By Ed Piper
Behzad Hashemi, the Vikings' point guard, is occupying more space.
The 5'10" junior isn't literally filling up more court territory. But his "sphere of influence", to use a geopolitical term, has increased since La Jolla's basketball season began.
The fleet backcourt player, jet-black hair combed back, speeds ahead bringing the ball up court, then stutter-steps in place as he comes to an abrupt halt.
Opponents applying half-court pressure have to catch up as the Viking flash bolts by, or give way as he feints right, goes left.
Due to Hashemi's quickness, defenders of La Jolla's half-court offense have to show respect by giving him a step or two in front of him. Given such leeway, he'll launch a three-pointer from beyond the arc, or a two-point field goal if he finds himself inside the line.
In this matter of perimeter GPS tracking, he shows an affinity for any location in shooting his smooth two-handed reverse spin off his fingertips: six o'clock (top of the key), three o'clock (the right side along the baseline), or nine o'clock (left side baseline)--as he did in the Vikings' December 22 game against Canyon Crest.
But when he's not shooting the rock himself, he's busy lasering it to teammate Jacob Ohara, who said recently, "Most of my transition baskets are due to him."
The two tandemed for all-tournament honors at Hilltop early in the month. Both unheralded, both lacking newspaper clippings to broadcast their skills.
Now, with La Jolla older and wiser 12 games into the season, having snapped a five-game loss streak with a fortifying win over Rancho Bernardo December 23, the bold Behzad isn't a novelty anymore.
From his point guard spot at the top of the key, he looks in command. Confident. An anchor point for the Viking offense as Ohara cuts to the basket, or Charlie Gal posts near the basket looking for an entry pass.
Where Hashemi's effectiveness was most evident in the 45-40 win over the Ravens to end the Grossmont Winter Classic was in attacking the RB full-court and three-quarter-court presses the North County school employed much of the game.
His lightning speed freed the Vikings from the ball being jammed up in the backcourt. He works against the pressure in Coach Paul Baranowski's scheme pretty effectively, with Gal playing a major role in the middle as a passing point. Ohara and Quinn Rawdin are two other guards who deal well with La Jolla's breaking the press alongside B.H.
But, alas, the red-and-black action figures are human. Not every trip down court against the Broncos was successful. In fact, in the heat of battle, the opponents picked off a number of passes.
Hashemi, who had not had a breather all game, stumbled to the floor twice in the last minute and a half of the five-point victory. On one fall, as he battled RB's aggressive defense, he kept dribbling a la Curly Neal of the Globetrotters as he hit the floor.
Ouch. His left knee was smarting. But after a full timeout, the knee had lost its sting, and the junior floor leader walked back out onto the court without a limp.
The young man displays a lot of bravado in his verbal expressions. Asked earlier in the month about his good free-throwing, he replied, "That's just repetition." Asked for an assessment of the coming season, he said then, "We're going to shock people."
But that's part of his mystique. Part of his game. The confident, speedy roadrunner who moves the ball up court with rapidity, then either drives and kicks, or drives and fires.
Profession
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