A conversation with Ibrahim Jaaber, part 2

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Here's part 2 of my conversation with Ibby Jaaber, in which he shares his memories of Penn basketball and his hopes of getting back into the Penn community in the near future. Part 1, meanwhile, focused on the evolution of his Muslim beliefs and his professional basketball future.

Daily Pennsylvanian: No one else in Penn history has close to having as many steals as you did. I know you averaged almost two steals per game just in your last season in Euroleague. What is the key to you racking up so many steals and how big of a part was that of your defensive game?

Ibrahim Jaaber: Everybody asks me, ‘What’s my secret, what’s my secret?’ And I’m never really able to answer this question. It’s something that I’m just good at. And I think that many people with my level of athleticism and knowledge of the game could be good at it they were cultivated properly. I always had coaches that allowed me to develop that skill. In high school, I was allowed to develop that skill. In college, Fran Dunphy, and when I was at Peddie [School ], Chris Potash allowed me to develop this skill and make some mistakes. I gained the trust of the coaches and they recognized my ability, that’s the first thing. And second, most of it is timing and positioning. Knowing the habits of the person you’re guarding. Or with general basketball players, when they’re going to cross over, when they’re catch the ball and put it in the net. Knowing where the defender is going to put the ball next and to get into position just to get a fingernail on it.

DP: The 2004-05 team your sophomore year wasn’t expected to win an Ivy title from a lot of outsiders but you went 13-1 in Ivy play and proved a lot of people wrong. Did you guys go into that season thinking you were going to have that level of Ivy dominance?

IJ: I think one of the things that pushed us forward that year was that people underestimated us. We had this chip on our shoulder that we had to prove everybody wrong, this is number one. Number two, we had stubborn people as basketball players. Tim Begley was stubborn, he hated to lose. Mark Zoller, Steve Danley, these guys did not like to lose. I think we got that determination, that needed push from internally, knowing that all we had was each other and externally, that not a lot of people expected victory.

DP: You mentioned Mark Zoller –both really strong statistically in your Penn careers, you both had more than 1400 career points, both in the top six all-time in team history in steals.  How do you think you and Mark complemented each other on the court?

IJ: Well me and Mark were roommates freshman year. And even Steve [Danley] and Ryan Pettinella were down the hall, so we developed a chemistry off the court. I think the best way Mark and I complemented each other, especially senior year, was our ability lead alongside one another. Mark was a leader, I was a leader, Steve was a leader, and we rarely came in conflict. Mark handled a certain aspect of the team, Steve and I handled certain aspects of the team. So when it was something I recognized in Mark, I would be out of the way. If it was something that I as the point guard and team scoring leader felt I needed to handle, they recognized that because we understood each other’s personalities.

DP: What would you say is the highlight of your Penn basketball career?

IJ: I really think—well, this is a tough one because there are many highlights. I think the junior season was really a defining moment for myself as a standout basketball player. It was my first year of getting the Ivy League title as a captain, so to speak. Begley had graduated and the team fell into our hands. Junior year, sitting on the rim after we had won the Ivy League championship, I think was the culmination of those highlights. Everything came up to that one point, all the question marks throughout the year. All the scoring and the steals were really secondary to accomplishing the most important goal, which was to actually win the Ivy League championship. To be sitting on the rim, holding up the net in the Mecca of basketball after winning the Ivy League championship my junior year was that highlight.

DP: Looking back on the run of three straight NCAA tourney appearances, do you feel like the team should have won one or even two of those games, or do you think that you guys were just outmatched?

IJ: I thought we should have won our senior year.  I thought we were more equipped to take down a team like Texas A&M than we were to take down a team like Texas. Because [Texas] had an NBA roster and also Boston College, they really had an NBA roster as well and I don’t think that we were necessarily mature enough in having the experience to really have the confidence coming into the game, and the determination coming down the stretch.  But Texas A&M, I thought we really should have taken them down. I remember the game coming down really close within the last five minutes and then they made a final run to take the game. It’s still disappointing, left a bitter taste in my mouth for a number of reasons I won’t mention, but that was the game I thought we should have won.

DP: There’s a long history of Penn basketball players going overseas to further their pro careers. Did you learn anything from guys like Michael Jordan, Jerome Allen and Jeff Schiffner about their overseas experience when you talked about it with them?

IJ: Oh, absolutely. They really broadened my perspective as a whole about what overseas basketball was. You have to understand, I was starting from zero. So when I saw guys like Tim Begley go over, and Michael Jordan and Jerome, Ugonna [Onyekwe] and Koko [Archibong], when they came back, they would be telling different stories about the basketball over there, and me also weighing myself against their abilities, being able to compete with guys like Ugonna, Koko, Tim and Jeff, that gave me a little bit of a boost in confidence. Like wow, maybe I can play professional basketball, at the end of my sophomore year and throughout my junior and senior years, really developing that confidence to say I am a professional player based on what I’m hearing and seeing.

DP: What did you find to be the biggest difference in styles of play between basketball on American soil and overseas basketball?

IJ: Basketball on American soil is twofold. You have college basketball and NBA basketball, which are two completely different things. And in between that is overseas basketball. You have certain elements of NBA basketball, shooting range, running game. And then you have certain elements of the college game. And then you have a certain part which is completely European. So it was really like a blend of what I’d already been exposed to and then the further end of my education aligned to new fundamentals, new techniques.

DP: What’s the European element to overseas basketball that’s not present over here?

IJ: The strategic approach to the game. Really looking into the details of who you’re playing against. When I was in Milan, our video guy, when he pointed out the weaknesses of a defender—for example, this guy goes right all the time—we’re never going to allow him to go right. This is one of the technical aspects of winning games. We watched video in college but it wasn’t to the extent that we really zoned in overseas. Also, footwork. There are certain steps you can’t take overseas. So you learn an entirely different skill set of how to move your feet, how to move around guys. You’ll see guys like Manu Ginobli, they move differently. Other overseas guys who come over, their footwork is a lot different and so to pick up on that footwork was really beneficial to my own game as well.

DP: How closely have you been able to follow Penn basketball over the last few years?

IJ: Not at all, not really at all. However, I actually don’t watch a lot of basketball. I haven’t watched a lot of basketball since I began playing professionally, and even before then. I really like to play basketball and do other things outside of basketball when I’m not playing.

DP: When I called you yesterday, you said you were in the middle of teaching a class. What was that about?

IJ: I’m developing a program with a few of my companions called Young Scholars, an apprenticeship program that’s really designed to cultivate the ambitions of young aspiring entrepreneurs. So every day from Monday to Thursday, I give a two-hour class regarding this project I’m working on.

DP: How long have you been doing that?

IJ: This is actually our first run. However, our director is more educated about particular types of fields than myself. However, I’m hands-on about teaching kids about developed business plans, video-audio editing and so forth.

DP: How did that idea come about, to go ahead with the Young Scholars program?

IJ: Most good ideas, I believe, come out of necessity. My brother came to me asking me if I wanted to run a summer program and I was kind of hesitant at first, but then I really took the time to contemplate it and everything just came out.

DP: Is there anything else you wanted to add?

IJ: Young Scholars is always looking for sponsors! And just in closing, I’d like to say that I really hope to begin to reach back out to the Penn community. It’s been one of the staples of my life and an experience that I truly appreciate. It’s a door that I don’t want to close, that I want to keep open. There are things that Penn can do that can benefit the things that I want to do as an individual.

DP: So you plan on reaching out to Penn in the near future?

IJ: Definitely. In fact, the process is already rolling.

DP: What’s going on?

IJ: That’s inside information.

DP: But we can expect you to be more involved in the Penn community this coming year?

IJ: I hope so.