Frank Kaminsky III cut a piece of twine from the net at Honda Center in Anaheim Saturday. Delirious Wisconsin fans showered him with chants of “Frank the Tank!” The 7-footer has never stood taller.
He wasn’t always The Tank. Francis Stanley Kaminsky’s family used to call the boy “The Turd” because he had trouble pronouncing “the third” when he told people his name. But it’s been The Tank since the 2003 film “Old School.” It has stayed with him even though it’s a complete misnomer.
Tanks go through and over people. That’s not his game. And everyone knows when a tank is coming, but there is nothing obvious about Kamisnky. Until he’s beaten you, that is.
When big men guard him, the Badgers junior lures them away from the basket where he shoots 3-pointers with disarming accuracy. Put someone smaller on him, and they will spend the day trying to cope with an attack of pump fakes and inside moves. Kaminsky gave Arizona a little of each as he went for 28 points and 11 rebounds Saturday, Wisconsin taking out the top seed, 64-63, in overtime, to claim a spot in the Final Four.
He’s never what you are expecting. He barely looks like a ballplayer with his narrow build and sleepy-looking eyes. Yet Kaminsky is the most dangerous weapon on one of the best teams in the country. He’s funny, too. On Friday, the Wisconsin starters were asked how they’d want an opponent to think of their team. Ben Brust said “resilient,” Sam Dekker said “disciplined.” Josh Gasser said “unslefish,” Traevon Jackson said “tough.” Kaminsky thought a moment and answered “white guys,” breaking up all his teammates and room full of media.
His is a great story of a late bloomer; it’s happening in college just as it did in high school.
As a high school freshman, Kaminsky was a 6-1 guard. By the time he was a junior he was a 6-10 center. But he never lost the coordination, ball skills or shot as so many do when they go through a growth spurt.
As a Wisconsin sophomore, he averaged just 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds. Now it’s 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds.
“I came in as some awkward 7-foot tall freshman and I’ve really kind of grown. Coach (Bo) Ryan helped me take the next step and develop my game and become the player I am today,” Kaminsky said. “He doesn’t get the top-ranked guys. He gets the guys who are going to buy into his system.
“I’m not the most athletic guy and I can’t out-jump many people so I do what I can to score. That’s pump fakes and pivots. I take my time, don’t panic. If you do that, you’ll get what you want.”
“He’s just a tough young man who really wants to be a player, who has physically and mentally matured into what he feels he’s comfortable with,” Ryan said. “He’s learned how to be stronger. He’s learned some nuances. . . (Players) improve when they’re in school. He’s improved in every phase of his game.”
Kaminsky’s dad played basketball at Lewis University in Illinois and his mother was a volleyball player at Northwestern. He said his father preached to him always to be able to shoot from the perimeter, even when it was easy to score high school baskets near the rim.
Now that he’s in college, he understands the benefit.
“You see scouting reports on people. ‘He only does this’ or ‘he only does that and he won’t do much outside of that,’ ” Kaminsky said. “I didn’t want to be a guy that caught the ball at the free throw line and wouldn’t look at the rim. I wanted to be a threat from anywhere. That was my mission.”
So far it’s mission accomplished.
