Basketball players don’t usually want to be called “experienced travelers.”
But for former LSU guard Garrett Temple, his off-court travels have become a staple of his nomadic basketball life.
Temple’s travels have brought him to the small town of Casale Monferrato, Italy, where he plays for Novipiu Casale Monferrato in Serie A, one of Europe’s premier professional basketball leagues.
“The town is pretty quiet, and people are real laid-back,” said the 6-foot-6 Baton Rouge native. “They ride bikes everywhere, there’s mid-afternoon siestas. It’s different, but I enjoy it.”
It’s far from Temple’s first foreign foray.
His father, LSU great Collis Temple Jr., practically raised Temple to be a globetrotter.
There was the vacation to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal when Garrett was 5 years old. A visit to Egypt followed a few years later. Ski trips across the American northwest were a Temple family routine.
“Being in Italy isn’t an extreme, because Garrett’s an international guy,” said Temple Jr., who was LSU’s first African-American basketball player in the early 1970s. “He’s embracing the Italian culture. The travels made him an independent thinker.”
Temple said Italians’ uniquely portioned meals and the afternoon naps weren’t a culture shock, but the Italian brand of basketball was at first.
A lockdown defender throughout his career, Temple has never been asked to carry the scoring load at any level.
He averaged 6.7 points in his LSU career and posted 3.8 points per game in 51 NBA appearances with the Hawks, Spurs, Bucks, Bobcats and Kings.
But in Italy, where hand-check fouls are rarely called and a widened paint area makes scoring down low a tough task, the lanky Temple has elevated his offensive game.
“The court spacing – how clogged the paint is – changes how you think on the floor,” said Temple, who averages 10.2 points per game on 40 percent shooting. “It’s affected my decision-making. You have to be a great passer and find guys so quickly.”
Temple’s expanded role hasn’t prevented Novipiu from occupying Serie A’s cellar with a 6-17 record.
For a player who had two NBA stints with the consistently competitive Spurs, played on two Southeastern Conference champions- including LSU’s 2006 Final Four squad – and won big at University High and the AAU levels, the losing has required adjustments.
“This is the first time since my senior year at LSU I’ve been on one team for an entire season,” Temple said. “We’ve been so close, and I’ve had to handle the emotions that come with the tough losses. But the camaraderie on the team has kept us positive.”
Unlike the NBA, where last-place squads compete for nothing more than draft position, Novipiu is still playing for its Serie A status thanks to the European relegation system, which, in Italy, means last-place teams are replaced by the champions of second-tier Lega Due.
“Our main goal at this point is to stay in the first division,” Temple said.
Temple said the team’s locker room, which includes five American-based players, a Bosnian, a Serbian and several Italians, is his safety net in a foreign land.
“Everybody speaks English well enough to have conversations and joke around,” Temple said. “The locker room is so loose, it actually reminds me of college. They’re my friends here.”
Part of his teammates’ joking involved Temple’s cheering section after at least one member of his family made it to each of the team’s first seven home games last fall.
“He’s playing in a great environment over there,” said Collis Temple III, Garrett’s brother and another former LSU player. “Getting to visit him with my wife while we traveled in Italy was special.”
While Temple’s game might be an obvious beneficiary of the Italian stint, his older brother said the situation’s isolate nature has bolstered Temple’s maturity.
“Garrett’s 25, and he’s a grown man, obviously,” Temple III said. “But he’s learned the little things, like taking care of yourself or managing money and time. He’s growing as a person over there, using his free time to read a lot. He’s learning Italian.”
One man who needed no affirmation of Temple’s maturity is LSU coach Trent Johnson.
Johnson took over as head coach for Temple’s senior season, leading LSU to a league title and developing a close bond with his point guard.
“Garrett is a special kid because he understood leadership from day one,” Johnson said. “As a coach, you rely on the point guard for communication and stability. His knowledge, his loyalty – those things help us maintain a great relationship.”
Temple said he wouldn’t trade his Italian experience, but a return to the NBA is his ultimate goal.
“I only signed a one-year contract here because I still want to succeed in the NBA,” Temple said. “I’ve learned a lot about myself playing [in Italy], but you dream of succeeding at the highest level. There’s nothing like home.”
____ Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]