Denburk Reid probably thought his basketball playing days in Montreal were behind him when he graduated from McGill in 2005 as the Redmen's all-time leading scorer with over 2000 points, 300 steals and more than 400 rebounds. Then came the opportunity of a lifetime. Two years ago, the Montreal Matrix basketball club was founded as the newest franchise in the massive 51-team American Basketball Association. Now in his second year with the club, the 5'9" point guard has managed to forge himself a niche in the professional ranks. True to form, though, the Little Burgundy native-a rather rough neighborhood of Montreal, near the Atwater market-hasn't forgotten where he came from. Despite the demands of being a professional athlete, Reid is currently pulling double duty by serving as an assistant coach for the Redmen. He managed to take time out of his busy schedule to sit down with the
Tribune and discuss the Redmen, the Matrix and everything in between.
What do you think of this year's edition of the Redmen?
We have a lot of potential. We're young and energetic and I think we could make some noise this year; we just have to believe we can. Just because we're young doesn't mean we can't win. Because we're young, we have nothing to lose and we can go in there and use our young energy. We're also very athletic and I think that goes hand-in-hand with the energy.
Was McGill always the first choice?
Actually it wasn't. Like everybody else, I wanted to go the States to play. I knew that anywhere I would go I was going to play basketball but I also wanted to make it worth my while in terms of getting an education. So I turned down a couple of schools on that basis and then with a couple of others, like Maine, it just didn't work out for a variety of reasons. In terms of Canada, I had a lot of choice. I knew a couple of guys from my days at Dawson who were playing at McGill but because of the coaching situation and the style they were playing here, I wasn't really looking at McGill. I knew academically they were good but again I wasn't considering them because of their style of play. Then there was Concordia but I quickly dropped them because there was an incident with a recruiting trip I had there. I didn't like what the coach there said about McGill and that's why I decided to come here. [laughs] Just to spite him. But at the same time I decided, there was a coaching change here and so that just made it that much easier to come to McGill.
What are some of the things you took away from your time at McGill and what do you think you've brought to the program?
It's a different culture here than it is in Little Burgundy, so I think I took a lot away in terms of culture and camaraderie. I learned a lot by meeting different people from different backgrounds. In terms of athletics, though, the mentality here is maybe a little more laid back. I think I can bring a bit more of an aggressive approach to the game here. We don't always have to be nice guys. Off the court we do, but while we have to be respectful on the court, we don't necessarily have to be nice guys.
Has the transition from student athlete to the pros been difficult?
It's certainly a different approach. You're used to doing everything with the team when you're in school: You practice together, you run together and you go to the gym together. In the pros, you really have to take care of your own thing. This is what you get paid to do and so you have to make sure you do it to the best of your abilities and that means taking care of yourself. That's part of the transition. The other part is that it's more dog-eat-dog. You have to make sure you're a survivor and you do your thing so you can make it over others.
What do you think of the Matrix's chances this year?
We're struggling a bit right now with our chemistry but I think once we get in a good flow we should be all right. We don't have any problem scoring right now; it's more of a defensive thing. We all have to be on the same page on the defensive end but once we get that straight we should be good.
What do you think of the ABA's distinctive scoring system?
I like it. No lead is ever safe and that means no game is ever over. In just two or three minutes, with a couple of steals you can get back in any game. Teams press more to get the ball more so you see guys taking more risks to get the ball back. So I think it makes the game more exciting, it adds a different flavour to the game.
[The ABA uses the unique "3-D" scoring system, which allows in certain circumstances for baskets to be worth one more point than they would be normally; check out
www.abalive.com for details.]
Did you ever consider going anywhere else to play basketball professionally?
I did for about a second, but because of my family situation with my son, I wasn't like everyone else. I couldn't just get up and go wherever and if it doesn't work out just go somewhere else. I don't have that freedom to just move over and over. I had some good offers but when it was all said and done I think the best thing for me was to stay here and it just so happened that the ABA came along.
Is coaching something you hope to pursue full-time when your playing career is over?
It's a possibility. So far, the more I do it, the more I enjoy it. I coached the "AA" team at Dawson College for a few years, so it's not like I just decided one day that I wanted to coach. I've been involved with coaching for a while now so I guess it's just a natural transition for me back to the university level.
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