivalry and if you're Socastee you want to beat Myrtle Beach. If you're Myrtle Beach you want to beat Socastee," Seahawks alum and overseas veteran Trello Galloway said. "And I think it gave the community something to look forward to, something to do. A couple people asked me 'are you going to do it again, are you going to do it next year? You going to keep doing it?' The key to me is it gives younger kids who have graduated high school and are going to college more motivation to keep themselves going. You see these guys 15 years later, they're still in shape, they can still play. It gives you motivation and something to do. Come off the streets, come watch a good game. This is what basketball USED to be like. This is what this rivalry USED to be like. Because this generation can't tell it like we had it. It's a little different now."

Cleveland Cavaliers player Ramon Sessions surprised many by shedding his coaching duties to play in the second half. That was never a confirmed plan, but Sessions just couldn't stay off the court, especially with it being such a good cause.

So why did have a jersey underneath his white shirt?

"To support Akeem. He's trying to do a lot of great things out in the community and I felt like, you know, I was the coach the first half and if I came out and played in the second half it would kind of give people something more to talk about, something to look forward to in the next year," Sessions said. "I just wanted to get out and run around a little bit, test the hernia out. That's the first time I've played 5-on-5 since the [NBA] season. So it was good to get out there with the old faces. It's always good when you play against Socastee with that rivalry. The fans were good for it. I just wanted to get out there and mess around a little bit."

He didn't mess around enough, as Socastee won by double digits. However, it was quite a reunion.

Sessions, Hemingway, Galloway, Armistead. The D'Antonis, Alvin Green, the Derricks. Both sides had great turnouts.

"The D'Antoni boys surprised me. Me and Nick always had a great relationship. That's my boy. All those guys are my boys," Galloway said.  "I went through a spurt about two years where I was in Socastee almost every day, in the gym. It was fun, man. It was probably the most fun I've had playing basketball in the past 10 years. Just that rivalry, that competition and it was great sportsmanship. You could tell everybody got along. It was just great. It's bigger than the game itself. Of course, they won and I have to hear about it every second of the day from Derrick Hilton, Derrick Robinson, Alvin [Green] and those guys. And I saw the score posted on Facebook. I didn't expect it to be as big as it is. We lolly gagged along, but please let it be know that it'll never happen again. We definitely will [get them next year]."

In fact, Hemingway said the plans are for it to be a yearly event. And he has other events planned after hosting his own basketball camp for the last two years and also a men's tournament that featured former and current NBA players. He's far from finished.

"I've got a few things up my sleeve," Hemingway said. "I don't want to say it too soon, but I've got some things in the works."

The rumor was that Sessions would/wouldn't play the week before, depending on who you asked. Hemingway himself was surprised his cousin suited up.

"I didn't think he was going to play. I thought he was just going to coach and then he came off the bench and played," Hemingway said. "Ramon wants part of the event. He's one of those guys where he's never too big. He wants to help give back to the community."

The community certainly turned out. The stands were packed - on both sides of the gym.

"It was a pretty good turnout. I'm excited about it. I'm looking forward to continue doing it," Hemingway said. "We're going to try to keep it going every year back and forth with Myrtle Beach and Socastee. I want to come up with something kind of like the Conway-Myrtle Beach football rivalry with the Victory Bell and do something of that caliber."

Sessions, an accomplished NBA player, was impressed with his competition.

"I knew most the guys from Myrtle Beach could still play, but Socastee still has guys - Alvin, Ray Ray - those guys still looking like they were in their high school days," he said.

Hemingway said overall the event was a huge success, but don't expect Myrtle Beach to be satisfied after this friendly.

"We're going to be more prepared [next year]. We can't come out and go out like we did, so expect to see that bad of a showing anymore. I guarantee you that," he said.

What else could you expect from one of the biggest rivalries in the area? This is why we all couldn't stay away. Can't wait until next year.

Coastal Carolina's Leasure wins scoring title in New Zealand

Coastal Carolina alum Jack Leasure, who has played the last two seasons for New Zealand professional team Taranaki Mountain Airs, won the (New Zealand) National Basketball League scoring title.

Leasure "took out the scoring title averaging 22.9 points per game making him the only player this season to average over twenty points per game," according to a report on stuff.co.nz.

Results, photos from Myrtle Beach-Socastee Alumni Games

There was a split in the inaugural Myrtle Beach-Socastee High School Alumni Basketball Games on Saturday at Myrtle Beach High School.

The Seahawks won the women’s game 46-31, and the Braves took the men’s contest 75-53.

Myrtle Beach’s Koretha Johnson was named MVP of the women’s game. Socastee’s Alvin Green was awarded MVP honors in the men’s contest.

Below are some photos from the event:

Photos by David Wetzel, dwetzel@thesunnews.com

Details for Saturday's Myrtle Beach-Socastee alumni games

The inaugural Myrtle Beach-Socastee alumni basketball games tip off Saturday at Myrtle Beach High School.

The women’s game is slated to start at 6 p.m. and the men’s game is scheduled to follow at 7 p.m.

The doors open at 5 p.m. and admission is $5.

Akeem Hemingway is the captain of the Myrtle Beach men's team, which features Trello Galloway, Brandon Armistead, Travis Spivey and others. NBA player Ramon Sessions is expected to attend and possibly coach.

Derrick Hilton will captain the Socastee men's team, which will have the likes of Alvin Green, Derrick Robinson, Nick and Andrew D'Antoni and others.

Link: Knicks and 7 NBA teams that should target Ramon Sessions

While the lockout disallows for NBA teams to make moves, many people it is just a matter of time before the Cleveland Cavaliers trade Myrtle Beach native Ramon Sessions after drafting fellow point guard Kyrie Irving.

Though transactions are at a stand-still, it doesn't mean rumors are dead. Here's a new one with potential teams that could use Sessions, when his services become available again: Bleacher Report

Socastee alum Lukas Varga re-signs with team in Denmark

Socastee High School alum Lukas Varga has re-signed with Denmark professional team Lemvig Basket.

Varga, who began his professional career with the squad last season, said he earned a pay raise from the team after turning down offers from other teams overseas.

"I had offers in other countries and higher leagues ... but I feel very comfortable with this place," he said.

Link to story: Leasure makes the difference one more time

Coastal Carolina alum Jack Leasure has continued his solid play for New Zealand professional squad Taranaki Mount Airs.

Check out this article on his latest big game: Manawatu Standard story.