Goodwill decision annoys Marion

One of the great things about being young is the uncanny ability to bounce back from adversity.

You get knocked down, you dust yourself off and get back on your feet.

And that's exactly what Shawn Marion is doing in the aftermath of the disappointment that came from being the final cut from the USA Basketball team that will compete in the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York beginning Sunday.

The 6-foot-7 forward who will attend UNLV this fall said he has nothing to be ashamed of.

"I was disappointed," he said Thursday from his uncle's home outside of Chicago. "I thought I played well. I felt I did what I needed to do."

Marion, the lone junior college invitee to the USA Basketball training camp, nearly overcame the long odds. He was initially an alternate to the team's first tryout camp in Colorado Springs. But after a few players declined their invitation, Marion was brought in.

Once there, he displayed the skills that made him the top JC player in the nation. He scored. He rebounded. He defended. His attitude was good and the coaches liked him.

He made the cut from 30 to 17, which earned him a spot in the second camp, this time in Minneapolis. Despite a bruised left foot, he continued to impress and made the second cutdown to 14.

But when the final cut to 12 came Wednesday night, Marion's luck ran out. Despite outplaying Minnesota's Quincy Lewis, Marion was let go by Clem Haskins, the USA coach who also happens to be Lewis' coach at Minnesota.

"I felt it was between me and Quincy Lewis," Marion said.

Marion said a talk he had with UNLV coach Bill Bayno in Minneapolis helped him deal with the disappointment.

"Coach told me that this might happen, that politics could come into it," Marion said. "So I was prepared. But it still hurts whenever you get cut."

Still, Marion said his experience was a positive one.

"I got some exposure," he said. "Nobody really knew much about me when this all started. And I got to play with some of the best players in the country.

"I'm in great shape and my foot's fine."

There's a remote chance Marion could still see action in the Goodwill Games. He is the first alternate should someone get hurt. The U.S. will play every day at Madison Square Garden beginning Sunday with the semifinals set for Thursday and the championship game a week from today.

"They told me if someone goes down, I'd be the first guy called up," he said. "But I'm not even thinking about that.

"It would've been great to play on national TV and score a bunch of points and grab a bunch of rebounds. That would've been fun."

Instead, Marion will keep his game honed in Chicago playing in the summer pro league. He won't arrive in Las Vegas until the middle of August.

"I think I'm going to stay here (in Chicago) for awhile and play," he said. "But I'll be out there (in Las Vegas) soon."

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