By Peter Toth

 

This is Budapest, Hungarian National Streetball Championship (they have one) and the winners of the U14 category are just celebrating their victory with one boy towering over his cheering peers. There is no need of much detective work to find out he is not an occasional player, his height, hands and move immediately betrays his regular involvement with basketball. I'm still approaching the young player, when I am informed his name is Martin Abraham ('99) and that he has just turned 14. This later information is a bit hard to believe seeing him more than a head taller than my average height, so my first question, understandably, regards his age and height. "I have just reached 195cm" says he, proudly looking down at the questioner, "and three months ago was hardly 190 and was 14 in July".

As the conversation evolves, the huge teenager turns out to be a member of the Hungarian U14 selection who hiimself comes from a basketball family, with both of his parents being players of once famous Hungarian teams. "It was my mum and dad who from very early on directed me towards basketball. In the beginning I did not want to play, but they recognized that their genes had been transferred to me and I would possess some of their talents and evidently their height. So having been pushed a bit by them, I started to play in the local team, but soon went over to MAFC (which is still one of the best clubs in Hungarian youth basketball). Given my inherited sizes, I immediately started to play at the center position, but we were not very successful and lost the championship. My motivation was much more with the school team where we won the national championship for primary schools four times successively. Under the influence of this surprising success it was that I decided to put more effort in basketball and went back to my first team and started to work very hard with them".

I explained him that my thoughts were that all his energies previously involved in a lower level game were now turned towards a more advanced and more challenging direction, asking him if was this hard work immediately followed by success. He added that "hard work, hard times.... At that time I was growing so extensively that every single month I added 1-2 centimeters to my height and in one year I went from 179 to 195 cm with a shoe size sometimes skipping one or even two sizes in a month. (EUR 49 at present) But size is not all in basketball, you must learn how to use it in action and this is why my stay with my present team was so much helpful. Playing with them, I gained not only height, but also strength, physical and mental as well, and much, much experience. It was during the last two years with the Vasas team that I got really into basketball and started to love the game and it was this love that gave me the real impetus to work hard. We won many championships in Hungary and abroad, too and I was awarded Hungarian allstar of year 99 twice. In the last two years I was continually playing in the national `99 selection, but this year I have been admitted even to the 1998 team, and was invited to the Euroleague what I am eagerly looking forward to. Playing against older teams is an important experience for a player in my age, as I still have to learn a lot. I am very confident in using my size under the hoop, catching the rebounds and blocking the shoots. But I know I have to add more muscles and strength and increase my speed in running the court, and have more tactical skills and punctuality in handling the ball. But all these things can be taught and learnt and I am a great learner and a hard worker, so I do hope to develop into a world-class player".