Ibrahim Jaaber still refuses to pick on people his own size.
At 170 pounds, he's lighter than every opponent he'll see in his five NBA Summer League games.
Only five players in the entire Summer League weigh less than he does; two of them are with the visiting Chinese team, and two were highly-touted first-round NBA Draft picks.
But that's nothing new.
At Penn, Jaaber refused to let his small frame keep him off the court. Now, he has to do it again.
Against even longer odds, he may just be holding his own.
In his first two games with the Detroit Pistons, Jaaber has played 28 minutes, and has seven assists compared to three turnovers. Add some of Jaaber's trademark stat -4 steals - and it's clear he's not going away without a fight.
"I've been pursuing basketball pretty much since graduating, training for tryouts and workouts," he said before yesterday's game against Washington.
To prepare, Jaaber worked out in Las Vegas for a month with the cream of this and past years' Summer Leagues - the likes of Sebastian Telfair, Taurean Green and Quincy Douby. He had a pre-draft session with the Pistons (while teammate Mark Zoller was doing the same with the Sixers).
"I guess [the Pistons] liked what they saw," he said.
There's been a lot to like, as Jaaber's transition from Big 5 Player of the Year to NBA training camp hopeful has been pretty smooth.
"I increased my vertical, and I found that I was able to keep up with everyone," he said.
But quickness and agility have rarely been issues for Jaaber. His problem is that he can be outmuscled, and that perception may be tough to overcome in a couple of summer league games.
Even if he keeps playing well, his ceiling this week is still low, since Detroit's biggest priority is getting minutes for their top young prospects. While first-round draft picks Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo are guaranteed 25 or 30 minutes every game, Jaaber is left to fight for the scraps with seven or eight other players in the same position as him.
He learned that the hard way last night, when he sat for the whole game (unsurprisingly, given how much he was on the court during the first two games).
So Jaaber is preparing to move on, in case his last two games in Vegas don't bring him a miracle.
"Depending on the feedback from coaches, I could be picked up for another summer league or invited to a training camp," he said. "If not, I'm going back to Richmond to work out with my brother [Luqman, who won a national championship with Division II Virginia Union]. There's a pro-am league in Richmond I might play in."
Playing overseas - following the path of Penn standouts like Ugonna Onyekwe and Jerome Allen - isn't out of the question. And there's always a chance he could end up in the NBA's D-League, like 2006 grad Eric Osmundson, who popped up with the Colorado 14ers last season.
Still, there isn't a lot a wiry guard from the Ivy League can demand from the unforgiving world of pro basketball. Jaaber knows that, and he's not going to be picky.
"Everything is going as planned. The best job I can get is playing basketball somewhere; I won't make as much money doing anything else," he said.
"I'll take any opportunity I can get."
