Max Hooper is a bit like the Liam Neeson character from “Taken.”
What I do have are a very particular set of skills.
Hooper has attempted 221 shots this season, zero from inside the 3-point arc. And he does not find this particularly strange. Nor does his coach, Greg Kampe, of Oakland (Mich.).
“Why I would want him to do anything else?” Kampe asked. “He’s not very good athletically with the ball near the rim, so everything we run for him is a play to get a 3.”
Hooper attempted five on Sunday at UIC. Zero hit, revealing that the sportswriting gods have a wonderful sense of humor. But at least he kept his streak intact.
He did not come close to attempting a deuce. His game involves camping out in the corner or sprinting along the baseline, using screens in an attempt to get free from 20 feet, 9 inches and beyond.
“He doesn’t care if there’s a hand in his face, and he doesn’t need much room to get his shot off,” Oakland guard Kay Felder said. “Max is a great shooter.”
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Indeed, the man who goes by @MaxTheHooper on Twitter has nailed 98 3-pointers this season, tied for fifth nationally through Saturday, and at a 44.3 percent clip. During a two-game stretch at Green Bay and Milwaukee, he drained 16 of 24.
Listed at 6-foot-6 and 201 pounds, Hooper is thin and long-limbed with a buzz cut. He’s also whip smart, a graduate student carrying a 3.6 GPA in Public Administration who began his college career at Harvard. Then he transferred to St. John’s and finally found a home at Oakland, where Kampe wants him to let it fly. Again and again.
“We were able to win without him making any,” Kampe said after his team’s hard-fought, 74-63 victory. “All this means is Friday (their next game) he’ll probably make seven of them.”
Hooper would love the sound of that.
He has called himself the “best shooter in the country” but explained it’s mainly a reflection of his mentality.
“Next shot. Next shot. Next shot. Keep the mind flushed,” he said. “You’re prideful in your shot and frustrated if it doesn’t go in, but I’m at a point where I truly don’t care if I miss. I will keep shooting.”
UIC coach Steve McClain assigned his best player, the athletic, 6-7 Dikembe Dixson, to shadow Hooper. It worked, though Hooper did get some decent looks.
“They knew all our sets,” Hooper said. “Credit them, I guess.”
Bulls general manager Gar Forman hit the UIC Pavilion on Sunday, but he came to scout the sensational Felder, a ripped 5-9 guard who had 10 assists and scored 20 points thanks to an array of spins, floaters and step-back jumpers.
Hooper’s recent attention has mostly come from the media, especially ESPN.
“Everybody loves a streak and loves a novelty,” he said. “But I don’t want to be recognized as a circus act. I want to be recognized as one of the best shooters in the country.”
While UIC (5-22, 3-13) rebuilds, the Golden Grizzlies (20-10, 12-5) will be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the Horizon League tournament, giving them a good shot to make the NCAA tournament. Hooper could become the first player to shoot only 3s in a season (with a minimum of 50 attempts) since Iowa’s Devan Bawinkel went 32-for-84 in 2010.
“If I’m on the fast break with an open layup, I’ll lay it in,” Hooper said. “If I accidentally step on the line, I’ll shoot a 2. But I’m just playing my game. I’m doing what I’ve trained myself to do since I was 4 years old.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein